THE GOLDEN CALF Exodus 32:1-6
Chapter 19 to 31 becomes the backdrop for this event.
We observe Moses shuttling between God and Israelites many times.
Israelites watched him, heard him and obeyed his instructions.
They also saw literally the divine glory of God on the mountain for all those days.
The important fact is that people knew that Moses was with God and God was on the mountain like a consuming fire.
The puzzling question is how did he stoop down to that level of making an idol for worship?
From the story we can see that he did not worship the golden calf.
But he was instrumental to provide an alternate object of worship.
4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.
Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."
How can the people of Israel stoop down to worship an idol in the site of Mount Sinai?
It is unthinkable and unimaginable yet that’s what they did.
Chapter 20:20:“Moses said to the people, do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
“FEAR OF GOD WILL BE WITH YOU TO KEEP YOU FROM SINNING”
They physically experienced awesome presence of the Almighty God.
But some Israelites committed a terrible sin of idol worship.
The fear of God was reduced to mere words without any meaning.
Having known our God thru Jesus Christ we still dare to drift away from Him and create our own little golden calf in our lives.
Many things can become our golden calf replacing the living God.
THE PRESENCE OF HOLY GOD
Fear of God provides us the point of contact with a Holy God
Worship is a sign of spiritual being which separates us from animals.
Our only point of contact with a Holy God is the fear of God in our hearts.
It keeps us from sinning and keeps away from Satan also.
When we lose the fear of God in our hearts that is when Satan grabs that moment.
He provides us with dead things of the world as the object of our worship.
So a constant point of contact with the Living God is very important in a Christian’s life.
Sunday worship provides us that point of contact with the LORD in our corporate experience and expression.
Our personal time with the Lord reinforces and refocuses what we experienced on Sunday.
Sunday worship and personal time go together.
The Christian gets a glimpse of the Holy God in a corporate worship.
Sunday worship always revives and renews the point of contact with our God
No fear of God in us we begin to give God the least priority in life.
When we lose this reality the relationship with God becomes dry and distant.
The consequence of this reality is creation of our own golden calf.
PRESSURE OF THE CROWD
We need to understand that a crowd is a powerful force even the best people can be influenced by the crowd.
For a moment Aaron lost sight of the Creator and fell to the pressures of the crowd.
We saw that the crowd consumed Aaron in its desires.
The will of the crowd moved Aaron to do what he would not have normally done.
He Chose the Will of the People over the Will of God
What is right and what is popular is not always the right thing.
He compromised his faith instead of standing on his commitment to the Lord.
CONCLUSION
When we lose our way in the crowd we will surely begin to create a golden calf approach to our faith.
We may be saved people but we can easily be persuaded by the pressure of the crowd as Aaron got carried away by the crowd.
We are always exposed to the effects of a sinful world we live in.
Remember we are always surrounded by the crowds and their pressures.
The crowds could be our families, our friends, our foes.
Compromise with our beliefs may be an easy way out to please our crowds.
We are reminded that “fear of the LORD” keeps us from getting lost in the crowd.
We are also reminded that our God is a consuming fire.
The fear of the Lord compels us not to lose the sight of a Holy God.
The Lord is cautioning every one of us to deal with those golden calves in our lives which are demanding our time, talent, and treasures.
Let us deal with them with the Holy Spirit’s guidance and help.
Never lose the fear of God in our life because that keeps us from sinning.
Chapter 19 to 31 becomes the backdrop for this event.
We observe Moses shuttling between God and Israelites many times.
Israelites watched him, heard him and obeyed his instructions.
They also saw literally the divine glory of God on the mountain for all those days.
The important fact is that people knew that Moses was with God and God was on the mountain like a consuming fire.
The puzzling question is how did he stoop down to that level of making an idol for worship?
From the story we can see that he did not worship the golden calf.
But he was instrumental to provide an alternate object of worship.
4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.
Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."
How can the people of Israel stoop down to worship an idol in the site of Mount Sinai?
It is unthinkable and unimaginable yet that’s what they did.
Chapter 20:20:“Moses said to the people, do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
“FEAR OF GOD WILL BE WITH YOU TO KEEP YOU FROM SINNING”
They physically experienced awesome presence of the Almighty God.
But some Israelites committed a terrible sin of idol worship.
The fear of God was reduced to mere words without any meaning.
Having known our God thru Jesus Christ we still dare to drift away from Him and create our own little golden calf in our lives.
Many things can become our golden calf replacing the living God.
THE PRESENCE OF HOLY GOD
Fear of God provides us the point of contact with a Holy God
Worship is a sign of spiritual being which separates us from animals.
Our only point of contact with a Holy God is the fear of God in our hearts.
It keeps us from sinning and keeps away from Satan also.
When we lose the fear of God in our hearts that is when Satan grabs that moment.
He provides us with dead things of the world as the object of our worship.
So a constant point of contact with the Living God is very important in a Christian’s life.
Sunday worship provides us that point of contact with the LORD in our corporate experience and expression.
Our personal time with the Lord reinforces and refocuses what we experienced on Sunday.
Sunday worship and personal time go together.
The Christian gets a glimpse of the Holy God in a corporate worship.
Sunday worship always revives and renews the point of contact with our God
No fear of God in us we begin to give God the least priority in life.
When we lose this reality the relationship with God becomes dry and distant.
The consequence of this reality is creation of our own golden calf.
PRESSURE OF THE CROWD
We need to understand that a crowd is a powerful force even the best people can be influenced by the crowd.
For a moment Aaron lost sight of the Creator and fell to the pressures of the crowd.
We saw that the crowd consumed Aaron in its desires.
The will of the crowd moved Aaron to do what he would not have normally done.
He Chose the Will of the People over the Will of God
What is right and what is popular is not always the right thing.
He compromised his faith instead of standing on his commitment to the Lord.
CONCLUSION
When we lose our way in the crowd we will surely begin to create a golden calf approach to our faith.
We may be saved people but we can easily be persuaded by the pressure of the crowd as Aaron got carried away by the crowd.
We are always exposed to the effects of a sinful world we live in.
Remember we are always surrounded by the crowds and their pressures.
The crowds could be our families, our friends, our foes.
Compromise with our beliefs may be an easy way out to please our crowds.
We are reminded that “fear of the LORD” keeps us from getting lost in the crowd.
We are also reminded that our God is a consuming fire.
The fear of the Lord compels us not to lose the sight of a Holy God.
The Lord is cautioning every one of us to deal with those golden calves in our lives which are demanding our time, talent, and treasures.
Let us deal with them with the Holy Spirit’s guidance and help.
Never lose the fear of God in our life because that keeps us from sinning.
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