Disclaimer

Disclaimer: I am not a Biblical scholar. All my posts and comments are opinions and thoughts formulated through my current understanding of the Bible. I strive to speak of things that can be validated through Biblical Scriptures, and when I'm merely speculating, I make sure to note it. My views can be flawed, and I thus welcome any constructive perspectives and criticisms!

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Exodus 32-33:1-6

MOSES BREAKS THE TABLETS OF COMMANDMENTS… LITERALLY (Exodus 32)

Israel falls back into idol worship (Exodus 32:1-6)
The Israelites didn’t think Moses was coming back and fell immediately back into Egyptian idolatry.

During this ordeal, the people violated at least the first 3 commandments:
1. They bowed to another God – breaking the 1st commandment. 
2. They made an engraved image – breaking the 2nd commandment. 
3. They used the Lord's name in vain – breaking the 3rd commandment. 

Aaron's fall here is people-pleasing. Instead of rebuking them for their lack of faith, he caved in to the people’s requests and gave them what they wanted. We must never have a great fear of pleasing man than pleasing God!

We must not be people-pleasers. It may not be popular to do the right thing, but we are not put in this world to please people. We are put in this world to be a LIGHT to the people. We are here to show them how God’s people live. Are we serious about our walk with God, our eternal life with God? Or, are we really just interested in fulfilling the lust of our flesh with worldly comforts? Figure that out, and our choice to either be people-pleasers or God-pleasers will become very clear.

Satan never gives up. As long as Jesus has not yet return to claim His kingdom, Satan will try his hardest to take as many souls as he can. We thus need to be on our guard and always have on the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20). When we feel that we are being tempted, we should pray for the protection and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, because we alone cannot successfully defeat Satan.

1 John 4:4
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

With the Holy Spirit, we can have the confidence to know that we are well protected!

Live not as a hypocrite!

Exodus 32:6
Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings.

The burnt offering is an offering that is completely consumed, representing our complete dedication to God. The peace offering represents fellowship with God.

Here, the people offered God these dedications yet their lives failed to line up with their offering!

We need to realize what we are doing when we worship. Are we just superstitious and want to believe in something, or are we serious about getting to know the almighty God who is very real? If we have come to know God, then approach Him the way He has taught us, not making up or copying paganistic rituals and think we’re honoring Him when we’re really just in great disobedience! 

Who would want to follow a God that could be made by human hands?!

Exodus 32:1
Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for 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.

This shows that the Israelites have lost their relationship with God and needed to create something that would allow them to feel that connection again. Many of us fall into this trap as well. For example, when we feel like we need to sit somewhere in the church because that was where we have previously met with God, or we feel that when we are at the Wailing Wall, that is where God can hear us best, etc. We are closest to God when our HEART is one with Him. God’s presence is not limited to location – and if we want to feel His presence, we just have to open our hearts up to Him!

Sometimes, faith is just waiting for God to work, not only just making things happen. 
The Israelites had no idea how long Moses would be gone and did not want to wait long. Moses was gone for a mere 40 days… It sure didn’t take them long before they fell right back into idolatry! 

When God is patient in doing things, we must not become impatient to stand in way of God's timing.

The golden calf was a symbol worshiped in Egypt for power and fertility
The worst kind of idolatry is self-worship, where we take the gifts God has blessed us with, and instead of thanking Him and use those gifts to give Him the glory, we think our success is ours alone and that we are amazing because we alone are superior.

Moses intercedes for his people (Exodus 32:7-14)

Exodus 32:7
And the LORD said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.”

At this point in time, God did not claim the Israelites as His people because of their disobedience.

Upon learning that God was aggravated, Moses immediately began interceding for his people, showing the great love he had developed for them. 

1st reason (Exodus 32:11): God had already put into so much work for these people. 

2nd reason (Exodus 32:12): Others would misunderstand God's judgment on Israel, that God didn't save Israel from Egypt because Egypt was sinful but because Israelites were a people that needed to be destroyed, so God took them out into the wilderness to do so. 

3rd reason (Exodus 32:13): God made a one-sided covenant with the people. That is, the fulfillment of this covenant was dependent on God and God alone, not at all requiring the obedience of the people. (Aren’t we glad our salvation is not dependent on our perfection but God’s and God’s alone?)

God relented (Exodus 32:14)
Some would use this example as how prayer "changed" the mind of God. However, I think a more well-rounded perspective is to view this in the context of 1 John 5:14-15.

1 John 5:14-15
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Moses' prayer was in line with God's wishes, and hence his intercession for his people was granted. 

Forty years earlier, Moses didn't have the heart to lead his people. But now, the above intercession is evidence of how God has cultivated Moses' heart as a shepherd for his people – Moses’ heart was now completely in line with God's call on Moses! This is how amazing God is when we are faithful in Him and allow Him to work through us! We may think we can’t; we may think the challenge is too great and that we simply are not qualified for the job. But, once we realize that we are not doing it based our own merits but based on God’s power, we will be able to relinquish control, allow God to be the driver of our lives, and see the amazing places He takes us!

Moses breaks the Tablets (Exodus 32:15-20)

Exodus 32:19-20
So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.

Imagine Moses' emotions here. This people had a great history behind them with a great future ahead of them. He leaves for 40 days and comes back to this? When he sees that many of the commandments had already been broken, breaking the tablets was a mere symbolism of what has already happened in their hearts. The commandments were not engraved on their hearts. What value is there then for the commandments carved on stones? Moses then had the people drink the water containing the destroyed idol, allowing them to bear the consequences of their sin.

Couple of lessons:

1. Moses is exposing the people to the folly of worshipping a false idol, where a mere man can come and reduce it to powder. How powerful can a god be if he can't protect itself from one man? How can such a god protect 2-3 million people? Again, we need to be fully aware of what we are worshiping. Are we worshiping God, the true Creator of the Universe, or do we just want to worship a figment of our imagination? What is the point of worshiping something that is not real? Why give such an idol our time, energy, and money for nothing, for no hope?

2. We must take immediate and drastic measures to drive out sin in our life. Very few of us commit murders. It is such a major sin, we know not to go near it – very much like how we know not to approach a burning building. However, the sins often ignored are the sins that “don’t seem so bad.” We therefore allow them to linger in our lives, not realizing how little by little, it eats away at our walk with God – very much like how frogs will be boiled alive if we put them first in cold water and then slowly increase the heat until the water is boiling. There is a saying, “Give a mouse a cookie, and it will ask for a glass of milk.” Satan is just like that mouse. We need to make sure we give him not one tiny, tiny hold to tug on our lives. If we do, it may start out as small, but he surely will increase it to enormous proportions. This is why Paul warned us to never give Satan a foothold (Ephesians 4:27)!

Aaron tolerates sin, while Moses eradicates sin (Exodus 32:21-29)
Aaron, in Moses’ absence, was supposed to be the leader of this people, to shepherd them in the ways of God. Instead, Aaron led the people straight into sin. Instead of coming clean when rebuked by Moses (Exodus 32:25), Aaron, like Adam, put a bunch of reasons between him and the sin he had committed (Exodus 32:22-24). 

Exodus 32:24
… and this calf came out.

First, Aaron blamed the people, then the gold, then the furnace, then the calf! Not once did he take the responsibility for his own actions. Instead, like Adam, Aaron portrayed himself as an innocent bystander. 

When we are confronted with our sin, we are to never lie or find excuses. Moses' intercession for Aaron was the only reason God didn’t strike Aaron dead on the spot – Just as how we are spiritually alive because Jesus continuously intercedes for us in front of the Father.

The sin Aaron had committed was already bad enough. If he had just taken responsibility, repent, and seek God’s guidance, the broken relationship between him and God could have been rapidly amended. It can be hard to acknowledge our sins and repent because of pride or shame or whatever. However, when we fail to take responsibility and lie and blame-shifts instead, we now have character issues that drag us farther into sin and prevent restoring our fellowship with God. But if we would just be honest about it and just spill it out to God, then the sin would not get bigger, and instead, the healing process could begin, restoring our relationship with God.

The worst excuses for us to use to justify our sins would be for us to tell ourselves, “Oh, it can’t be that bad. There are so many people who are worse than me. This is such a small sin compared to other much more serious sins.”

We are not God. Who are we to say what is “not that bad,” or how much we are better than others. God’s commandments are very clear. He tells us no idolatry. He doesn’t say, “Oh, money can buy you a lot of stuff, so yeah, go ahead, worship money. It’s okay. Compared to murder, worshiping is definitely way better off than murder.” No. God said no idolatry, no murder. That means either sin is wrong. Again, we need to be very vigilant about our walk with God. Satan loves to have a foothold on us and looks for every opportunity he can to grab on to our lives. “It’s not that bad,” is a very dangerous thought. This is how people lose their entire life-savings at a casino. And this is how we can lose our heavenly reward by allowing sin to continue to manifest in our lives.

Upon seeing the Israelites out of control, Moses took remedial actions
1. He broke the Tablets, symbolizing the Israelites had broken God’s commandments in their hearts.
2. He rebuked Aaron.
3. He rebuked the people.
4. He took actions to eradicate sin. 

Exodus 32:27
Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.”

Even upon Moses' return, the people have not stopped worshipping the false god, still committing sexual immorality amidst their lewd dancing and partying. This was an open rebellion against God and His commands. 

These people were set aside not so that God could give them the Ten Commandments but so that He could bring the Savior into the world through them. 

Here, we see that the people only cared about satisfying the flesh, not at all concerned about abiding in the will of God. This is the kind of mentality – the sin, the leaven – that would spread through all people if not stopped. 

Sin is to be eradicated, holding God above man. Sin cannot be tolerated. Sin is the foothold Satan has on our lives. If we do not eradicate it, it will grow, pulling us further and further away from God.

Moses intercedes for his people, again (Exodus 32:30-33:6) 

Exodus 32:32
Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.

Both Moses and Paul (e.g., Romans 9:1-3) exhibited great love for their people. They readily give up everything they have, sacrifice themselves completely, to ensure their people could be saved. They would readily die for the salvation of their people. Unfortunately, their blood is not good enough to wash away the sins of all people. As great as these men of God were, they were still sinners, and their blood could atone only for their own sins.

Jesus’ blood, however, could atone for the sins of the world (Matthew 1:21; Romans 3:23-26; Galatians 4:4-5; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Hebrews 9:15). Because Jesus was of no sin, His blood was pure in perfect righteousness, therefore able to wash us all of our sins.

Moses leads his people out of Sinai (Exodus 33)

Exodus 33:3
… for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

Because of their great disobedience, God described the Israelites as stiff-necked people (Exodus 33:3). The righteousness of God would consume the sins of the people, hence God, showing grace, would not grant his presence. God cannot bless a rebellious people with the fullness of His people without having such a people be burned up in judgment.

Fortunately, upon learning of God’s rebuke, the people immediately repented (Exodus 33:6).

When we become aware that we no longer enjoy unbroken fellowship with the Lord, we should… 
1. Recognize we are wrong (confess).
2. Apologize (repent).
3. Fix the wrong (eradicate sin – It’s not enough to just say, “I’m sorry.” If we are truly sorry, then take action to fix the problem. Otherwise, the apology is just empty words!)

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