There they were…
…the created now creating…
…an image of God.
“…all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
Exodus 32:3-4
God’s highest aspect of creation…God’s chosen family…rebelling against their Redeemer and God. Within their grasp are the oracles of God, and at the outset of their implementation they throw off its standards and fashion a god in their own image. To this image they attribute power and might–the god who brought them out of Egypt.
All the while the worship of this false god is taking place, God sees, and He informs Moses of the situation. As Moses was heading down with Joshua to meet the people they heard Israel’s commotion…
“Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” But he said,
“It is not the sound of the cry of triumph,
Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat;
But the sound of singing I hear.”
Exodus 32:17-18
They were rejoicing and even delighting in their sin. Their hearts were so inclined to sin that they did not even take care to consider the grievances and subsequent judgment that they would face. Sin had taken them to a place of utter anesthesia–there was no conviction. In fact, the soon to be high priest–who would take the atoning sacrifice to God every year for this people’s sins–was the one who was leading them in their folly. Aaron, Moses’ older brother was as guilty–if not more–than all of them. And the anger of the Lord burned against them. However, there was an ancient promise presiding over the people. There was a covenant made in the furnace of faith that would be the bearer of their position. They would not be forsaken, because God’s character would not permit it so.
“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite.”
Exodus 33:1-2
The Lord remembered. Their sin–their evil rejoicing–did not forego the promises God had previously made. A covenant based upon the character of God was initiated, and by His power He will carry it through. Despite their sin, despite their wondering, despite their idolatry, God’s promises will stand.
God’s Promises Stand…
And that’s anchor of the Christian faith. In the fullness of time God sent forth His Son, born…under the law…to redeem those who are under the law. God’s provision for man’s greatest need is the substitutionary death of His Son, because mankind could not keep the standards of God’s law. Christ had to die, because the condition of humanity has not changed from those wondering Israelites in the desert all the way up to us today. We have, as they have, the promise of God. God sent forth His Son…to redeem those who are by their very nature children of wrath. A wrath justified, because of a life forged out of rebellion.
Despite their folly, God moved these Israelites forward in His loyal love. Despite your folly (if you are a follower of Christ), God moves you forward in this same loyal love–a love wrought out of the death and resurrection of Christ. And this is yet another reason Why Christ Had to Die…we offer a life of sin, but God redeems through our faith in Christ’s work on our behalf. Glory to God! May we never forget this aspect of God’s character–everlasting loyal love!
— April 21, 2017