Two months is not a long time. It’s just a small handful of weeks. Yet in that short span of time the Hebrew people went from praising and worshiping Yahweh for His great deliverance to completely turning their backs on Him and worshiping an idol. Just two months. As we look into our Scripture today, let’s see what happened.
After God’s miraculous parting of the waters of the Red Sea for the people of Israel to cross, and His destroying of the armies of Pharaoh, the people journeyed to Mt. Sinai. The people made camp at the base of the Mt. Sinai, while Moses went up the mountain to meet with God, where he received the Ten Commandments and other laws. While he remained up on the mountain for several days, the people began to get impatient. This seemed like a waste of their time. They wanted to get moving, get on over to their promised land. While Moses was gone, the people began thinking and discussing among themselves, and one of the things they questioned was who was this God that Moses talked about. They couldn’t see Him, and no one but Moses ever heard anything from Him. They didn’t like that, so they decided they were going to make their own God.
The people’s impatience and thinking that strayed so far afield from God then led them to pressure Moses’ brother Aaron to make them a visible god (vs. 1). They didn’t know, or really even care where Moses was. They just demanded a god that they could see, some god who would cater to their whims and sins. This showed a lack of faith and great spiritual immaturity. As for Aaron, one who had stood beside Moses all through the ten plagues and Pharaoh’s threats, he showed no backbone or courage. Instead of standing firm for Yahweh, he caved to the pressure and made a golden calf for them to worship (vs. 2-5). This is a direct violation of the second commandment (Exodus 20:4-5). Some more progressive thinkers have argued that this wasn’t really idolatry, but rather the people just wanting something visible to worship. However, that is not what God says or permits. True worship must be based on God’s revealed truth, not human imagination. Mixing pagan practices with worship of Yahweh is spiritual adultery.
Following the making of this golden calf idol, the people compounded that sin with that of gross immorality. We read that the people proceeded to have a banquet and then participated in immorality (vs. 6). It said they rose up to “play”, but that did not mean that they were playing cards, checkers, or Monopoly! Once we start on the downward slope of sin, we will fall further and further unless we repent.
We may think that God doesn’t see or know what we are doing, and it seems obvious that the people of Israel didn’t. However, he does! God sees and judges. He told Moses that his (Moses’) people, who he had brought out of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. He told Moses about the golden calf (vs. 7-9). God called them Moses’ people, as if He had washed His hands of them. Because of their sin, so soon after leaving Egypt, God distanced Himself from them.
Not only did God distance Himself from the people, He would have destroyed them had not Moses stood in the gap for them, interceding for them, despite their terrible sins (vs. 10-14). This was a test of Moses’ heart and leadership. God’s holiness demands judgment on sin. The severity of His response here underscores how offensive idolatry is to Him.
Moses interceded for the people, he stood in the gap for them. If you have a hedge around a garden, and a gap develops, then pesky animals or even people that you don’t want might get in. However, put something in that gap and they will keep out. Moses stood in the gap, interceding to God that His righteous wrath not come down upon them. He appealed to God’s reputation, especially with the Egyptians if He killed them all. He reminded God of His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He begged for God’s mercy. Because of Moses’ prayers, God relented. This doesn’t mean that God changed His nature, but instead that He responded to Moses’ intercession in mercy.
Looking over this Scripture passage, how can we apply what we read to our lives today? Though as Christians, we may not make a literal idol and worship it, we need to guard our hearts against anything that would replace God in our life. We need to be careful, because even good things could become an idol. Unlike Aaron, we need to be bold and courageous in standing up against what we know to be wrong. Even if it is just yourself against the crowd, be strong and steadfast in your faith. Finally, be willing to stand in the gap for others. God honors fervent, faith-filled intercession. Believers are called to pray for others, including those who have strayed far from the path of righteousness. Though God is holy and just, He is also merciful.
No comments:
Post a Comment