Sermon Audio: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ministrybymail

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
² And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.
Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
⁵ So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.” ⁶ Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
⁷ And the LORD said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ “ ⁹ And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! ¹⁰ Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”
¹¹ Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: “LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ “ ¹⁴ So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people. (NKJV)

Dear friends in Christ,

When was the last time you heard these events of the Golden Calf? Maybe you were in Sunday School or a Bible History class. Maybe you taught it to your children or a class. In my mind it seems like a child’s story, something we tell our kids about and are amazed at how foolish the Israelites were.

But if we hear these events and think only of children and the Israelites living 3500 years ago, we are missing some very important truths—truths about ourselves and truths about the one true God. Let’s take a closer look at this Bible event as we consider Paul’s warning to the Corinthians, “Flee from Idolatry.”

Our hearts are eager for it

As the Israelites are assembled at Mount Sinai, it has only been 3 months since God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. It’s been three months since the 10 plagues, three months since they passed through the Red Sea on dry land and saw the mighty Egyptian army drown behind them.

Camped at the base of Mount Sinai, they have already received heard the LORD’s 10 Commandments, including the very first commandment: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ³ “You shall have no other gods before Me. ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; ⁵ you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” (Exodus 20:2-5)

Here at Mount Sinai, Moses has gone up on the mountain to speak with the LORD. When he is gone for a while, what do the Israelites do? They tell Aaron, Moses’ brother, (who would be the LORD’s first high priest), “Come, make us gods that shall go before us.” Do you see how eager their hearts are for an idol? They are so eager for an idol to worship that they are willing to give up their valuable gold to make one. They are so eager for an idol that they get up early in the morning to worship the golden calf that Aaron has carved for them.

But what of us? Are our hearts eager for idols? Eager for a god that is not the true God? I doubt any of you have a golden calf, statute of Buddha, or of Hindu gods in your home. So maybe we think this event at Mount Sinai has no application for us.

Yet consider. Martin Luther once said that the human heart is an idol factory. An idol may not be a statue that you bow down to. An idol can be anything that you are in awe of, love, or trust in more than you fear, love, and trust in God. An idol is anything that is most important in your heart; anything you run to first and rely on first in times of trouble.

What are some examples of this? Jesus warns us against idolatry of family when He says, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37) Solomon warns against idolatry of your mind when he writes, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)

Our hearts are eager for idols—things we can see and touch; things that we want to rely on more than the words and promises of God. Our idols might be family or phones, intellect or the internet, money or medicine, fame, sports, entertainment or physical pleasure. While some of these things may not be sinful in and of themselves, if you examine your heart carefully you will see just how easily our hearts are drawn to them as being the most important thing in our lives and how the thought of losing them terrifies us. As we hear about this event at Mount Sinai, let us learn to FLEE FROM IDOLATRY because our hearts are eager to prop up idols.

THE LORD’s ANGER BURNS HOT AGAINST IT

As the LORD sees what the Israelites have done, He says to Moses in verse 10, “Let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them.” The LORD had done everything for the Israelites. Out of His amazing grace He had chosen them to be His people. He sent the 10 plagues in Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let His people go. He opened a way in the Red Sea to save them on dry land and drown the Egyptian army behind them. When they had no water, He provided water from a rock for them (Exodus 17).

Though He had delivered them, protected them, and provided for them, they, like a stiff-necked stubborn cow, refused to follow Him. Instead, they imitated the Egyptians they were delivered from and worshiped a golden calf, saying that the golden calf delivered them. The LORD certainly had every right to consume the Israelites with His fiery anger.

And what of us? How long have you known the 1^st Commandment? Maybe you learned it in Kindergarten or first grade. Furthermore, from childhood most of us have known the great things the LORD has graciously done for us. He has given you your home, your family, your nation, the food in your kitchen and gardens, and clothes in your closets. Our lives are overflowing with an abundance with every good and perfect gift that has come from God’s hand.

But more than that, He has given us Jesus. It was His beloved Son whom He gave to rescue you from slavery to sin and that wicked slave driver, Satan. In the waters of baptism, He drowned your sins. Jesus overcame death to free you from the fear of it. He gave you His Holy Spirit to make you a believer in Jesus, to make you His own dear child and an heir of the promised land of heaven.

So how should the LORD God react when we trust someone or something ahead of trusting God and His Word? How should the righteous God feel when you love someone or something more than Him? What should He do when we stand in awe of something as more amazing and more glorious than He? His fiery wrath should likewise consume us! Let us flee idolatry, for the LORD’s righteous anger burns hot in hatred of it.

ONLY JESUS CAN SAVE US FROM IT

Go back to Moses on Mount Sinai. How does Moses react to all this? Psalm 106 says that he “stood in the breach.” A breach is a gap or a rift. With the LORD who is a consuming fire and the people acting like idolatrous heathens, Moses steps in between them. He reminds the LORD of the promises He had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to make them into a great nation. He tells Him to think of what the Egyptians will say when they hear how the LORD killed them all in the wilderness. Then Moses calls on the LORD to turn from His fierce wrath and relent from consuming Israel.

AND THE LORD LISTENED! The LORD listened to Moses’ prayer and in His amazing grace allowed these idolatrous Israelites to live.

Do you see Jesus here? Just as Moses stood in the breach for the Israelites and turned away God’s righteous wrath over their sin, the Son of God became man to stand in the breach for you. He did more than implore God on your behalf, Jesus came to be the one who would endure God’s fiery anger because of your sin. On the cross, God poured out His fiery anger over sin on His beloved Son. We hear this from the mouth of Jesus as He cries out in hellish anguish, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”

Because of Jesus’ innocent death on the cross, “the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.” Jesus has turned away God’s wrath forever. You are forgiven for your idolatry. By raising Jesus from the dead on Easter, God has announced to you that you are forgiven; you have been reconciled to God through Christ Jesus.

And now Jesus lives on in heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father. And listen to what He is doing there: He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25) Like Moses at the Mount, Jesus is at the right hand of the Father speaking to Him about you. The nails holes in His hands and feet turn away the Father’s fiery anger over your sin, bringing you forgiveness and healing.

Knowing the cost of our forgiveness, brothers and sister, knowing it cost the Son of God His very life, let us flee idolatry. As we flee from idolatry in repentance, let us flee to Jesus, our Mediator, who cleanses us from all our unrighteousness. Praise be to Jesus who stood in the breach for us. Amen.

—Pastor Nathan Pfeiffer

Berea Ev. Lutheran Church
Inver Grove Heights, MN

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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.