Whose Side Are You On?

WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Ex. 32:1-28

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: Hearing What You Want to

1. A young man went up to an old man and said in his ear, “Hey, could you lend me $5.00?”

2. The old man said, “I’m deaf in that ear. Come around to the other one. Now what did you say?”

3. The young man plucked up his courage and said, “Hey, could you lend me $20.00?”

4. The old man said, “Lend you what?” “$20.00!”

5. The old man looked incredulous and said, “You better go back to the $5.00 ear!”

B. TEXT

1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." 2 Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry. 19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. 25 Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. 26 Then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the LORD’s side—come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. (Vs. 26 = NKJV) 27 Then he said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.'" 28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.

C. THESIS

1. Israel had arrived at Mount Sinai. Moses climbed to the top to commune with God and on that holy ground, he spent 40 days in the presence of God and in His glorious fellowship.

2. But a scene of different kind was taking place at the foot of the mountain. Without a leader to point them to God, the Israelites set out to establish their own gods – similar to the world religions.

3. They broke off the gold they had gotten by "listening" to God and used that gained from God to make idols. This sounds a lot like America – established in godliness – but awash in idolatry and materialism.

4. Just like that camp, the world is filled with compromise and sin. God calls some to be the voice of separation and purification. Some of you may be called to be a Moses in your generation. His name means "drawn out" -- not just out of water, but out of the world!

I. IT’S OFTEN CONFUSING WHICH SIDE YOU’RE ON

A. MANY PEOPLE THINK THEY’RE ON THE RIGHT SIDE WHEN THEY’RE NOT

1. It seems the Israelites confused the worship of the Lord (Jehovah) with the worship of the Calf. Aaron told them, "Tomorrow we will have a festival to the Lord" (Exodus 32:5), meaning, the Calf. In Exodus 32:8 God said that the Israelites ascribed the miracles of Jehovah to the Calf! This is because they didn't know what it meant to serve the Lord, or what God's requirements were.

2. But like Moses, we are called to challenge their views. There are a lot of people today who think they know God and God's will, but they are just as mixed up as the Israelites. That is why the great cry, "Who is on the Lord's side?", is so needed today.

3. There’s tons of people who have all kinds of crazy ideas about who God is. But it’s no worse today than in Bible days. One big difference today is that with the internet, if you want to find the truth, it’s out there for you.