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THE HEART OF GOD EXODUS 32:1-35 Pastor Stephen Muncherian June 27, 2010 |
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Please turn with me to Exodus
chapter 32 - starting at verse 1. We’re going on in our look at
manhood. Given all the confusion in our
society about what a man is - or isn’t. What
really makes a man a man? Is this what it
means to be a man? We’ve been looking at
how God - who created men - how God defines manhood. What we’ve seen is that for a
man to be manly he first needs to be Godly.
Let’s say that together: “For a man
to be manly he first needs to be Godly.” We’ve been looking at Moses as
our example of Godly manhood - how God worked in Moses’ life. How God patiently helped Moses to move forward
through life - growing Moses into Godly manhood. Which should encourage us as
well. God doesn’t give up on us. God wants us to get this.
God desires for us to be the men He’s created us to be and
to use us significantly in our homes and community and in His Church. Exodus 32 - starting at verse 1: Now when the
people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the
people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who
will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from
the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Aaron said
to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives,
your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in
their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took this
from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf;
and they said, “This is
your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar
before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said,
“Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” So the next
day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace
offerings; and the
people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. Verses 1 to 6 focus on The Sin of God’s People. Let’s
try that together, “The sin of
God’s people.” Where did the gold come from? The ears of their wives, sons, and daughters. Where did the wives, sons, and daughters get
it? The Egyptians. Right? Parting gifts from the Egyptians who were so
glad to get rid of the Hebrews that they just kept piling gold and
valuables on them. “Just take
it and go.” Why did the Egyptians give them all that gold? Because of what God did. God
delivering His people. What was God going to use all
that gold for? Build the Tabernacle. Make the stuff for the Tabernacle. Cover the Ark of the Covenant.
All of which deals with God’s relationship with His people. Are we together?
Where did the gold come from? God. Why? To be used
by God’s people in their relationship with God. Moses is up on the mountain -
God’s mountain. God has been giving Moses
instructions on how to build the Tabernacle and instructions in how
God’s people are to worship God. For 40
days Moses has been up on the mountain hearing from God about how God’s
people are to live in relationship with God. Down
below God’s people are waiting. In verse 1 the word “delayed” in
Hebrew has the idea of being “ashamed.” Its
not stretching things too far to think that the people thought that
Moses had gone up the mountain to talk to God and found nothing. He’d struck out. The
people thought Moses was ashamed to come down off the mountain. To admit that he wasn’t the great Godly leader
that he thought he was. They approach Aaron, “We have no
clue what happened to that man or what became of him.”
Notice
the contempt. “That man.” “So make us a god we can visualize. Not some imaginary god on a mountain. But a god we can see. A
god like one of the gods back in Egypt.” Aaron compromises - bends on the
whole graven idol thing - makes this calf out of gold.
Gold that came from Who? God. Why? To be used
by God’s people in their relationship with God. Aaron goes along with this -
compromises on what he knows is right and wrong - goes along until the
people say - verse 4 - They said,
“This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” Then Aaron tries - way too late
- to rescue the situation. He hurriedly
builds an altar in front of the golden calf - an altar we assume he
builds to honor the true God of Israel. Aaron
proclaims, “Tomorrow will be a feast to the Lord.” The word “play” in verse 6
literally means “immoral
orgies and sexual play.” The sacrifice to God - the feast
- it all ends up being a drunken orgy. What a contrast.
Isn’t it? The holy God on the
mountain with Moses laying out what means to have a relationship with
God. The people below using the very
symbols of that relationship to gratify themselves in an idolatrous
drunken orgy. Not that we would ever do that? Right? We would
never take what God blesses us with - time, talent, and treasure - what
He desires to use in deepening our relationship with Him - what He
desires to use to bring glory to Himself - we would never use any of
that to gratify ourselves? Right?
Isn’t it amazing how subtilely
and easily sin can grab hold of us and takes us where we know we
shouldn’t go. Going on. Verses
7 to 14 focus on Moses’ Heart. Let’s say that together, “Moses’
heart.” Verse 7: Then the
Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people - who’s people are these? Suddenly God’s people are Moses’ people. - your people
- whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from the way
which I commanded them. They have made for
themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to
it and said, ‘This is your god; O Israel, who brought you up from the
land of Egypt!’” “Corrupted” has the idea of
intentionally ruining themselves - morally perverting themselves. “Your people
are destroying themselves.” Sin is self-destructive. Verse 9: The Lord
said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an
obstinate people. Now then let Me alone,
that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I
will make you a great nation.” God goes to epic lengths to
deliver His people from Egypt - preserves them in the wilderness -
leads them back to Himself. Loving them. Protecting them. Guiding
them - nurturing them - to become His covenant
people and to live in the awesome relationship that He’s created them
for. Now they’ve turned their backs - on
Him - on what He’s created them for - rejected His love - a
relationship with Him. His people are
destroying themselves. Grab this: God
is ticked - angry - because His precious creation is intent on
destroying themselves. Verse 9 is an amazing offer. “Leave me
alone so I can destroy them. I’ll do what
they desire. Then I’ll make you a great
nation.” How huge is that?
How would you respond to that? After all the times these people have grumbled
against Moses - argued with him - even been on the verge of killing him. How tempting would it be to have God wipe out
the whole lot of them. And what an offer. “Moses, you
get to be the new Abraham. You get to be a
great nation. You want it.
Its yours.” Huge. “Let Me
alone” - verse 10 -
is really a strange request. Its almost
like God is asking Moses for permission to toast Israel and set up
Moses as the new Abraham. Why does the
Almighty God of creation have to ask anyone for permission to do
anything? And yet here is God asking Moses
to intervene. Do you see that? “Moses, if
you say yes to my offer by leaving me alone, I’ll toast ‘em all. If you stay I won’t.”
Verse 11: Then Moses
entreated the Lord his God, and said - Here’s Moses’ response to
God’s offer - “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people - who’s people are these now? Now they’re God’s people - why does
Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the
land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
Why should
the Egyptians speak, saying ‘With evil intent He brought them out to
kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the
earth’? Turn from
Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your
servants to whom You swore by Yourself - by yourself - “I swear to
Myself” - and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as
the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I
will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” Moses doesn’t consider God’s
offer for a nanosecond. Instead Moses
passionately pleads for God’s people. Three reasons God should spare His people. First: God’s
love.
For 40 days Moses has been up on the mountain listening to
God give instructions about what means to live in a relationship with
Him. 40 days of listening to God’s heart
for His people. There’s no question. These are God’s people that God deeply loves. “They’re
Your people.” Second: God’s
reputation. What will the Egyptians think?
If you wipe these people out the Egyptians are going to
think you’re a god like one of their gods - capricious - maniacal - too
weak to deliver on his promises. God -
Your reputation is on the line here. Third: God’s
promises. “Wake up and
smell the coffee. You’re the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all their descendants - today and on down
through history. They - I - we’ve bet our
lives on Your name. Your reputation. Your character. Your
love for us. You’ve sworn an oath - based
on Who you are - that You will do what You promised.
Punt now and how could we ever trust you again?” Verse 14: So the Lord
changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. Does God change His mind? From our perspective yes.
Do our prayers influence God? He
says they do. Does the will of God change? No. Do His
purposes for us change? No.
Does God play Three-card Monte with His promises? No. What God says
He will do He will do. What is going on here - with
God’s offer to Moses - what’s being exposed here - in this discussion
of just Who’s people these are and what should be done about them -
what’s being exposed here is Moses’ heart. After
40 days on the mountain with God and a whole lot of time in the
wilderness is Moses’ heart really in tune with God’s heart? Does Moses love the people as God loves His
people. The answer is yes. These are God’s people. God deeply loves them. But,
they’re Moses’ people too. Moses loves
them as the Lord loves them. Where do we find that kind of
passion for people? Even for people that
grumble against us? That reject us? Even when we know that God’s wrath is
justifiable reserved for them? When we’d
like to see one strategically placed lightening bolt toast someone. We find that passion in God’s
heart. In God’s passion for people. We find it by listening to God - hearing His
heart. 40 days on a mountain soaking up
God’s word. That’s an example for us. Spend time with God and He will open up His
heart to you. Let His heart permeate yours
and He will give you the love you need to love where you never thought
it was possible to love. Maybe this morning there’s
someone you need to love and you just can bring yourself to that kind
of compassion? “You don’t
understand what they’ve done.” “They ain’t
my people.” God will create that love in you
if you let Him. Spend time with God. Ask Him. “God, create
in me love for ______.” Verses 15 to 29 focus on The Horrors of Sin. Let’s say that together, “The horrors
of sin.” Verse 15: Then Moses
turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the
testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides; they
were written on one side and the other. The
tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on
the tablets. Now when Joshua heard the
sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a
sound of war in the camp.” But he said,
“It is not the sound of the cry of triumph, nor is it the sound of
defeat; but the sound of singing I hear.” Verse 19: It came
about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and
the dancing - the
drunken orgy - and Moses’
anger burned, and he threw the
tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the
mountain. He took the
calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground
it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the
sons of Israel drink it. Moses’ heart is in tune with
Who’s heart? God’s. What’s
coming out of Moses’ heart is an anger that is in tune with God’s anger
and His love. God gets angry when His
people choose to destroy themselves in sin. Why? Because God loves His people - desires only
the best for them. If God didn’t get angry
God wouldn’t be loving. When Moses’ sees the sin of
God’s people - the devastation of sin - Moses permeated by God’s love -
Moses shares God’s anger. On these tablets - written on
both back and front by God Himself - on these tablets are the Ten
Commandments. God’s Covenant with His
people. Grab that. The God of the Bible is a
covenant God not a contract God. His
message to us is not, “Do this for
Me. Then I’ll love you.”
That’s
a do this and you’ll get paid - contract. But instead God says, “I love you. As your Creator and Redeemer this is the kind
of relationship that I invite you to be a part of.” Its important that we understand
that. These commandments are God’s
covenant with His people. So many people are trying to
live in a relationship with God as a contract - trying to live rightly
- morally - as Christians - as Jews - trying to somehow please God - to
earn God’s favor. The 10 Commandments have
become a burdensome list of don’ts that we must fulfill if we’re to
avoid the wrath of Almighty God. But God never intended for these
commandments to be a contract. “If you do
all this stuff then I’ll give you a relationship with Me.” If
they were a contract none of us could have a relationship with God. Except for Jesus every single person who ever
lived has failed to keep the 10 Commandments. On these tablets is the wonder -
the awesomeness - the uniqueness of what the loving God offers His
people in this covenant relationship - written by the very hand of God
Himself. Moses throws these tablets from
his hand - shattering them at the foot of the mountain - symbolizing
that sin has broken the relationship. The
people have chosen another god. Moses
grinds up their god - the golden calf - forcing them to drink the water
- which symbolizes their spiritual adultery (Numbers 5:11-31). Verse 21: Then Moses
said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought
such great sin upon them?” Some kind of hideous torture? Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord
burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil. For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us who
will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the
land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let the tear it
off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw
it into the fire, and out came this calf.” What kind of spineless excuses
are these? “You know
what kind of people these are.” “They told
me to do it.” “We weren’t sure if you were
coming back.” Then this wimpy excuse. “I threw in
the gold and out came this calf! Its a God
story! A miracle or something.” Verse 25: Now when
Moses saw that the people were out of control - for Aaron had let them
get out of control to be a derision among their enemies - then Moses
stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come
to Me!” And all the
sons of Levi gathered together with him. He
said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man
of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to
gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his
friend, and every man his neighbor.’” This gets a little PG-13 here so
if you’re bothered by simulated Lego blood you might want to look away. Verses 28: So the sons
of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the
people fell that day -
brothers, friends, and neighbors - Then Moses
said, “Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord - for every man
has been against his son and against his brother - in order that He may
bestow a blessing upon you today.” What are the horrors of sin? To God’s people - their relationship with God
- Aaron’s reputation - brother killing brother - friends killing
friends - neighbors killing neighbors - thousands dead - cauterizing
the sin - cleansing the sin from the people - that the people would be
restored in their relationship with God - to purity before Him? What are the horrors of sin? A little compromise? A
little rejecting of God’s will for our lives? A
little disobedience to God’s commands? God’s
commands are really kind of like guidelines actually.
Is a little sin really such a big deal? If only we had a clearer picture
of the horror. Poverty and heartbreak and
disease and psychosis and pain and murder and abortion and child abuse
and war and oppression and broken homes - broken lives - people living
in bondage - in darkness - knowing no hope. Sin
always damages our relationship with God. Our
sin always effects others. Sin always is
self-destructive. Sin is suicide. Verse 30: On the next
day Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great
sin; and now I am going up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement
for your sin.” Then Moses returned to the
Lord, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they
have made a god of gold for themselves. But
now, if You will forgive their sin - and if not, please blot me out
from Your book which You have written!” Verses 30 to 35 are Moses’ Offer. Let’s say that together. “Moses’
offer.” Can you imagine this? “Take my
life instead. Erase me out of your book.” In the Old Testament that book
is God’s list of the righteous - the people that God blesses with life. In the New Testament the Book of Life is the
list of those God has destined for eternal life - forever with Him. (Psalm 69:28; Revelation 20:11-15) Paul - expressing his love for
his people - Paul wrote - Romans 9:3: “I would be
willing to be forever cursed - cut off from Christ! - if that would
save them.” (Romans 9:3 NLT)
Would any of us say that? What a contrast.
Moses going from being the new Abraham and all that that
implied to offering himself for his people - being cut off from God on
their behalf. That’s love that’s coming
from the heart of God. Verse 33: The Lord
said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of
My book. But go now, lead the people where
I told you. Behold, My angel shall go
before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them
for their sin.” Then the Lord smote the
people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made. The bottom line is that Moses
isn’t qualified. He’s not sinless. Moses’ heart is in the right place. He’s so loves God’s people - his people - that
he’s willing to set aside everything to make the ultimate sacrifice. That’s God’s heart. But Moses isn’t sinless. The greatness of God’s love - the greatness of
God’s anger - the depth of our sin - requires a response that only God
can give. Jesus - speaking of Himself -
Jesus said, “This is My commandment, that you love one another; just
as I have loved you. Greater love has no
one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
You are My friends.” (John 15:12-14a) That’s love that’s coming from
the heart of God. In January
1956 - five young missionaries - Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Roger
Youderian, Ed McCully, and Peter Fleming - were trying to reach the
Waodani Tribe in the jungles of Ecuador with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those five men were speared to death by the
Waodani’s they were trying to share God’s love with. |