Month: March 2010

Golden Calf – Pt 4 – God

“The Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people” (Exodus 32:14)

We need always to be careful we do not read Scripture through the lenses of our theology or biases. This passage does not say that He would not exact full penalty against those who sinned. The last few verses of the chapter emphasise that (vv 33-35). That which God relented of was the manner of execution which would mean the end of the genealogy through Israel’s (Jacob’s) twelve sons. Jacob had prophesied concerning his sons and among other things he had prophesied that kings would come from Judah’s descendants and One would be King forever.

Moses’ appeal to the Abrahamic Covenant was much more than to just land promises and Abraham having a multitude of physical descendants.

We note that God had distanced Himself from (v 7) and disowned (v 10) Israel because of their sin. However following Moses’ plea on the basis of the Abrahamic Covenant He again identifies Himself with Israel (v 14). This must have been sweet to the ears of Moses. Only when he had heard this was Moses prepared to leave God’s presence and go down to the people. Possibly the first thing most of us would want to do is go and accuse the people and maybe then return to God and seek mercy and forgiveness. Moses obtained forgiveness for the people before they were convicted of their sin.

We would do well to notice that at no time does God deal lightly with sin. It should also be noted that even though God forgave Israel’s “great sin” He had the tabernacle erected “outside the camp” (33:7) instead of in their midst.

God cannot overlook corporate sin in the church or personal sin or He would not be Holy and just. Sin in the church will put Jesus Christ outside the church and no longer in the midst.

Periodically there is a call to Israel “Who is on the Lord’s side” (v 26). The Lord is never on our side but He knows the need to frequently ask if we are on His side.

God is God and we will not avert judgment by pleading ignorance, blaming another or applying something that appears spiritual to our sinful ways. If we are not careful we may find ourselves offering a sacrifice to the Lord that is an abomination to Him.

Our appeal to Him will only be successful when based on Jesus Christ’s atonement by His shed blood on the cross.

Golden Calf – Pt 3 – Moses

“Moses pleaded with the Lord his God” (Exodus 32:11)

We cannot imagine the emotions that must have arisen in Moses at this time. He had been in the presence of God for some time and had just received two tablets of stone on which God Himself had written (Exodus 31:18). It must have seemed to him that every thing was going perfectly until God suddenly distanced Himself from and disowned the people of Israel saying they were Moses’ people and that Moses had brought them out of Egypt. Worse, God told Moses that the people had corrupted themselves (v 7).

Without seeing the evidence for himself Moses must have been bewildered by this sudden change of attitude by God toward Israel. All of a sudden Israel stood condemned. How would he respond? Would he demand to see evidence? Would he make excuses? No! He accepted God’s word on the matter.

God made a magnificent offer to Moses. He would wipe out all Israel except Moses and start again as He did with Abraham and then only Moses’ descendants would inherit the Abrahamic Covenant. However, Moses though he represented God to the people also recognised that he represented the people to God. He would have a failure on this point later but not here. He pleaded with God for the people.

He did not diminish the sin of the people nor did he make excuses. He knew and accepted that Israel had not kept their vow to obey the Lord and justice therefore demanded the death penalty be carried out.

Moses pleaded for mercy but not to the covenant that Israel had made with God (24:7) but to the unconditional Covenant that God had made with Abraham (v 13). He was also concerned for how God would be perceived by Egypt. The great signs were not just for Israel but that Egypt may know that the Lord is God alone (v 11; cf. 8:10; 9:29; 14:4).

In response to Moses plea Israel would not be destroyed immediately but they did not know how close they came to destruction.

Moses, full of righteous anger (v 19), came straight to the point. He destroyed the golden calf and made the people drink the water in which its powder was mixed. This was each individual acknowledging their part in this great sin and a sign of repentance. Then he demanded the people make a visible choice to follow the Lord. Even so, that day God’s righteous judgment on Israel began (v 28) and it would last forty years (vv 33-35).

We have no basis to claim righteousness on the basis of the Law because we all have sinned. Like Israel we are under death sentence (Romans 6:23). Our only basis for mercy is God’s unconditional Covenant made with Abraham and fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cross.