We all have potential idols in our lives. The difficulty is finding them. Today we read of Israel’s first national idol – the golden calf.
Exodus 31: Oholiab and Bezalel
1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,
3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship,
4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze,
5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.
6 And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you:
7 the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent,
8 the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense,
9 and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand,
10 and the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests,
11 and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do."
The Sabbath
12 And the LORD said to Moses,
13 "You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, 'Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.
14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death.
16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever.
17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.'"
18 And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
Exodus 32: The Golden Calf
1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, "Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."
2 So Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me."
3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.
4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD."
6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
7 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'"
9 And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you."
11 But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, "O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.'"
14 And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written.
16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp."
18 But he said, "It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear."
19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
20 He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.
21 And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?"
22 And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
23 For they said to me, 'Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'
24 So I said to them, 'Let any who have gold take it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."
25 And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies),
26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, "Who is on the LORD's side? Come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.
27 And he said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbour.'"
28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell.
29 And Moses said, "Today you have been ordained for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day."
30 The next day Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin."
31 So Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold.
32 But now, if you will forgive their sin---but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written."
33 But the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.
34 But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them."
35 Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.
Things to think about…
These two guys Bezalel and Oholiab were skilled “with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship”, Ex 30:3 to design and build all the holy utensils and everything required for the Tent of Meeting, Ex 31:1-11. Praise God for skilled tradesmen. We have been blessed at CBC with a number of them over the years.
Look at the Sabbath requirement, Ex 31:12-18. If it was not kept people were to be put to death, vs 15. I misunderstood the meaning of the Sabbath for years, thinking it still needed to be observed outwardly. But the Sabbath can only be fulfilled in Christ. The Christian Sabbath is Jesus, not Sunday! You want to keep the Sabbath, then love Jesus with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. That’s why there was a death penalty. It refers to an eternal state, and a covenant to be kept forever, vs 16. This can only be fulfilled in Christ. Pray the modern people of Israel keep the real Sabbath and accept Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah.
Aaron, Aaron, Aaron, what have you done?! The pressure of the rebellious mob was too much for him. Pray for all those in spiritual leadership, that we lead with grace, truth and integrity. When many voices are against you it is a tide too great for most to bear. Pray for a tenderness within the Lord’s people to follow Him wherever He leads.
Even though only one gold calf is made it is interesting that they say “these are your gods, O Israel, that brought you out of Egypt”, Ex 32:4. The Hebrew word used here, translated ‘gods’ and in Gen 1:1 for God is Elohim is a grammatically plural noun for "gods" or "deities". God, even though One is as we know is made up of three distinct persons in the trinity; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The three are one, yet distinct in role. It is little wonder that when Israel and Judah separated that Jeroboam rebelled against the Lord that he made 2 gold calves and said “Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”, 1Kings 12:28. This was an historical sin that Israel historically and culturally could easily embrace.
Look at the cost of the rebellion. Three thousand were put to death by their own brothers and fathers because they sided with the god of gold, Ex 32:26-31. We used to say to our boys when they were young, ‘rise up to pray, not to play’, vs 6. Not that we suppressed the desire to play in our boys, simply that they should seek God as their first priority because other temptations are ever ready to fill the spiritual void. Our tendency is to follow a path that satisfies the flesh and not the soul.
Moses said if you will not forgive their sin “please blot me out of your book that you have written", Ex 32:32. I confess I do not always have a heart of sacrifice. Paul had such a heart when he said “I wish I was accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers”, Rom 9:3. Pray for a heart ready to sacrifice for the sake of others.
Aaron escaped the sword and the plague for his part in the sin in making the gold calf, Ex 32:35. God had mercy on this man as he was used initially to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt by being the main spokesman, but also I believe in mercy to Moses his life was spared in this early part of Israel’s wilderness wanderings.
Cell group questions from Sunday morning’s sermon “What’s with the stones” Ex 28.
1. The High Priest had the 12 tribes of Israel represented by 12 precious stones on his breastplate. What was the significance of the stones, their placement and where they were taken by the High Priest in his ministry in the holy of holies in the tabernacle?
2. Doug brought out that Jesus is our Great High Priest. Discuss what this means and how the Old Testament High Priest was a type of Christ.
3. What did Doug mean when he said that if he had a choice of stone a lump of coal would have been his choice. He also brought out that when sin is committed blood had to be shed. What does this mean in the light of Christ and the cross?
4. In the New Jerusalem the walls are made up of 12 layers of precious stones and we are personally given a white stone with a new name, Rev 2:17. Discuss.
5. Pray for new folk that have recently joined us that they be joined into the fellowship of the church. Pray for each other, our city and country.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for Gary and Christine who lost their sister/sister in law Diane to a long battle with cancer. Pray for Diane’s husband Evan that his heart softens to Christ.
2. Pray for Catherine who has suffered many mini strokes, TIA’s. In hospital at present.
3.
4. Others who are struggling in their commitment to Christ and relationship strain/choices.
5. Sunday’s messages. The message this week – “Done decently and in order” Exod 36-40, Jay.
7. Church finances to meet our expenses and to put a roof over our café.
8. Our City and Country – Pray for revival over our city and the leadership of our country even through these challenging times.
Praise Points.
1. Faithful preaching by Doug Horne on Sunday.
2. Ras Beirut Baptist Church thankful for CBC’s partnership and support - $1500.
3. 5 young people stepping up to be trained on the words and streaming software.
4. Blessing Beirut ($1500). Thank you!
5. Unity, peace and grace at CBC.
6. Praise God for all those who serve at CBC.
Announcements
1. Prayer meetings back this week. Tuesday and Thursday mornings at church 5:30am – 6:30am.
2. Carols Sun 20thDec 6pm. Start with a meal. Carols to start after the meal.
3. Training for words and streaming – 6pm Friday night – young people.
3. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
4. Kids Church in the house this week when the message is on.
