Exodus 32:15-29
July 9, 2023
Text:
Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.”
Moses replied:
“It is not the sound of victory,
it is not the sound of defeat;
it is the sound of singing that I hear.”
When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”
“Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.
Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’” The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”
You have been set apart to the Lord today
It can be quite hard to take a stand for what is right. The child who is outside during recess agrees with this statement as he sees a group of kids doing something that is not in line with the rules of recess. The right thing to do would be to intervene and explain to his peers that what they are doing is wrong, and they should consider some alternative forms of behavior instead. But he knows this will most likely bring some ridicule and mockery his direction from his classmates, so he simply looks the other way.
The parent whose older child is engaged in some sort of immoral behavior agrees with this statement, too. They recognize that what their adult child is doing is wrong and is hurting his or her relationship with God and also with their family. They recognize that they really should intervene, but they also don’t want to risk losing a relationship with their child. So, it becomes easier to look the other way.
The politician who also happens to be a Christian would agree with this, too. He truly feels that his Christian beliefs and morals could be a benefit to his work as a public servant, but he also knows that expressing such things could hurt his political aspirations. Thus, it becomes easier to remove such things from the conversation or hide such convictions amongst smooth political double-talk.
The college student agrees, too. She knows what the Bible says. She studied it for years. She believes it to be true. She fully trusts that Jesus is her Savior. And then those beliefs are challenged in the classroom or in the dorms or even in athletics. And she would love to take a stand for the truth. She would love to boldly proclaim what the Bible says about such things, but she also knows that it could affect the dreams that she had for her future, along with the goals that she has laid out for herself. So, it becomes easier to not say anything.
The Christian business owner agrees, too. He knows what the Bible clearly states about honesty and integrity, fairness and equality, priorities and humility, and even giving God the recognition and praise. But, it’s a cut-throat business world out there. You have to be shrewd and assertive or you’ll never make it. As a result, his Christian beliefs and morals are pushed to the side when he is at the workplace.
Now, these are meant to be hypothetical situations, but maybe you can relate to them to a certain degree. And I would submit to you that there is one thing at the heart of all of them: idolatry. You might remember that in catechism class you learned about two kinds of idolatry: open idolatry, which would be openly worshiping some sort of false god, and secret idolatry, pushing God out of first place in our hearts and replacing him with some earthly person or thing.
Thinking back to all those situations that we just mentioned, I do believe that secret idolatry is at the heart of each of them. Whether it is desiring to be accepted by your earthly peers, achieving success in earthly business, viewing earthly relationships as the most important thing, or looking to earthly people or things for your hope and confidence, what’s the problem here? Well, you may have noticed that I inserted the word “earthly” into each example. And that’s exactly the problem. We get too wrapped up in the stuff of this life that we quickly push God out of the picture. That’s how we get engrossed in secret idolatry.
For the Israelites, though, it was open idolatry. Three months after leaving Egypt, something that had been 400 years in the making, the children of Israel arrived at Mt. Sinai. In keeping with his promise, God brought his people out of Egypt and to this place, so that they could worship him as the true God and as the one who freed them slavery. The presence of God was so evident there because of the thunder, the lightning, and the thick cloud that covered the peak. Moses went up there to receive the law from God, so that he could share it with the people. There had even been a fellowship meal between God and the elders of the people. Moses lingered on the mountain a bit longer - forty days and forty nights in all.
This was a long time. People don’t like to wait more than an hour for something. Imagine waiting forty days?! So, the people grew impatient, and we all know what happened next. They talked Moses’ brother, Aaron, into building the golden calf, and they worshiped it. Now, that’s the Sunday school or Christlight version of the story, which certainly isn’t wrong, but the Bible is pretty descriptive in how they worshiped this golden calf. So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry (v 6). Things that were supposed to be done for the true God, sacrifices, were offered to a false god. And things that have nothing to do with worship - eating, drinking, and revelry - were also given to this false god. The idea of the Hebrew word for “revelry” has a sexual meaning to it, so it is quite clear that this was not a healthy thing that the people were doing. Sadly, it mimicked the worship forms of the pagan nations that surrounded them.
And this is the scene that Moses walks into when he comes down from Mt. Sinai. You can understand his anger, can’t you? After all God had done to rescue them from slavery in Egypt, they resort to this?! And by making them drink that false god, Moses showed them how false and worthless that calf really was. What kind of god is it that you can melt it down and consume it? What could a god like that possibly do for them?
It’s a lot like the things we mentioned earlier. Things like money, power, success, acceptance, and relationships might be nice. They might look real good on the outside, but they could melt away at any time. Or, sometimes God makes you eat it in an attempt to humble you and reel you back in. And his point is the same: whether it’s a golden calf or something that you set up in your heart as god, it’s still false. It’s still powerless to do anything to save you. And God may very well do something in your life to make that very clear to you.
And that’s where the Levites come in. Such idolatry is not only ugly and sinful, but it also had the potential to ruin the very reason for which God had led them out of Egypt. They were on their way to the Promised Land. To the place where the Savior would be born one day. And idolatry only stands in the way of the work of the Savior. So, this had to be dealt with swiftly and strongly. The Levites grabbed their swords and plunged them into the hearts of those who insisted on following a false god. They put to death their own relatives and friends because they were willing to take a stand for what was right. They would not allow their fellow Israelites to make a mockery of the true God by worshiping this golden calf, and they would make a clear testimony to anyone else who might consider getting involved in this idolatry. Only God is to be worshiped!
That act of shedding blood that day set the Levites apart from their countrymen. They took a stand, and God blessed them for it.
And it’s the shedding of blood that has set us apart to the Lord, too. Thank God that the Levites did take a stand that day because it had eternal benefits for us. The Savior was born in the Promised Land. He did shed his blood there for the sins of all people, and that’s what has set us apart. The holy, precious blood of Jesus has forgiven all of our sins, even our sins of idolatry. Jesus allowed nails and a spear to be plunged into his flesh. He felt the stabbing pain of eternal death. He gave up the lifeblood from his sacred veins to wash each and every one of our sins. Through that sacrifice on the cross, and by faith in what he did, we have been set apart to the Lord, today and every day.
That’s what allows us to do what Paul said to Timothy: flee from all this [from the trappings of the things of this world - those things that so easily become idols in our hearts], and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Living our faith is not something that we do in secret. It’s something that we do out in the open each and every day. That’s part of what it means to be set apart by the blood of Jesus. We are set apart, made holy, by faith, which means that forgiveness and eternal belong to us, but it also means that we are set apart to live as light in the dark world. We can do so boldly and confidently.
And the reality is that this might cause earthly difficulties for us. It might affect our personal relationships or our status in the world. But that’s all part of what Jesus said: Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Everything in this world is fleeting, so we don’t put our hope in it. Instead, by faith, we follow Jesus, even as we go about our unique and individual callings in this life.
Which might mean that, at times, we do have to take a stand for what is right. But our weapon is different than the one the Levites used at Mt. Sinai that day. The weapon that we have is quite sharper and more powerful than their swords. We have the sword of the Spirit. We have the Word of God, which is sharper than any double-edged sword, and it plunges right into the heart. As we take a stand for the truth of the gospel in this evil world, we recognize that the gospel will take care of itself. We simply wield it when God gives us the opportunity, and we let God take it from there.
Yes, it can be hard to take a stand for what is right. But, when you do, you stand on the Word of God. And you wield the most powerful weapon there is - that very Word. And you have the promise that God will work through that Word. So, use it! By boldly sharing the Word of God with a family member who is wandering or a coworker who is confused or a friend or classmate who is in the wrong, you have plunged the sword of the Spirit into that person’s heart. And God’s promise is attached to it - whenever his Word is shared, he gets right to work. You have been set apart to the Lord for this. He will empower you, and he will bless you. Amen.