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| OH, REALLY? … I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. |
Exodus
32, Part II, 28 February 2015 Anno Domini
15 And Moses turned, and went down
from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the
tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were
they written. 16 And the tables were the work of
God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. (Ex
32:15-16)
What solemnly grave and profound words are these in verses 15 and 16! These
were written by the very hand of God and represent fully His perfect will. It
is best that we remember that each word of the Holy Bible is also His words as
if written by His own hand – they are providentially and perfectly preserved by
god in every language of mankind. But only God Himself is Author of Law and
Justice. Only He is able to write, at first, His Law on Tables of Stones; and,
later, on the fleshly chambers of the human heart: For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the
Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I
will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” (Heb 8:10) Forasmuch
as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us,
written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of
stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. (2
Cor 3:3) I hasten
to add that this writing is made with the ink of Love and not legal constraint.
Moses has been warned of God of the evil that is taking place in the camp of
the Children of Israel. It must have been a rare ecstasy that Moses experienced
on the Mount on the presence of the Lord – a quiet and spiritual ecstasy, not
the babbling ecstasy professed by the charismatic clan. There are mountaintop
experiences to which every Christian can hail back. But we cannot forever
remain on the mountaintop else we may become so heavenly inclined that we are
no earthly good. The times come when we must return to the valley where the
world of sin suffers in bondage to Satan. “And Moses turned, and went
down from the mount.” After a face-to-face encounter with God, there is
always a need to put the spiritual truths learned to use among those who
perish.
“. . . the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and
on the other were they written.” There seems to have been two tables of
the law with the Commandments written on either side so that they could have
been read from all directions. Whether our vantage point is of the East or the
West, we read the same Law. In Christ, culture is not a reason to miss the Law.
As Moses descended from the Mount, the discordant sounds of the Camp came to
his ears. The voice of the world is always warlike when contrasted with the
infallible Word of God. “And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as
they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.”
(Ex 32:17)
Joshua was such a devoted disciple of God that he waited the forty days and
forty nights halfway up the Mount. His faithful ears must have been anguished
by the noise he had heard arising from the Camp. How soon can the piety of good
people be turned to orgy even in our modern churches! Churches in America that
once were intolerant of open sin, now call evil good, and good evil in
conformity with the prophecy of Isaiah: Woe unto them that call evil
good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that
put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah
5:20) When I was a
child, the term ‘homosexuality’ was a filthy joke. Now it is heralded as
dignified alternative to Godly marriage[1]
– what wicked insanity!
The example that Joshua sets in His faithfulness is not unlike that of the
faithful and persevering servant of God who may not be privileged to be called
to Holy Orders, but rather serves God with the fullness of his being.
And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither
is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that
sing do I hear. (Ex 32:18)
Moses knew that it was not the sound of conventional war, but another kind of
war – spiritual warfare fanned by inordinate desires of the flesh. God had
already informed Moses of what was taking place. This song was a great contrast
to that the people sang with Moses in Exodus 15. It might be compared the
church singing “I Surrender ALL” on Sunday and living a life of impurity
throughout the week.
And it came to pass, as soon as he came
nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger
waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the
mount. (Ex 32:19) The closer one gets to the
world, the more of its evil can be seen. Some have said as a matter of trivia,
including myself, that Moses was first to break all of the Commandments. In
fact, I do not believe Moses broke the Law of God, but acted out of righteous
indignation. It was, doubtless, symbolic of the anger of God. Today, I see too
little of righteous indignation among Christians, especially clergymen, at the
wicked and blasphemous nature of the world today. God does not frankly condemn
anger. He would most likely be disappointed that we would not be angry at the
murder, rape, and pillage occurring today in Syria and Iraq, or the sadistic
abuse of little children at all levels of modern society. We have reached a
point in the modern church in which judgment against sin is classified as
wicked, and anger of any type is condemned. But Jesus tells us the anger, based
on sound reason, is appropriate. “But I say
unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall
be in danger of the judgment:” (Matt
5:22)
And he took the calf which they
had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it
upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. (Ex
32:20) What a
judgmental act of Moses! But one which was TOTALLY justified! Many of my Korean
Christian friends who converted to Christ from Buddhism take their old idols of
Buddha and burn them in fire until only ashes remain. If only desires and attitudes
of our time could be ground down and burned in the flames of God’s righteous
wrath.
How often do ministers who ought to know better allow
themselves to be led away in bondage of sin by influential members of the
church! And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that
thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? (Ex
32:21) What is your
own price for compromise – do you have one? Aaron was left in charge just as
today’s clergy are left to stand up for Christ. He was doubtless moved by the
emotion of pride when he would be able to satisfy the desires of ALL the
people. Some today are still trying to satisfy ALL the people by being “all
things to all men.”
And Aaron said, Let not the
anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on
mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as
for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not
what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them
break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came
out this calf.
(Ex 32:22-24)
This excuse is quite familiar to us if we remember our excuses to mom over the
cookie jar, but totally inappropriate for a grown-up man of God. The Cloud of
the Lord was even still visible atop Sinai, yet these people wanted little
man-made gods to lead them back to the bondage of Egypt. How disgusting! Aaron
did not even offer a word of objection or of explanation as to why the desires
of the people were wrong. Instead of objecting to their desires, he
submits to their godless intentions. Can you imagine casting into a fire a
great mass of gold and out of that fire a molten calf emerges? Is this the
first example of evolution? Of course, evolution is even more ridiculous. At
least the calf was not alive, but the evolutionists believe life was formed
from masses of hot gas and an amalgamation of chemicals. I believe I can figure
out the source of the hot gases.
And when Moses saw that the
people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their
enemies: (Ex
32:25) Not only
were they naked in physical appearance, but also naked to the judgment of God.
Was Moses at fault for pronouncing judgment against these hellions? Not at all,
because it was the clear judgment of God. When we use God’s word to judge sin,
it is not our own judgment we use, but God’s.
Then Moses stood in the gate of
the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. And all
the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them,
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go
in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his
brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the
children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the
people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate
yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother;
that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. (Ex
32:26-29) On this
day the curse of Genesis 49:7 against the Levites was broken on their stand for
God. “Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it
was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.”
Now they will be dispersed among the tribes of Israel for God’s purpose and not
as a punishment. If any considers this an ancient and hard cruel
punishment, they would be wrong, for god will bring an even greater punishment
on unbelievers at the Last Day at the return of the Lord.
There are types and figures of Christ in the Old Testament,
yet none are perfect types. All are as inferior to Christ as mud is to Gold.
Moses here takes on an aura of the type of Christ: And it came to pass on
the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and
now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your
sin. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a
great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their
sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast
written. (Ex 32:30-32) Moses is willing to die for his
people just as Christ died for us; however, Moses could only offer to die for
their physical lives. Christ died for our eternal lives. God now says that
Moses cannot die for the people for such issues are left to God alone. And the LORD said unto Moses,
Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. (Ex
32:33) That would
include you and me were it not for the shed blood of Christ!
Now here is a cardinal lesson to man: God does not change His plans due to the
failures and wickedness of man. Man simply suffers loss after loss until he
awakens to the obedience required to God. Therefore now go, lead the
people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel
shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their
sin upon them. (Ex
32:34) Judgment
belongs to the Lord, and He will surely execute judgment against those who are
disobedient. God tells Moses to continue in the calling God as ordained him to
follow. We may become discouraged and even angry at the disloyalty of our Christian
friends, but God commands that we continue on the path He has set our feet and
continue in the way He leads. His Angel will lead the faithful minister and
Christian. God does not forget unrepented sin. In due time, He will visit the
sins of the people upon their heads. And the LORD plagued the people,
because they made the calf, which Aaron made. (Ex
32:35)
Our churches today have turned themselves into centers of entertainment and
sin. Do we suppose that God will not visit their sins upon them and their
nation?
