Ep. 39. Exodus 32 | Idolatry
EPISODE 39
IDOLATRY: EXODUS 32
How fantastic is today's chapter and study? This is just over four months into the Exodus. It took three months to get to this mountain, plus forty days of Moses on the mountain. Months were thirty days each, so about four months and ten days have passed, give or take a bit. The people, impatiently waiting for Moses, decide they need a new God to follow. This text strikes us as slightly shocking, depending on how it was taught to us. But since we've paid attention to their grumbling, we aren't really all that surprised by their idolatry. We're even less surprised when we consider Ezekiel 20, which lets us know that this horde of Hebrews carried all the idols of Egypt with them when they left four months earlier. They were idolaters from day one and would stay the course of idolatry through their forty-year journey and beyond.
And what about the audacity of Aaron to claim that he just threw the gold into the fire and out walked this golden calf? I mean, come on. This sin caused the people of God to break loose and made the name of God a mockery. I can't help but think of David's behavior with Bathsheba and how his sin made a mockery of God. Though our sins, as people of faith, no longer distance us from God, I wonder how many times our behavior has caused the name of God to be mocked.
Moses stands boldly before the people, "Who is on the LORD's side? Come to me." The Levites step forward and gird themselves with swords, moving through the camp, killing those who bow to the idol. In doing so, they were "ordained for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother." About three thousand souls fell that day. This shouldn't surprise us either. We are well aware that the Law of Moses brings condemnation and death with it. Paul makes that abundantly clear in his writings. Neither should we be caught off guard that if this is the picture of how the Law works, then there must also be a picture of how grace in the New Covenant works. It isn't difficult for us to find the parallel in Acts on the day the Spirit descends in fire upon the early disciples. Peter arises from the group and preaches to the gathered crowd, and about three thousand souls are brought to salvation. In Exodus, the fire remained on the mountain, the Law was given (and instantly violated), and death came to the people. In Acts, the fire of God comes down, the Spirit is given, and life comes to the people. How can we not exult in our hearts at such a revelation?
The Law is a shadowy figure pointing to the substance of Christ. Moses was the first intercessor between the people and God; Jesus would be the last. Sinai was the first mountain whereupon God met with his people; Zion would be the last. The Law comes with death in its teeth; the Spirit comes with life in its wings. I could talk from morning to night on the beauty of this Law/Grace comparison in the Scripture. I hope that you are beginning to see it clearly and that you are finding yourself more in love with the beauty of God each and every day.
ADDITIONAL READING: 2 Samuel 12:14; Acts 2:41; Ezekiel 20:6-8; Deuteronomy 9:4-29
