December 8, 2002
A. Review
1) Saturday evening—we studied “The Valley of Baca”
a) From this study, we’ve learned that in our Christian journey towards the Promised Land we will experience some difficulty. This is the Valley of Baca. Also known as the Valley of Tears.
2) Saturday morning—we studied “In the Footsteps of Abraham”
a) From this study, we’ve learned several things:
1. God’s call is sacred.
2. God’s call is for us to get out of our comfort zone
3. God’s call is for us to get out of an idolatrous nations
4. God’s call is an affirmation that god is no respecter of a person
5. God’s call is a call to faithfulness
6. God’s call is a call abundant blessings
7. God’s call is a call to come home
B. Tonight’s topic
1) Tonight, we will deal with the subject “Egypt and The Golden Calf”
a) We will follow in the footsteps of Abraham’s descendants, the Jewish nation, as they came out from Egypt
b) We will take the third element in God’s call to Abraham. Just as God called Abraham to get out from an idolatrous nation, God called Abraham’s descendants to get out from Egypt, an idolatrous nation.
C. Their Condition in Egypt
1) EGW, Great Controversy, page 453, “When the chosen people were in bondage in Egypt, many, in the midst of prevailing idolatry, lost their knowledge of God’s law; but when the Lord delivered Israel, he proclaimed his law in awful grandeur to the assembled multitude, that they might know his will, and fear and obey him forever.”
2) Worst case scenarios
a) Not the real worse case scenario
1. They were slaves for 400 years
2. They lived in houses that were not comfortable
3. They ate food that were not palatable
4. They worked for their Egyptian masters just to survived
5. They did not have any luxury at all
6. Their children did not obtain proper education
7. They were constantly harassed by their overseers
8. Their women were raped and made to become prostitutes for the Egyptians
9. They did not have any property that they can call their own
10. They were severely punished for minor mistakes
b) The real worse case scenario
1. They have lost their knowledge of God and His law
c) Why?
1. When we lose God, we lose everything.
2. No matter how fat our wallet maybe, when we lose God, we are poorer that the one begging for food in the street.
3. No matter how good our education maybe, when we lose God, we are more illiterate than the one who never stepped inside a classroom.
4. No matter how comfortable our house maybe, when we lose God, we are more miserable than the one languishing in a 4 by 8 prison cell.
3) God’s people had hit bottom.
4) The only solution is God’s intervention on their behalf.
D. Why Get Out of Egypt
1) Can’t they not serve the true God in Egypt
2) Why can’t God reveal or give His law to His people in Egypt
3) Three stages of salvation
a) Justification
1. This is the first stage in the process of salvation
2. God forgives us from our sins
3. We can be justified while in Egypt
4. Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
b) Sanctification
1. This is the second stage in the process of salvation
2. Sanctification literally means “to set apart for a holy purpose.”
3. This is the stage where God removes from us the elements that will cause us to sin. How?
a. If overworking is our sin, God tells us to set the Sabbath for rest and for worship
b. If appetite is our sin, God reminds us that those we once considered as delicious food are not good for us anymore.
c. If drunkenness is our sin, God tells us not even to look at a wine when it is red.
d. If sexual perversion is our sin, God commands to us to engage in such activity only in the context of marriage. We cannot even look at each other with lust.
e. If covetousness is our sin, God commands us to give to Him every tenth of everything that we earn.
4. God cannot bless us while we continue in Egypt.
a. God cannot bless us with healthy body while we indulge ourselves in eating crabs, lobsters, pork, and other germ-causing foods.
5. So God calls us to get out of Egypt into His abundant blessings.
c) Glorification
1. In this stage, God delivers us not only from the cause of sin but also from the effects of sin.
2. Death is the ultimate result and effect of sin.
3. At His coming, He will deliver us from death.
E. Mount Sinai and the Golden Calf
1) After several miraculous events, God brought His people at the foot of Mount Sinai.
2) Now they are ready to receive God’s law
3) So Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the tablets that contains God’s law.
4) Moses stayed in the presence of God for forty days
5) But while Moses was in the presence of God, the Bible states in Exodus 32:1-6 “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. 6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”
6) What caused these people to slip back to their idolatrous practices?
a) Egypt is not just a physical place. Egypt represents every evil tendencies or practices that we treasure in our hearts.
1. We can travel as far away from the physical Egypt, but if there are Egyptian practices that we still treasure in our hearts, we have not traveled that far from Egypt.
2. We could be an Adventist Christian for five years, ten years, or fifty years; but if we still live as Egypt does, we only wasted our time. We have not gone that far.
3. Although God’s people were in the wilderness, they did not overcome Egypt in their hearts
4. They overcame the soldiers of Egypt, but they did not overcome the degrading morality of Egypt.
b) When worship becomes an obligation rather than a joy, we are stepping into the boundary of idolatry.
1. Exodus 32:1, “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.”
2. While Moses was in the mountain, the people could see a heavy cloud resting at the top of the mountain. They could hear thundering and lightning. All these are indications that God was in the mountain.
3. These people were supposed to be praying and worshipping the true God that brought them out from Egypt while their leader was talking to God.
4. But they became tired and weary. Forty days of waiting was too much for them.
5. It looks like that we are not that far from God’s people at all:
a. When the service is too long, we start complaining.
b. When we request that we come early to the Sabbath school, we feel as if it is an added burden for us to do on the Sababth.
c. When we ask for your presence for the revival for just one week, we say “that’s too much.”
d. When we request for an extra love offering for some of our church projects, we say “I can’t afford it.”
6. Worship had become a burden rather than a joy.
c) Looking for excitement in worship
1. When worship starts to become a burden, the next step that we want is to look for some ways to make worship exciting.
2. This is what exactly God’s people were looking as they danced around their golden calf.
3. We start incorporating revelry and festivities into our worship.
a. If there are no drums and other instruments in worship, it is boring.
b. If there are no graphic presentations during the sermon, the sermon is dead.
4. All these enhance our worship. But they cannot make our worship exciting. The only thing that must make our worship exciting is the reality that we are worshipping the true God and that we have a relationship with him.
d) Their moral practices were dependent on the presence of their spiritual leader.
1. If Moses was around, they would behave accordingly. Consequently, when Moses was not around, they would behave otherwise.
2. When the pastor or the elder is around, we show our best behavior. When the pastor is not around, we do otherwise.
3. We must understand that whether the pastor is present or not, the ultimate leader of God’s people is God.
4. God is omnipresent
e) Failure of their leaders to stand for the truth.
1. EGW, Conflict and Courage, page 97, “Aaron feared for his own safety; and instead of nobly standing up for the honor of God, he yielded to the demands of the multitude. . . . He made a molten calf, an imitation of the gods of Egypt. The people proclaimed, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." And Aaron basely permitted this insult to Jehovah. He did more. Seeing with what satisfaction the golden god was received, he built an altar before it, and made proclamation, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord." The announcement was heralded by trumpeters from company to company throughout the camp. . . . Under the pretense of holding" a feast to the Lord," they gave themselves up to gluttony and licentious reveling.”
2. For fear that people will dislike us, or not support us, or people withholding their tithes and offerings, we give in to their demands.
3. EGW, Education, page 57, “The greatest want of the world is the want of men,--men who will not be bought or sold; men who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men who do not fear to call sin by its right name; men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.”
F. What did the Golden Calf accomplish?
1) The Golden Calf received the spoils of war that belong to God alone
a) Exodus 12:35-36, “And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 36 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.”
b) These spoils of war is an indication that God gained victory over the Egyptians
c) These spoils of war were to be used for the building of God’s sanctuary and al the articles contained therein.
d) First definition of idolatry—when we use that which belongs to God for other purposes, we are committing idolatry.
1. When we use the tithe for our own benefits rather than for the work of God, we are committing idolatry.
2. When we use the Sabbath for our own benefits rather than for the work and worship of God, we are committing idolatry.
3. When we use our God-given talents for other things than to praise God, we are committing idolatry.
4. When we use our body for other things than to glorify God, we are committing idolatry.
5. When we use God’s church to socialize and spread rumors rather than to worship God, we are committing idolatry.
e) Idolatry is NOT simply bowing to images; it is using God’s blessings other than what God had instructed us to use.
2) The Golden Calf received the credit that belongs to God alone
a) Exodus 32:4, “And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”
b) God is the One that delivered His people from the hands of the Egyptians
c) God is the One that performed all the miracles for His people
d) Second definition of idolatry—when we take the credit that belongs to God and give it to someone or something, we are committing idolatry.
1. Illustration—healing from sickness
2. Instead of giving God the credit for healing them, they give credit to the quack doctors, etc.
3) The Golden Calf received the shrine that belongs to God alone
a) Exodus 32:5 “And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.”
b) Shrines are created to indicate that what belongs inside is holy.
c) In making the shrine, Aaron is proclaiming that his Golden Calf is holy.
d) Third definition of idolatry—when we proclaim and built altars for other things aside for God, we are committing idolatry.
4) The Golden Calf received the offering that belongs to God alone
a) Exodus 32:6, “And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat, and to drink, and rose up to play.”
b) God alone deserves our offerings
c) Fourth definition of idolatry—when we give our resources to a cause that is contrary to God, we are committing idolatry.
d) Illustration—lottery
e) Illustration—Jewelry
1. EGW, “The ornamentation of the person with jewels and luxurious things is a species of idolatry. This needless display reveals a love for those things which are supposed to place a value upon the person. It gives evidence to the world of a heart destitute of the inward adornment. Expensive dress and adornments of jewelry give an incorrect representation of the truth that should always be represented as of the highest value. An overdressed, outwardly adorned person bears the sign of inward poverty. A lack of spirituality is revealed.” (Manuscript release, volume 6, page 160)
5) The Golden Calf received the worship that belongs to God alone
G. Results of idolatry
1) Moses burnt the Golden Calf, pulverized it, mixed it into water, and forced the people to drink it.
2) God’s anger was kindled against His people
3) SDA Commentary—“The Lord urges His supremacy. But Satan well knows that the worship of the living God elevates, ennobles, and exalts a nation. He knows that idol-worship does not elevate, but that it degrades man’s ideas, by associating with worship that which is base and corrupt. He is at work constantly to draw the mind away from the only true and living God. He leads men to give honor and glory to objects that human hands have made or to soulless creatures that God has created. The Egyptians and other heathen nations had many strange gods--creatures of their own fanciful imagination.” {4BC 1145.5}
H. Intercession of Moses on behalf of God’s people
1) Many times we would have been destroyed because of our sinfulness if not for the intercession of others.
2) Christ is interceding for us even now.
