Exodus 32-35 Faltering in Your Walk??

Wise Christians KNOW and acknowledge that they too can falter. Also, Christians who are walking intimately with the Lord, grieve when other believers falter and humbly seek to help them confess and accept forgiveness and restoration. Rather than rejoicing that someone has faltered and thinking that it makes us personally appear more spiritual, we grieve and come along side…”bearing one another’s burdens.” The Lord wants His people to admit when they falter in their faith and accept His forgiveness.
BACKGROUND: The Lord delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and led the new nation to Mt. Sinai. There He offered to enter into covenant with them. The basic stipulations He placed on them were the 10 Commandments. The people of Israel agreed to the covenant between the Lord and themselves, but they immediately violated its stipulations.
Moses delayed in returning from Mt. Sinai and his delay discouraged the people. OR could it be that they were simply more comfortable doing what they had done before!?? They initiated the incident. They called Moses THIS MOSES as if he were a stranger rather than someone who had led them so well up until now. They were not concerned about Moses – his delay in coming down from the mountain could have been because of a loss of life.
The people were impatient. Impatience is often the cause of impulsive actions that are sinful. Even when Moses was with them, they had responded poorly and criticized him and ignored his teachings.
They showed preference quickly to an object/idol made by human hands to a proven valiant leader who was sensitive to and spoke to them the words of the Lord. Instead of immediately turning to God for help and warning the people what would happen. Aaron and Hur failed. Instead of restraining the people Aaron went along with them. Aaron fed the desire of the people to worship idols – born in Egypt…and he gave them what they wanted.
Much is being said these days about “meeting the felt needs of the people, but here was a nation that did not know what its needs really were. They thought they needed an idol but what they really needed was faith in their great God who had revealed Himself so powerfully to them. They exchanged the glory of the true and living God for the image of an animal…they acted like the heathen nations around them. [Many people can rise early to sin but not to pray.]
So Aaron led them in making and worshiping a golden calf….what a weak leader! Rather than assume leadership, he submitted to the will of the majority. He proved himself to be in just a short time. The people requested that he make a “graven image” and Aaron immediately cooperated! He not only made the idol of a calf, but led in worship.
Aaron proclaimed a feast to the Lord 32:5…an insinuation that the Israelites were not worshiping an Egyptian or Canaanite deity…rather, they were identifying the calf with the Lord their God. 20:3-7 a forbidden deed!
Aaron continued to go along with the people…he facilitated illicit worship by erecting an altar and offering sacrifices before the calf. The burnt offering symbolized giving everything to the Lord, whereas the fellowship offering emphasized communion with the Lord. Just as many of the cults and “frozen meaningless entertainment meetings of a group of let’s play religion” groups demonstrate a sham religion rather than genuine relationship, fellowship, and worship of our Lord.
The Israelites were shortly on a ride of the “slippery slope” of sin! They had quickly broken the first and second commandments. After breaking the first two, they had continued to degenerate into rejection of His moral guidance…a drunken sexual orgy and broke the seventy commandment. The lack of concern for Moses and lack of trust in the Lord resulted in numerous sinful actions. The Lord had great anger against their rebellion and sin.
Moses called what they did “a great sin”. And his assessment was accurate. It was a great sin because of who committee it…His chosen people, His special treasure. It was great because of when and where they committed it; at Mt. Sinai after they had heard God’s law declared and seen His glory revealed. They had promised to obey God’s law, but in making a golden calf and indulging in a sensual celebration, they broke 3 commandments. It was a great sin because of what they had already experienced…they had soon forgotten and rebelled against the goodness of the Lord. It is no wonder their sin provoked Moses and God to anger.
When Moses witnessed their sin, he smashed the two stone tablets the Lord had given him. When the Lord threatened to destroy the people, Moses interceded with Him on their behalf.
The Lord does not tolerate sin but His judgment is an appeal for repentance. The verdict is contingent on the sinner’s rejection of the Lord’s offer of salvation by grace. When Moses confronted the people, some immediately turned back to the Lord and lived…others died. Deliverance from the Lord’s judgment always is the result of personal choice and response. How do you respond to the Lord’s offer of mercy?
Ephesians 2:1-10 Our relationship with the Lord, our propensity for disobedience…when moved backward toward former behavior parallels that of the Israelites. We become impatient as they did…we begin to pull out yesteryear idols or construct a new one and follow our “hand made idols” – who cannot hear, see, move, speak or act – to have our full attention! We are wise to quickly reject attitudes and watch out for conditions that con contribute to our being tempted and pulled away from “loving the Lord thy God with all thy heart, thy soul, thy might…”
Today we “sugarcoat” sin…in our individual life and then with those whom we love or favor…we show unwarranted mercy by “soft pedaling” and not confessing sin as sin…but Moses did not…he spoke the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about sin to the Israelites.
In verses 32, 33 The Lord’s response stressed individual responsibility. Only the person committing the sin would be punished for that sin. Moses was not permitted to substitute himself for the Israelites. On JESUS’ DEATH HAS THE CAPABILITY OF REMOVING SIN. The Lord’s statement also makes clear that sin will be punished. He does not ignore violations of His of His requirements for right living.
v. 33:12-23 Moses made a 2 fold request of the Lord. Personal: Moses sought a more intimate knowledge of the Lord for himself. – the Lord did grant Moses a special revelation of His presence. The Lord agreed to grant Moses’ request with some restrictions. They were necessary for Moses’ safety. Holy God and sinful humanity are incompatible. Moses was only permitted a fleeting glimpse of His back. The figurative language conveys the vast difference between Deity and humanity.
Moses wanted to clarify the Lord’s relationship to the Israelites…the Lord essentially reversed His precious avowal to separate Himself from the people of Israel. He promised He would go with the Israelites into Canaan.
The Lord Yahweh describes Himself as a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth. He revealed more about His nature to Moses. Compassionate describes the deep love of superior Being for an inferior being. Gracious – root meaning – to show favor. Together the two terms illustrate the Lord’ nature to love people and show them favor.
The Lord completely forgives (has forgiven on the cross) those who turn to Him (I JOHN 1:9) …GUT one must confess guilt and claim His forgiveness. THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATION – graphic comparison of the Lord’s response to humanity…limited effect of evil to 4 generations…a small number by comparison to thousands of generations. … reference also concerned the influence a person’s deeds have on those with whom that person lives.
Moses immediate response to the Lord’s revelation was to worship Him. Moses interceded for the Israelites again.
The covenant was renewed as a result of Moses’ intercession. The Lord instructed Moses to cut two new tablets of Stone. Then He permitted Moses to glimpse His glory. Moses face glowed and alarmed the people. So he wore a veil after he had relayed what the Lord commanded until He went to speak with the Lord again. (34:29-35)
We can be grateful that the Lord is compassionate and gracious, loving us although we sometimes falter in faith and always making His grace and forgiveness readily available!
Moses had to wear the veil over his face because of the people’s reaction, but he removed it when he spoke to the Lord…this was a precursor of the privilege the Lord would bestow on Jesus’ followers. Today, the believer, regardless of how bad he or she may have faltered, can go directly to the Lord…because of His compassionate and loving nature, we can know He graciously covers us with His forgiveness as we repent.
Moses was a man who had a great delight in the Lord on the mountaintop but this delight was interrupted by deep disappointment with his people. It was one of the most heartbreaking experiences in his entire career, and yet it brought out the best in him, which is what always happens when we love God and live by faith.
Moses loved the people, sinful as they were, and he wanted more than anything else to glorify the God of Israel and see Him fulfill His promises. He was not worried about his own future; he was concerned about God’ reputation.
Moses interceded with the Lord on behalf of the Israelites, confessing their sin and pleading with the Lord to forgive them. The Lord knows when we have faltered and holds us accountable; thus we need to quickly admit our failings, to repent, and to ask for the Lord’s forgiveness.