Coromandel Baptist Church

Sunday 25 October 2009 Exodus 31:18-32:35; Acts 7:35-43

God: Jealous for His People

It has sometimes been said that it was relatively easy for God to get Israel of Egypt, but much more difficult for him to get Egypt out of Israel. Indeed, the Lord had delivered them from the physical slavery to the gods of Egypt (Ex. 12:12, Numb. 33:4), but the people still carried a longing for them in their hearts. The Bible readings for this week emphasise this point. Israel, though wedded to God by his covenant grace, was persistent in seeking out other lovers, which they did from the very beginning of the divine marriage of which the covenant speaks. The matter is given powerful exposition in many Old Testament passages (e.g. Ezekiel 16 as one condensed chapter of Old Testament history or the whole of Hosea as an expression of the deep pain and heartache of God in relation to his erstwhile bride), and is shown with great force in the matter that intrudes, cancer like, into the life of Israel even while Moses is in the very presence of God.

The chapters that precede this incident are full of glorious detail regarding the structure of the Tabernacle and all its various elements, such as the Ark of the Covenant, the Altar of Incense, the Menorah, the Table of Showbread, etc. In addition there are details of the priest's garments and the manner of their ordination, and the sacrifices that would accompany their inauguration. To paraphrase the writer to the Hebrews, ‘of these things we cannot now speak in detail'. What clearly emerges from this extended section is the fact that worship of Israel was given as a beautiful and complete gift from the Lord to his people. No element was left to their own devices and each element of the Tabernacle-from its very structure, to the articles within it, to the priestly ministry and the sacrifices themselves-was an enacted testimony to God's nature and his covenant faithfulness. Even the ability to build it all was pure gift (Ex. 31:1ff.), so that Israel might know that the worship that God requires is the worship that he himself bestows in an act of sheer grace.

The contrast thus afforded by the worship of the golden calf could not be greater. Where the true worship flows down from above as a gift of love, the worship of the idols is instigated from the restless turmoil of the hearts of rebellious humanity. It expresses the deep wickedness of the human heart, which, as Calvin has said, is an ‘idol factory'. Exodus 31:18 (the content of which is re-emphasised in 32:16) is the fitting climax of the extended section which in effect gives the purpose of the whole narrative about the Tabernacle. The whole structure and its cultus was to be the resting place of the Torah, housed at the very centre of the life of Israel, as God's great throne gift to his people.

The contrast of all this beauty with Exodus 32:1 is stark. The covenant law, so eagerly and recently affirmed by Israel (Ex. 19:8; 24:3, 7), was broken in all its parts by the breaking of the first two commandments. In the commentary on the incident in Psalm 106:19ff. the psalmist indicates that this was nothing other than Israel exchanging its glory for a lie (cf. Rom. 1:18-32), with all the moral and ethical implications that this would bring. In such an exchange the Law, given a direct gift by God out of the glory cloud of his presence, would thus be overturned for the ‘law' of lawlessness that the idols always inculcate. Whereas the Lord had revealed himself to be the glory and the lifter of their heads, taking the yoke off their shoulders so that they could stand upright before him, now they bowed their heads to worship an image, in the from a calf, and yet proclaim that this was Yahweh himself (e.g. Ex. 32:4, 5, 6). The language of Exodus 32:6-in which the terminology for the offerings reflects the worship of the Lord in atonement and reconciliation, as well as the covenant feast of Ex. 24:9-11-is of no little significance.

Idol worship in any of its forms seeks by whatever means to make offerings pleasing to the gods, and to enjoy the fellowship of their presence. The entire message of all the chapters about the Tabernacle is that God has made provision, and provision in only one way and place, for atonement, reconciliation and fellowship with himself. This is by grace, and is received in thankfulness. Worship is receiving that which he gives. Thus, in Romans 1:21, the sin of humanity is that we have not glorified him as God, or given thanks. The glory we give is the thankful reception of all that he gives! Never, under any circumstances, has God not given all that we need. In particular and in the greatest revelation of the glory of his grace, he has given us all things in his Son, the one and only place where full atonement has been made.

Though there may indeed have been some menace in the people's approach to Aaron (Ex. 32:1), and Aaron may be speaking a word of truth about the people (Ex. 32:22), his actions are still ones for which he is culpable (Ex. 32:25). Interestingly, the idols always try to present themselves in some miraculous light (e.g. Ex. 32:24b cf. the deceiving signs and miracles in other places e.g. Ex. 7:11; Deut. 13:1ff.; Matt. 24:24 cf. 2 Thess. 2:9; Rev. 13:13f. etc.), to seek to authentic their existence. The gold of which the calf was made may have had some cultic significance (Ex. 32:2-3, cf. Gen. 36:1-4) and it is clear that that Israel carried cult objects with them habitually (e.g. Acts 7:41-43 cf. Gen. 35:2-4; Lev. 17:7; Josh. 24:14, 23; Ezk. 20:7-8; Hos. 3:4; Amos 5:25ff.; etc.). Whatever the case the golden calf became an object of immediate and alluring attraction, or rather, the expression of hearts that found Yahweh and his ways distasteful.

Whatever the gold signified, the action of collecting it (Ex. 32:2) connotes violence, haste and passionate impulses being let loose. Again, this stands in dreadful contrast to the beauty and dignity of the worship that the Lord elicits from our hearts (e.g. Ex. 25:2 cf. 35:5, 21; 36:1-7; Ps. 110:3). The calf itself is a syncretistic object. Bull and calf cults were common in Egypt, and indeed, the god-king Pharaoh was sometimes portrayed as bull trampling down his enemies, but the image was common throughout the ancient world. The power and strength, virility and might represented by bulls were joined to the worship of a number of ancient deities, including Baal. Israel had a mighty God...so why not represent him in this way too? And if we can represent him in the form with which we are familiar, will not other actions of ‘worship' therefore be acceptable to him?

The Lord's response to Moses indicates that he is indeed a God jealous for the affections of his people (Ex. 32:7-10). The wrath of God, which threatens destruction, is not an abrogation of the covenant promise, but a test of Moses himself, to see if he would respond to the possibility of being the one in whom the great covenant promises would be fulfilled (Ex. 32:10). But Moses is shown now to be of the character of the true Shepherd himself and immediately (!!) intercedes for the people (Ex. 32:11-13, 31-32). This, itself, is testimony to the amazing work that God had done in him. As Currid comments, ‘nowhere does Moses attempt to justify the sins of the Hebrews. That is because they are unjustifiable. Moses rather pleads for the mercy of God on the basis of God's character and promises. This type of intercessory prayer on behalf of an entire people is unique in the history of the ancient Near East' (Exodus, Vol. 2, p. 276)

Moses points to the things that God had already said and done (Ex. 32:11-13). The prayer is astounding in its confidence in God's faithfulness to his own revealed character, and utterly unlike any pagan prayer. In pagan/idolatrous worship one can never be sure how the ‘gods' will behave...they are testy and capricious. Moses knew that God was not like that, and so he stood on God's own revelation about himself in bold intercession. The relationship between God and Moses throughout this section of Exodus is given some attention (e.g. Ex. 33:7-11) and it should give great heart to our own approach to God in prayer (e.g. Eph. 2:18; 3:12; Heb. 4:16).