Golden Calf - Part 1 of 4: From Impatience to Idolatry

The Life of Moses- Episode #25 🐂 What if our impatience with God's timing could lead us into dangerous spiritual territory? On this episode of Whispers of Grace, we uncover the hidden perils of idolatry through the story of the golden calf in Exodus 32:1-6. We kick off by exploring Paul's exhortations to the Corinthians, using the Israelites' experiences as a mirror to reflect on our own vulnerabilities. Humility is key, as we examine how feeling immune to idolatry can set us up for a fall, and how acknowledging our weaknesses brings us closer to Christ’s saving grace.

We'll also journey back to Mount Sinai, where the Israelites' impatience and anxiety led them to create and worship a golden calf in Moses' absence. This act of idolatry, despite their firsthand experiences of God's miraculous power, serves as a potent reminder of the dangers of straying from confident expectation in God. By dissecting the motivations behind their actions, we gain insights into how our own impatience can drive us to prioritize our desires over God's will. Through these ancient stories, we learn to foster patience and deepen our trust in God's timing, walking more closely with Jesus in our daily lives. Join us with open hearts and minds as we confront the idolatry that may lie hidden within us all.

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Episode Transcript

Julie (00:19):
Kia ora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for
women to be encouraged by God'sHoly Word.
I'm your host, julie Colbeth,and I am overjoyed to dig into
the Bible with you today.
Hello friends, kia ora, welcomeback to Whispers of Grace.

(00:40):
Today we are going to dive intoidolatry, everybody's favorite
topic, but this is a fantasticopportunity for us to realize
our own weakness.
The more that we can understandour own hearts and how easy it
is for us to fall away in sin,the closer a walk with Jesus we

(01:01):
can have.
It's more genuine and real.
So today we have some toughthings to walk through and to
think about, but it is sovaluable and important to be
doing those things.
And as we start off, I justwanted to read to you a piece of
1 Corinthians 10.
This is written by Paul to thechurch at Corinth, and it gives
a little bit of context aboutwhat we're going to be reading

(01:22):
today.
Moreover, brethren, I do notwant you to be unaware that all
our fathers were under the cloudand all passed through the sea.
All were baptized into Moses inthe cloud and in the sea, all
ate the same spiritual food andall drank the same spiritual
drink, for they drank of thatspiritual rock that followed

(01:43):
them, and that rock was Christ.
But with most of them, god wasnot well pleased, for their
bodies were scattered in thewilderness.
Now these things became ourexamples, to the intent that we
should not lust after evilthings, as they also lusted, and
do not become idolaters, assome of them were.
As it is written, the peoplesat down to eat and drink and

(02:05):
rose up to play.
Nor let us commit sexualimmorality, as some of them did
and in one day 23,000 fell.
Nor let us tempt Christ, assome of them also tempted and
were destroyed by serpents.
Nor complain, as some of themalso complained and were
destroyed by the destroyer.
Now, all of these thingshappened to them as examples and

(02:29):
they were written for ouradmonition, upon whom the ends
of the ages have come.
Therefore, let him who thinkshe stands take heed lest he fall
.
So I wanted to start with thistoday, because Paul encourages
the church in Corinth that thethings that were written in the
Old Testament, what we'rereading in the life of Moses,

(02:52):
these things were recorded forour admonition or our
instruction.
They're there to teach ussomething, to show us something.
So there is so much value inwhat we're doing and what we're
thinking about.
So there is so much value inwhat we're doing and what we're
thinking about.
And verse 12 reminds us that ifyou think that you stand and
the thought of idolatry doesn'taffect you, you feel as though

(03:13):
this is a message for someoneelse or a different culture than
yours.
It says to take heed, to beware, to be warned, because you can
very easily fall.
So, like I said at thebeginning, humility is the key
to having a vibrant walk withJesus, because when we know who
we really are and how weak wereally are, it pushes us to

(03:35):
Christ and it makes him so muchmore precious to us, because we
see what we're being saved from,not just in the past, with our
sins forgiven, but right now,every day, what he's given us to
be able to walk in holiness,and we're all susceptible to the
same things.
So today, as we look at thisblatant idolatry of Israel, it

(03:58):
will put the weakness of all ofmankind on display, and we are
so blessed to have these storiespreserved so that we can study
them and learn about them.
So let's approach this materialwith humble hearts and allow
the Holy Spirit to reveal thingsto you about the roots of
idolatry that can easily findpurchase in each one of us.

(04:19):
So today we're going to pick upour story in Exodus, chapter 32.
We're only going to do versesone to six and I'm going to do
the rest, of the golden calf, inthe next episodes.
So where we're starting today,moses is still up on Mount Sinai
with God because, remember,he's up there for 40 days, which
is a long time.
And what's he doing up there?

(04:40):
While he's up on the mountain,all of Israel is down in the
valley waiting on him, and Mosesis receiving all of the plans
for building the tabernacle andthe instructions for setting up
the priesthood.
God is also explaining howexactly these people are
supposed to live these holylives.
The sacrificial system and allof these important roots of

(05:03):
Israel are being established.
So that's what Moses is doing.
But down in the valley.
That's what we're going tofocus on today, exodus 32.
Now, when the people saw thatMoses delayed coming down from
the mountain, the peoplegathered together to Aaron and
said to him come, make us godsthat shall go before us.

(05:24):
For as for this Moses, the manwho brought us up out of the
land of Egypt, before us.
For as for this Moses, the manwho brought us up out of the
land of Egypt.
We don't know what's become ofhim.
And Aaron said to them breakoff the golden earrings which
are in the ears of your wives,your sons and your daughters and
bring them to me.
So all the people broke off thegolden earrings which were in
their ears and brought them toAaron and he received the gold

(05:45):
from their hands and hefashioned it with an engraving
tool and made a molded calf.
Then they said this is your God, o Israel, that brought you out
of the land of Egypt.
So when Aaron saw it, he builtan altar before it and Aaron
made a proclamation and saidtomorrow is a feast to the Lord.

(06:05):
Then they rose early on thenext day, offered burnt
offerings and brought peaceofferings, and the people sat
down to eat and drink and theyrose up to play.
So these six verses tell us areally powerful, impactful story
about Israel and aboutourselves.
So what I want to focus on firstis the motivation behind this

(06:28):
idolatry.
What are the roots?
Where did it start?
So it starts with Mosesdelaying coming.
That's the first thing thatstood out to me as I read this
verse.
Right in verse one, it says now.
When the people saw that Mosesdelayed coming down the mountain
, think of this it's been 40long days.

(06:49):
Israel has only been a fewmonths out of Egypt.
Out of slavery, they're livingin the desert.
They were told that they'regoing to the promised land, yet
they went in the oppositedirection and here they are,
camped at the base of MountSinai.
Now God has done amazing thingsfor them.
They saw plagues, they saw fireand cloud.
They saw the manifestation ofGod's power shaking the mountain

(07:13):
with fire and thunder.
They heard the voice of Godspeaking out the Ten
Commandments.
But then Moses goes up intothis terrifying situation and
now he's gone for 40 long daysand the people are still down
here waiting.
And remember they are justfreshly out of a pagan society

(07:34):
that they lived in for hundredsof years, so here their
instincts are going to kind ofkick in.
But what I want us to notice isthe motivation and the roots of
this idolatry is that theirexpectations were not met.
They didn't think he was goingto be gone as long as he was and
they thought they should be inthe promised land by now, and

(07:56):
they decided that they were donewaiting.
Now I don't know about you, butI see myself in there quite
often.
How often do we get ourselvesinto trouble when our
expectations aren't met and wedon't have any patience?
The impatience with God'stiming.
It is a frequent thing in mylife and in the lives of so many

(08:18):
others.
He's not doing it how and whenthey wanted, so Israel here
decides that they're going to doit their own way.
So here's a few things that Ipulled out.
There's so many more, but thisis what I saw, things that we
can learn from the situation.
So this impatience with God'stiming that lives in our hearts.

(08:39):
Number one it endangers oursouls.
Did you ever think of it likethat?
That impatience with God'stiming can actually be a
dangerous place to be, becauseyou're putting self on the
throne when you're choosing tobe impatient instead of waiting
on God, you're putting yourtimeline above his timeline, and

(09:02):
that is a dangerous place to be.
Number two impatience withGod's timing.
It impairs our decision making.