November 24, 2024 • 37 mins
The Life of Moses- Episode #28 🤥 Can the story of Aaron and the Israelites at Mount Sinai transform our understanding of failure, responsibility, and redemption? Join us on Whispers of Grace as we promise to unravel these profound themes through this iconic biblical narrative. We'll explore the shocking moment of idolatry and Moses' bold reaction to this betrayal, using it as a lens to examine the intense emotions of righteous anger and the consequences that follow. This episode challenges us to reflect on our own responses to failure and the complex nature of human wrath versus divine justice.
Unpack the layers of personal responsibility as we scrutinize Aaron's response to the golden calf incident. His attempt to deflect blame onto the Israelites forces us to confront our own tendencies to avoid accountability in times of moral testing. By highlighting the importance of owning our choices, we encourage listeners to resist the allure of the easy path in favor of maintaining integrity, even when external pressures mount. Through Aaron's story, we are reminded of the enduring value of standing firm in righteousness amidst adversity.
Finally, we shift our focus to the balance of God's judgment and mercy. Using a courtroom analogy, we examine the necessity of justice in maintaining divine goodness. With insights from the book of Lamentations and Romans 6:23, we reflect on the painful yet hopeful aspects of divine punishment and compassion. Moses' intercession for Israel becomes a powerful mirror of Christ's atoning sacrifice, urging us to embrace the incredible gift of salvation with gratitude. Learn how our failures can become vessels for God's strength, leading us to live a life that glorifies Him.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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.
Kia ora, friends, and welcomeback to Whispers of Grace.
(00:40):
I am overjoyed, as always, tobe here with you and to have a
chance to dig into thesescriptures as we finish up our
Mount Sinai series.
How we respond to the failureof others and how we respond to
our own failures and sins says awhole lot about us.
Are we quick to make excuses?
(01:01):
Are we slow to make excuses?
Are we slow to apologize?
Do we point out the failures inothers but give ourselves the
benefit of the doubt, or do wegive all the grace to others and
yet judge ourselves too harshly?
In today's text, we are goingto take a look at Aaron's
response for leading Israel intoidolatry, and we will also see
(01:23):
Moses's response to Israel's sin, even though he wasn't there.
He wasn't a part of it.
He was up on the mountain withGod.
Today we are going to see whathappens when Moses comes down
the mountain, sees what'shappening with Aaron and the
Israelites and the golden calfand the judgment that God doles
out, and there is so much toglean in this as we dive into
(01:46):
the justice and judgment of Godand looking at our own hearts.
There's so much here, so let'sget right into it.
I'm going to read from Exodus,chapter 32, verse 15, and this
is the New Living Translation.
Then Moses turned and went downthe mountain.
He held in his hands the twostone tablets inscribed with the
terms of the covenant.
(02:07):
They were inscribed on bothsides, front and back.
These tablets were God's work.
The words on them were writtenby God himself.
When Joshua heard theboisterous noise of the people
shouting below them, heexclaimed to Moses it sounds
like war in the camp.
But Moses replied no, it's nota shout of victory, nor the
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wailing of defeat.
I hear the sound of acelebration.
When they came near the camp,moses saw the calf and the
dancing and he burned with anger.
He threw the stone tablets tothe ground, smashing them at the
foot of the mountain.
He took the calf that they hadmade and burned it, and then he
ground it into powder, threw itinto the water and forced the
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people to drink it.
Finally, he turned to Aaron anddemanded what did these people
do to you to make you bring suchterrible sin upon them, don't
get so upset.
My lord Aaron replied youyourself know how evil these
people are.
And they said to me make usgods who will lead us.
We don't know what happened tothis fellow Moses who brought us
(03:13):
here from the land of Egypt.
So I told them whoever has goldjewelry, take it off.
And when they brought it to me,I simply threw it into the fire
, and out came this calf.
Moses saw that Aaron had let thepeople get completely out of
control, much to the amusementof their enemies.
So he stood at the entrance tothe camp and shouted All of you
(03:35):
who are on the Lord's side, comehere and join me.
And all the Levites gatheredaround him.
Moses told them this is whatthe Lord, the God of Israel,
says him.
Moses told them this is whatthe Lord, the God of Israel,
says Each of you, take yourswords and go back and forth
from one end of the camp to theother.
Kill everyone, even yourbrothers, friends and neighbors.
The Levites obeyed Moses'command, and about 3,000 people
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died that day.
Then Moses told the LevitesToday, next day, moses said to
the people.
(04:24):
So Moses returned to the Lordand said oh, what a terrible sin
these people have committed.
They have made gods of gold forthemselves.
But now, if you will onlyforgive their sin, but if not,
erase my name from the recordthat you've written.
But the Lord replied to Mosesno, I will erase the name of
everyone who has sinned againstme.
(04:45):
Now go lead the people to theplace that I told you about.
Look, my angel will lead theway before you, and when I come
to call the people to account, Iwill certainly hold them
responsible for their sins.
And then the Lord sent a greatplague upon the people because
they had worshipped the calfthat Aaron had made.
Upon the people because theyhad worshiped the calf that
(05:07):
Aaron had made.
So this is a big section ofscripture dealing with the
recompense that is handed downfor this golden calf incident.
It's so important that we havethese recorded bits because it
shows us the result of all ofthis sinfulness and how it was
handled.
There's so many importantthings that we can glean from
this, so we're going to start inverse 19.
It said that Moses's angerbecame hot when he saw what was
(05:29):
happening.
He was incredibly angry, and itsaid that he took the tablets
and broke them at the foot ofthe mountain.
Now, this is not the first orthe last time that we'll see
Moses act in anger, becauseremember all the way back when
he was angry with that Egyptianwho was beating a Hebrew slave,
he killed him and hid him in thesand.
Now this is a long time ago,but we've seen Moses's anger
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before and here we see himenraged at the sin of Israel and
breaking the stone tablets, andlater we're going to see him
strike the rock out of anger.
So Moses has an anger problemthat he's obviously working
through rightful anger and allthese instances.
But what to do with that anger?
There is this thin line betweena righteous anger, like Jesus
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turning over tables in thetemple, and the wrath of man.
But here, in this instance, Ithink that Moses breaks this
physical record of the law tosignify that Israel had broken
the law of God.
And that image of Mosessmashing these sacred tablets
that were written by God, itwould stick with Israel.
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I know it would stick with me.
If you ever saw somebody getreally angry, it sticks with you
.
So this picture, I think thatit would be stuck in their mind,
these broken pieces of theTestament, they would testify to
Israel's broken relationshipwith God and their broken
promises.
So I think there's more thanjust rage here, and God doesn't
punish him for this.
So I think that this is just apicture of what Israel is
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actually doing.
They're breaking God's heart,they're breaking their promises,
and their relationship with Godat this point is affected.
So after this happens in verse20, it says that he took the
golden calf.
Moses takes the calf, he burnsit up in a fire, he grounds it
to powder and then he scattersit over the water and makes the
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children of Israel drink it.
So Moses completely destroyedany trace of their little craft
project that turned into a deity.
He didn't want any piece of itto remain, and in doing this,
moses showed how easily thislittle golden statue could be
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destroyed.
It was not an eternal,all-powerful, enduring God that
could part the seas and bringthe plagues.
It was just a feeble work ofman's hands that could easily be
overpowered and destroyed, andMoses made sure that this
defiled gold couldn't be usedagain for any purpose.
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Interestingly enough, thisstrange act of grinding this
idol up to pieces and havingIsrael drink it it's very
similar to something fromNumbers 5 that's called the
water of bitterness.
Such an interesting littlething in the book of Numbers.
So this water of bitterness issomething that would be drunk by
a wife that was suspected ofunfaithfulness, so something
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that would be done in the templewith a priest and a married
couple, and if the man suspectedhis wife was being unfaithful
he could bring her to the priest.
The priest would make thislittle concoction, she would
drink it and if she was guilty,it says it's kind of like her
womb would rot almost, or shewouldn't be able to have
children, and if she was proveninnocent, nothing would happen.
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She would feel fine and go herway.
But it's interesting becausehere Israel has been completely
unfaithful to God and they'rebeing forced to drink this kind
of water of bitterness that islaced with the gold of their sin
.
So, very interesting waythey're being punished, and this
is just the beginning of what'sgoing to happen here.
(09:06):
So in verse 21, it says andMoses said to Aaron what did
this people do to you that youhave brought so great a sin upon
them?
Now, this is such a good heartsearching question because it
causes Aaron to consider whatmade him completely compromise
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his role and it reveals where hewas weak and where he was
willing to bend.
What did this people do to youthat you have brought so great a
sin upon them?
What happened to make youcompromise?
What happened to make youcompromise?
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And Moses's question here italso emphasizes that Aaron's
failing didn't just affect him,but it brought sin upon the
entire nation of Israel.
It is so important to noticehow our sin affects the people
around us.
Even when we don't think itdoes, when we think it's
something that's inside of ourown hearts or that no one sees,
it does affect others Becauseour failings, they run over into
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the lives of others our familymembers, our friends, our
co-workers.
Sin corrupts and often we don'tunderstand the effect.
Here in this passage we can seeit blatantly.
Here in this passage, we cansee it blatantly.
And Aaron's response here isjust unbelievable.
Aaron says don't get so upset,my Lord.
You yourself know how evilthese people are.
(10:34):
And they said to me make usgods who will lead us.
We don't know what's happenedto this fellow Moses who brought
us out of the land of Egypt.
So I told them whoever has goldjewelry, take it off.
And when they brought it to me,I simply threw it into the fire
and out came this calf.
It sounds like a story thatyour toddler told you, right?
(10:54):
But this is a grown man andmuch less the leader of Israel.
This is what he's saying toMoses.
Aaron is basically tellingMoses chill out.
Aaron is basically tellingMoses chill out.
He's so flippant with thismassive sin that he just
publicly committed.
And then comes the blame shift.
As old as Eden.
Right, it wasn't me, it was thepeople.
You know how bent on evil theyare.
(11:27):
Moses fully understood the evilcomplaining rabble that he was
leading, but he understood thatit was his job to restrain the
evil tendencies of Israel, notto encourage them or to stand by
and watch them run wild.
Proverbs 14, 12 says there is away that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way of death.
Proverbs 29, 18 says wherethere is no revelation, no
message or attention to thevoice of God, the people cast
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off all moral restraint and theybecome wild and ungovernable
and anarchy reigns when there isno vision, no leadership, no
message from God.
And we see the truth of thatplayed out perfectly in this
situation, because withoutleadership and instruction and
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what is good and right, humanhearts will run to whatever
seems right in our own eyes,just like in the Old Testament
times of the judges.
But here we see Aaron.
He decided that it was just toohard to stand up for God in the
midst of this resistance, so hejust rolled with it and soon he
found himself at the epicenterof the idolatry.
He actually became the pioneerfor idol worship in the season
(12:34):
for Israel, instead of thespokesperson for God.
So because of this fear,because he wasn't willing to
resist the mob, it tells us inverse four in the same chapter,
that Aaron fashioned the goldwith an engraving tool and made
a molded calf.
So the reality is that he hadasked for the gold, he melted it
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down and he had taken time tocraft a pagan deity.
Aaron literally made this idolwith his hands.
It took him time, he wasintimately acquainted with every
stroke and detail because itwas his own workmanship.
And yet in this moment hedenies any involvement and he
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lies to cover his weakness.
He says that the calf justwalked out of the fire.
He's trying to insinuate thatit was some kind of a miracle
and it was out of his hands.
In Deuteronomy, chapter 9, verse20, it's a parallel passage to
this section it tells us thatwhen Moses was interceding on
the mountain for Israel, he wasalso interceding for Aaron,
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because God was so angry withAaron for this failure that he
would have destroyed him.
But because Moses intercedes,aaron's life was saved would
have destroyed him, but becauseMoses intercedes, aaron's life
was saved.
Aaron, he messed up massivelyand he tried to wriggle out of
the consequences by tellingMoses to chill out.
He tries to get out of it byblaming the people and then
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finally he acts like this calfjust created itself.
Aaron, he used every guiltyploy available to hide from what
he had done.
Aaron, he used every guiltyploy available to hide from what
he had done.
He was guilty and probablyashamed, or he was seriously
deceived, but either way, wehave all seen humans respond
this way.
Haven't we Done somethingmassively terrible and then not
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want to take any responsibilityfor it?
This incident that we'rereading about is a very
important one, is such a humanstory.
This is all of us, just likeAaron, we don't like to take the
harder road of righteousness.
We don't want to stand againsta mob.
That's hard and it's dangerous.
We don't like to takeresponsibility for our sins and
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misjudgments, and we certainlyknow what it's like to
compromise under pressure,whether people can see it or
they don't, and whether it's anoutward example or it's just in
our hearts.
This is a God-given opportunityfor us to examine our own
hearts through the lens of thisstory, because it is so easy,
effortless, really to blame thecircumstances or the people
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around us for our own sinfulbehavior or a bad temper.
I'm very much including myselfin this too.
Sometimes we blame everythingbut ourselves without even
thinking too hard about it.
It is easy to blame the traffic, or the consistently rude
co-worker, or the car trouble,or the cranky children, or the
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hormonal teenager, or themanipulative parent, or the bad
weather teenager or themanipulative parent, or the bad
weather, or the financialhardships, or the boss that is
terrible at his job, or the lackof sleep, or the impossible
professor, or the spouse, or thesystem or society, and on and
on and on and on.
It's effortless to blame thesethings for our bad attitudes or
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for our snapping at our familiesor our roommates, or for making
poor life choices.
These things push us and we allhave to decide how we're going
to respond.
Now don't get me wrong.
These normal human things aredifficult and they certainly
impact our moods.
Some of these things can woundus very, very deeply and can
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take years to heal from.
I am not trying to say that thepain in your life is small and
inconsequential and you justhave to get over it.
That's not at all what I'msaying.
What I am saying is that thesethings are not directly
responsible for our choices.
Our choices are our own.
We all choose how we're goingto react in the midst of
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difficult things and we need toown those choices.
When we get stressed out, whenwe're pressed, when things are
taken away from us, how do werespond?
Those choices are ours Becausewe're going to experience
thousands of difficulties in ourlives and so often they come in
seasons, huh, like one afterthe other, buffeting us like
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waves.
You're just in a season ofdifficulty.
We're one thing after the next,and we shouldn't be surprised,
because Jesus promised that inthis world we're going to have
tribulation.
We're going to have difficultyand troubles.
We live in a fallen world thathas been ravaged by sin.
We should not be surprised whendifficulties come our way,
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ravaged by sin.
We should not be surprised whendifficulties come our way and
we get to choose how we're goingto respond to this broken world
with its broken people.
We can choose to be reactionaryReactionary people that are
constantly being emotionallydragged around by the
circumstances around us.
That's a lot of us.
We're controlled by ourcircumstances because we're
reacting to an evil world.
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It's easy to monologue abouthow disappointed we are by
political parties and primeministers and pastors and
churches, or we can choose toact differently.
We can choose to act in a wiseway that is not shaken by the
failures of man and those aroundus.
We can choose to act in a wiseway that is not shaken by the
failures of man and those aroundus.
We can choose to act in a waythat's not undone by the sins of
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others.
Our reactions can be temperedwith faith in an unshakable God
who sees everything.
We can choose to take time tobreathe and recenter ourselves
in the midst of these storms andtrust in God over and over and
over again, sometimes moment tomoment.
We can choose prayer instead ofretaliation.
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We can choose stillness insteadof over-functioning to distract
from the emotional tornado inour hearts.
That's a lot of us, right.
Keep busy and you don't have tothink about all the tornado in
our hearts.
That's a lot of us, right.
Keep busy and you don't have tothink about all the stuff in
your heart.
We can choose to slow down andthink instead of jumping into
something without counting thecost.
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These are things that we cangrow into and we love to make
excuses for our reactions andour weaknesses, just like Aaron.
But we need to take some timeand consider this great question
that Moses posed to him whathappened that caused you to sin?
It is vital for us to see ourown failures and to claim
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responsibility for them.
We need to own it.
When we screw up, we need torecognize what caused it.
It is healthy and necessarypractice to ask ourselves where
we compromised and how we couldhave chosen to act differently.
If we don't dissect the why inour sin, then we don't know
where we're weak and we're goingto continue to walk into
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dangerous territory unaware ofhow deeply it affects us.
Now, aaron, he had made massivemistakes, but he could have
looked back at the situation andhis leadership choices and
realized how anxious he got whenMoses was gone and how
desperate he was to please thepeople, and how quickly he
relied on his fleshly intellectto simply create a new God when
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the old one was toounpredictable for him.
Aaron could have learned howweak and unfocused he was under
pressure.
If he would have only beenbrave enough and humble enough
to own his mistakes, he couldhave blossomed under the
refining experience instead ofhiding from his true nature.
And maybe he did, we don't know.
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It's not recorded in scripture.
We can only see what hisinitial reaction is here with
Moses, but some of the bestleaders have made the biggest
mistakes and learned from them.
We need to allow the irritationsand frustrations of life to
bring us straight to Jesus andask what are you saying to me
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through this difficulty?
Because if we're willing to askthat question, he will speak to
us.
He will reveal things to usthat we couldn't see any other
way, and when we come to him,desperate, that is when he is
happy to meet us.
Scripture says that God rewardsthose that diligently seek him,
and he loves to lift up thehumble.
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God can't change you if youwon't take an honest look at
your tendency to blame, shift orhide beside someone else's
shortcomings.
We have to be brave enough toadmit our mistakes and the part
that we play in our badattitudes.
We need to face our weaknessesand let Jesus be our strength as
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we lean on him in these momentsso many good things to think
about and to really press into.
And as we jump back into ourtext, we're going to see the
severity that is taken whendealing with Israel's sin,
Because Moses steps back in asthe true leader.
Where Aaron buckled, moses isgoing to step up.
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Moses shows himself as anuncompromised leader here that
brings justice and does it witha humble heart.
So back into our text here.
Verse 25 says that Moses sawthat Aaron had let the people
get completely out of control,much to the amusement of their
enemies.
So he stood at the entrance ofthe camp and shouted all of you
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who are on the Lord's side, comehere and join me.
And only the Levites gatheredaround him.
And then Moses tells them thatthey have to go all throughout
the camp of Israel and kill allof the people that have been
worshiping this idol, and itdoesn't matter who they are.
The Levites obey Moses' commandand 3,000 people die that day.
(22:15):
Now there are many of us thatread this section and we cringe
internally.
We want to skip over thesesections and not linger on the
thought of such a violent actbeing condoned and much less
directed by God.
So let's just take some time topick it apart and walk through
it.
So verse 25, it tells us thatthe people were unrestrained in
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their worship of the idol.
So the idea behind this verb inHebrew is a loosening to be
uncovered or bare.
And in some translations it sayswhen Moses saw that the people
were naked, for Aaron had madethem naked unto their shame
among their enemies.
So it seems that the peoplewere engaged in some sort of
religious prostitution, whichwas so common for that time
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period.
Not only were they worshipingan idol, but they had become
shameless and thrown off allsense of propriety.
This wickedness had to bestopped before it infected all
of Israel.
So Moses immediately draws aline in the sand and splits the
people by loyalty and he sayswhoever's on the Lord's side,
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come to me.
And sadly, the only tribe thatresponds is the tribe of Levi.
Out of 12 tribes that had justseen the miracles of God for
months and his amazing power,only one tribe chose to stand
with God instead of the goldencalf and their brazen worship.
Look how quickly and thoroughlysin corrupted these people.
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It's unbelievable how easily wecan be deceived.
So, at Moses's command, theLevites grabbed their swords and
execute 3,000 people that wereblatantly partaking in the pagan
worship.
So these were probably theringleaders the most flagrant in
their sin, because after this,more are going to die from a
plague.
But there was no specialtreatment shown for friends or
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for family.
Anyone who chose to blatantlystand with a golden calf was
killed immediately.
So now we come face to face withit, this righteous judgment of
God and the death of all thesepeople, and, like I mentioned
before, there's so many of us.
We crinned and we want to skipthis section.
But one thing we need tounderstand is that the judgment
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and justice of God is absolutelyessential to his goodness.
I'm going to say that one moretime the judgment and justice of
God is absolutely essential tohis goodness because he wouldn't
be a just judge if he didn'tpunish sin.
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The Bible tells us that thewages of sin is death.
It's that simple.
The payment for sin is alwaysdeath.
This was seen in thesacrificial system in the Old
Testament.
Sin always requires recompense.
Sin, the opposite ofrighteousness and goodness.
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It comes at such a high costbecause it goes against the
created order and it introducesnothing but pain and separation
from God.
So just to flesh this out, Iwant us to consider something.
I don't know if you've ever beencalled for jury duty, but
imagine that you're a juror in acourt case where three innocent
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victims have been murdered andit's your job to listen, day
after day, to witnesses andfamily members talk about how
this terrible act has alteredtheir life and caused so much
pain.
At the end of all the weeks oftestimony and proof, there was
absolutely no doubt to the guiltof this person on trial.
The weeks of testimony andproof there was absolutely no
doubt to the guilt of thisperson on trial.
They even have the murderweapon with fingerprints on it
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and a time-stamped video andeyewitnesses.
It finally comes down to thetime of sentencing and the judge
says you're free to go, justdon't do it again.
Can you imagine the outrage?
That would be absolutelyhorrible and that judge would be
removed because he wouldn't beconcerned with the safety of the
public and he couldn't betrusted to punish crime.
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At this point he would become aworthless puppet.
If he had no passion forjustice, his job would make no
sense, and God is not like that.
He is a good judge that iscommitted to truth and justice.
He is a good judge that iscommitted to truth and justice.
The book of Lamentations cangive us a little bit more
perspective on the judgment ofGod.
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It addresses the pain and thereality of this recompense for
sin.
It's written by the prophetJeremiah, who wrote the book as
he watched Babylon invade anddestroy Jerusalem, which was his
home.
It broke his heart to seeIsrael punished, but they were
being punished for theiridolatry and for walking away
from God.
So this is long after the daysof Moses, but it helps us to
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understand what's happening here, because Jeremiah, he saw the
death and the destruction and hewrote the book of Lamentations
as like a funeral dirge.
So listen to this, because youcan really hear his pain, but
also his perspective, eventhough he's living it in the
middle of the pain, watching ithappen.
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Listen to the pain and theperspective.
This is from chapter three inLamentations.
This is a couple of littlesections.
I am the man who has seenaffliction by the rod of the
Lord's wrath.
He has driven me away and mademe walk in darkness rather than
light.
Indeed, he has turned his handagainst me again and again, all
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day long.
He has made my skin and myflesh grow old and my bones have
been broken.
He has besieged me andsurrounded me with bitterness
and hardship.
He has made me dwell indarkness, like those long dead.
He has walled me in so I cannotescape, and weighed me down
with chains.
Even though I cry out for help,he shuts out my prayer.
(27:59):
He has barred my way withblocks of stone and made my
paths crooked, like a bear lyingin wait or like a lion in
hiding.
He's dragged me from the pathand mangled me and left me
without help.
He pierced my heart with arrowsfrom his quiver.
He has broken my teeth withgravel and trampled me into the
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dust.
I have been deprived of peace.
I have forgotten whatprosperity is.
So I said, my splendor is gone.
Gone and all that I hoped fromthe Lord.
I remember my affliction and mywandering, the bitterness and
the gall.
I well remember them, and mysoul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind andtherefore I have hope Because of
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the Lord's great love.
We are not consumed, for hiscompassions never fail.
They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness, Isay to myself.
The Lord is my portion.
Therefore, I will wait for him.
The Lord is good to those whohope in him, to the one who seek
him.
It is good to wait quietly forthe salvation of the Lord.
(29:10):
It is good for a man to bearthe yoke while he is young.
Let him sit alone in silence,for the Lord has laid it on him.
Let him bury his face in thedust.
There may yet be hope.
Let him offer his cheek to theone who would strike him.
And then at the bottom he sayslet us examine our ways and test
(29:47):
them and let us return to theLord.
So this incredible passage ofscripture shows us how deep the
pain is.
Yet Jeremiah understood thatthis pain was a punishment, but
his compassion and his unfailinglove would bring his heart back
to Israel, that this afflictionwould not last forever.
(30:10):
But it reinforces what Romans6.23 says the wages of sin is
death, but the free gift of Godis eternal life in Christ Jesus,
our Lord.
We need to remember that wedeserve nothing less than death
for all that we have done.
The payment for sin is alwaysdeath, and hopefully this can
(30:32):
fill our hearts afresh withgratitude and a deeper
understanding of what we havebeen saved from, because, just
like our Savior, jesus bore thejudgment for our sin.
Back in our text here in Exodus32, 32, we're going to see this
exact heart reflected in Moses.
He understands the judgment ofGod, but he asks for compassion,
(30:54):
for forgiveness.
He steps in as the intercessoronce again to ask God to bless
Israel, to turn his face towardsthem and to not wipe them out.
So Moses goes back on themountain to speak with God and
he says yet now he's speaking tothe Lord if you will forgive
their sin, but if not, I pray,blot me out of your book, which
(31:19):
you have written.
He says, lord, please forgivethem, but if not, take my life
as a ransom.
Blot me out of your book.
I don't want to be a part of itanymore.
If you're going to take themout, take me out too.
And it is such a stark contrasthere because Moses responds so
differently than Aaron did.
(31:39):
Moses offers to lay his ownlife down for a sin that he
wasn't even a part of, he didn'tcommit.
He wasn't even around when ithappened, yet he was willing to
be blotted out of God's book.
Moses's willingness to sacrificehis own standing with God shows
us his immense love anddedication to Israel.
(32:01):
It also reinforces this man'shumble heart.
He knew who he was and he knewwhat he was called to Israel.
It also reinforces this man'shumble heart.
He knew who he was and he knewwhat he was called to do.
I want to leave you with thisshining example of humility
Moses.
He didn't hesitate to willinglylay down his life for a sinful
people because he knew his God.
(32:21):
He had just spent 40 days inthe presence of God on Mount
Sinai, fellowshipping with God,and that clear picture of God is
what helped this man to remainhumble, to be willing to take on
the offenses of others into hisown life, even though they
weren't his.
He had the heart of our Messiah.
(32:42):
He had the heart of Jesus,because he was so tightly
fellowshipping with God, theFather.
This week for school, one of mydaughters had a class
performance, and this termthey're studying service, so
they had all the parents come inand all of these year four kids
planned this little event.
So the teacher really wasn'tvery involved.
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She let them plan it all.
So there was tables and chairs,there was tablecloths on all
the tables.
Each table was themed.
They had made placemats thatwere laminated for each of us
made bookmarks with our name onthem, and they performed songs
and dances.
We sang together.
They made a video of all thethings that they're thankful for
(33:26):
.
And this whole presentation,along with this beautiful
morning tea, was just all ofthese sweet little year four
kids expressing their gratitudeand thankfulness to their
parents for all the things thatwe do for them.
And I just thought this is somuch work for these little
people and her teacher wastelling us how hard it was for
(33:47):
them to do all of these things,like to create everything in
this room took them so much time.
But she said that it had justgiven them so much joy that they
did it with overflowing hearts.
And truly, my daughter was soexcited for weeks and weeks and
weeks to bring me into thespecial room, sit me in my
special little seat, show me allthe things that she had made
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and perform and feed me and giveme drinks.
She just was so excited.
And my daughter's teacher wassaying it's because they are so
excited to show you these thingsthat it hasn't even been work
to them, even though it wasliterally a lot of work that
they had done.
But she said that they did itwith such a thankful, joyful
(34:30):
heart.
Now, this thankfulness and thisproper heart is what we need to
have for God Sometimes, when wehear messages like this and
think, oh okay, I have to own upto my mistakes and I have to do
this better and that better.
We make this checklist in ourmind of all the things that we
feel like we have to do betterand it becomes a work.
(34:52):
It becomes a ladder that we'retrying to climb up to Jesus, to
be good, to be on our bestbehavior.
But that is not it at all.
Here we see it in Moses.
He spent 40 days with God andthen he came down and dealt with
this very hard situation insuch a humble, godly way because
he had spent time with Jesus.
(35:14):
When we spend time with Jesusintimately, when we are quiet
and we let him speak to us andspeak to us through so many
different things, we take thetime to hear his voice and spend
time with him.
We don't want to hold on to ourpride.
We don't want to defendourselves for our bad behavior.
We desire to be humble.
(35:36):
We want to admit our faults,because that means that God can
cover them, that he can be ourstrength.
When we know our God, we can bevulnerable with him and when we
trust in our God, we can bevulnerable with other people and
he so deeply loves us and wantsus to come to him, wants us to
(35:57):
be like Moses and admit ourfault and just fall face down
before him, because in ourweakness he can be strong.
Face down before him, becausein our weakness he can be strong
.
So I hope that you can take allof these thoughts today and
know that our just God, he wantsto use all of the failures in
your life, all of thedisappointments.
(36:17):
He wants to bring beauty fromthe brokenness and he wants to
allow that brokenness to unlockhis great strength in and
through us, so that we can bemore of a picture of him in this
earth, that we can glorify God.
But it is his work in us thathe does.
So I would encourage you toallow him to do his work, as we
(36:41):
humbly submit to him and come tohim in all of our failures,
knowing that he's the answer foreverything you
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.
Kia ora, friends, and welcomeback to Whispers of Grace.
(00:40):
I am overjoyed, as always, tobe here with you and to have a
chance to dig into thesescriptures as we finish up our
Mount Sinai series.
How we respond to the failureof others and how we respond to
our own failures and sins says awhole lot about us.
Are we quick to make excuses?
(01:01):
Are we slow to make excuses?
Are we slow to apologize?
Do we point out the failures inothers but give ourselves the
benefit of the doubt, or do wegive all the grace to others and
yet judge ourselves too harshly?
In today's text, we are goingto take a look at Aaron's
response for leading Israel intoidolatry, and we will also see
(01:23):
Moses's response to Israel's sin, even though he wasn't there.
He wasn't a part of it.
He was up on the mountain withGod.
Today we are going to see whathappens when Moses comes down
the mountain, sees what'shappening with Aaron and the
Israelites and the golden calfand the judgment that God doles
out, and there is so much toglean in this as we dive into
(01:46):
the justice and judgment of Godand looking at our own hearts.
There's so much here, so let'sget right into it.
I'm going to read from Exodus,chapter 32, verse 15, and this
is the New Living Translation.
Then Moses turned and went downthe mountain.
He held in his hands the twostone tablets inscribed with the
terms of the covenant.
(02:07):
They were inscribed on bothsides, front and back.
These tablets were God's work.
The words on them were writtenby God himself.
When Joshua heard theboisterous noise of the people
shouting below them, heexclaimed to Moses it sounds
like war in the camp.
But Moses replied no, it's nota shout of victory, nor the
(02:28):
wailing of defeat.
I hear the sound of acelebration.
When they came near the camp,moses saw the calf and the
dancing and he burned with anger.
He threw the stone tablets tothe ground, smashing them at the
foot of the mountain.
He took the calf that they hadmade and burned it, and then he
ground it into powder, threw itinto the water and forced the
(02:50):
people to drink it.
Finally, he turned to Aaron anddemanded what did these people
do to you to make you bring suchterrible sin upon them, don't
get so upset.
My lord Aaron replied youyourself know how evil these
people are.
And they said to me make usgods who will lead us.
We don't know what happened tothis fellow Moses who brought us
(03:13):
here from the land of Egypt.
So I told them whoever has goldjewelry, take it off.
And when they brought it to me,I simply threw it into the fire
, and out came this calf.
Moses saw that Aaron had let thepeople get completely out of
control, much to the amusementof their enemies.
So he stood at the entrance tothe camp and shouted All of you
(03:35):
who are on the Lord's side, comehere and join me.
And all the Levites gatheredaround him.
Moses told them this is whatthe Lord, the God of Israel,
says him.
Moses told them this is whatthe Lord, the God of Israel,
says Each of you, take yourswords and go back and forth
from one end of the camp to theother.
Kill everyone, even yourbrothers, friends and neighbors.
The Levites obeyed Moses'command, and about 3,000 people
(03:58):
died that day.
Then Moses told the LevitesToday, next day, moses said to
the people.
(04:24):
So Moses returned to the Lordand said oh, what a terrible sin
these people have committed.
They have made gods of gold forthemselves.
But now, if you will onlyforgive their sin, but if not,
erase my name from the recordthat you've written.
But the Lord replied to Mosesno, I will erase the name of
everyone who has sinned againstme.
(04:45):
Now go lead the people to theplace that I told you about.
Look, my angel will lead theway before you, and when I come
to call the people to account, Iwill certainly hold them
responsible for their sins.
And then the Lord sent a greatplague upon the people because
they had worshipped the calfthat Aaron had made.
Upon the people because theyhad worshiped the calf that
(05:07):
Aaron had made.
So this is a big section ofscripture dealing with the
recompense that is handed downfor this golden calf incident.
It's so important that we havethese recorded bits because it
shows us the result of all ofthis sinfulness and how it was
handled.
There's so many importantthings that we can glean from
this, so we're going to start inverse 19.
It said that Moses's angerbecame hot when he saw what was
(05:29):
happening.
He was incredibly angry, and itsaid that he took the tablets
and broke them at the foot ofthe mountain.
Now, this is not the first orthe last time that we'll see
Moses act in anger, becauseremember all the way back when
he was angry with that Egyptianwho was beating a Hebrew slave,
he killed him and hid him in thesand.
Now this is a long time ago,but we've seen Moses's anger
(05:52):
before and here we see himenraged at the sin of Israel and
breaking the stone tablets, andlater we're going to see him
strike the rock out of anger.
So Moses has an anger problemthat he's obviously working
through rightful anger and allthese instances.
But what to do with that anger?
There is this thin line betweena righteous anger, like Jesus
(06:15):
turning over tables in thetemple, and the wrath of man.
But here, in this instance, Ithink that Moses breaks this
physical record of the law tosignify that Israel had broken
the law of God.
And that image of Mosessmashing these sacred tablets
that were written by God, itwould stick with Israel.
(06:36):
I know it would stick with me.
If you ever saw somebody getreally angry, it sticks with you
.
So this picture, I think thatit would be stuck in their mind,
these broken pieces of theTestament, they would testify to
Israel's broken relationshipwith God and their broken
promises.
So I think there's more thanjust rage here, and God doesn't
punish him for this.
So I think that this is just apicture of what Israel is
(07:00):
actually doing.
They're breaking God's heart,they're breaking their promises,
and their relationship with Godat this point is affected.
So after this happens in verse20, it says that he took the
golden calf.
Moses takes the calf, he burnsit up in a fire, he grounds it
to powder and then he scattersit over the water and makes the
(07:20):
children of Israel drink it.
So Moses completely destroyedany trace of their little craft
project that turned into a deity.
He didn't want any piece of itto remain, and in doing this,
moses showed how easily thislittle golden statue could be
(07:40):
destroyed.
It was not an eternal,all-powerful, enduring God that
could part the seas and bringthe plagues.
It was just a feeble work ofman's hands that could easily be
overpowered and destroyed, andMoses made sure that this
defiled gold couldn't be usedagain for any purpose.
(08:02):
Interestingly enough, thisstrange act of grinding this
idol up to pieces and havingIsrael drink it it's very
similar to something fromNumbers 5 that's called the
water of bitterness.
Such an interesting littlething in the book of Numbers.
So this water of bitterness issomething that would be drunk by
a wife that was suspected ofunfaithfulness, so something
(08:25):
that would be done in the templewith a priest and a married
couple, and if the man suspectedhis wife was being unfaithful
he could bring her to the priest.
The priest would make thislittle concoction, she would
drink it and if she was guilty,it says it's kind of like her
womb would rot almost, or shewouldn't be able to have
children, and if she was proveninnocent, nothing would happen.
(08:46):
She would feel fine and go herway.
But it's interesting becausehere Israel has been completely
unfaithful to God and they'rebeing forced to drink this kind
of water of bitterness that islaced with the gold of their sin
.
So, very interesting waythey're being punished, and this
is just the beginning of what'sgoing to happen here.
(09:06):
So in verse 21, it says andMoses said to Aaron what did
this people do to you that youhave brought so great a sin upon
them?
Now, this is such a good heartsearching question because it
causes Aaron to consider whatmade him completely compromise
(09:29):
his role and it reveals where hewas weak and where he was
willing to bend.
What did this people do to youthat you have brought so great a
sin upon them?
What happened to make youcompromise?
What happened to make youcompromise?
(09:49):
And Moses's question here italso emphasizes that Aaron's
failing didn't just affect him,but it brought sin upon the
entire nation of Israel.
It is so important to noticehow our sin affects the people
around us.
Even when we don't think itdoes, when we think it's
something that's inside of ourown hearts or that no one sees,
it does affect others Becauseour failings, they run over into
(10:12):
the lives of others our familymembers, our friends, our
co-workers.
Sin corrupts and often we don'tunderstand the effect.
Here in this passage we can seeit blatantly.
Here in this passage, we cansee it blatantly.
And Aaron's response here isjust unbelievable.
Aaron says don't get so upset,my Lord.
You yourself know how evilthese people are.
(10:34):
And they said to me make usgods who will lead us.
We don't know what's happenedto this fellow Moses who brought
us out of the land of Egypt.
So I told them whoever has goldjewelry, take it off.
And when they brought it to me,I simply threw it into the fire
and out came this calf.
It sounds like a story thatyour toddler told you, right?
(10:54):
But this is a grown man andmuch less the leader of Israel.
This is what he's saying toMoses.
Aaron is basically tellingMoses chill out.
Aaron is basically tellingMoses chill out.
He's so flippant with thismassive sin that he just
publicly committed.
And then comes the blame shift.
As old as Eden.
Right, it wasn't me, it was thepeople.
You know how bent on evil theyare.
(11:27):
Moses fully understood the evilcomplaining rabble that he was
leading, but he understood thatit was his job to restrain the
evil tendencies of Israel, notto encourage them or to stand by
and watch them run wild.
Proverbs 14, 12 says there is away that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way of death.
Proverbs 29, 18 says wherethere is no revelation, no
message or attention to thevoice of God, the people cast
(11:50):
off all moral restraint and theybecome wild and ungovernable
and anarchy reigns when there isno vision, no leadership, no
message from God.
And we see the truth of thatplayed out perfectly in this
situation, because withoutleadership and instruction and
(12:12):
what is good and right, humanhearts will run to whatever
seems right in our own eyes,just like in the Old Testament
times of the judges.
But here we see Aaron.
He decided that it was just toohard to stand up for God in the
midst of this resistance, so hejust rolled with it and soon he
found himself at the epicenterof the idolatry.
He actually became the pioneerfor idol worship in the season
(12:34):
for Israel, instead of thespokesperson for God.
So because of this fear,because he wasn't willing to
resist the mob, it tells us inverse four in the same chapter,
that Aaron fashioned the goldwith an engraving tool and made
a molded calf.
So the reality is that he hadasked for the gold, he melted it
(12:55):
down and he had taken time tocraft a pagan deity.
Aaron literally made this idolwith his hands.
It took him time, he wasintimately acquainted with every
stroke and detail because itwas his own workmanship.
And yet in this moment hedenies any involvement and he
(13:15):
lies to cover his weakness.
He says that the calf justwalked out of the fire.
He's trying to insinuate thatit was some kind of a miracle
and it was out of his hands.
In Deuteronomy, chapter 9, verse20, it's a parallel passage to
this section it tells us thatwhen Moses was interceding on
the mountain for Israel, he wasalso interceding for Aaron,
(13:36):
because God was so angry withAaron for this failure that he
would have destroyed him.
But because Moses intercedes,aaron's life was saved would
have destroyed him, but becauseMoses intercedes, aaron's life
was saved.
Aaron, he messed up massivelyand he tried to wriggle out of
the consequences by tellingMoses to chill out.
He tries to get out of it byblaming the people and then
(13:56):
finally he acts like this calfjust created itself.
Aaron, he used every guiltyploy available to hide from what
he had done.
Aaron, he used every guiltyploy available to hide from what
he had done.
He was guilty and probablyashamed, or he was seriously
deceived, but either way, wehave all seen humans respond
this way.
Haven't we Done somethingmassively terrible and then not
(14:19):
want to take any responsibilityfor it?
This incident that we'rereading about is a very
important one, is such a humanstory.
This is all of us, just likeAaron, we don't like to take the
harder road of righteousness.
We don't want to stand againsta mob.
That's hard and it's dangerous.
We don't like to takeresponsibility for our sins and
(14:39):
misjudgments, and we certainlyknow what it's like to
compromise under pressure,whether people can see it or
they don't, and whether it's anoutward example or it's just in
our hearts.
This is a God-given opportunityfor us to examine our own
hearts through the lens of thisstory, because it is so easy,
effortless, really to blame thecircumstances or the people
(15:03):
around us for our own sinfulbehavior or a bad temper.
I'm very much including myselfin this too.
Sometimes we blame everythingbut ourselves without even
thinking too hard about it.
It is easy to blame the traffic, or the consistently rude
co-worker, or the car trouble,or the cranky children, or the
(15:23):
hormonal teenager, or themanipulative parent, or the bad
weather teenager or themanipulative parent, or the bad
weather, or the financialhardships, or the boss that is
terrible at his job, or the lackof sleep, or the impossible
professor, or the spouse, or thesystem or society, and on and
on and on and on.
It's effortless to blame thesethings for our bad attitudes or
(15:45):
for our snapping at our familiesor our roommates, or for making
poor life choices.
These things push us and we allhave to decide how we're going
to respond.
Now don't get me wrong.
These normal human things aredifficult and they certainly
impact our moods.
Some of these things can woundus very, very deeply and can
(16:05):
take years to heal from.
I am not trying to say that thepain in your life is small and
inconsequential and you justhave to get over it.
That's not at all what I'msaying.
What I am saying is that thesethings are not directly
responsible for our choices.
Our choices are our own.
We all choose how we're goingto react in the midst of
(16:27):
difficult things and we need toown those choices.
When we get stressed out, whenwe're pressed, when things are
taken away from us, how do werespond?
Those choices are ours Becausewe're going to experience
thousands of difficulties in ourlives and so often they come in
seasons, huh, like one afterthe other, buffeting us like
(16:48):
waves.
You're just in a season ofdifficulty.
We're one thing after the next,and we shouldn't be surprised,
because Jesus promised that inthis world we're going to have
tribulation.
We're going to have difficultyand troubles.
We live in a fallen world thathas been ravaged by sin.
We should not be surprised whendifficulties come our way,
(17:10):
ravaged by sin.
We should not be surprised whendifficulties come our way and
we get to choose how we're goingto respond to this broken world
with its broken people.
We can choose to be reactionaryReactionary people that are
constantly being emotionallydragged around by the
circumstances around us.
That's a lot of us.
We're controlled by ourcircumstances because we're
reacting to an evil world.
(17:31):
It's easy to monologue abouthow disappointed we are by
political parties and primeministers and pastors and
churches, or we can choose toact differently.
We can choose to act in a wiseway that is not shaken by the
failures of man and those aroundus.
We can choose to act in a wiseway that is not shaken by the
failures of man and those aroundus.
We can choose to act in a waythat's not undone by the sins of
(17:56):
others.
Our reactions can be temperedwith faith in an unshakable God
who sees everything.
We can choose to take time tobreathe and recenter ourselves
in the midst of these storms andtrust in God over and over and
over again, sometimes moment tomoment.
We can choose prayer instead ofretaliation.
(18:18):
We can choose stillness insteadof over-functioning to distract
from the emotional tornado inour hearts.
That's a lot of us, right.
Keep busy and you don't have tothink about all the tornado in
our hearts.
That's a lot of us, right.
Keep busy and you don't have tothink about all the stuff in
your heart.
We can choose to slow down andthink instead of jumping into
something without counting thecost.
(18:39):
These are things that we cangrow into and we love to make
excuses for our reactions andour weaknesses, just like Aaron.
But we need to take some timeand consider this great question
that Moses posed to him whathappened that caused you to sin?
It is vital for us to see ourown failures and to claim
(19:02):
responsibility for them.
We need to own it.
When we screw up, we need torecognize what caused it.
It is healthy and necessarypractice to ask ourselves where
we compromised and how we couldhave chosen to act differently.
If we don't dissect the why inour sin, then we don't know
where we're weak and we're goingto continue to walk into
(19:24):
dangerous territory unaware ofhow deeply it affects us.
Now, aaron, he had made massivemistakes, but he could have
looked back at the situation andhis leadership choices and
realized how anxious he got whenMoses was gone and how
desperate he was to please thepeople, and how quickly he
relied on his fleshly intellectto simply create a new God when
(19:48):
the old one was toounpredictable for him.
Aaron could have learned howweak and unfocused he was under
pressure.
If he would have only beenbrave enough and humble enough
to own his mistakes, he couldhave blossomed under the
refining experience instead ofhiding from his true nature.
And maybe he did, we don't know.
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It's not recorded in scripture.
We can only see what hisinitial reaction is here with
Moses, but some of the bestleaders have made the biggest
mistakes and learned from them.
We need to allow the irritationsand frustrations of life to
bring us straight to Jesus andask what are you saying to me
(20:29):
through this difficulty?
Because if we're willing to askthat question, he will speak to
us.
He will reveal things to usthat we couldn't see any other
way, and when we come to him,desperate, that is when he is
happy to meet us.
Scripture says that God rewardsthose that diligently seek him,
and he loves to lift up thehumble.
(20:50):
God can't change you if youwon't take an honest look at
your tendency to blame, shift orhide beside someone else's
shortcomings.
We have to be brave enough toadmit our mistakes and the part
that we play in our badattitudes.
We need to face our weaknessesand let Jesus be our strength as
(21:11):
we lean on him in these momentsso many good things to think
about and to really press into.
And as we jump back into ourtext, we're going to see the
severity that is taken whendealing with Israel's sin,
Because Moses steps back in asthe true leader.
Where Aaron buckled, moses isgoing to step up.
(21:31):
Moses shows himself as anuncompromised leader here that
brings justice and does it witha humble heart.
So back into our text here.
Verse 25 says that Moses sawthat Aaron had let the people
get completely out of control,much to the amusement of their
enemies.
So he stood at the entrance ofthe camp and shouted all of you
(21:54):
who are on the Lord's side, comehere and join me.
And only the Levites gatheredaround him.
And then Moses tells them thatthey have to go all throughout
the camp of Israel and kill allof the people that have been
worshiping this idol, and itdoesn't matter who they are.
The Levites obey Moses' commandand 3,000 people die that day.
(22:15):
Now there are many of us thatread this section and we cringe
internally.
We want to skip over thesesections and not linger on the
thought of such a violent actbeing condoned and much less
directed by God.
So let's just take some time topick it apart and walk through
it.
So verse 25, it tells us thatthe people were unrestrained in
(22:37):
their worship of the idol.
So the idea behind this verb inHebrew is a loosening to be
uncovered or bare.
And in some translations it sayswhen Moses saw that the people
were naked, for Aaron had madethem naked unto their shame
among their enemies.
So it seems that the peoplewere engaged in some sort of
religious prostitution, whichwas so common for that time
(23:00):
period.
Not only were they worshipingan idol, but they had become
shameless and thrown off allsense of propriety.
This wickedness had to bestopped before it infected all
of Israel.
So Moses immediately draws aline in the sand and splits the
people by loyalty and he sayswhoever's on the Lord's side,
(23:20):
come to me.
And sadly, the only tribe thatresponds is the tribe of Levi.
Out of 12 tribes that had justseen the miracles of God for
months and his amazing power,only one tribe chose to stand
with God instead of the goldencalf and their brazen worship.
Look how quickly and thoroughlysin corrupted these people.
(23:44):
It's unbelievable how easily wecan be deceived.
So, at Moses's command, theLevites grabbed their swords and
execute 3,000 people that wereblatantly partaking in the pagan
worship.
So these were probably theringleaders the most flagrant in
their sin, because after this,more are going to die from a
plague.
But there was no specialtreatment shown for friends or
(24:06):
for family.
Anyone who chose to blatantlystand with a golden calf was
killed immediately.
So now we come face to face withit, this righteous judgment of
God and the death of all thesepeople, and, like I mentioned
before, there's so many of us.
We crinned and we want to skipthis section.
But one thing we need tounderstand is that the judgment
(24:30):
and justice of God is absolutelyessential to his goodness.
I'm going to say that one moretime the judgment and justice of
God is absolutely essential tohis goodness because he wouldn't
be a just judge if he didn'tpunish sin.
(24:50):
The Bible tells us that thewages of sin is death.
It's that simple.
The payment for sin is alwaysdeath.
This was seen in thesacrificial system in the Old
Testament.
Sin always requires recompense.
Sin, the opposite ofrighteousness and goodness.
(25:10):
It comes at such a high costbecause it goes against the
created order and it introducesnothing but pain and separation
from God.
So just to flesh this out, Iwant us to consider something.
I don't know if you've ever beencalled for jury duty, but
imagine that you're a juror in acourt case where three innocent
(25:31):
victims have been murdered andit's your job to listen, day
after day, to witnesses andfamily members talk about how
this terrible act has alteredtheir life and caused so much
pain.
At the end of all the weeks oftestimony and proof, there was
absolutely no doubt to the guiltof this person on trial.
The weeks of testimony andproof there was absolutely no
doubt to the guilt of thisperson on trial.
They even have the murderweapon with fingerprints on it
(25:52):
and a time-stamped video andeyewitnesses.
It finally comes down to thetime of sentencing and the judge
says you're free to go, justdon't do it again.
Can you imagine the outrage?
That would be absolutelyhorrible and that judge would be
removed because he wouldn't beconcerned with the safety of the
public and he couldn't betrusted to punish crime.
(26:13):
At this point he would become aworthless puppet.
If he had no passion forjustice, his job would make no
sense, and God is not like that.
He is a good judge that iscommitted to truth and justice.
He is a good judge that iscommitted to truth and justice.
The book of Lamentations cangive us a little bit more
perspective on the judgment ofGod.
(26:34):
It addresses the pain and thereality of this recompense for
sin.
It's written by the prophetJeremiah, who wrote the book as
he watched Babylon invade anddestroy Jerusalem, which was his
home.
It broke his heart to seeIsrael punished, but they were
being punished for theiridolatry and for walking away
from God.
So this is long after the daysof Moses, but it helps us to
(26:58):
understand what's happening here, because Jeremiah, he saw the
death and the destruction and hewrote the book of Lamentations
as like a funeral dirge.
So listen to this, because youcan really hear his pain, but
also his perspective, eventhough he's living it in the
middle of the pain, watching ithappen.
(27:18):
Listen to the pain and theperspective.
This is from chapter three inLamentations.
This is a couple of littlesections.
I am the man who has seenaffliction by the rod of the
Lord's wrath.
He has driven me away and mademe walk in darkness rather than
light.
Indeed, he has turned his handagainst me again and again, all
(27:38):
day long.
He has made my skin and myflesh grow old and my bones have
been broken.
He has besieged me andsurrounded me with bitterness
and hardship.
He has made me dwell indarkness, like those long dead.
He has walled me in so I cannotescape, and weighed me down
with chains.
Even though I cry out for help,he shuts out my prayer.
(27:59):
He has barred my way withblocks of stone and made my
paths crooked, like a bear lyingin wait or like a lion in
hiding.
He's dragged me from the pathand mangled me and left me
without help.
He pierced my heart with arrowsfrom his quiver.
He has broken my teeth withgravel and trampled me into the
(28:21):
dust.
I have been deprived of peace.
I have forgotten whatprosperity is.
So I said, my splendor is gone.
Gone and all that I hoped fromthe Lord.
I remember my affliction and mywandering, the bitterness and
the gall.
I well remember them, and mysoul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind andtherefore I have hope Because of
(28:46):
the Lord's great love.
We are not consumed, for hiscompassions never fail.
They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness, Isay to myself.
The Lord is my portion.
Therefore, I will wait for him.
The Lord is good to those whohope in him, to the one who seek
him.
It is good to wait quietly forthe salvation of the Lord.
(29:10):
It is good for a man to bearthe yoke while he is young.
Let him sit alone in silence,for the Lord has laid it on him.
Let him bury his face in thedust.
There may yet be hope.
Let him offer his cheek to theone who would strike him.
And then at the bottom he sayslet us examine our ways and test
(29:47):
them and let us return to theLord.
So this incredible passage ofscripture shows us how deep the
pain is.
Yet Jeremiah understood thatthis pain was a punishment, but
his compassion and his unfailinglove would bring his heart back
to Israel, that this afflictionwould not last forever.
(30:10):
But it reinforces what Romans6.23 says the wages of sin is
death, but the free gift of Godis eternal life in Christ Jesus,
our Lord.
We need to remember that wedeserve nothing less than death
for all that we have done.
The payment for sin is alwaysdeath, and hopefully this can
(30:32):
fill our hearts afresh withgratitude and a deeper
understanding of what we havebeen saved from, because, just
like our Savior, jesus bore thejudgment for our sin.
Back in our text here in Exodus32, 32, we're going to see this
exact heart reflected in Moses.
He understands the judgment ofGod, but he asks for compassion,
(30:54):
for forgiveness.
He steps in as the intercessoronce again to ask God to bless
Israel, to turn his face towardsthem and to not wipe them out.
So Moses goes back on themountain to speak with God and
he says yet now he's speaking tothe Lord if you will forgive
their sin, but if not, I pray,blot me out of your book, which
(31:19):
you have written.
He says, lord, please forgivethem, but if not, take my life
as a ransom.
Blot me out of your book.
I don't want to be a part of itanymore.
If you're going to take themout, take me out too.
And it is such a stark contrasthere because Moses responds so
differently than Aaron did.
(31:39):
Moses offers to lay his ownlife down for a sin that he
wasn't even a part of, he didn'tcommit.
He wasn't even around when ithappened, yet he was willing to
be blotted out of God's book.
Moses's willingness to sacrificehis own standing with God shows
us his immense love anddedication to Israel.
(32:01):
It also reinforces this man'shumble heart.
He knew who he was and he knewwhat he was called to Israel.
It also reinforces this man'shumble heart.
He knew who he was and he knewwhat he was called to do.
I want to leave you with thisshining example of humility
Moses.
He didn't hesitate to willinglylay down his life for a sinful
people because he knew his God.
(32:21):
He had just spent 40 days inthe presence of God on Mount
Sinai, fellowshipping with God,and that clear picture of God is
what helped this man to remainhumble, to be willing to take on
the offenses of others into hisown life, even though they
weren't his.
He had the heart of our Messiah.
(32:42):
He had the heart of Jesus,because he was so tightly
fellowshipping with God, theFather.
This week for school, one of mydaughters had a class
performance, and this termthey're studying service, so
they had all the parents come inand all of these year four kids
planned this little event.
So the teacher really wasn'tvery involved.
(33:04):
She let them plan it all.
So there was tables and chairs,there was tablecloths on all
the tables.
Each table was themed.
They had made placemats thatwere laminated for each of us
made bookmarks with our name onthem, and they performed songs
and dances.
We sang together.
They made a video of all thethings that they're thankful for
(33:26):
.
And this whole presentation,along with this beautiful
morning tea, was just all ofthese sweet little year four
kids expressing their gratitudeand thankfulness to their
parents for all the things thatwe do for them.
And I just thought this is somuch work for these little
people and her teacher wastelling us how hard it was for
(33:47):
them to do all of these things,like to create everything in
this room took them so much time.
But she said that it had justgiven them so much joy that they
did it with overflowing hearts.
And truly, my daughter was soexcited for weeks and weeks and
weeks to bring me into thespecial room, sit me in my
special little seat, show me allthe things that she had made
(34:10):
and perform and feed me and giveme drinks.
She just was so excited.
And my daughter's teacher wassaying it's because they are so
excited to show you these thingsthat it hasn't even been work
to them, even though it wasliterally a lot of work that
they had done.
But she said that they did itwith such a thankful, joyful
(34:30):
heart.
Now, this thankfulness and thisproper heart is what we need to
have for God Sometimes, when wehear messages like this and
think, oh okay, I have to own upto my mistakes and I have to do
this better and that better.
We make this checklist in ourmind of all the things that we
feel like we have to do betterand it becomes a work.
(34:52):
It becomes a ladder that we'retrying to climb up to Jesus, to
be good, to be on our bestbehavior.
But that is not it at all.
Here we see it in Moses.
He spent 40 days with God andthen he came down and dealt with
this very hard situation insuch a humble, godly way because
he had spent time with Jesus.
(35:14):
When we spend time with Jesusintimately, when we are quiet
and we let him speak to us andspeak to us through so many
different things, we take thetime to hear his voice and spend
time with him.
We don't want to hold on to ourpride.
We don't want to defendourselves for our bad behavior.
We desire to be humble.
(35:36):
We want to admit our faults,because that means that God can
cover them, that he can be ourstrength.
When we know our God, we can bevulnerable with him and when we
trust in our God, we can bevulnerable with other people and
he so deeply loves us and wantsus to come to him, wants us to
(35:57):
be like Moses and admit ourfault and just fall face down
before him, because in ourweakness he can be strong.
Face down before him, becausein our weakness he can be strong
.
So I hope that you can take allof these thoughts today and
know that our just God, he wantsto use all of the failures in
your life, all of thedisappointments.
(36:17):
He wants to bring beauty fromthe brokenness and he wants to
allow that brokenness to unlockhis great strength in and
through us, so that we can bemore of a picture of him in this
earth, that we can glorify God.
But it is his work in us thathe does.
So I would encourage you toallow him to do his work, as we
(36:41):
humbly submit to him and come tohim in all of our failures,
knowing that he's the answer foreverything you
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