Exodus – Idaville Church

Enough Already

On January 7, 1913, William Burton was granted a patent for a cracking process that enabled him to obtain gasoline from crude oil. It was this patent that would change the way the world moves from one end of the globe to the other. Most people today don’t even recognize the name of William Burton, let alone appreciate his contribution to the transportation industry. But people do complain about how his invention has adversely impacted our environment. No one ever thought greater wisdom was needed in handling this invention. For the same reason, President Harry S. Truman should have heeded sounder advice when he announced on the same date in 1953 that the United States had developed a hydrogen bomb. Both inventions had tremendous potential. Both inventions offered the world hopeful technology. But both inventions make an important statement: Planning something and carrying out those plans are distinctly different. It is how we carry out the plans drawn that will demonstrate our faithfulness in following through on our commitments.

The plans drawn for processing gasoline and for developing a hydrogen bomb were flawed because no one had the whole picture as to their use, function, and maintenance. But the blueprint for the tabernacle and related items had already been given to the people of Israel, and it was perfect. Nothing was unforeseen by God or left out. After all, this was God’s plans and God’s building. Moses offered a challenge to the people, and they responded. Not just a few, but most everyone got involved. This was God’s design for the tabernacle in the wilderness, and it is still His design for His Body today. God asked the Israelites to give of their time, talents and treasures to construct the tabernacle. They were to give those things freely as they remembered what He had done for them in saving them from slavery and taking them to be His own chosen people. He didn’t have to do it that way. He could have just spoken the tabernacle into existence as He did creation. But in wanting a relationship with His people, in His infinite wisdom, He partnered with them. He wanted them to realize that He saved them for a purpose, and He was going to dwell among them to see that purpose fulfilled.

Our scripture today, which is Exodus 35:30-36:7, is a continuation of the scripture we studied last week. The focus was and is again today on the people and the tabernacle. The rest of chapter 36 through 39 will be all about the materials and how they were put together to build the tabernacle and its furnishings. God gave Moses the blueprints for the construction of the tabernacle and last week was a general call to the people to use their time, talents and treasures for God’s house and for His glory. This week the general call becomes a specific one to the persons who would oversee the building God’s house. Moses calls Bezalel and Oholiab specifically, who have been gifted by God to be the project managers to bring the tabernacle to its glorious completion.

The same is true for us today. God still wants to be in a relationship with us and to that end, He has partnered with every Christian to fulfill the Great Commission. He does this by putting His Holy Spirit and His power inside of us. No longer does the Lord tabernacle in the wilderness, or in the flesh on this earth as Jesus, He now tabernacles inside of each one of us. But He also asks us to build up the Body of Christ, which is us, in this sanctuary. So, what does God ask us to give to build up this Body of Christ? Of course, He asks for our time, talents and treasures, but we all also have fruits of the Spirit in varying degrees, and we all have different Spiritual gifts, that are God-given and are to be used to build up this Body, here at Idaville Church. This is the place that God has ordained us to come especially each Sunday to join in worshipping Him, first and foremost, in spurring each other on to love and good works, in holding each other accountable and in spreading His gospel to the world, all for His glory. That brings us to our big idea this morning: God desires His people to use their God-given fruits and gifts of the Spirit for His glory, His Body and to spread His gospel in the world.

Let’s pray:

There are two points this morning. The first is The Commissioning, found in Exodus 35:30-36:1. This is what God’s Word says, “Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers.” 1 So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.”

As we look at today’s scripture, there is repetition from chapter 31. Repetition is important because when something is repeated in God’s Word, it is because it is important to God and should be important to the people of God, as well. And there are some differences that we will study later in verses 34 and 35. We ended last week with all the Israelite men and women who were willing bring their freewill offerings to the Lord for all the work the Lord through Moses had commanded them to do. As these freewill offerings are being brought, Moses introduces to the Israelites who the foreman will be on the tabernacle project and who his assistant will be. The Lord had specifically chosen Bezalel to be the point person in constructing the tabernacle. We are told that Bezalel is the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. What is important about Bezalel is how he points us to Jesus just like the tabernacle and its furnishings do. Bezalel means “in the Shadow of God.” The word “shadow” gives us the sense of shade and protection, like the tabernacle. Uri means “light” and could mean the “Light of Jehovah.” Jesus is the Light of the World come from the Father. Hur means “white”, and Judah means “praise.” Bezalel will be the foreman and the chief craftsman and artist for the building of the tabernacle and its furnishings.

Bezalel was chosen not only because he had been given these God-given skills and abilities naturally but because he was filled with the Spirit of God. The word “fill” means “to be set apart or to be consecrated” for a specific task. By being filled with the Spirit of God it assures that his work will be perfect and acceptable to the Lord and will meet His standards. We see he is filled with the Spirit of God in four ways. First, he is filled with “wisdom” which means he will apply what he knows in a prudent and beneficial way. Second, he is filled with “understanding” which will give him the ability to comprehend how to put all the pieces of the project together. Third, he is filled with “knowledge” which is an awareness of something that has been observed or experienced already and not just based on logic or theory. Fourth, he is filled with all kinds of “skills or workmanship” which speaks to the quality of the work he will employ to accomplish the task. Bezalel already had the skills and abilities to do the work which is probably why God chose him and filled him with the Spirit of God. Interestingly, Bezalel is the first person in the Bible to be said they were filled with the Spirit of God. Again, we see that Bezalel was a type of Christ with the skills and abilities given to him as he was filled with the Spirit of God. Colossians 2:2-3 says that “In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Bezalel was truly a master artist with God-given skills, and next, we see the different materials he will be able to take and design for the tabernacle, designs that will be exactly how the Lord drew it up. He was skilled in working with gold, silver and bronze. He could cut and set stones or jewels. He could also carve wood and engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. There was probably not a lot that Bezalel couldn’t do already but now will be enhanced by the Spirit of God. Now we are introduced to Bezalel’s assistant, Oholiab. We also learned about him back in Exodus 31. His name comes from the words for “father” and for “tent” and so his name means “father’s tent” which points to the tabernacle which will be God the Father’s tent amid the Israelite tents. He is the son of Ahisamak which means “my brother has supported” and from the tribe of Dan which means “judge.” Again, we see how perfectly these two men point us to Jesus who will come and tabernacle or tent among us. Jesus tabernacled or “tented” among humanity while he lived on the earth. Also, we have been adopted into the family of God making us the spiritual brothers and sisters and co-heirs with Jesus. Of course, Jesus supports us in many ways. And lastly, Jesus will be the judge of all mankind. John 5:22 says, “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son.”

Then we came to the part of our scripture that was not recorded in Exodus 31. We learn that not only does Bezalel possess the artistic skills and abilities to do the work to God’s perfect standards but he also along with Oholiab have been given by God the ability to teach others. There were going to be others who already had an artistic knack who would be apprentices to Bezalel and Oholiab. They had some skills and abilities but were not up to par with them, but they would be taught by them and brought up to speed to become “skilled workers and designers.”

We see four types of artists in verse 35. One, engravers, who were skilled in cutting and setting stones or jewels. Two designers. The verb used means “to consider” and so a designer would literally “count and calculate the threads” in weaving the different figures in the curtains, etc. Three, embroiderers, who would do work with a needle to weave and embroider the materials such as curtains and the sash of the high priest. Fourth, weavers who would work on a loom to make items such as the robe of the ephod and garments for the priests. Then on 36:1, we have a summary statement of the commissioning of Bezalel, Oholiab and the other skilled artist apprentices who were to construct the sanctuary just as the Lord commanded. They were all divinely gifted, and everything had to be done according to the divine plan.

We see a couple things in this portion of our scripture. One, Bezalel and Oholiab, are completely in charge of all the work to be done. Moses is not in charge because he is not artistically inclined; being an artist is not in his skillset. This speaks of the local church, today, being made up of all different parts with different gifts to build up the Body of Christ. We don’t all have the same time, talents and treasures to give and we all have different fruits and gifts of the Spirit to use here at Idaville. But when we are all using our skills and abilities for His glory and for the good of the Body, we complement each other, and God is pleased and the work He has for us to do will be done to overflowing.

Two, even Bezalel and Oholiab couldn’t do all the artistic work that needed to be done. It would be a team effort. They needed other skilled workers and designers so that the result was exact to the Lord’s instructions and up to His standards. The tabernacle would not be built by amateurs but by master craftsman and artists who have been endowed by God to do the work to His specifications. Three, this project was not a democracy. Not everyone would be allowed to do the artistic work and design of the tabernacle just to be involved or because they have desire to help and as Douglas Stuart says, “no one would be allowed to suggest making the tabernacle bigger, or more elaborate, or differently furnished.”

The construction of the tabernacle parallels what the work of God at its best has always needed from His people who have been filled with His Holy Spirit: willing hearts spurred on by what God has done for them, and the opportunity for everyone to contribute in some way, whether with their time, talents or treasures or all of the above, and a willingness to use their fruits and gifts of the Spirit for the glory of God. When God plans, he provides and there is always an expectation that everything will be fully done and the best quality possible, by the people best qualified to do it, chosen and called by God. Last week one of the next steps was to Use our time, treasures and talents to build up the Body of Christ here at Idaville Church. This morning, our first next step is to Participate in the work of the Lord, here at Idaville Church, using my fruits and gifts of the Spirit.

That brings us to our second point, The Response, found in Exodus 36:2-7. This is what God’s Word says, “Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work. They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.” Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so, the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.

We see two responses in this portion of our scripture. The first response is from Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person, or the apprentices, to whom the Lord had given the ability and who was willing to come and do the work. Moses now calls them to come and do what the Lord has commanded in constructing the tabernacle and its furnishings. Again, we see that Moses calls those whose hearts have been stirred up by the Lord, which implies that there were those who were skilled artists that were not willing to use their gifts and abilities to do the work of the Lord. How sad that would have been, to have God-given skills and abilities that would be enhanced by God to do the work but not be willing to do the work when called. The only way for the Body of Christ to function properly is for everyone, all its parts, to use their time, talents, treasures, fruits and gifts of the Spirit, for His work and His glory (Big Idea). So, Bezalel, Oholiab and the willing apprentices come and receive the offerings from Moses that the Israelites brought for the work of the sanctuary. These would have been the materials that they had plundered from the Egyptians and all the things that had been handmade by them. These materials were literally received from Moses, translated as the “face of Moses” meaning that the people are bringing their offerings and laying them before Moses who inspects them and then passes them on to the artisans. The word “sanctuary” includes everything being constructed and is translated as “holy” meaning that the entire structure being built is holy and all the materials being brought are for all its construction.

Second, we see the response from the Israelites. They continue to bring their freewill offerings morning after morning. “They” is emphatic meaning they kept bringing the offerings and piling them on top of the previous offerings probably faster than the others could be used. The fact that the offerings kept coming morning after morning probably means that the Israelites who were able to make handmade items were doing so through the night to bring them and lay them at Moses’ feet the next morning. It probably also means that not everyone’s heart was “stirred up” at the same time. It may have taken some longer than others to decide to give up their treasures from the heart willingly. We don’t know how long this went on until all the skilled workers stopped what they were working on and came to Moses to let him know that the people were bringing more than enough for what was needed to do the work that the Lord commanded. It’s like “enough already.”

The word for “skilled workers” here literally means “the wise men.” This is important because they were wise enough to know what they needed to do the job and that now supply had overtaken the demand. There was more than enough to do the work that the Lord commanded them to do. The Lord had asked the people to give freely and willingly without obligation, and they supplied over and above what was needed. This happens again in 1 Chronicles 29 as King David and other leaders gave to the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Verse 6 says, “Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly.” And verse 6 says, “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.” Then King David prayed a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord that Teresa read earlier.

After the skilled workers informed Moses about the overwhelming supply of materials, he sent out a command or order throughout the camp that no man or woman was to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary. Imagine that! They had to be “commanded” to stop giving. What is not said here but is implied is the integrity of Moses, Bezalel, Oholiab and the apprentices. They could have just taken the overabundance and split it amongst themselves lining their pockets with it. They could have justified it as payment for the specialized work they were doing for the Lord. But they were honest people and when the work of the Lord was entirely provided for Moses made it known that everyone was to stop bringing their offerings. They probably were returned to the people who had made and or brought them. The mention of “man or women” reinforces the idea that most of the offerings that were coming in morning after morning were probably the homemade items that were being made by ordinary, common people who probably didn’t have a lot to give but who continued to give abundantly out of their poverty.

First, they had to be commanded to stop and then they had to be “restrained” from bringing more. Moses’ command didn’t seem to do the job as they kept bringing their homemade offerings. So, they had to be purposely “restrained” from bringing anymore because they already had enough to do all the work. This showed a couple of things. One, the people were truly repentant for their sin of idolatry and were ecstatic that God was going to dwell in their midst and so they brought and brought. Two, they were truly thankful for God rescuing them from slavery and the Red Sea, protecting and providing for them in the wilderness, and forgiving them. Three, their giving showed a strong desire to uphold the covenant God had made with them to be their God and take them as His people.

A little boy’s first-grade teacher asked him, “What position does your older brother play on the football team?” The boy knew that his brother played football; he had been to many of his games. But flustered by the unexpected question, all he could say was, “I think he’s a drawback.” Drawback … a term used for a retreat from battle, or the posture of a shy kid in a crowd. But this is also a term that could describe many Christians in the church today. God told the people of Israel, “You are my fullbacks, not drawbacks. I will do the blocking for you. Now pick up the ball and run with it! There’s work to be done.”

The same is true for kingdom workers today. There is no such thing as benchwarmers in the Bible or in the church. We are all called by God and given His Holy Spirit to fulfill His Great Commission to Pursue, Grow and Multiply Disciples. God has brought us all here to Idaville Church and to this very moment in time and placed each of us in this Body of Christ, to fulfill that mission as we live for Him on this earth. So, we need those who are Bezalels and Oholiabs and apprentices and others who are willing to give of their time, talents and treasures and to use their fruits and gifts of the Spirit for God’s glory, for the good of others and for the benefit of this Body of Christ. So let each of us purpose to not be drawbacks and benchwarmers but purpose to be fullbacks, who are committed Christ-followers, who are disciples who make disciples, and who are willing to take the gospel to the places where we live, work, learn and play, all for the glory of God. That brings us to our second and last next step which is to Purpose to be a fullback and not a benchwarmer as I pursue, grow and multiply disciples along with the Body of Christ here at Idaville Church.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray:

Opening & Closing: Glen S. Martin, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, ed. Max Anders, Holman Old Testament Commentary (B&H Publishing Group, 2002), 146–150.

August 17, 2025/by Office

Before I Was Rudely Interrupted

Rescued Exodus Sunday Morning Marc Webb Blessed, God's glory, Honor, Knowledge, Leadership, Thinking

Before I Was Rudely Interrupted

Doug Van Meter shares this illustration: Jonathan Edwards set numerous world records on his way to winning gold at the Sydney Olympics. His father was a vicar of a parish church, and he was raised in what we would understand to be a deeply devoted Christian home. Young Edwards was well-known as an evangelical who saw his athletic skill as a means to glorify God; and one means of doing so was to use his athletic platform to evangelize. Many likened him to Eric Liddell. Like Liddell, Edwards became known for his refusal to participate in athletic events on a Sunday. In fact, because of this conviction he missed the World Championships in 1991. But by 1993 he had a change of mind and no longer saw the need to withdraw from Sunday events. Upon his retirement in 2003 he began to travel and share his testimony. He became the presenter of a Christian program produced by the BBC called Songs of Praise. But that was then. Presently, Edwards is a professed agnostic who has disowned the Christian faith and says that he will definitely not be returning to Christianity. In a website article, he boasts of being “humanist, atheist, scientific, secularist, naturalistic, evolutionary, rationalist, and a sceptic.” In that interview, Edwards said that looking back on his life he now realizes that sport was his identity rather than his faith.

Van Meter goes on to say, “In other words, he was (and is) an idolater. I wonder if perhaps the first step towards fully embracing his idolatry was revealed in 1993 when he decided to no longer obey the fourth commandment.” “I wonder if his decision to no longer observe the Sabbath was not the beginning of his departure from the faith.” When we tell God no with reference to the fourth commandment it becomes easier to tell Him no in other areas. There is an inseparable historical, theological and anthropological link between the fourth commandment and the temptation to idolatry. God has given to us the Sabbath to protect us against committing idolatry. If we fail to trust God with His Sabbath, then we may find that we are not in fact trusting Him with our souls!

At the end of Exodus 31, at the end of Moses’ first forty-days and nights on the mountain with God, the Lord gave him the Sabbath law. Then Lord gave Moses the two tablets of the covenant law or the Ten Commandments. And the next thing we see in the narrative is the Israelites committing idolatry with the golden calf. And for the next three chapters, we are told that the Lord was going to kill His chosen people, but that Moses interceded for them, and God relented but would not dwell among them as they traveled to the Promised Land, then Moses interceded for them again, and God again relented and promised to dwell among them, then God established the covenant with them by commanding them to observe laws that were intended to keep them from idolatry, and finally God gave Moses the second set of two stone tablets of the covenant law.

Last week we saw Moses come down the mountain after his second forty-days and night’s stay with God, and his face was radiant from being with the Lord and speaking with Him. Moses told the people all that the Lord commanded while he was on the mountain the previous two times which included the instructions for building the tabernacle. Now as the construction of the tabernacle is getting ready to start the Lord again commands the familiar Sabbath law. We can almost hear the Lord say, “As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted.” This morning, we begin our study of the last six chapters of Exodus. These are repetitive chapters in that everything we see until the end of the book we have already studied in Exodus 25-30. There are a couple of reasons why the author repeats these chapters. First, to show the faithfulness of Moses is bringing these commands to the people. Second, to show the faithfulness of God in promising to establish His covenant and dwell with the Israelites. Three, to give hope to the people that God’s plan was on schedule. That he had truly forgiven them and would continue with His plan to use them for His glory. As they move forward, the Lord will ask them, again, to trust in Him. Before the golden calf they professed their faith and trust in the Lord but by committing idolatry they demonstrated by their actions that they didn’t really trust Him. Now it will not just be enough to profess their trust in God; God will command them to practically demonstrate it. That brings us to our big idea that God desires His people to practically demonstrate their trust in Him. How will the Israelites do this? How do we practically live out our trust in the Lord? This morning, we will learn that one way to do this is by honoring God with their time, talents and treasures.

Let’s pray: Father God, we thank you for your word and for the opportunity to learn from it today. We pray that you would open our hearts and minds to understand your truth and that we would be transformed by it. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Our first point is, Time, found in Exodus 35:1-3. This is what God’s Word says. “Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, “These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do: For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

The first thing we see is that Moses “assembled” the whole Israelite community. This is in contrast to Exodus 32:1, when the people “assembled” around Aaron. They assembled around Aaron as an angry mob in disobedience but here they assembled around Moses in obedience, ready to hear what the Lord commanded. Moses repeats the Sabbath law to them which included working for six days and on the seventh day taking a day of sabbath rest. God knew what they needed physically and spiritually in order to thrive. Their physical bodies would be able to recharge with this weekly rhythm and as they kept this day holy, their spiritual selves would recharge as well. They were to spend this one holy and special day a week tuned in to God not just individually but corporately as well. God then reiterates the penalty for anyone who violates this command which is to be put to death. This was important because obedience to the Sabbath, spending that day focused on the Lord, would keep them from idolatry. If they disregarded the Lord’s commands and failed to trust God with His Sabbath, they were failing to trust God with their souls. Also, the Sabbath was the sign of the covenant. To reject the sign was to reject what the sign signified which was the Lord’s redemption.

Then we see an added command to the Sabbath law. They were not to light a fire in any of their dwellings on the Sabbath day. Why was this important? It probably goes back to when God sent them manna and quail to eat. On the sixth day, they were to gather enough for two days, because there would be none to gather on the seventh. They were to boil and cook what they wanted on the sixth day, so it was already prepared for the seventh day. They were to abstain from unnecessary work in every possible way and lighting a fire in their dwellings on the Sabbath would be a flagrant violation of the Lord’s commands. Why did God reiterate this command at this particular moment? It was because they would soon be working to construct the tabernacle, and the Israelites may have felt justified in working on the Sabbath in order to get it done quickly. The sooner they finished the sooner God would come and dwell among them. But they were not to disregard God’s Sabbath commands just because they were doing “God’s work.” 1 Samuel 15:22 says, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” God wants us to trust that He can run the world without our help and that He can meet our needs without our constant labors. He also wants us to recognize His lordship over us and that worship is our supreme need. So, God demanded obedience from His people and wanted them to trust Him with their time (Big Idea).

That brings us to our second point, Treasure, found in Exodus 35:4-9, 20-29. This point breaks down into five sections and I will read the pertinent verses as we come to them. The first two sections are, Commandment and Condition, found in verses 4-5a. This is what God’s Word says, “Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded: From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering. . .”

The first thing we see is that this was a commandment to the entire Israelite community. Everyone is given the opportunity to contribute to the tabernacle project. It was to be an offering to the Lord and was to come from what the people already possessed. Then we see the condition the Lord set on this offering. This was not a tithe which God required but a free will offering. This idea of willingness is repeated at least five times in this chapter to show that the giving was to be voluntary, and that they were not under any obligation to contribute. A free will offering is one where God asks us to go above and beyond our required level of giving in order to give sacrificially for something God is going to do.

The third section is Contents found in Exodus 35:5b-9. This is what God’s Word says, “of gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breast piece.”

These were the raw materials that would be needed to build the tabernacle and its furnishings. They have already been described in previous chapters, but it is important to note what each one meant and how they were symbols of Jesus Christ. Gold is the most precious metal and symbolizes purity, holiness, royalty and divinity. Jesus is pure, holy and is the King of Kings. Silver symbolizes redemption and bronze symbolizes judgment. Judgment can symbolize punishment or purification and justification. Jesus is our redeemer, and he also brings judgment for sin and purification and justification for our sins. The color blue symbolizes the law and the keeping of it, purple symbolizes royalty and scarlet symbolizes blood. Jesus was the only person to perfectly keep the law. Again, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He shed His blood on the cross to take the punishment for our sin. Fine linen symbolizes righteousness and goat hair symbolizes awareness of sin and its punishment. Jesus was the only righteous one and again He took the punishment for our sins. The skins of rams symbolize power and protection, and the red dye symbolizes atonement for sin. Jesus is all-powerful, he is our refuge and strength, and he atoned for our sins. The sea symbolizes the world of chaos, confusion and rebellion and so the skins of the sea cow symbolize how Jesus protects us from those things.

Acacia wood symbolizes humanity that is incorruptible and so it stands for Jesus’ humanity. The oil for the light symbolizes the presence of the Holy Spirit for our spiritual understanding and illumination and Jesus is the light of the world. The spices for the anointing oil symbolizes the anointing of the Holy Spirit for the work of Jesus and for the anointing given to us to be able to complete His work on this earth. The fragrant incense symbolizes our acceptable prayers to God and Jesus interceding on our behalf before Him. The onyx stones probably symbolize the Urim and the Thummim which was the way the high priest would determine God’s will for the people. Again, this would symbolize Jesus’ intercession for us. The ephod symbolizes the high priest bearing the burdens of the people as he went into the Holy Place as their mediator. Jesus is our mediator today and he carried our burden of sin and carries our burdens of prayer before the Father. And the stones in the breastplate symbolize judgment for God’s people through the work of Jesus Christ. God was very specific in what He desired to be used to construct the tabernacle, his house, and He gave a very detailed list to the people.

According to this detailed list, the people were to bring what they could. They all had different items to bring and so according to their willingness that was what they were to bring. Some would have had more, and some would have had less. We see this in Acts 11:29, “So the disciples decided that each of them would send whatever they could to their fellow Christians in Judea to help out.” And in Mark 12, we see the poor widow put two very small copper coins worth only a few cents into the temple treasury. Jesus commended her in verses 43-44, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” They were to also bring what was needed. Since God had given a very detailed list of what He wanted, the people were to bring exactly what was needed. God caused the need and then used His people to meet it. Lastly, and maybe the most important, they were to bring what God had already supplied them. The people were expected to bring the materials, but they could only do so because God had already given them to them in the first place. We saw this in Exodus 12:35-36, “The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.” This is also true for us today as God has given us everything we have, and He asks us to be good stewards of it.

The fourth section under Treasures is Consideration found in Exodus 35:20-21. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses’ presence, and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments.”

Once the people heard the need, the entire community withdrew from Moses’ presence presumably to go to their own tents. Moses didn’t state the need and then pass the plate before they left. He allowed them to go home and consider what it was the Lord was stirring up in their hearts to give. This would have given the people an opportunity to think about the grace and mercy God has been showering upon them since they were slaves in Egypt. First, he preserved them as His chosen people, saving them from slavery and then again at the Red Sea. He had provided for them by giving them clean water to drink and manna and quail to eat in the wilderness. He had most recently pardoned them for their sin of idolatry and had established His covenant with them. The purpose of which was for Him to dwell in their midst, to be their God and have a personal relationship with them, which would overflow into being a blessing to the nations around them. As they considered the grace and mercy that God had shown them in saving them, providing for them, pardoning them and in giving them a purpose, their hearts would no doubt be “stirred up” and willing to give what they could, for what was needed from what God had already supplied them. The word “willing” means to incite or to impel. Garrett says, “This is the kind of willingness that would “impel” a person to volunteer as a soldier after their country was attacked.”

We see this happen with the Macedonian believers in 2 Corinthians 8:2-5, “In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.” As the Israelites considered all these things, they would have been encouraged to give back to Him what He already owned. Understanding that God owns everything we have and has given us all we have out of His grace and mercy is the key to practicing the faithful stewardship of our treasures (Big Idea).

The fifth section under Treasures is Contributions, found in Exodus 35:22-29. I am not going to read all those verses because half of them just repeat the materials mentioned in verses 5b-9. But what is important is who contributed. In verse 22, we see those who were willing were both men and women. Notice that they presented their gold as a wave offering to the Lord. This was an offering that was ceremonially lifted up before God as a sign of giving it back into his ownership. In verses 25 and 26, we see women who were skilled in spinning brought what they had spun. In verse 27, we see that the leaders brought onyx stones and other gems that would go on the ephod and breast piece, and spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense. These items would have been some of the most expensive besides the gold. It makes sense that it would be the leaders of the community who would have these expensive items to give. Verse 29 tells us that all the Israelite men and women who were willing brought freewill offerings to the Lord for His work of the tabernacle. We can presume that every type of Israelite responded, male and female, old and young and rich and poor. Each gave different kinds and amounts of the materials they had to give. Each gave according to their ability to give from what God had already given them.

That brings us to our third point, Talents, found in Exodus 35:10-19 and 25-26. Again, I am not going to read all those verses to you. But just know that each of the items mentioned in verses 10-19 perfectly and beautifully prefigure Christ. Also, in verses 10-19 we see a general call to those who were skilled among the Israelites to make everything that the Lord had commanded. Besides their treasures it would also take their manpower to build the tabernacle and its furnishings. It makes sense there would need to be people who could take the materials and build the tabernacle out of them. God didn’t just want the Israelites to trust Him with their time and treasures but with their talents, as well. The tabernacle project would require the people to be good stewards of their time, treasures and talents.

The skilled or “gifted” artisans were to come and make everything the Lord commanded, meaning they had already been gifted with skills and abilities to do the Lord’s work. Of course, it was the Lord who gave these gifts to those who could then build the tabernacle from the blueprints the Lord gave Moses. But just like their treasures, their talents needed to be given willingly as well. They would have also needed their hearts to be “stirred up” as they considered the Lord’s preservation, His provision, His pardon and His purpose for them. They would have needed to come to an appreciation that the gifts they had were given to them by God and be moved to offer their talents up for His work and His glory. We see this a little more specifically in verses 25-26 where every skilled woman who had the skill spun blue, purple or scarlet yarn and those who had the skill spun the goat hair. We learn from this passage that every Christ-follower has been given gifts and abilities by God to build up the dwelling place of Christ, the Body of Christ. The awesome thing is that each one of us has been given different gifts and different amounts of those gifts. We all have something to offer and when each one of us does our part to build up the local Body of Christ, God gets the glory, and we are blessed by God to be a blessing to those around us, especially those who do not know Jesus. That brings us to our first next step which is to Use my time, treasures and talents to build up the Body of Christ here at Idaville Church.

In her book The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom remembers the day her aunt received the news that she had a terminal illness. The woman, whom Corrie called Tante Jans, was well known for her Christian work. She supported charitable causes all over Holland—writing tracts, giving talks, raising funds. Yet she seemed proud of her spiritual achievements, and although people said she was a good woman, somehow, she didn’t always remind them of Jesus. Then came the day when medical tests indicated that Tante Jans had only a few weeks to live. The family wondered how she would take the news. “We will tell her together,” said Corrie’s father, “and perhaps she will take heart from all she has accomplished. She puts great store on accomplishment.” So they all filed into her study. When Tante Jans looked up, she gave a little gasp of recognition. Instantly she knew why they were there. The family sought to console her. They told her that she would have a great reward for her labors. They reminded her of all the organizations she had founded, articles she had written, money she had raised, and talks she had given. But she refused to be comforted. Her proud face crumpled; she put her hands over her face and began to cry. “Empty! Empty!” she choked through her tears. “How can we bring anything to God? What does He care for our little tricks and trinkets?” Then something amazing happened. Tante Jans lowered her hands, and with the tears still streaming down her face, she whispered, “Dear Jesus, I thank You that we must come with empty hands. I thank You that You have done all—all—on the Cross, and that all we need in life or death is to be sure of this.” We gain a heart for giving not by thinking about how much we have to offer God, but by knowing the Savior who gave himself for us. We do not give ourselves to God to gain anything in return, but because God has given himself to us in Jesus Christ.

Do you know the Savior who gave Himself for you? If not, he offers you the free gift of eternal life. All you have to do is trust in him. You trust in Him by admitting you are a sinner, by believing that Jesus died on a cross for your sins, was buried and rose again and by confessing Jesus as Lord of your life. If you took that step of faith and trust or if you want to talk about that, please mark on the upper right on the back of your communication card where it says, “Becoming a follower of Jesus.”

And if you do know Jesus, he wants you to give yourself completely to Him. He doesn’t just want your time, treasures and talents. He wants you to offer Him everything you have and everything you are, from the heart, for the sake of his glory. That brings us to our second next step, which is to Offer all I have and all I am to the Lord from my heart and for His glory.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you for your presence among us today. We are grateful for the opportunity to gather, to learn, and to worship together. We ask for your guidance and strength to live out your word in our daily lives. Send us out with your Spirit to be your witnesses in the world. Fill us with your love and compassion and help us to serve you faithfully. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Opening: Doug Van Meter https://brackenhurstbaptist.co.za/trusting-god/

Closing: Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 1079–1094.

August 10, 2025/by Office

A ‘SON’ Tan

Rescued Exodus Sunday Morning Marc Webb Concern, Giving, God's glory, Salvation

A “Son” Tan

According to www.tuasaude.com here are ten tips for getting a fast and long-lasting tan: One, a diet rich in beta-carotenes which helps produce melanin. Two, exfoliate your skin which prepares your skin for a more even and long-lasting tan. There, use sunscreen which protects from the sun’s harmful rays and prolongs tanning. Four, moisturize and nourish your skin which prevents skin dehydration and flaking. Five, avoid prolonged exposure because after two to three hours your skin stops producing melanin. Six, change positions every thirty minutes to help you tan evenly. Seven, take breaks to avoid overexposure. Eight, stay hydrated which promotes a more even tan. Nine, tan near a body of water because the reflection of UV rays intensifies exposure. Ten, use a self-tanner which keeps skin golden and hydrated. These are the ten tips for a fast and long-lasting suntan.

In our scripture this morning, Exodus 34:29-35, we will see what happens when Moses, after spending a second period of forty days and nights on the mountain with God, appears before the Israelites. The last time Moses came down they worship the golden calf that Aaron had made, and he smashed the Ten Commandments on the ground. There is hope that this time is different. For sure we will see that Moses is different this time as he has spent the last forty days and nights exposed to the glory of God. He is different because he asked to see God’s glory and what he received was way better. God revealed himself to Moses by speaking His Name, His character and His attributes to him. What the Lord spoke to Moses showed him more of God’s glory than merely getting a glimpse of His goodness. After being exposed to the glory of God for forty days and forty nights, Moses will come down the mountain with a “Son” tan, an S-O-N tan. This morning, we will learn what we need to do to get a “Son” tan as well. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires His people to live in constant fellowship with Him, so their lives radiate His glory.

Let’s pray: Lord God, we thank you for this opportunity to gather and worship you. Open our hearts and minds to receive your Word today. May your Spirit guide us as we listen, learn, and grow in faith. Help us to apply what you teach us in the coming weeks. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Our first point this morning is, Moses Shines, found in Exodus 34:29-31. Follow along as I read these verses. This is what God’s Word says, “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them.

Moses has been on the mountain with God for forty days and forty nights with no food or water. He has written down all the laws and commandments of the covenant given by God to the Israelites. And God has written the Ten Commandments on the second set of stone tablets. Moses is now ready to come down and impart God’s laws and commands to the people, give them the new set of stone tablets that will go into the Ark of the Covenant, and finally give the people God’s instructions for constructing the tabernacle and all its furnishings. Because the covenant between God and the Israelites has now been established, the Tabernacle can now be built, and the Presence of the Lord can dwell among them.

Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai for the last time. He will no longer go up to meet with the Lord because God’s plan is to now dwell among His chosen people. As Moses comes down the mountain, we notice that he has the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. We may not take a second glance at this, but the author has been very deliberate about telling us these two tablets were in his hands. They were in his hands as he went up the mountain in verse 4 and they are again in his hands as he comes down. The tablets are important because they are the visual words of God on display, so the people would know what the Lord expected of them. How important is God’s Words to us? Do we have the same care for His Word that God does? When the Bible speaks about the Word of God, Garrett says, “we are to be aware of, to tend to, to safeguard, and to hold in the highest of esteem.” God’s Word is the very words of life.

Moses’ face is radiant because he has spent the last forty days and nights in God’s Presence, speaking with Him. The word for “radiant” literally means ‘the skin of his face sent out horns.” The word “horns” was a mistranslation in the Latin used to refer to rays of sun that came from Moses’ face due to the prolonged exposure to the light of the Lord’s Presence. Interestingly, because of this mistranslation Moses is often depicted with horns in medieval art. Moses was literally “marked” with the glory of God from being in His Presence and hearing His words. Moses was also unconscious of the glory of God radiating from his face, showing his meekness and humility. Moses did not seek the Lord so he would have a radiant face, he sought the Lord because he wanted to know His ways. Moses was so enraptured with communing and fellowshipping with the Lord that he didn’t notice the rays of God’s glory radiating from his face.

We learn three things from these verses. One, exposure to the Lord results in our countenance being transformed. The more time we spend with the Lord focusing on Him, our relationship with Him grows and the more we will radiate to others the fact that we are His and follow Him. Psalms 34:4-5 says, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” Two, when we allow the Lord to transform us, we are usually the last to realize it. Transformation in the Lord is marked by humility before the Lord, not pride before people. We see this with John the Baptist. He was asked by the priests and Levites if he was the Messiah. There was something about John that radiated the glory of God and others took notice. Of course, John showed great humility in telling them he wasn’t the Messiah or even Elijah or the Prophet. And the third thing we learn is, God’s law, His Word, is glorious.

When Moses came down and approached Aaron and all the Israelites, they were afraid to come near him. They were afraid because of the glory of God radiating from his face. Even though Moses had no idea, others took notice of this unmistakable glory. We see how this event contrasts with the previous time Moses came down the mountain. The first time the people disregarded and disrespected him and had turned to committing idolatry. This time they were afraid of him because they knew he had been with God. Their disrespect has turned into respect and honor. God acknowledged and vindicated Moses as His chosen mediator, and the Israelites are finally understanding this. God knows how to vindicate His servants. We see this with Jesus in Philippians 2:9-11: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” And 1 Samuel 2:30 says that God will honor those to whom honor is due.

The people were afraid because they were intimidated and convicted by the uncomfortable glory of God and His Word. They knew by Moses’ countenance that he had been in the Presence of God and had received the Word of God, and they were convicted of their sin. The Word of God convicts us of our sin. In 2 Chronicles 34, when King Josiah was read the newly discovered Word of God, both he and his people were convicted of their sin in not keeping God’s law and a great revival took place. In John 16:8 we see these words of Jesus, “When he (the HS) comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.” The Holy Spirit convicts, but his primary tool is the Word of God. Not only had Moses been in the Presence of God but the radiance was an indication that God was actually present with them now. If you remember back in Exodus 20, when God spoke the Ten Commandments to the people, they were afraid to be in His presence and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” They had realized then that they couldn’t live up to the law handed down by God and were afraid of His wrath. Now after they had sinned with the golden calf, they believed that they were again in the same precarious position.

Moses then calls Aaron and the leaders of the Israelites to come back to him. When Moses saw that they were convicted by the glory of God, he could have become judgmental and lorded it over them for how they treated him earlier. But that was not the way that Moses lived. He was a meek person who loved God’s people. He would mediate and intercede for them whether they acknowledged him or not. Moses’ glory was an unusual glory because he turned the convicting radiance of his face into a comforting radiance toward Aaron and the leaders. He was then able to speak to them about what God had commanded on the mountain. Jesus did this with the Samaritan woman at the well. He knew all about her and she was convicted by what Jesus had said but He was also comforting in that He didn’t judge her. Because of this blend of conviction and comfort, she invited her town to come see and hear from the man who told me everything she ever did.

We must do the same as Moses and Jesus. As we dwell in the Presence of the Lord and live a life of holiness, it will be convicting to some around us, those in our neighborhood or at our work. We must not be prideful and believe we are better than they are. Once convicted, they may be more open to hearing about their need for a Savior, and we can comfort them with God’s Word and the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The question for us today is, are we dedicated to a life of holiness? Do we yearn to dwell in the presence of the Lord constantly? If so, others are going to notice that our lives communicate that we are different from the world around us. Our witness must show that the difference is the glory of God shining from us because we have spent time in His presence (Big Idea). This will give us the credibility to share the Good News that will both convict and comfort those who are still far away from Jesus.

That brings us to our second point, Moses Commands, found in Exodus 34:32-33. This is what God’s Word says, “Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face.”

Once Moses shared the Words of God with Aaron and the leaders, the rest of the Israelites came near him. Moses then commanded them everything he was told by God in the last forty days and nights. This would have included a reminder of the terms of the covenant and everything about the tabernacle and its furnishings and how to construct it all to God’s perfect specifications. Moses as the covenant mediator authoritatively relayed the requirements of the covenant as a royal decree from their covenant king. Moses is unapologetically unveiled as he is telling the Israelites all that God commanded. He would not veil the glory of God that shone from his face just to make them feel comfortable. Moses knew whom he was representing and wanted the Israelites to take the words and commands of God seriously. The reason he could speak boldly was because the glory that came from him was an authentic glory that can only come from being in constant fellowship with the Lord. The people knew he had come from the presence of God and were now willing to listen and take to heart what God had to say to them through their covenant mediator.

The same is true for us today. We must spend a quantity and quality of time with the Lord if we are to speak boldly and be given the privilege of sharing the Good News with those who do not know Jesus. They will know if the glory that shines from us is authentic or not. But once we get the opportunity, we can’t sugarcoat the gospel. We must also be unveiled and unapologetic, helping them to realize they are sinners just like we are, but that we also have the solution to sin and that is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection. That is the Good News of the Gospel: Jesus came to save them from their sins and now wants to be a relationship with them. We must live authentic lives if we ever want to have the opportunity and privilege to share this gospel with others. That brings us to our first next step which it to Live an authentic life, unveiled and unapologetic, as I share the Good News with others.

Once Moses had finished speaking on behalf of the Lord and as the covenant mediator, he put a veil over his face. Now there have been many reasons set forth as to why Moses did this. One, he may have been showing his humility. He wanted them to be in awe of the Lord and not himself. Two, he didn’t want them to continue to be afraid. Three, when he was done speaking on the Lord’s behalf Moses would need to be in their midst as their leader to perform his role as judge, etc. But it seems as though Moses didn’t want them to focus on what they could see, which was the radiance of his face. He wanted them to look beyond him, beyond the law he had just passed to them, to the coming of the one who would fulfill the law, the Messiah. Moses didn’t want the people to put their trust in the law for their salvation but in the coming Messiah whose glory would never fade. Paul in 2 Corinthians 3 unpacks this event for us. Paul said that if the law which brought death, the law that was engraved in stone, meaning the Ten Commandments, came with so much glory that the Israelites couldn’t stand to look upon it, imagine the glory of Jesus to come and his righteousness. Paul said that the glory of the law was temporary, it was passing away, but the glory of Jesus would last forever.

Paul goes on to explain that Moses veiled himself because the glory of the law was unsustainable and was fading and he didn’t want the Israelites to see that happening. 2 Corinthians 3:13 says, “We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away.” Moses didn’t want the people to see the glory fading and lose heart or become discouraged. Because they were people who would rather walk by sight and not by faith, seeing the fading glory of Moses could cause them to be disheartened. By covering his face with a veil, Moses was aiding their faith. He didn’t want them to be discouraged by his glory that was temporary, and he didn’t want them to settle for less, by failing to realize that it was temporary glory in the first place. Paul then said that Moses putting on the veil was what the Jews of his time had done when Jesus and His glory came to earth. They had veiled themselves to the truth of the gospel. They were trusting in the law and trying to work for their salvation, which was never the law’s purpose. They were veiled to the Messiah when he came to the earth and did not accept him as the Son of God. Moses veiling himself became a prophecy fulfilled in Paul’s time and the only way the Jews could remove the veil would be through putting their faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul also applied Moses’ experience to Christians who by faith see the glory of Jesus in God’s Word and experience a spiritual transformation. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Wiersbe states, “This is why Christians read the Bible and meditate on it, because when the child of God looks into the Word of God and sees the Son of God he or she is transformed by the Spirit of God into the image of God for the glory of God.” As growing Christians, we need to be transformed by the Spirit of God and the Word of God. But don’t we do the same thing today as the Jews in Paul’s day? We allow Satan to veil our eyes and to believe that if we go to church or give enough money or help others that we will be good enough to get to heaven. We want to follow what can be seen instead of having faith in Jesus Christ and what he came to earth to do for us. That brings us to our second next step which is to Place my complete trust in Jesus for my salvation and stop trusting in my good works to save me.

That brings us our third point, Moses Recharged, found in Exodus 34:34-35. This is what God’s Word says, “But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.”

We notice that there is a cycle happening here that seems to have continued until Moses’ death. Every time after speaking to the Lord and giving the Israelites His commands, Moses would veil his face. In his role as covenant mediator, Moses would regularly go before the Lord to commune with Him and intercede for the people. And when he did this, he would remove the veil, and his face would again become radiant from being in the Lord’s Presence. In this way, Moses’ face would be recharged with the glory of God. He would remain unveiled until he told the Israelites what the Lord had commanded and then he would put the veil back on until he went in to speak to the Lord again. The laws and commands of God were communicated by Moses who alone radiated the glory of the Lord, and his words would be authenticated as the Lord’s Words by the shining of his face. This cycle showed that the law was temporary and passing away and it pointed toward the coming of the Messiah.

What the Lord is telling us through Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 3 is that now we have a perfect mediator in Jesus Christ whose glory will never fade. Duncan says, “Jesus is our Mediator. His glory is inherent; it is not derived; and therefore, it is permanent; it doesn’t fade away. In fact, Jesus’ glory becomes increasingly glorious. Moses’ glory was only skin deep, but Jesus’ glory came from within. His glory never fades and so our salvation and our future glory is secure. Now what was once the exclusive privilege of Moses is now the privilege of every believer in Jesus Christ. When God calls us to himself for salvation it is not to keep the good news to ourselves. He calls us to know him and to make himself known in the world. We are to grow in God’s grace and glory so that others will come to know the grace and glory of Jesus. This is the great Commission that God has given us: to pursue, grow and multiply disciples. Ryken says, “Our glory does not fade but is growing brighter by degrees. Everything else in this world seems to grow dim, but the believer in Christ shines ever brighter. God is constantly turning up the wattage, so that we can display his glory with greater radiance.” As Christ followers we must allow God to continually reveal His glory to us so that we can grow in knowledge of His glory, glorifying Him before others who will then be saved for His glory.

The only way this happens is if we stay connected to Jesus and constantly abide in Him. If we don’t, his glory within us will grow dim. We must continually be recharged by reading and studying God’s Word, meeting with God through prayer, and by spending time in corporate worship and in communion. So, are you shining bright for Jesus, today? Are you radiating his love, compassion and grace? It is in being with the Lord that we become like Him, and the more we are with Him the more like him we become. God desires us to live in constant fellowship with Himself, so that our lives will radiate His glory to the world. That brings us to our last next step which is to Live in constant fellowship with the Lord, so my life will radiate His glory to those around me.

In the introduction I mentioned ten tips for getting a fast and long-lasting suntan. Well, there is only one way to get a long-lasting “Son” tan and that is to live in constant fellowship with the Lord. And the more quantity and quality of time we spend in our relationship with Jesus the more we will radiate His glory to those around us.

As Gene & Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word. May we be doers of your Word, and not just hearers. Help us to apply your Words in our everyday life, everywhere we live, work, play and learn. Help us to have complete trust in your son, Jesus, for our salvation and to not trust in our good works to save us. Help us by your Spirit to live an authentic life, unveiled and unapologetic, as we share the Good News with those around us. And as we live in constant fellowship with you, allow your glory to radiate from us. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen."

August 3, 2025/by Office

Set In Stone

Rescued Exodus Sunday Morning Marc Webb Faith, Holiness, Love, Service, Strength, Trust

Set In Stone

What do you think of when I say the phrase, “set in stone?” You probably think of something that can’t be easily changed or altered. It may be a date such as a wedding date. When Judy and I decided to get married in February 1987, she had already decided that our wedding date would be April 16, 1988. There was actually a moment when the venue and the pastor changed but that date never wavered. For Judy, April 16, 1988, was going to be our wedding date no matter what; it was “set in stone.” You may also think of things such as tombstones, sculptures, and monuments. I also think about the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Mt. Rushmore. These things are literally set in stone, and it would be hard to change or alter them.

But why are these things: dates, monuments, Mt. Rushmore, etc. set in stone in the first place? What was so important that we felt the need to make them so they could not be changed or altered? It’s because they are important to us. Our wedding date was so important to Judy and I that it probably didn’t matter where we were married or by whom as long as it was on April 16, 1988. Or they were set in stone to commemorate something or someone. The Washington monument was built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Father and first president of the United States. The Hollywood Walk of Fame commemorates achievements in the entertainment industry, bearing the names of musicians, producers, directors, theatrical/musical groups, athletes, fictional characters, and others. Mt. Rushmore features the 60-foot-tall heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. They were chosen respectively to commemorate and represent the nation's foundation, expansion, development, and preservation. And tombstones are usually set in stone to commemorate our lives.

The things we permanently set in stone are our testimony to others of what we believe to be important. And this morning, we are going to see the Lord set some things in stone to commemorate the covenant He made with His people. The laws and statutes the Lord set before the Israelites are important and will be set in stone so that they will know what they are and will obey them. By obeying these laws and statutes, which is their true worship of Yahweh, the people testify that they love God and have faith in Him as their Lord and Redeemer. That brings us to our big idea that God desires His people’s worship to be a true testimony of their love for and faith in Him. This is why we are here this morning and every Sunday. If we are not engaging in true worship of the Father, then there is no reason to be here. If we are coming to just check off a box and not to testify that we love God and have a sincere faith in Him, there is no reason to be here. So, let’s be people who engage in true worship of God that testifies to our love for and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s pray:

Our first point is Covenantal Rites, found in Exodus 34:18-26. This is what God’s Word says, “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt. “The first offspring of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem all your firstborn sons. “No one is to appear before me empty-handed. “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest. “Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the year. Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord, the God of Israel. I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God. “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Festival remain until morning. “Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

These may seem like just a bunch of random laws to us and admittedly, they have all been mentioned previously in Exodus in one way, shape or form. But we need to remember what has been happening to realize the context these words were spoken in and why. The first set of Ten Commandment were given by God to Moses and His people. They committed idolatry with the golden calf and Moses smashed the tablets into pieces signifying that the covenant had been broken by the people. Moses twice interceded for the people. God first relented from killing them and second promised to go with them and dwell among them. The Lord showed and spoke His glory and name to Moses, stating His character and how He would interact with His people. Then the Lord promised that the covenant would continue, and He would do wonders they had never seen before. Two weeks ago, we learned that the Lord would drive out the inhabitants of the Promised Land before the them and they would possess it. Then they were given a number of negative commands. They were not to make treaties with those who lived in the land. They were not to worship any other gods for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. God knew that the Israelites would be tempted to eat sacrificial meals with the Canaanites and tempted to give their sons in marriage to the Canaanite daughters, leading to the worship of their gods. So, in verse 17, God again reminds them to not make any idols. Those negative commands were to keep the Israelite people from worshipping other gods so that they would focus on worshipping Him alone.

In our scripture today, the Lord continues to issue commands but this time they are positive commands. The purpose again was to help them focus on worshipping the Lord. By obeying these laws their relationship with God would be strengthened. This would be accomplished as they obeyed His pattern of worship, as they obeyed His holy rest, and as they gave their very best back to Him. By observing and obeying these laws the Lord would give them all the needed for their life and godliness. We see the same thing said to us in 2 Peter 1:3. I am reading from the MSG translation: “Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received!” Getting to know Jesus, our Lord and Savior, personally and intimately, allows us to worship Him in the way He desires that testifies to those around us that we love God and our faith is in Him. It will be the same for the Israelites as they obey these commands from the Lord (Big Idea).

We are going to be skipping around today’s verses instead of taking them in order. I want to begin with verses 18 and then 22-24 which show us the pattern of worship the Lord wanted them to observe. First, they were to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This festival occurred around the beginning of the barley harvest and was a reminder of the Passover, when God saved them from slavery and brought them out of Egypt. For the seven days of this festival, they were to eat bread made without yeast. This signified their hasty departure, their trust in God’s deliverance, and represented purity. By getting rid of all leaven, they were purposing to walk in purity with the Lord and would be ready to worship Him in the way He desired. They were to observe this festival each year at the exact time they came out of Egypt, the fifteenth day of the month of Aviv. Now, let’s move down to verses 22-24. The Lord commanded them to celebrate two more festivals every year. They were to celebrate the Festival of Weeks by bringing Him the first fruits of their wheat harvest which happened around the middle of their harvest season. The reason it was called the Festival of Weeks was because they counted off seven weeks and one day from the Feasts of First fruits which occurred during Passover. For us this corresponds to Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, and the church was born. The third festival is the Festival of Ingathering or The Feasts of Booths. They celebrated this by bringing their best of the harvest from their fields, orchards and vineyards. This was observed at the “turn of the year” or at the end of the growing season after the harvest had already been brought in. It also commemorated the Israelites’ forty-year journey through the wilderness, as they would live in temporary shelters or booths for the seven days of the festival. As the Israelites celebrated all three festivals each year it would set them apart from the other nations and remind them they were set apart to do God’s work and will.

God then commanded that three times a year, at the times of these three festivals, the Israelite men were to appear before the Sovereign Lord, the God of Israel. Three times a year they were to come together wherever their place of corporate worship was in the Promised Land, later it would be in Jerusalem, to worship the Lord. These festivals would have required them to be away from their families and fields for about five weeks a year with only the women and children left behind to fend off their foreign neighbors and enemies. There was a fear of their foreign neighbors adjusting the boundary lines virtually stealing their land and the fear that they would be invaded by their enemies and supplies and family stolen or abducted, while they were away. So, the Lord immediately took care of this fear by promising to drive out the nations, enlarging their territory and not allowing their neighbors and enemies to covet their land when they went up three times to appear before the Lord. Talk about an incredible promise. If they obeyed these laws of worship and trusted in the Lord, He would make sure their land and families were not stolen or harmed. The Lord wiped away every barrier and excuse they might have for not worshipping Him properly.

Now let’s turn to verse 21. The Lord reiterates the Sabbath law here. They were to work for six days a week and then spend the seventh day of every week in God-focused rest for what He had done for them and would continue to do for them. This was God’s way of giving them a rhythm of life and work so that they would be sustained physically. But it was also God’s ordained way of giving them a time of rest to be renewed spiritually in their relationship with Him. This rhythm was to take place no matter what and there were no viable excuses they could make. Even during the busiest seasons of plowing and harvesting they were to obey His holy rest every seventh day. Again, this was the way they were to worship the Lord, testifying to their faith and trust in Him to provide what they needed when they needed it. God has given us an abiding spiritual principle in Matthew 6:33 which speaks to this. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” If we are seeking the things of God, observing the Sabbath being one of them, then God will provide everything else we need. Ryken says, “Anyone who is too busy to keep the Lord’s Day holy should take a Sabbath to rethink his or her priorities.” In the life of the New Covenant believer, the things of God, worship, observing the Sabbath, prayer, Scripture study, and Christian service must take precedence over all worldly things. Seeking first the thing of God is a test of our trust that He will provide for us and our confession to the world of whom we love and put our faith in. That brings us to our first next step which is to Seek first the things of God testifying to my love, faith and trust in Him.

As we turn to verses 19, 20 and 25, 26, we see laws teaching the people that God deserved and desired their very best, and they were to contribute back to Him a portion of what He had entrusted to them. He reiterates the Redemption of the Firstborn which would have reminded them of Passover. God is the giver of life so every firstborn male offspring of every womb, human and animal. belongs to Him and must be redeemed. They were to give back to God their very best symbolized by every firstborn male offspring. When the Angel of Death passed over Egypt, he killed every firstborn son and animal of those who did not put the blood of the sacrifice on their doorpost. So just like the blood of the perfect sacrifice saved their firstborn from death in Egypt, the blood of a perfect sacrifice would be needed to redeem their firstborn males in the Promised Land.

To explain this law God uses a donkey as the example. The donkey was an unclean animal and so was not essential in the worship of the Lord at the tabernacle. It was only good as a beast of burden for the Israelite families. So, they could keep the firstborn donkey by redeeming a lamb. If they did not want to redeem it then they needed to break its neck so they could not use it. In this way either a lamb was sacrificed, or the donkey was killed, redeeming it to the Lord as commanded. It is interesting that God uses a donkey here. Donkeys are symbolic of us in our sinful condition. We are stubborn, willful, and unable to come to God for Hs grace. We are unclean and deserve to die in our sins. If we are to be saved, we must be redeemed by a perfect sacrificial lamb, which of course was Jesus. Then they were commanded to redeem all their firstborn sons. Under no circumstances were they to kill them. The reason for this goes back to the Lord’s command to not worship any other gods. The Canaanite gods required child sacrifice to be appeased, but this was not the Lord’s way. He was teaching them to worship Him in the proper way.

Then the Lord commanded that no one was to appear before Him empty-handed. If they obeyed the Sabbath and Festival laws everyone would have something to give to the Lord. In verses 25-26, we see various laws regarding their worship practices and what it meant to not show up empty handed. In celebrating each of the three festivals, a sacrifice was to be made, no matter what. The laws in verse 25 seem to have Passover and the Festival of the Unleavened Bread in mind. Not showing up empty-handed meant presenting the right kind of offering before the Lord. First, they were not to offer the blood of “My” sacrifice with anything containing yeast or leaven. By calling it “My” sacrifice, God is alluding to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. As I mentioned before, yeast and leaven were symbolic of sin. When they came before the Lord in worship they were to be without sin. Sin would pollute their sacrifices and offerings rendering them unfit for the Lord. This reminds us of coming together in worship and asking for the Lord to convict us of our sin and to help us to confess it, so when we come before Him, we come with clean hands and pure hearts. This ensures we are bringing our very best worship before the Lord.

Second, they were not to let any of the sacrifices from the Passover Festival remain until morning. Why? It was probably to keep it from becoming unclean or spoiled. But also, because it was presented and dedicated to the Lord, signifying their salvation, and to let any of it remain until morning showed that His salvation wasn’t that important to honor it properly. They were to consume the entire sacrifice with reverence and without any waste during the appointed time. This would constitute giving God their very best. Then we see a law concerning the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Ingathering. They were to bring the best of the first fruits of their soil to the house of the Lord their God. This was their tithe given to the house of the Lord to be used for His purposes. Everything they had was given to them by God first and so belonged to Him. He wanted them to trust Him to provide by giving back a portion of it to the Lord. Properly worshipping the Lord this way testified of their faith in Him to provide what they needed.

Of course, God wants our very best as an act of our true worship. Hebrews 13:15-16 says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” God wants our worship and service, but He also wants the best of our resources. They all belong to him anyway, and we acknowledge this by giving the first and the best of our income to the church and to the poor. In 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul talking to the Corinthian people about their tithes and offerings says, “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.” Our tithing today should be taken from our gross not our net income. It should be presented to God, according to each of our means, as a prime obligation to be met before other bills are paid, and not an offering of spare change or a few dollars left over after all other financial obligations have been satisfied. Our giving should be regular, deliberate and done cheerfully. Stuart says, “What one offers to God reveals tellingly where one places God in one’s hierarchy of importance.”

But God wants more than our service, time, talents and treasures, as acts of our true worship. He wants our very lives; He wants all of us. Giving all of ourselves to Him testifies of our love for Him and our faith in Him to provide for us all that we need. This is from Ryken: “A beautiful example comes from the life of Corrie ten Boom, the Dutch Christian whose family saved many Jewish lives during World War II and who endured the horrors of life in a German concentration camp. Corrie had been a Christian for most of her life, but a significant turning point came when she unreservedly offered herself in loving service to God. She prayed, “Lord Jesus, I offer myself for Your people. In any way. Any place. Any time.” This is what it means to belong to God in the covenant—that mutual relationship in which God gives himself to us and we give ourselves to him in return. What God has given to us is far more extravagant than what he gave to Israel. He has given his Son to be our Savior. Now our work, our relationships, our families, our homes, our ministries, our bank accounts, even our vacations, all these things belong to him. It is when we finally learn this that we begin to serve and worship God the way he really wants to be worshipped and can love him the way that he has taught us to love. That brings us to our second next step which to Offer my entire self to the Lord as an act of worship, so I can serve and love Him the way He desires.

Lastly, we see this strange law that seems tacked on to the end of this section. But again, God does nothing random or without reason. The prohibition against cooking a young goat in its mother’s milk was to keep the Israelites from participating in Canaanite fertility rituals and other pagan practices. This is an example of the pagan worship practices that He wanted His people to abstain from. This was another warning to not to worship false gods. God is reiterating that true worship is the worship of Him alone. We notice that the Lord frames this section with “do not make any idols in verse 17 and a law against participating in false worship in verse 26.

That brings us to our second point, Covenantal Representative, found in Exodus 34:27-28. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.”

The Lord brings this part of His continued establishment of the covenant between Him and the Israelites to an end. He has reiterating that they are not to make idols like the golden calf, and they are not to worship the false gods of the Canaanites. These laws needed to be reiterated and stressed because they would be tempted to commit spiritual infidelity with the Canaanite gods. The Lord commands Moses to “write these words” which are probably the laws He has commanded from verses 10-26. By writing these words down they became law, they were “set in stone” for the people. The reason Moses wrote them down was because they were from the Lord, the ultimate author of Scripture, and so they could learn them, write them on their hearts and obey them without fail.

Next, we are told Moses was on the mountain with the Lord for forty days and forty nights and that he fasted, not eating or drinking, for that period of time. This is the second forty days and nights period He has spent with the Lord on Mt. Sinai and fasted. This is seen in Deuteronomy 9:9. The first time was to receive the law from God. This time it was to intercede for the sin of the people. Deuteronomy 9:18 says, “Then once again I fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger.” The number forty in the Bible means a period of probation, trial or chastisement. God may have been testing the Israelites to see if they would conjure up another idol like the last time Moses was gone for so long.

Moses’ forty days and nights fast was completely a unique and supernatural feat by God allowing Moses to be sustained for that period of time. We are again reminded that Moses is a type of Christ for us. Matthew 4:3-4 it says, “The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days and nights and was engaged in spiritual warfare with Satan. During that time, He used scripture, words out of the mouth of God, to combat him. Moses was also sustained by the words and laws that proceeded from the mouth of the Lord. The Lord was using Moses to point us again to our covenant mediator, Jesus, who came to save us from our sins.

Lastly, we come full circle from verse 1 where God told Moses to “chisel two stone tablets like the first ones and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets which you broke.” It is hard to understand who is doing the writing on these stone tablets, but the NKJV rightly translates the he with a capital “H.” This is confirmed in Deuteronomy 10:4, “The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me.” The Lord’s laws and commandments were set in stone.

Observing all these laws would be a testimony and confession to those around them that they were putting their faith and trust in Yahweh and not in their false gods. It also showed their love for Him (Big Idea). Loving their gods would have been a foreign concept to the Canaanite peoples. They used their gods to get what they wanted, and they feared their gods but not in a reverent way. These laws were designed by the Lord to strengthen their walk with Him and to help His people avoid idolatry and spiritual infidelity. These laws were instituted at this time and place by God because they had worshipped the golden calf. If they would observe and obey the Sabbath laws, the day of rest each week would nourish their love for Him and keep them from idols. If they observed and obeyed the three festivals a year, there would be communion, fellowship and joy between God and the people and would keep them from idols. If they gave the very best of the best they had willingly and joyfully, God would display His extravagant love for them, which would rekindle their love for Him, keeping them from idols.

Just like the Israelites, what keeps us from worshipping the false gods in our lives, is the consistent worship of our Lord Jesus Christ and falling deeper in love with Him. This will confess to the world around us that we love and have faith in the one true and living God of the Universe. He has given us a pattern of worship, given us His Holy rest and he desires us to bring Him the best of our very best. As we do these things it strengthens our love relationship with Jesus. That brings us to our last next step, which is to Engage in worship, accept His holy rest, and give Jesus my very best so my love relationship with Him is strengthened.

July 27, 2025/by Office

He Is Jealous for Me

Rescued Exodus Sunday Morning Marc Webb Glorifying God, Jealousy, Relationship with God, Sharing Your Faith

He is Jealous for Me

The Imp of the Perverse is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe which discusses the narrator’s self-destructive impulses embodied in the metaphor of “the imp.” The narrator describes this spirit as the agent that tempts a person to do things “merely because we feel we should not.” Poe describes this spirit like this: We stand upon the brink of a precipice. We peer into the abyss—we grow sick and dizzy. Our first impulse is to shrink away from the danger. Unaccountably we remain... it is but a thought, although a fearful one, and one which chills the very marrow of our bones with the fierceness of the delight of its horror. It is merely the idea of what would be our sensations during the sweeping precipitancy of a fall from such a height... for this very cause do we now most vividly desire it. We, as a species, have a perverse spot in our hearts where we want to flagrantly disobey God and turn from Him. This is what Poe would call “The Imp of the Perverse.” In the short story, a thought entered the narrator’s mind which would surely condemn him if he spoke it, and yet, speak it he did. He tried walking quickly from it, then running, but it overtook him. He could no more constrain himself than a balloon could keep from bursting when over-filled. We are all prone to doing something which is self-destructive simply because it takes hold of us and impels us to do it. What Poe says well reflects the sinful nature we have.

The Apostle Paul puts it this way in Romans 7:15-20: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer myself who does it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who does it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” We all carry within us the Imp or Sin that can tear us away from what we should most cherish – which is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But the Bible gives us a cure from being consumed by the Imp and the way for falling so in love with Jesus that we are unwilling to entertain any other “lovers.” The cure is to be as jealous and ruthless for our relationship with Jesus as He is for us. The cure is to daily hide God’s word in our hearts and to hold fast to it, remembering it, and reciting it. It is being on a first-name basis with the Lord, praying in His will and displaying the glory of God with our lives. It is to destroy and refuse to accept anything associated with idols. It is to be intolerable toward anything that challenges our exclusivity with Jesus and to be intolerant of anything that leads us away from God. If we do these things and not allow anything or anyone to get in the way, it will be the safety for our souls and our protection from eternal separation from God. That brings us to our big idea this morning which is that God desires His people to be ruthless for His glory and for their spiritual fidelity.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for another day that we have the freedom to gather and worship you in this place. You are an awesome God, and I ask that your Holy Spirit fill each heart and mind this morning so that we would be open to what you want us to hear and obey. Help us to put off all distractions and focus on you. For your honor and your glory, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point this morning is, What God Will Do, found in Exodus 34:10-11. Follow along as I read. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.”

Last week, Moses again went before the Lord on Mt. Sinai taking two new stone tablets with him. The Lord answered Moses’ prayer to show him His glory by passing by him and by proclaiming His Name in his presence. Once this self-revelation was made by the Lord, Moses again asked for the Lord to dwell with them, forgive their wickedness and sin and to take His people as His inheritance. And today we will see God’s answer. The Lord’s answer came pretty quick, and it was a “yes.” By saying, “I am making a covenant with you” the Lord was stating that, yes, He will dwell among them. “Yes”, He will forgive their wickedness and sin. And “yes” He will take them as His inheritance. After proclaiming His compassionate and gracious name to Moses, the Lord showed compassion and grace to His people by agreeing to renew His covenant with them. Notice that God alone is reinstituting the covenant. The word “making” means “to cut.” And God alone is the one “cutting” the covenant and this time He does not ask the people to agree to it. Also, when He says he is making a covenant “with you”, the “you” is Moses. The covenant relationship between the Lord and the Israelites will be renewed through the person of Moses, the covenant mediator. The Lord will be faithful to all He has promised.

What we see next is what God will do as he is ruthless for His glory and ruthless for getting rid of any temptation against the spiritual fidelity of His people. First, what He will do will be done “right in front of” or “in full view of” the Israelites. This is the same word used when David says in the 23rd Psalm that the Lord prepares a table in the presence of or “in full view” of his enemies. What God will do will be for their benefit and for His glory. Calling them “your people” meaning Moses, didn’t mean they weren’t His people, it meant that they were privileged to have Moses as their leader and mediator. God was reaffirming Moses’ position with the Israelites. The Lord states that He will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. This is saying something considering the plagues He brought against Egypt and Pharaoh, the parting of the Red Sea and the provision of water from a rock and the abundance of quail and manna while they have been in the wilderness.

The word “done” is translated as “create” showing that the Lord’s wonders to come will be something new; a new creation and something never done before. What God will do will be extraordinary and the only response of the Israelites and those surrounding them will be wonder and awe. The Lord would do these things so that the Israelites and surrounding nations would realize that Yahweh was the all-powerful Creator God. The Israelite’s faith would be strengthened and having seen God’s wonders done on their behalf would hold them more accountable in the future if they rebelled against Him. And the surrounding nations would know that Yahweh is the one true God, would know the awesome deeds that the Lord is doing for His people, and He would be glorified in their midst.

The word awesome means “fright” or “terror” meaning that the Lord’s awesome work will bring terror and fright to the people. It will bring terror on the enemies of Israel as they are destroyed, and it will also bring terror to the Israelites as they will know what will happen to them if they break the covenant in the future. The Lord’s power, might, and majesty will be displayed to the world, and it will bring a fearful reverence for the Lord and His glory. The awesome thing I will do “for you” means that he will use Moses to cause the terror that God will bring. Next, we see two aspects of the covenant. First, the people are to obey what the Lord will command, meaning His commands in the latter part of this chapter. Two, the Lord promises to be ruthless for His glory by driving out all the nations before them in the Promised Land which will show his ruthlessness for any temptation to the spiritual fidelity of His people. By driving these nations out, it will cut down on their temptation to worship other gods and make idols. The length of the list of nations shows the vastness of the land they will inherit. It also shows the awesomeness of the work the Lord will do on their behalf. This will constitute one of the awesome wonders He just mentioned. 2 Samuel 7:23 says, “And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? This promise will also be the basis for the commands the people are to obey. It will be by the power of the Lord, not Israel’s, that these nations will be driven out of the Promised Land.

God was ruthless for His glory by making a covenant with them after they committed adultery with the golden calf. He promises to do wonders in their midst and the peoples they live among will see them and know He is God and will glorify Him. He was also ruthless for their spiritual fidelity. By driving the Canaanite nations out of the land with their wicked and perverse ways, it would cut down on the Israelites' temptation to worship other gods and make graven images, committing spiritual adultery against the Lord. As the people worship Yahweh and Yahweh alone it would bring glory to God as well. (Big Idea). The Lord also wants to do awesome wonders in our lives and in our church. He has cut a new covenant with us, He has promised many things to us in his Word and He demands obedience from us as His people. If we are going to be ruthless for the glory of God, we must be glorifying Him with everything we say, think and do. This shows what we believe about God and His glory, but it also shows the world whose we are and who gets the glory in our lives and in our church. Matthew 5:14-16 says, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” That brings us to our first next step which is to Be ruthless for the glory of God by always shining my light before others.

That brings us to our second point, What Israel Must Do, found in Exodus 34:12-17. This is what God’s Word says, “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same. “Do not make any idols.”

The Lord knew from previous experience that His people were prone to spiritual adultery. They were prone to worshipping idols and other gods. After the Lord kept His promise to wipe out the Canaanite nations from the Promised Land, the Israelites would need to do certain things to keep the temptation to worship other gods to a minimum. He begins with “be careful” which was an imperative. Moses and the people had to take literal action in order to keep themselves from idolatry. So what action were they to take when they entered the Promised Land? The were not to make treaties or covenants with the Canaanite people. God was driving these people out for very good reasons. First, they were wicked and evil and had been committing abominations against the Lord for centuries. Now it was God’s preordained time for their judgment. Second, the land was promised to Abraham and his descendants. The Lord had given the Canaanite people time to repent but they refused to follow God and now the land that they abused was forfeited to His chosen people. Third, if they made covenants with the Canaanites, the Canaanites and their gods would become snares to the Israelites. We need to remember that the Israelites were already in a covenant with God. If they made a covenant with the Canaanites it implied that they were in a covenant with their gods as well. This would be committing spiritual adultery against the Lord. Combining their faith in God with faith in false gods would undermine true faith in the one and only true God, Yahweh. This would be like a trap or snare they would unwittingly walk into and would become a path to their destruction.

They were to take three actions which would show the Lord that they were ruthless and jealous for their relationship with Him. They were to break down or destroy their altars. They were to smash or break their sacred stones or pillars. And they were to cut down their Asherah poles. The Lord had already commanded what type of altar they were to set up to worship Him. All other pagan altars were to be ruthlessly removed from the Promised Land. Next, they were to smash their sacred pillars. These were stone pillars that represented their gods, like the golden calf was to the Israelites. In ancient times it was the habit of the conquering nation to take the idols of the defeated nation and keep them as trophies, but the Israelites were not to do this. Interestingly, these gods could not save the defeated nation and so proved that they were false, but they could become a snare to the Israelites and their relationship with God, tempting them to look for something the idol couldn’t give them.

We see this exact thing happen in 2 Chronicles 25:14-15 to King Amaziah. “Now it was so, after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them. Therefore, the anger of the Lord was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?” He and probably the people were worshipping gods that couldn’t even save the Edomites from slaughter. Kind of hard to fathom when the Lord had done so many mighty wonders and deeds for His chosen people. But honestly, don’t we do the same all the time when we rely on the gods of our day for whatever we are seeking? They were also to cut down their Asherah poles. These were wooden images based on the goddess of the same name found in Phoenicia, Assyria, Canaan, etc. This is the first time they are mentioned in scripture, but they will be mentioned numerous times in the OT as being worshipped by the Israelites. Just as God had warned them, these idols became snares for His chosen people.

The Lord then said, “Do not worship any other god” or better translated “for you shall not worship any other god.” This had to be explicitly commanded because the people had already worshipped another god all on their own. God knew they were prone to idol worship and so he commanded them to be ruthless in breaking, smashing and cutting down all symbols of Canaanite worship. They would serve no other purpose than to tempt them into idolatry and become a snare to them. God then tells them why there were not to worship any other god. It is because the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Of course, this is not the sin of jealousy that humans are prone to. This is not jealousy that comes from being envious of something someone else has that you want. God’s jealousy is the defense of His honor and glory. If God was not jealous of His own honor and glory it would mean our worship of idols and other gods wouldn’t matter to Him. And this would be contrary to His nature. God is adding to His self-revelation to Moses, in that “Jealous” is another component of the Lord’s name and character. The covenant between the Lord and the Israelites was akin to a marriage contract. When they commit spiritual adultery with other gods, the Lord’s righteous jealousy is brought to bear. He is jealous of being deprived of what He deserves as their covenant King. Isaiah 42:8 says, “I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.” Matthew Henry states, “Those cannot worship God aright, who do not worship him only.” God is the only one who deserves our praise, honor, glory and worship.

Next, the Lord fleshes out some specifics of what would happen if they didn’t obey the Lord, made treaties with the Canaanites and didn’t break, smash and cut down the symbols of their false gods. It would be a case of “one thing leads to another” or “a slippery slope” to sin. Making a covenant with the Canaanites meant that they would be welcomed and would be protected within the land. By welcoming them and not destroying them the Israelites would be condoning their continuing harlotry or prostitution with their gods. And sooner or later being in that close proximity to the Canaanites and their false worship would lead to a strong temptation to commit spiritual adultery or worse, the sin itself. Covenant brothers would become brothers in worship. It would start with the Canaanites inviting the Israelites to eat of their sacrifices dedicated to their false gods. It seems like no big deal, eating a meal with someone, but when that meal is dedicated to false gods it drags you into their false worship. One of the sacrifices the Israelites were to make was the fellowship offering which symbolized peace, communion and fellowship with Yahweh. You can see what it may have meant for an Israelite to partake of a Canaanite sacrifice.

The next temptation to spiritual adultery on the slippery slope would come when the Israelites would choose Canaanite women to be wives of their sons. Why does God single out their daughters? In those times, when the son got married, he and his wife would become part of his family, living with them in the Israelite community. If an Israelite daughter got married to a Canaanite son, they would go and live with his family. There would not be the same influence on the family and community as when the Canaanite daughter came to live with the Israelite son. The wives would play the harlot or prostitute themselves to their false gods and with the wives wielding influence over their husbands it would be a great temptation for them to resist. This is why God was so ruthless for His glory and for the spiritual fidelity of His people (Big Idea). The Israelites were forever falling into sin because they could not resist this temptation. King Solomon is a famous example of intermarrying with pagan women and consorting with foreign concubines and leaving the worship of Yahweh for their gods.

We see the following in 1 Kings 11. “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.”

At the end of our passage God again warns the people against making cast idols. He explicitly commands against doing what they have already done. By referring to the “cast” idols which is what the golden calf was, God reminded them that He may have forgiven them for what they had done, but He had not forgotten and warned them to be ruthless against it happening again. The same is true for us today. 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 says, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” We know from 1 Peter 5:8 that Satan is prowling around like a lion looking to devour us and if we are not ruthless and jealous for our relationship with Jesus, we will fall. So let us be people who take God’s warning against spiritual adultery seriously. Let us be people who are intolerable toward anything that challenges our exclusivity with Jesus. Let’s be people who are intolerant of anything that leads us away from God. Let’s be people who are as jealous and ruthless for our relationship with Jesus as He is for us. That brings us our last next step: Be as jealous and ruthless for my relationship with Jesus as He is for me.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn and the ushers come to collect the tithes and offering, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name, you are a great God, the one true and living God. You are all-powerful and have already conquered the world, sin and the grave. Help us to obey your commands, and to worship you in the proper way that you have taught and commanded us to do. Help us to be ruthless for your glory. Help us to always be shining our light before others. And help us to Be as jealous and ruthless for my relationship with Jesus as He is for me

July 13, 2025/by Office

On a First Name Basis

Rescued Exodus Sunday Morning Marc Webb Acceptance, Obedience, Promise, Savior

On a First Name Basis

Have you ever wanted to see someone really, really, bad? In Philip Ryken’s commentary, he talks about a time in April 2003 when he and his son went to see Michael Jordan play professional basketball for the very last time. He says, “All we wanted to see was Michael. And we were not the only ones. From the moment Jordan entered Philadelphia’s First Union Center, every eye strained to see him. Whether he was shooting or stretching or even just sitting on the bench, everyone was looking at Michael.” Have you ever wanted to see someone that bad? Maybe it was a professional athlete or an actor or a singer or musician or a political or TV personality. I remember a time when Judy and I were in Orlando, Florida with friends and I heard that the band Petra was going to be in Winter Haven which was about an hour’s drive. I really wanted to see them and get one of their earlier CDs signed. So, we drove to the church where they were to perform and we hung around for a while but because the concert was delayed, we never did get to see them. I asked the wife of the pastor of the church if she would get them to sign the CD and mail it to me and she did.

Well, according to Exodus, there was someone Moses desperately wanted to see. That “someone” was the God of Israel, in all his glory. Moses and the Israelites had yearned for the Lord’s Presence to dwell in their midst. They had yearned to know the Lord more and so Moses set up a tent of meeting outside the camp where he could talk with God and the people could seek the Lord. Last week, we saw that Moses asked to know God’s ways and wanted a fuller revelation of His majesty. He yearned for a deeper understanding and experience of God’s Presence and attributes. In response, God told Moses there were limits to what he could see. Because Moses was a sinful man, he could not endure the direct sight of God’s glory. But he could survive a passing glance at God’s goodness. So, God told him He would hide Moses in a cleft in the rock, where God would cover him with his hand. Then God would pass by in all his goodness, and at the last possible moment he would let Moses catch a fleeting glimpse of the backside of his glory. Moses would see what he so desperately wanted to see, something no man had ever seen before.

In our scripture today, Exodus 34:1-9, that promise to Moses from God will become a reality. The Lord will come down in the cloud and stand beside Moses and will reveal His glory to Him by passing by him and by proclaiming His Name. Moses thought the glory of God was all about what he would see but it also included what Moses would hear as well. And what God would reveal to Moses through seeing and hearing would transform His life. The Lord wants to reveal His glory and name to every single person in the world hoping that either they will respond by accepting His son, Jesus Christ, as their Savior or they will respond the way Moses did by falling on his face in worship and in prayer. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires to reveal His name to His people. The Lord God of the universe wants to be on a first name basis with you.

Let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, we want to glorify you this morning with our praise, honor and worship. Help us to give you the awe and holy fear that you deserve. We pray that you would open your Word to us so that we can fall deeper in love with you, so that we can better serve and obey you and so that we can spread your Gospel in all the places each of us work, play and live. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our first point is Preparation found in Exodus 34:1-4. Follow along as I read those verses. This is what God’s Word says, “The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready in the morning and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.” So, Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.

Today’s passage comes on the heels of where last week’s passage ended. The Lord promised Moses to show him His glory, and that promise would now be kept. But before Moses could go up Mt. Sinai to meet with the Lord for the eighth and final time, there were some preparations he needed to make. The Lord commanded Moses to chisel or cut out two stone tablets that were like the first ones and God would write the words on them that were on the first tablets that Moses had broken. “The words” are the Ten Words or Commandments that God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai earlier. This was monumental for Moses and the Israelites as God will again give them the law that they desperately needed so that they could be His chosen people, His special possession and a kingdom of priests. But more than that God was reestablishing the covenant that they had broken by committing idolatry with the golden calf. This was not a new covenant but a renewal of the prior covenant. The relationship between God and the Israelites had been restored but these new tablets would be a reminder of their sin. In fact, the broken set of stone tablets were to go into the Ark of the Covenant alongside the second set which would be a reminder for all generations. God was gracious towards His people, but He still wanted them to obey His law and keep His commands and to be holy as He is holy.

We need the law, God’s Word, as well. As Christians, knowing and obeying God’s Words in the Bible are not optional. It is essential if we are going to live the kind of lives God demands of His people. Why do we need to know and obey God’s Word? 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Warren Wiersbe commenting on this passage says, “the Bible shows us what is right, what is wrong, how to get right, and how to stay right. We need God’s law so that we will live faithfully before him.”

Second, God commanded Moses to be ready in the morning to come up on Mount Sinai. In the NASB, the word “morning” is mentioned twice, probably to emphasize to Moses and the people that this renewal of the covenant was taking place at the same time, “in the morning” and on “the next day”, as both the original covenant and the worship of the golden calf. This would have been another reminder of the people’s sin and God’s gracious forgiveness. Also, in the Torah, there are many examples of God doing something amazing the “next day” and here the renewal of the covenant would be the amazing thing He would do. “To present himself” meant Moses was to meet God in the same place he had met with Him before and to come as one under the authority of the king.

Also, the prohibition, of no one coming up the mountain, that God set in place when Moses went up the first time, is still in effect. No one, not even Joshua, was to go up with Moses this time and no one is to be seen anywhere on the mountain. Also, their flocks and herds were not to graze in front of the mountain. This was probably to keep their animals from getting up the mountain and the Israelites trying to follow and bring them back. It is not explicit but because of the repetition of these instructions, it is implied that the penalty of death would again be in effect. Moses was the mediator the Israelites needed. The people because of their sin could not approach a just and holy God. If they were to approach God without a mediator the penalty would be death. It is the same for us today as well. John 14:6 says, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.”

We, as sinful human beings, can’t approach just a holy God without a mediator and so Jesus is the mediator we need. God desires to reveal His Name to His people so they will realize that what they need is Jesus (Big Idea). And once that realization comes then a couple of decisions must be made. If we are not saved, will we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord or not? And if we are saved, will we walk in obedience to the Lord and live as His inheritance or not? These are very important questions we must answer as we live in these last days. I like how Merida puts it, “Either Jesus received your judgment at the cross or you will face God’s just judgment on your own.” Jesus is the mediator we all need. Lastly, in this portion of our scripture, we see Moses obeying the Lord’s command. He cut two stone tablets like the former ones, got up early in the morning, which showed his eagerness to meet with God, and went up Mt. Sinai taking the two stone tablets in hand.

That brings us to our second point, Proclamation, found in Exodus 34:5-9. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshipped. “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”

Moses had obeyed the Lord and was ready to meet with God on Mt. Sinai at the predetermined spot. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with Moses as he called upon the name of the Lord. God came down, personally and physically, and stood in Moses’ presence. It wasn’t just a feeling that Moses had but a “theophany”, a visible manifestation of the Lord. This is probably not the top of Mt. Sinai since we are told that the Lord descended but it is the same cloud that has been with the Israelites since they left Egypt. This is the cloud of God’s glory that met with Moses at the tent of meeting. It’s the pre-incarnate Christ that came to stand with Moses. Imagine how awesome and terrifying it would be to have the Almighty and Holy God standing next to you. But this is what Moses yearned and asked for and because God knew his name and Moses had found favor with Him, the stage is set for God’s proclamation of His glory and Name. The Lord fulfilled his promise to Moses visually as the Lord passed by in front of Him. And then, I believe, Moses got more than he bargained for as the promise was also fulfilled in his hearing. Moses not only saw the glory of God, but he heard the glory of God and what he heard was far more important than what he saw.

God’s self-revelation to Moses was His Name. This is his attributes, His character, His nature and His way that expresses all He is and does. The first thing we notice is the two-fold acknowledgement of who God is, “The Lord, the Lord” or literally, “Yahweh, Yahweh.” It is repeated so Moses knew it was really the Lord standing there. This is the same name, “I Am Who I Am” that the Lord revealed to Moses at the burning bush. It speaks to God’s eternal self-existence and sufficiency. And then we get a full slate of the perfect attributes of God that speaks to how He will deal with His people. We see six of his attributes of mercy as well as one attribute of His justice. The Lord starts by proclaiming his merciful attributes. First, He is compassionate. God is sympathetic to what His people go through. Psalms 103:13 says, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” Second, He is also gracious. This is God’s undeserved favor towards His people. If God would give us what we deserve we would all receive eternal damnation but instead He gives what we don’t deserve: the free gift of His grace and salvation. We can’t earn God’s favor, so we need God to be gracious if we have any hope of forgiveness and eternal life.

Third, He is “slow to anger” or longsuffering which means He is patient with His people. He will display a righteous anger when He punishes evil and sin but will give every chance for repentance first. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” And when His holy wrath is displayed it is righteous and deliberate not just a case of losing His temper. Fourth, He is abounding in love and faithfulness. The Hebrew word for love can be translated “loving-kindness” and speaks to the commitment the Lord has made to His people through His covenant with them. This is connected to faithfulness or “truthfulness.” His love and truth are seen in His loyal and steadfast love for His people. He always keeps everyone of His promises. His love and faithfulness is abounding meaning it is without measure and beyond degree.

This verse is probably one of the most important verses in all the Bible. It is quoted or referred to dozens of times. King David in Psalms 103:8, prayed, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” The prophet Joel in Joel 2:13 says, “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.” And in Jonah 4:2 it says, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” Fifth, He maintains His love to thousands which seems to point back to the Ten Commandments where in Exodus 20:6 it says God promises His love to “a thousand generations” of those who love Him. God maintains, protects and preserves His love from generation to generation. In Psalms 136 it repeats 26 times that “His love endures forever.”

Sixth, He forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin. The Hebrew word for forgiveness means “to lift or carry.” The picture is of God carrying away our sins and lifting the burden of our guilt off our shoulders. Psalms 103:12 says, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” To show the scope of His forgiveness God mentions three things, signifying His willingness to forgive and carry away all of our sin. “Wickedness” is iniquity which means to turn away from doing righteousness and goodness. “Rebellion” is committing even more defiant acts against the Lord. Mackay says, it is a “willful violation of the terms of the covenant, involving not merely disobeying a rule or regulation, but betraying the relationship one has with the covenant King.” This is tantamount to treason against God. And “Sin” is the common name for any wrongdoing on our part.

Then we see one attribute of His justice proclaimed here. This defines how the Lord will deal with those who defy Him. He will not sweep unconfessed sin under the rug. First, He does not leave the guilty unpunished and in fact He punishes the children and their children to the third and fourth generations. Again, we are pointed back to the Ten Commandments where in Exodus 20:5 it says God punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Him. We can understand this in a couple of ways. First, when we as parents persist in our sin without repentance, we pass that on to our children and if our children do not stop the cycle of sin and unrepentance it gets passed down to the third and fourth generations. Second, in biblical times it wasn’t uncommon for Jewish families to consist of three or four generations who were living together under one roof. This is why we are held accountable for our sin not only as individuals but as parents and influencers of our children and youth.

This was the God that Moses and the Israelites needed. They needed a God who was merciful and just. It was the only way God could move forward with His covenant people. He needed them to understand who He is and how He is. Now that they knew His Name they needed to act accordingly. God knew Moses by name and now Moses was on a first name basis with God as He had now fully revealed Himself to Moses and subsequently to the Israelites (Big Idea). This is the God we need as well. Stuart Chase comments, “God’s love, grace, and mercy only become meaningful when we realize we don’t deserve them, but that he freely lavishes these things undeservingly on us.” And C.S. Lewis said: “Mercy, detached from justice, grows unmerciful. That is the important paradox. As there are plants which will flourish only in mountain soil, so it appears that mercy will flower only when it grows in the crannies of the rock of justice.” The truth of the gospel is that Jesus Christ is the very definition of God. He is compassionate, gracious, patient, loving, faithful to us and just with us.

Once the Lord showed His glory and proclaimed His Name in the hearing of Moses, we see how Moses responded. He did two things: He “at once” or hurried to bow to the ground and he hurried to worship. He did the only rational thing he could do in the face of an Almighty and Holy God, a God of compassion and mercy and a God of justice. It says he hurried to do those things. We are not told here that God’s hand covered Moses and that may have been because He didn’t need to. In the face of God’s Presence, Moses hid his face and then he worshiped. This was the only possible response he could have. And this is the same response we need to have when we come face-to-face with the glory of God. God desires to reveal His Name to us so that we will worship Him and we need to worship the Lord whenever and wherever He reveals Himself to us. We need spiritual ears to hear and eyes to see God’s glory and His Name being proclaimed to us. I believe God is giving us glimpses and sounds of His glory all the time, even every day, we just need to be as spiritually tuned in as Moses was. Guzik states, “When we don’t have a compelling drive to worship God, it’s clear evidence we don’t really appreciate who He is.” Let’s be people who are on the lookout to see God’s glory in our lives and to worship Him.

Then Moses did something he had been doing ever since the people committed idolatry with the golden calf. He interceded again for the Israelites. Moses asked if he had found favor in the Lord’s sight would He please go along in their midst. Sound familiar? Moses again did not make excuses for what the people had done but admitted they were obstinate or stiff-necked. But now, Moses does something he hasn’t done so far and that was to include himself in the confession of their wrongdoing and sin. Notice “our” wrongdoing and “our” sin. He had identified himself with the people when it came to forgiving them or not, but this is the first time he identified himself with their sin. Lastly, he prayed that the Lord would forgive or “pardon” their wickedness and sin and take them as His own inheritance. Now that Moses knows that the Lord’s nature is to be compassionate and gracious he asked the Lord to give to His people and to Moses what he had in unlimited abundance. Israel was chosen by the Lord to be His special and treasured possession or inheritance. He didn't choose them for anything in themselves, or that they could offer Him but based on the faithfulness of Abraham and for His special purpose of bringing the Messiah into the world.

What was the difference between this intercession and all the others? This intercession came on the heels of the covenant being renewed and of God’s glory, name and gracious promises being revealed to Moses. After hearing the attributes of mercy and justice that showed God’s heart for his people and what He expected of them, a new intercession was needed to include that revelation. God desires to reveal His Name to us so that we can intercede for others based on His gracious promises and glorious name. So, how can we apply this passage to our lives? In conclusion, I have several next steps. First, when God reveals His name to us it should cause us to realize that we need Jesus, and we need Him as our Savior if we haven’t yet made that decision. This is the Gospel: Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. We are dead in our sins and deserve eternal separation from God. But Romans 5:8 says that God showed His love for us that while we were sinners Christ died for us. And Romans 10:9 says that anyone who declares with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believes in their heart that God raised him from the dead, they will be saved. And that is our first next step: Realize that I need Jesus and accept Him as my Savior and Lord.

Second, if we are already saved, when God reveals His name to us it should cause us to walk in obedience to Him and to live as His inheritance. Especially in light of His promises to be a graciously compassionate, faithfully loving, and patiently forgiving God. That brings us to our second next step: Realize that I need Jesus and walk in obedience to Him and live as His inheritance. Third, when God desires to reveal His Name to us it should cause us to fall down and worship Him whenever and wherever we are. This doesn’t always mean physically getting on your face before the Lord, but it could. But it does mean having a heart that is bowed before the Lord and when we are in that position, we must worship Him the way that He deserves. And that brings us to our third next step: Worship the Lord whenever and wherever He reveals Himself to me. Fourth, when God desires to reveal His Name to us it should cause us to intercede for others based on His gracious promises and glorious Name. We can better intercede when we know the promises of God that are found in His word and know and understand His perfect attributes of mercy and justice. That brings us to our last next step: Intercede for others based on God’s gracious promises and glorious Name.

As Gene and Roxey come to us in our final hymn and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offering, let’s pray: God of Heaven, in Jesus’ name, our perfect Savior and Mediator, we thank you for revealing your Name to us, this morning, in your Word. Help us to realize that we need Jesus and if someone here who has not accepted Him as their Savior and Lord, I pray that you would draw them to yourself. And, God, those who do know you help us to realize that we also need your Son so that we can walk in obedience and live as your inheritance. Help us to worship you, Lord, whenever and wherever you reveal yourself to us and help us to intercede for others based on Your gracious promises and glorious Name. Amen.

Opening: Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 1038–1052.

July 6, 2025/by Office

Spiritual Radar

Rescued Exodus Sunday Morning Marc Webb God's glory, God's Love, Promise, Service, Spirituality, Trust

Spiritual Radar

Not long-ago great flocks of migratory birds overwhelmed airport radar systems at Des Moines, Iowa, Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri. The computerized radar systems were “knocked out” for hours after they tried to process information on thousands of transient geese. FAA radar systems are supposed to filter out the radar echoes that come from birds by tracking their speed, but often controllers will turn off primary radar (the one that reads echoes from objects in the sky) and rely upon transponder signals from aircraft. But on that fateful day the birds appeared so suddenly that FAA controllers had no time to act. The birds appeared in such vast numbers that the radar filtering system (which screens out echoes from birds) quickly failed. The Des Moines radar system can process seven hundred bona fide aircraft returns and three hundred non-aircraft returns simultaneously. But that day the system was overwhelmed with over nine hundred bird echoes within minutes. Life is like that sometimes. The background noise of this world competes for our attention and overwhelms our ability to filter out the static. We lose sight of what’s important in life. Our spiritual radar gets overwhelmed, and we lose God in all the static. That’s when it’s time to turn off the television, turn off the radio, fold up the paper, close the magazines and put away all the distractions. It is time simply to “be still” in the presence of God. We see Moses in such a place in Exodus 33. When Moses requested to see God, God gave him just a glimpse of his “back.” Hiding in a crevice, Moses’ spiritual radar was tuned in, and all he could do was be still as God passed by.

Moses has not been overwhelmed with all that has been going on in these past couple of chapters. He’s interceded for the Israelites as God’s chosen mediator asking God to relent from the harm, He said He would do to them. He’s interceded for them asking God to forgive their sin or to wipe Moses out of His book. He has spoken face to face with the Lord, just as a man speaks to His friend. This morning, we will be privy to one of those conversations as Moses will again intercede for the Israelites. He will ask for clarification of God’s presence with the people, ask to know God’s ways so he can know God more and find favor with Him, and will “strive” with God on the people’s behalf. Moses will then boldly approach the Lord asking to see His glory so he can get a deeper understanding and experience of Him. Moses’ spiritual radar was truly tuned into God. He had a hunger for God, desperately wanting to know God more intimately, and wanting to fall deeper and deeper in love with Him. How is your spiritual radar? Is it on? Is it overwhelmed by the world’s noise? Do you have a desire for God’s real presence in your life? Do you yearn to know God and His ways? Do you hunger for God, desperately wanting to know him more intimately and to fall deeper and deeper in love with Him? These are questions we need to answer as we continue to progress on our spiritual journey. That brings us to our big idea that God desires His people to yearn for a deeper understanding and experience of Himself. After we pursue God’s presence and yearn to know Him more, the next step should be to want a deeper understanding and experience of the Lord.

Let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, we boldly approach your throne this morning, humbly asking for your Holy Spirit to fill us as we look into your Word. Let your Word be a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our paths. Help us to put all other thoughts aside in this moment and focus our hearts and minds on you. May all we think, say and do here be honoring and glorifying to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point is, The Lord’s Presence, found in Exodus 33:12-17. Follow along as I read those verses. This is what God’s Word says, “Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

As we have studied chapter 33, we have seen how it is set in between Exodus 32:34 and verse 35. It is a more in-depth account of the Lord’s conversation with Moses that started in verse 34. In that verse God told Moses to go and lead the people to the Promised Land and an angel would go before them. The problem was because of their idolatry with the golden calf the tabernacle would not be built and so the Lord could not dwell in their midst. If He dwelled with them, God’s holiness would destroy them. The people then repented, stripped off their ornaments and were waiting for God to decide what to do with them. As they waited, Moses set up his tent as a tent of meeting outside the camp where God would meet with him and any of the people who chose to seek after Him. The people continued to show their repentance by giving Moses the respect he deserved as God’s mediator and worshipping the Lord as he deserved. Our passage this morning continues to be set in between Exodus 32:34 and verse 35 and this will continue until we come to Exodus 34:4.

Our passage continues the conversation as the Lord and Moses are speaking face to face as friends in the tent of meeting. Moses is still concerned about the Lord’s presence being with them even though the Lord said He would send an angel before them who would drive out the Canaanite nations. Moses still wanted clarification. We see the special relationship that Moses had with the Lord that allowed him to speak freely with Him. Moses was God’s mediator between the Lord and the people and had earned the right to humbly confront the Lord on these types of matters. We may wonder why Moses keeps pressing the Lord on this. Didn’t He already say twice that an angel would go before them? But Moses doesn’t seem to be satisfied with the Lord’s answer. The pre-incarnate Christ in the pillar of fire and cloud has been with them since they left Egypt and still seems to be the one who would go before them. Moses knew the task would be impossible if the presence of the Lord was not with them. So, he continues to plead with the Lord, stating that the Lord had said He knew Moses by name and had found favor with him. Moses was probably referring to Exodus 3:4, when the Lord called Him by his name at the burning bush and commissioned him to go and tell Pharoah to let God’s people go. That God had found favor with Moses has not been specifically mentioned in scripture, but we have seen many times that the Lord was pleased with Moses, and it was clear that Moses was favored as God’s mediator.

Moses continued to use that favored status in humility, with intensity and without ceasing. Moses asked the Lord, if He was truly pleased with him, to teach him His ways. Why would the Lord be pleased with Moses? It was because Moses had conducted himself well so far in bringing the Israelites out of Egypt through the Red Sea and to Mt. Sinai. What were God’s ways that Moses wanted to be taught? His ways were His standards, methods and benefits in dealing with the Israelites, according to his divine character and nature. Moses was asking God to show them what they needed to do for God to be with them on this journey and what He demanded of them as His people. And knowing God’s divine character and nature, His attributes, would help Moses on the journey. To lead effectively Moses needed to be in constant communication with the Lord, as in the tent of meeting, as opposed to God sending down orders from heaven. Moses wanted to serve God and His people more effectively so that God would continue to find favor with Moses. Moses was boldly declaring that the proof that God knew Moses and had found favor in His sight was for God’s personal presence to go with them. Moses was not content just to seek God’s presence but truly yearned for a deeper understanding and experience of that presence and of God’s attributes (Big Idea).

Moses took his role as God’s mediator very seriously. He interceded for God to not destroy the people. He asked God to take them back as His people and if not to take his own life. Moses wanted to be connected to the Israelites whether for good or bad. He truly loved the Lord’s people and was not afraid to fight and intercede for them before the Almighty, Sovereign and Holy God who created the universe. Moses then again reminds the Lord that the Israelites are His people. He had created them and called them out of all the nations of the world to be His treasured possession. So, after Moses’ impassioned plea the Lord says His Presence will go with Moses and He will give Moses rest. Moses should be satisfied now, right? The Lord just confirmed that the pre-incarnate Jesus would go with Moses and the Lord would give Moses “rest” meaning the Promised Land. But Moses is not satisfied because the Lord used singular pronouns and Moses caught on to it. The Lord was promising to only go with Moses and to only give him the rest of the Promised Land. The Lord is again testing Moses to see if he would be a faithful mediator. Moses could still take the Lord up on his offer to start over with Moses and make him into a great nation.

Moses again responds that if God’s Presence would not go with them, to just leave them where they are at. It would be better for them to stay at Mt. Sinai with the Lord’s Presence as it is now than to be in the Promised Land without His presence. Moses then shows that he has a passion for the glory of God. He appealed to God’s glory by saying how would anyone know the Lord was pleased with him and His people unless His Presence was with them. Notice Moses continues to put “His people” before the Lord. He is not giving up trying to get the Lord to forgive His people and renew His presence with them in a special way. He continues to tie his future to that of the Israelites for better or for worse. Again, Moses was a faithful mediator fulfilling his role to the utmost. How would this favoring of Moses and the people show God’s glory? It was the same argument Moses made against destroying the people. What would the nations say about God if his Presence was not with them? Moses was appealing to the glory of God’s name. If God’s Presence were not with them, it would malign His character and nature and would bring shame and disgrace to the name of the Lord. If God’s Presence would not go with them, they would be just like all the pagan peoples in Canaan and the world. There would be nothing special about them, and this would diminish God glory among the nations.

This really brings us to the crux of the matter. The Presence of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Christ, had been with them and would continue to be with them. But this was not Moses’ main concern. What Moses was concerned about and why he continued to passionately plead with the Lord was because he wanted the Lord to agree to “dwell among His people.” God had still not decided whether He would dwell among His people or not. This would be the distinguishing factor between the Israelites and all other people on the face of the earth. This was the only way that the Israelites would continue to be the Lord’s special possession and allow them to become kingdom of priests to the world. In verse 17, we get the Lord’s answer. The Lord says he will do the very thing Moses has asked. He will answer Moses’ prayer in the exact way he asked. The tabernacle would be built, the people would be able to make sacrifices for their sins and have them forgiven, and the Lord would dwell in their midst. But we get a sense the reason for this is not based on anything the Israelites have done. The Lord will dwell with His people because of His goodness and because He loves Moses, knows him by name and is pleased with him.

The Lord is pleased with His favored and faithful mediator because he has a passion for God’s glory. Moses knew that if the Lord dwelled among His people, it would bring glory to God’s name. Moses was also a fruitful mediator because through God “knowing” Moses, he was the salvation of the Israelites. He fulfilled God’s plan for himself and for God’s people by being obedient and that obedience brought forth the fruit of their salvation. Of course, Moses as a favored, faithful and fruitful mediator is ultimately a picture of Jesus as our perfect mediator. Jesus is God’s favored mediator because he is His one and only son. He is God’s faithful mediator because He interceded for the disciples and intercedes for all believers ultimately for the glory of God. And He is God’s fruitful mediator because He willingly went to the cross and the Father “knowing” Jesus in a unique way brought eternal salvation to all of God’s people. John 17:4 says, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.”

We are saved today because God is pleased with our mediator, Jesus Christ. This is the true basis for our salvation and not anything we have done. Our salvation depends on the love and favor God has for His son. Matthew 3:17 says, “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” God expressed his pleasure with His son as our perfect mediator at His baptism and He confirmed it by raising Jesus from the dead. How could God ever be pleased with us as sinful human beings? It is because of His son, Jesus, who willingly died on the cross for our sins and rose again. If we want God to be pleased with us and appropriate His free salvation, we must accept Jesus as our perfect mediator and Savior. That brings us to our first next step which is to Accept Jesus as my perfect mediator, Lord and Savior, and be saved.

We now come to our second point, The Lord’s Glory, found in Exodus 33:18-23. This is what God’s Word says, “Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand, and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

Moses is not done petitioning the Lord for more of His presence and to know Him more. Moses knew that if the Lord would tabernacle among His people, it would bring glory to His name. Now Moses is requesting to see God’s glory. This would be taking their relationship to a whole different level. It would be the closest anyone had come to walking and talking with God as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. Moses is bolding asking for a deeper understanding and experience of God’s presence and attributes (Big Idea). We may ask why Moses wanted to be shown God’s glory? First, he was concerned for God’s help. Being shown God’s glory would be a sign to Moses that the Lord’s Presence had truly been promised to him and the people. Seeing the glory of God would give him comfort and help him persevere in times of difficulty along the journey to the Promised Land. Two, he was concerned for God’s honor. We saw this in verse 16 as Moses wanted the glory of God's presence to be with him and Israel so that the nations would know that Yahweh was their God and He would be honored and glorified. One of the reasons we should want to know more of God and His glory is for His honor in the world today. Third, he was concerned for God Himself. Moses simply wanted to know God because God is God. He wanted to better understand and experience God simply for who He is. This brings us to our second next step which is to Pray for God to reveal His glory to me for my benefit and the benefit of those, I come in contact with, who need to know Him.

In verse 19 we see God’s answer. He will display His sovereign grace by causing His “goodness” to pass in front of Moses and He will proclaim His name, Yahweh, in his presence. What is God’s “goodness?” It speaks of the loveliness, splendor and beauty of God. What Moses will experience as the Lord passes by is the merciful, gracious, and compassionate Creator in a way that he could endure. God would also proclaim His name in Moses’ presence. This would reveal God’s character and nature to him. Moses would know what God is like and what God expected His people to be like. He would be certain, reassured and encouraged that the Lord would dwell with them in their midst as He promised. The Lord also displayed His sovereign choice by letting Moses know that He would have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He would have compassion on whom He would have compassion. The point the Lord was making was that His goodness passed by and the proclaiming of His name was at his own initiative and under His sovereign control. His judgments were righteous, and His ways are perfect. He was being gracious to Moses because he had found favor in God’s eyes.

Next, we see God’s saving grace. God would not reveal His face to him because no one could see His face and live. Not even Moses whom the Lord spoke to face to face and as a friend would be able to withstand seeing the Lord’s face. Moses was still a sinful human being and as such if he encountered the pure and perfect holiness of God, he would be killed. But because God knew Moses’ name and he had found favor with Him, the Lord would make it possible for Moses to see as much of His glory as possible and live. Moses had already encountered the glory of God, to a point, at the burning bush, the plagues in Egypt and the miracles at the Red Sea and in the wilderness. He saw God’s glory in the pillar of cloud and fire, with the seventy elders on the mountain, on the mountain for forty days with God and in the tent of meeting speaking face to face with the Lord. Moses was spiritually aware, and he knew there was more to know about the Lord, and he wanted to experience a full revelation of Him. Moses had gotten a taste of the glory of God and now yearned for a more intimate relationship with Him. This would be more of an experience of God’s glory than he had ever had, and it would give him the confidence he needed to continue to guide the people to the Promised Land knowing that the Lord would be dwelling among them.

How would God enable Moses to see His glory and live. There was a place near Him, meaning on Mt. Sinai, where Moses could stand on “the” rock. When His glory would pass by God would put Moses in a cleft in the rock and cover him with His hand. This is important because it is up to us to stand upon the Rock who is Christ, but it is God who places us in Him. After passing by God would remove His hand and Moses would be able to see His back. We don’t know exactly what Moses saw. It is possible that what he saw was the glory of Christ as He would come afterwards in human flesh, revealing the Father to us. But whatever Moses saw God was faithful, gracious and merciful to give Him what he asked for and it would transform him. Lastly, God reiterates that His face must not be seen. It would be important for Moses not to try to see more than what God would allow. We will see this actual event taking place in Exodus 34:5.

What God is going to do for Moses will show His grace and mercy and the reality of the Gospel. God would provide how Moses would be safe in the cleft of the rock. He would be concealed and protected by God from God. He would have a fuller revelation of God than he ever had and at the same time survive the encounter. Of course this is a picture of Christ. He is the Rock of our salvation, our strength and our refuge. If God were to deal with us as we deserve, we would not last a second but be destroyed immediately. But God made a way that we could be in His presence even as sinful people and not suffer His wrath. That way was through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. We are safe in Christ as He mediates for us before the Father. We are saved by Christ as God hides us in the cleft of the rock.

John and Betty Stamm were a missionary couple to China who were arrested and martyred within months of arriving on the mission field. When the authorities arrested them and wrote to their mission agency demanding ransom, John sent this letter: Dear Brethren, my wife, baby, and myself are today in the hands of the Communists, in the city of Tsingteh. Things happened so quickly this morning. We were in the city just a few hours after the ever-present rumors really became alarming, so that we could not prepare to leave in time. We were just too late. Their demand is twenty thousand dollars for our release. All our possessions and stores are in their hands, but we praise God for peace in our hearts and a meal tonight. God grant you wisdom in what you do, and us fortitude, courage, and peace of heart. He is an able and wonderful Friend in such a time. The Lord blesses and guide you, and as for us, may God be glorified whether by life or by death. Signed John Stamm. This man had been robbed by murderous thugs and imprisoned with his wife and baby daughter. But his concern was not for life or death, but only for the glory of God.

Do we desire to bring glory to God with our lives? Do we long for some personal, direct knowledge and experience of God? Do we desire to see more and more of the glory of God, or will we say we seen enough? Let us be people who desire to bring glory to God. Let us be people who desire to see the glory of God and then continue to seek more and more of His glory as we come to know Him better. Let us be people who yearn for a deeper understanding and experience of God’s Presence and attributes. (Big Idea). That brings us to our last next step which is to Yearn for a deeper understanding and experience of God’s Presence and attributes.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offering, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name. Thank you for this privileged opportunity to be in your house and in Your Presence in fellowship and worship with our brothers and sisters. Lord, if there are those here or online that do not know you as their Lord and Savior, I pray that you would draw them to yourself and that they would accept Jesus as their perfect mediator and Savior and be saved. We pray that You would reveal your glory to us for our benefits and the benefits of those, we come in contact this week, who need to know You. Help us to yearn for a deeper understanding and experience of Your Presence and attributes. Amen.

Opening: Glen S. Martin, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, ed. Max Anders, Holman Old Testament Commentary (B&H Publishing Group, 2002), 140.

Closing: Doug Van Meter, https://brackenhurstbaptist.co.za/a-weighty-knowledge/

June 29, 2025/by Office

Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise

Rescued Exodus Sunday Morning Marc Webb Healthy Church, Spiritual Growth, Trust, Wealth, Wisdom

Healthy, Wealthy & Wise

In his novel The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien tells how Bilbo Baggins and a dozen dwarves traveled to the Lonely Mountain, defeated a terrible dragon, and returned home with golden treasures. Their companion for the first part of their journey was Gandalf the Grey, a man of unusual wisdom and extraordinary power. Gandalf served as their guardian and guide, and sometimes their savior. But Gandalf could not always be with them. Midway through their journey, as the traveling party prepared to enter the forest of Mirkwood, they unexpectedly learned that Gandalf would not be going with them. This unhappy news was greeted with instant dismay: “The dwarves groaned and looked most distressed, and Bilbo wept. They had begun to think Gandalf was going to come all the way and would always be there to help them out of difficulties.... They begged him not to leave them. They offered him dragon-gold and silver and jewels, but he would not change his mind.” When traveling through dangerous and unfamiliar territory, it is good to have a guide, and it’s devastating to lose one.

This morning in our passage, Exodus 33:1-6, we are going to see another group of travelers whose Savior has been with them on their journey. He has saved them, guided them and guarded them. They will also learn unexpectedly that their Savior will not be going with them in the special way that had been planned. They are also distressed, crying out and mourning the loss of His presence even though they still have their treasures. As we study our scripture this morning, we will see our group of travelers strip off the symbols of separation from their Savior in repentance, in the hope that His presence will be restored. That brings us to our big idea that God desires His people to yearn for His presence over His provision.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we pause and thank you for another opportunity to be in your house to worship and praise you with other like-minded people. Pour out your Holy Spirit on each of us, opening our hearts and minds to your Word, so we can be transformed by applying it to our lives. Help us to pass it on to others that need to know about you this week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point, this morning is, the Declaration, found in Exodus 33:1-3. Follow along as I read those verses. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”

Last week we learned that the Levites killed three thousand Israelites, ringleaders of the worship of the golden calf and others who would not give up their idolatry. Because of their obedience, the Levites were “set apart” for the service of God. Then Moses went up to God hoping to make atonement for the people’s great sin. He asked God to forgive their sin and if he wouldn't cut himself off, meaning death for Moses or being cut off as one of God’s chosen people. God refuses Moses’ offer but tells him he can go ahead and continue leading the Israelites to the land he promised on oath. God will send an angel to go before them and will punish the people on His own timetable. And the last thing we read was that the Lord struck the people with a plague as a direct consequence for what the people did with the calf that Aaron made.

As we come to today’s scripture, most scholars believe that verses 1-6 are a more in-depth account of the Lord’s conversation with Moses that happens in the beginning of Exodus 32:34. It is not unusual in the Bible for the author to give a broad overview of what is happening and then go back and give more specifics of the same event. With that in mind, Exodus 32:34 says, “Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you.” When we studied this passage last week, we observed that God will still be true to His covenant and an angel will still go before them, but at the moment it is unsure whether the angel will be His personal Presence or not.

Notice that we begin with a familiar phrase, “Then the Lord said to Moses,” which signals the reader to pay attention because God is going to be making an important declaration or announcement. He reiterates his promises made in the Abrahamic covenant. We can learn a number of things from verses 1-3a. The first thing we can learn is that Moses and the Israelites who were brought up out of Egypt are to leave Mt. Sinai and go up to the land the Lord promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the promise of property that the Lord is to give them in Canaan. It seems that even though the Israelites have broken their covenant with the Lord by making and worshipping the golden calf, He will still keep His covenant that He made with the Patriarchs to give their descendants the Promised Land.

Second, we learn that the Lord will send an angel before them to drive out the present inhabitants of the Promised Land. The peoples mentioned are the sinful nations that God will wipe out of the Promised Land. He will use His chosen people the Israelites to conquer them and take over their land as their own inheritance. This is the promise of protection and power that will be displayed on their behalf. The angel will protect the people from hostile peoples along the way and then will powerfully drive the evil peoples from the land. Third, we learn that the Lord will prosper His people in the Promised Land. The Promised Land has been described a number of times as a “land flowing with milk and honey” implying richness and fertility. This was a repeated promise to prosper His people physically. There would be abundant pastureland and all sorts of fruit trees, herbs and flowers. But it was also a promise to prosper them spiritually. It was to be the land of those who followed God and His Words and the people through whom the “Word,” Jesus, would come from.

We can imagine that up to this point the people would be feeling pretty good about their situation. They had broken their covenant with Lord but the covenant God made with the Patriarchs was still in effect for them. This is good news, right? God is prospering them, making them healthy, wealthy and wise just as he promised and they really haven’t owned, confessed, or repented of their sin yet. This sounds good so far until we come to the end of verse 3 and God adds a challenge that will test the people to see where their loyalties really lie. He lets them know that His personal presence will not go with them. They will continue the journey to the Promised Land without Him. There are a number of things happening here that we need to understand to know what this means for the Israelites.

First, Moses and the Israelites should have noticed the signs that God was drawing farther away from them. The fact that a couple of times since the golden calf incident, God has called the Israelites, “Moses’ people” and not “His people” should have been a sign. The fact that God said Moses “brought the people up out of Egypt” instead of crediting himself with that mighty deed should have been another sign. The fact that the guiding presence with them has been “My angel” and now it will be “an angel” should have been a sign. The pre-incarnate Christ has been guiding and protecting them in the pillar of cloud and fire, but now a lesser heavenly being, will go before them and drive out the Canaanite nations from the land. All these signs were pointing to the fact that the Lord was distancing himself from the Israelites because of their great sin.

Second, what did it really mean that the Lord would not go with them? He is still sending an angel ahead of them to protect them and to powerfully wipe out the Canaanite nations. His covenant promises are still in effect. But we need to remember what God was showing Moses on the mountain before the golden calf incident. God was giving Moses the plans to build His house, the tabernacle, so that the Presence of the Lord could dwell “in the midst” of his people as they traveled to the Promised Land. The fact that God has just commanded Moses and the people to “leave this place” meaning Mt. Sinai and to “go up to the Promised Land” means the tabernacle is not going to be built and that he will not be dwelling “in their midst.” The construction project has been put on an indefinite hold.

Can you see the implications of this? One, they were to leave Mt. Sinai, where God’s presence has been with them, to travel without His presence. Once the tabernacle had been built, His presence would meet them in the tabernacle, and when it was time to leave Mt. Sinai, the Lord would travel with them. Two, if there is no tabernacle, there are no sacrifices and if there are no sacrifices there is no forgiveness of sins. Ryken states, “And without the tabernacle, there would be no altar for sacrifice, no laver for cleansing, no lampstand for light, no table for bread, no incense for prayer, no ark for atonement, and no glory in Israel.” The entire plan of salvation in the OT that was to lead Christ into the NT is dead in the water at the moment.

Third, we see the grace of God in not going with His people. Once the law was given and they were brought face to face with the reality of their sin and its consequences, they knew that the holiness of God was serious business, and that the Lord would expect them to be obedient and faithful to the covenant. Now that they had broken the covenant, he could not go with them because His holiness would demand that He destroy them if they sinned along the way. And because they were stiff-necked people, prone to sin, their destruction would be a foregone conclusion. God loved them and did not want to destroy them so in his grace and mercy and for their safety he withdrew his presence. This distance between God and the Israelites was for their benefit. But this was a problem because you can’t know God and it’s hard to have a personal relationship with Him if you are distant from Him. The greatest priority for any child of God is to walk with God at all times so that he or she does not grieve the Holy Spirit. Paul in Ephesians 4 says to “put off” your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; and to “put on” the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. If we are continually putting on the new self we will not grieve the Holy Spirit and are able to stay close to the Lord. We also see the grace of God in that by sending “an angel” in His place, His people would have another chance to have a future as His chosen people.

It is ironic that the very reason they wanted an idol built was because they craved a direct and obvious divine presence and wanted a God who would be right there in their midst. But because of their idolatry and breaking the covenant, his presence could not dwell in their midst and would have to be limited in the future. Our sin and idolatry always take us farther from the presence of God and our relationship with Him. When this happens, our tables are empty and not full. Fourth, we come to the test. The test was how would the people react to this news? Remember, they were still going to receive His protection and power and would still possess the Promised Land. They would just do it without the presence of the Lord with them. This kind of reminds us of the prosperity gospel where you are offered health and wealth and the presence of God is an afterthought. We are tempted by the world every day to choose peace, happiness, contentment, a better life now, and monetary benefits to the exclusion of a genuine relationship and the presence of the Lord. We are more concerned about the gifts than the giver. But isn’t this what a lot of people want? They want the blessings they can get from God, and they want to go to heaven but aren’t interested in having a personal relationship with Him. They believe it would cramp their style, or they may have to give up some friends, or they won’t be able to live the lifestyle they want, which could all be true.

We remember the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16-22 who came to Jesus with a question about how he could have eternal life. Jesus told him to sell his possessions and give to the poor, and he would have treasure in heaven and then said to follow him. The man went away sad, because he had great wealth. He would rather have held on to his wealth, his idol, instead of holding onto Jesus. How many of us do the same thing? Life is good. God has blessed me. We are healthy, wealthy and wise or at least that’s what we are hoping for, and things are good right now. We have food on the table, a roof over our heads, a job, and we believe when things get tough, then we will seek the Lord. Let us not be like the rich young ruler. Let us be people who realize that having the “milk and honey” of the Promised Land or having a good life and lots of possessions is of no value if you don’t truly know the one true and living God. Lloyd-Jones states, “To be given every other blessing is of no value if God is not with you.” That brings us to our first next step which is to Reject the idea of being healthy, wealthy and wise without having a genuine relationship with the Lord.

That brings us to our second point, Decision, found in Exodus 33:4-6. This is what God’s Word says, “When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn, and no one put on any ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’” So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.

Sometime after verse 3, Moses comes down the mountain and tells the people what the Lord had said. Notice the words in verse 5, “For the Lord had said to Moses” and the words in verse 4 “When the people heard these distressing words.” We will look at verse 5 first because it explains the people’s reaction in verse 4. Moses tells the Israelites exactly what the Lord had told him to say to them. One, they are stiff-necked people. This is the second time the Lord has called them that. “Stiff-necked” means “obstinate” and “stubborn” but it is more than that. It means they were obstinately and stubbornly resisting God. The Israelites would not submit to the yoke of God’s commandments and statutes. They behaved in an unacceptable and unreasonable manner; in spite of the consequences, they would face.”

Two, because they are stiff-necked people, the Lord knows that if he goes “in their midst” even for a moment, he might destroy them. This is not because God can’t control what he does but that their sinfulness would prompt his holiness to consume them. Habakkuk 1:13 says, “Your eyes are too pure to look at evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.” God is holy and righteous, and his nature will not allow Him to abide sin much less have it in His presence. He would be forced to destroy them if he went with them in their midst. “Even for a moment” gives the sense of destruction coming suddenly as in a wink of the eye and emphasizes the fragile relationship that is between the Lord and the people because of their rebellion and idolatry.

Then the Lord tells them to do something. He commands them to take off their ornaments and he will decide what to do with them. What are these ornaments? These ornaments were part of the jewelry that they had plundered from the Egyptians as they left Egypt. These were the remaining pieces of gold that were not given to make the golden calf. These were the symbols of their idolatry and sin against the Lord. He is commanding them to take them off just like Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell his possessions and give to the poor. God wanted to know if the people were willing to give up their “ornaments” and to practically and passionately pursue His presence. Were they now willing to own their sin, confess their sin and repent of their sin.

When the Lord said, “I will decide what to do with you” or “so that I may know what to do with you”, He was testing the people. Just like the test God gave Moses when he told him to “leave me alone and my anger will burn against them,” the Lord wanted to know if they would be repentant and sorry for what they had done in breaking the covenant with him. If they were obedient to the Lord, it would possibly open up the door for their relationship to be close again and for them to be his people and for Him to be their God. We need to go back to verse four to see how the people responded to the Lord’s declaration. It says when they hear these distressing words, they begin to mourn, and no one put on their ornaments. These “distressing words” were that the Lord would not dwell in their midst as planned. They were disappointed, afraid, ashamed and rebuked. They are distressed because this is what they truly wanted. They wanted a personal God who would be close to them and their sin caused God to be farther away from them.

When they heard these distressing words, they did two things. First, they mourned. All of a sudden, they realize what they have lost because of their idolatry and sin. They realize that their greatest need was to know the one true God, Yahweh, and to be in a close relationship with Him. They showed genuine repentance inwardly, in their hearts and attitudes by mourning like they had lost a loved one. The word for “mourning” is the same word used when Jacob heard about the death of his son, Joseph. The second thing they did was to not put on any ornaments in obedience to the Lord’s command. They showed genuine repentance by their outward actions. In the ancient Near East, mourning involved not just a heart change, exhibited by a change in attitude, but it also involved an outward change that showed in their appearance. What one wore showed that they were in mourning. They would not wear fancy or cheerful clothing but made their appearance as plain as possible. This reminds us of wearing black at funerals today to show respect for the dead and that it is a solemn and somber time.

Finally, we see in verse 6 that they went even further with their repentance. It says they stripped off their ornaments. If we looked at these verses in order, we may think there was a discrepancy. How could they strip off their ornaments in verse six if they didn’t put any on in verse four. What verse six is telling us is that the Israelites responded with eagerness to be repentant and not wear their ornaments in mourning the loss of the near presence of the Lord. This eagerness is indicated by doing more than what the Lord required. By “stripping off’ instead of just “taking off” they showed they were not worthy to enjoy the plunder that God gave them from Egypt. And they were sorry for using that gold to make the golden calf and committing idolatry. The last thing we notice is they stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb. “At Mount Horeb” is better translated as “from Mount Horeb.” This means that once they took off their ornaments in repentance, they did not put them back on again after leaving from there. This seems to have lasted until they arrived at the Promised Land. These actions taken in repentance proved that they were more concerned with having the Lord’s presence in their midst than His provision (Big Idea).

Hebrews 12:1 says to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” For the Israelites it was their ornaments that entangled them. They symbolized their love of the past in Egypt and their reliance on what they could see. But they repented and stripped them off. What are the ornaments we need to “strip off?” These are the things that we make idols in our lives and the things in our old nature that we try to remain connected to such as the love of money, sex, pornography, alcohol, friends who drag us back into sin, anger, and there are so much more. But whatever they are, the sins that hinder and entangle us must be removed and laid aside for God to do his work in our lives. There should be nothing that draws us back to the things of our old nature, instead we must be intentional about letting go of our ornaments and replacing them with a practical and passionate pursuit of God’s presence in our lives. This happens when we have given the Lord a permanent seat at our table and our relationship with Him is full. That brings us to our last next step which is to “Strip off” my ornaments and replace them with a practical and passionate pursuit of God’s presence.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offering, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name, we give you honor, glory and praise for your Word. We thank you that we do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from your mouth. Lord, help us to reject being healthy, wealthy and wise without having a genuine relationship with you. Help us to “strip off” our ornaments and replace them with a practical and passionate pursuit of your presence. Help us to yearn for your presence more than your provision, Amen.

Opening: Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 1023–1027.

June 16, 2025/by Office

InSINerating Our Idols

Rescued Exodus Sunday Evening, Sunday Morning Marc Webb Commitment, Confession, Disobedience, Fulfillment, Idols, Repentance, Sin

InSINerating Our Idols

Philip Ryken tells this story: When I was a child, someone gave me a record album of Bible sounds. The album contained a series of audio riddles. As we listened, we would hear a sequence of sound effects, and then we would try to figure out which Bible story they told. For example, we would hear the sound of a crackling fire, followed by a rooster crowing three times, and then the sound of a man sobbing. That was an easy one: It was Peter’s denial of Christ. Most of the riddles were more difficult, but they opened up a whole new way of listening to the Bible. Consider some of the great sounds in Scripture. Think of the noise that Gideon and his soldiers made when they attacked the Midianites: blaring trumpets, smashing pots, and battle cries. Or think of the sound that David’s soldiers heard when they attacked the Philistines, the sound of God’s army marching in the treetops. Then there were the sounds that Elijah heard on God’s Mountain: wind, earthquake, fire, and the still small voice. There were all kinds of sounds in the Gospels too: animals blowing in the stable, water splashing into wine jars, wind storming on the lake, silver clinking in a bag, and bloody cries of anguish from the cross. But at the end of days, we will hear the happiest sounds ever: the trumpet of God, the last shout of victory, and the chorus of Heaven.

In our scripture this morning we hear one of the strangest sounds in the Bible. As Moses and Joshua were coming down off the mountain, they heard a strange sound coming from the camp. It was such a strange sound that at first Joshua thought it was one thing and Moses thought it was another. Moses was able to identify the sound, but he knew something was off. Their confusion indicated that there was something not quite right going on in the Israelite camp. And so, when Moses and Joshua finally get down to the foot of the mountain, the people are indulging in revelry. Now as I said before we aren’t totally sure what revelry refers to. It could have been partying without moral constraint or it could have been just an old-fashioned hoe-down kind of party. We can probably lean toward the former but whatever it was, we know that God was not happy as He wanted to destroy His people. And as we will see today, Moses is not happy, either, because they are not worshipping God but a golden calf. In today’s scripture, through the obedience of Moses, God will teach us how we should confront our idols or the idols around us and how we must own our sin, confess our sin, and repent of our sin. That brings us to our big idea that God desires His people to destroy their idols and own their sin.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we pause and thank you for another opportunity to be in your house to worship and praise you with other like-minded people. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us as we hear your word and open our hearts and minds to what Your Spirit is saying to us. Let us take it deep into our hearts and souls and allow it to transform us. And then help us to pass it onto others that need to know about your salvation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

We have two points this morning, the first is Anger, found in Exodus 32:15-20. Follow along as I read. This is what God’s Word says, “Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.” Moses replied: “It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear.” When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

Our scripture this morning shows us practical ways we must confront idolatry. The first way is with doctrine or scripture. We will notice some contrasts as we study our passage today. The first is Moses contrasted with the Israelites. Last week in verse 8 we saw that the people were “quick to turn away” from the Lord’s commands. Today, after Moses interceded for the people and God relented from destroying them, he “turned and went down the mountain.” After securing a reprieve for the people, Moses now obeys God’s command to “go down.” The people “turned away” in disobedience but Moses “turned” in obedience. We need to use scripture or doctrine to confront idolatry and we can do so with scripture in two ways. The first way is with the “sufficiency of scripture.” Moses is coming down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. These two tablets, that he received directly from the Lord, were inscribed on both sides, front and back. This means that the entire two tablets were fully written on so nothing could be added to them. God’s Word, the Bible, is still sufficient today and we are commanded not to add or subtract from it. 2 Peter 1:3 says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” Our knowledge of God and how to live a godly life comes from His Word, and so we can use it to confront our idolatry, because it is sufficient to teach us how to live righteous and obedient lives.

The second way that scripture or doctrine confronts idolatry is through the “authority of scripture.” The two tablets were the work of God, the writing was the writing of God, and the writing was inscribed or engraved by God. This means that God himself was the author and the authority of what is written, which was the covenant law that the Israelites were to obey. God is still the author and the authority of the Bible, today. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The Word of God comes right from the mouth of God. We can use it to confront our idolatry, because it has the authority to rebuke and correct us of our sin and teach and train us in the way we should go.

The second way we must confront our idols is with discernment. This goes for the idolatry in our lives, the idolatry in the lives of others and the idolatry in the church. We may have forgotten about Joshua. He accompanied Moses halfway up the mountain and stayed there for forty days and forty nights while Moses was on top of the mountain. We notice a contrast here between Joshua and the Israelites. After forty days and nights, the people build an idol because Moses has been gone “so long”, and they don’t know where he is or if he has abandoned them. And Joshua, after the same period of time, has been obediently waiting for Moses to return. He didn’t leave his post or try to follow Moses up the mountain; he just waited patiently for Moses to return.

Then we come to the scene I alluded to in the introduction. When Joshua hears the people “shouting” from the foot of the mountain, he believes there are the sounds of war in the camp. Now Joshua was a warrior, and you would think he would be able to recognize the sounds of war. But Moses, remember, has more information about what is happening than Joshua, and seems to contradict him. He says it is not the sound of victory or defeat but of “singing.” But they both knew that this singing sounded different. First, it was probably loud. When you get a lot of people at a party, it can get really loud. Second, they were worshipping an idol without moral constraint. So, it was probably raucous, indecent and obscene. Third, they were probably getting drunk and so there may have been some pushing, shoving and fighting going on. A party can get out of hand when you have huge numbers of people, loud noise, alcohol and loose morals. Singing in itself is not sinful but the “singing” sounds that Moses and Joshua heard were not the sounds of worshipping the one true God but the sounds of worshipping a dead idol.

So why is discernment important for us today? First, it can be hard to see something being or becoming an idol in our own lives, our family’s lives, our friends’ lives and in the life of our church. And we need to be discerning so we don’t worship creation but only the Creator. Idolatry can creep subtly in until it consumes us completely. Second, we need discerning friends, who like Moses, will keep us accountable. We need trusted Christian friends who we allow and who are willing to confront the idols in our lives and vice versa. We see this in 2 Samuel 12 as Nathan confronts David with his adultery with Bathsheba. David had allowed lust to become an idol and it wreaked havoc in his life. In verse 13, David owns his sin, confesses his sin and repents of his sin. We also see in James 5:16, in the context of praying for physical, emotional and spiritual healing, that we are to confess our sins to each other. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” We can be healed of our guilt and shame when we confess to others.

The third way we must confront idolatry is with disgust. When Moses saw the calf and the dancing, his “anger burned” and he was disgusted with what the people were doing. It was one thing to be told about their idolatry but clearly another thing for Moses to see it with his own two eyes. This is another reason to lean toward the people partying without moral constraint. In his disgust, Moses confronted the people’s idolatry in two ways. First, he was “indignant.” Indignation means expressing strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting or base. Moses had a righteous anger and showed strong displeasure because what the people were doing was offensive and insulting to God. Remember, Moses was zealous for God’s glory, and what was happening was not glorifying God. We see a comparison here between the Lord and Moses. Last week, the Lord was angry with the people, and it says that literally “his nostrils flared.” And we see the same word attributed here to Moses. We also see a comparison with Jesus who with righteous anger cleansed the temple in Luke 19:46-47. “When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Next, Moses did something that may shock us. He threw the two tablets of the covenant law down, breaking them into pieces at the foot of the mountain. Moses was not out of control, he didn’t get so mad, that in his anger he threw the tablets down. This is not an “oops, I am sorry God.” This was a serious and symbolic action on Moses’ part. Cole says, “The breaking of the tablets [was] a significant ceremonial act, not a mere exhibition of anger.” What Moses was conveying to the people was that since they had broken their covenant with the Lord, the covenant the Lord had made with them was now broken, being rendered null and void. It was also significant and symbolic where Moses broke the two tablets. He broke them at the foot of the mountain at the place where the altar to the golden calf sat and where the altar to God should have been. The Israelites were covenant-breakers and that was a very precarious place to be. The Lord’s covenant relationship meant that they were His people, and He was their God. Within this relationship, the Lord promised to make them a great nation, to provide land, blessings, prosperity and protection. All that was required was their obedience.

Moses realized what breaking their covenant with the Lord meant. He knew that the Israelites were in major trouble, so he took four practical steps for the people to realize this, to confront and destroy their idols and own their sin (big idea). One, he took the golden calf the people had made and burned it in the fire. Second, he ground it into powder. Third, he scattered the powder into the Israelites drinking water supply. Fourth, he made the Israelites drink it. Moses showed his leadership here but more importantly he showed that he had a reverent “fear of the Lord” and did not fear man. We can imagine that at least some of the people would not have been happy with what Moses was doing. But he didn’t care. He was disgusted with what he saw and was convicted to do something about it. There is a clear lesson for us here. We must also have a reverent “fear of the Lord” and be zealous for God’s glory and honor. When we see blatant idolatry and sin in our lives, the lives of others and our church we must be disgusted and hopefully we are convicted by the Holy Spirit, follow Moses’ example, and do something about it.

Why did Moses take these particular steps to destroy the people’s idol? First, it would have tasted pretty bad, and he wanted them to know that idolatry was disgusting just like the water was. This would have been humiliating for them and so to drink the water the people would have had to humble themselves, own their sin, confess their sin and repent of their sin. In fact, it seems that the people who had been convicted of their idolatry and sin when confronted by Moses were the ones who drank the water. This would not have been a punishment for them, but a lesson learned. They needed to taste the consequences of their sin so that they would think twice about doing it again. Reminds me of parents saying, “I am going to wash your mouth out with soap.” After that happens once, we would hopefully be wary of committing the same sin again.

Second, Moses wanted the people to realize the folly of worshipping dead idols. If Moses could burn and ground up their god and make them drink their god, he obviously was not much of a god. They would consume it, and eventually it would come out as waste. It would be corrupted, defiled and ruined permanently, not being fit to be an idol. Their little god could not even survive a digestive system! Third, Moses wanted them to realize the cost of their idolatry. The cost of idolatry and sin can be expensive. The gold used to make the calf should have been given to construct the tabernacle and the items used for it. God had given it to them to be used for His service, and they had thrown it away like pearls to swine.

How does this apply to us today? When we fall into idolatry, we need to be disciplined so that we feel the consequences of our sin, are disgusted with it and will strive not to do it again. Hebrews 12 tells us that God disciplines those who are His children and He does it for our good so that we may share in His holiness. It will also produce righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. We need to realize that our puny idols today: security, meaning, ambition, sex, money, possessions, careers, sports, etc. are dead idols. They can’t satisfy us in any way, shape or form and they can be destroyed and inSINerated. Only God is the one true and living God. Any other things or person including ourselves, that we worship as an idol, fall desperately short.

Finally, the cost of our idolatry is expensive. It can cost us our families, our marriages and our children. It can cost us our reputation, our health, opportunities to serve the Lord and to lay up treasures in heaven. We need to experience God’s discipline so that we become disgusted with our idolatry, and through the Holy Spirit’s help resist future temptation. Like Moses, we must deal decisively with our sin and destroy our idols (big idea). Often, we as Christians, try to deal with our idols and sin by hiding them away in our closets or cupboards instead of taking them out with the trash and inSINerating them. We pretend our spiritual house is clean, but the next time we are tempted, we go right back to our pride, gossip, pornography, greed, alcohol, drugs, food, etc. The only way to not go back to dabbling with our idols is by destroying them. That brings us to our first next step which is to Stop dabbling with my idols and destroy them once and for all.

The second way Moses confronted the people’s idolatry was with impartiality. He did not play favorites. Moses showed no partiality with those who owned, confessed and repented of their sin by making them all drink the burned and ground up idol. Next, Moses showed no partiality to his brother, Aaron. That brings us to our second point, Absurdity, found in Exodus 32:21-24. This is what God’s Word says, “He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

In our first point, we talked mainly about how to respond positively when confronted with our idolatry and sin. Now we are shown some negative responses. The lesson for us here is how not to respond when we are confronted with our idolatry and sin by the Lord or someone else. When Aaron was confronted by Moses, he responded in the negative. Even though Moses showed no partiality when confronting his brother, it does seem like he was trying to give Aaron the benefit of the doubt. He reasoned that the people must have twisted his arm pretty tightly behind his back to commit such a “great sin” with them. Aaron was the one in charge and so ultimately, he was responsible for the “great sin.” He was responsible for this serious breach of the covenant. We see how great a sin the Lord thought it was in Deuteronomy 9:20 which says, “And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.”

Instead of owning up to his sin, confessing his sin and repenting of his sin, Aaron’s response is defective, meaning it was inadequate, flawed and did not meet the standard set by God. Aaron responded in three negative and sinful ways. First, Aaron’s response was defensive and he blamed everyone else but himself. He even tries to make Moses look bad; like he’s the one out of control and needs to be calmed down. “Do not be angry, my lord” accuses Moses of being unrealistic, overreacting and needlessly upset. “My lord” may have been used in a truly submissive way or in a sarcastic manner. He then puts the blame on Moses. “You know how prone these people are to evil” meaning it was Moses’ fault for being gone so long in the first place. Aaron’s like, “What did you think was going to happen? You’re the one who put me in this position.”

Second, Aaron’s response was deflective. Again, he is blaming everyone but himself. Notice that he does tell the truth to a point. He even hints at being guilty but is still deflecting the majority of guilt from himself to others. He says the people are prone to evil. He said they told him to make a god that would go before them which they did. He said they spoke disrespectfully about Moses, which was true. He said that they said Moses brought them out of Egypt and that they didn’t know what had happened to him, which again was true. And he said that he did ask for the gold jewelry from the woman and children, which was true. Then Aaron puts the blame on “these people” who are evil. He believed he had done the best he could in the situation and culture, but he fell short. His motto was if you can’t beat them, join them, and he did. Aaron had no sense of the depravity of his sin and no conviction to repent. This should give us pause. Have we decided to “join” in with the culture around us as Aaron did? Do we also believe we are doing our best, but falling short, and that’s ok? At least we tried. We do not want to join in with our culture, but we can’t beat our culture unless we have the Holy Spirit’s power living inside of us. The only way we can confront the idolatry and sin of our culture is with the Holy Spirit’s help. We must use scripture as our sword, we must have discernment, we must hold each other accountable to holiness, we must be disgusted with the idolatry and sin of the world, and we must be willing to destroy all idols and own our sin (Big Idea).

Third, Aaron’s response was defenseless. This is where Aaron deviated from the script, was grasping at straws and where his excuse becomes absurd. He is still not blaming himself. But instead of blaming another person, he blames an inanimate object, the fire. It was the fire’s fault; he threw the gold into the fire and this calf just magically popped out. The golden calf was a man-made idol fashioned by Aaron himself and now he wants Moses to believe that it spontaneously appeared. That, of course, doesn’t explain why and how they came to worship it, bowed down and sacrificed to it. His response reminds us of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Adam blamed Eve, his wife, and in doing so blamed God because He was the one who gave her to him. And then Eve blamed the serpent. Blaming anyone and anything other than ourselves for our sin goes back to the Garden of Eden.

How does this apply to us today? Well, I have some do’s and don’ts. Don’t be defensive when confronted with your sin. Don’t try to blame others for your sin. Don’t make others look bad in order to make yourself look good. Don’t downplay your sin. Don’t fear people more than God. Don’t be absurd when making excuses for your sin. But, do go on the offensive against your sin. Do be humble and truthful about your sin. Do allow the Holy Spirit to convict you to confession and repentance. Do have a reverent “fear of the Lord.” Unless you confess your sins, you cannot be saved. And until you admit the full extent of your sin, you cannot have the kind of spiritual growth that only comes when you see yourself as you really are, so that God can turn you into the person he wants you to become. Whether we admit our sin or not we remain accountable for it. Dunnam states that “Deliverance only comes when we own our sin” and I would add “when we confess it and repent of it.” That brings us to our second next step which is to Own my sins, confess my sins and repent of my sins.

We all can probably identify with Aaron in making absurd excuses for our sin. I will end with a story about a time when I made an absurd excuse to cover up my sin. I was in fourth grade and in my school, we received a “conduct” grade each quarter. One quarter I received a grade of “C.” First of all, I am not even sure how that happened. But this was unacceptable because my father was pretty strict when it came to my conduct in school. It was unacceptable to me because I knew I would be punished for it. So, I used to walk home from school, and I remember there was snow and slush on the ground, and somehow my report card fell in the snow. And when I got home, the conduct grade on my report card had somehow gotten smudged and the grade now resembled an “A.” I pretty much blamed the smudges and the grade change on the snow and of course, that excuse was absurd and it didn’t keep me from being disciplined. The moral of that story is don’t make excuses for your sin, just own it. Let’s be people who destroy and inSINerate our idols once and for all. Let’s be people who own our sins, confess our sins and repent of our sins.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final song and the usher prepares to collect the tithes and offering, let’s pray: Lord, God, in Jesus’ name, we thank you for your Holy Word. We thank you that you have written it so it is authoritative and sufficient for us to deal with our idols and our sin. Help us, Lord, to purposely destroy our idols once and for all. And give us the conviction to own our sins, confess our sins and repent of our sins. Amen.

Opening: Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 996–1006.

June 1, 2025/by Office

Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table

Rescued Exodus Sunday Morning Marc Webb

Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table

Louie Giglio, a Christian speaker and author, has written a book called “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table” which is where the title of today’s message comes from. He says this in the first chapter: “The enemy wants to crush you. He wants to steal from you everything you value. He wants to kill everything in your life that’s good. He wants to destroy you. If he can claim victory over your mind, he can claim the victory over your life. But you don’t have to let him get a foothold. For you have been invited to an intimate relationship with the almighty. Your Good Shepherd has set a table before you... and the enemy has not been invited to join.”

For about the last five months, I have been using the metaphor of a table to speak about our relationship with the Lord. We permanently give the Lord a seat at our table when we are obedient to his commands, trust in his plan for our lives, do what is right instead of what is popular or going along with the crowd, being thankful for what he has done for us, and use our gifts, talents and abilities for his glory. Along with those, our relationship should be grounded in God’s Word, in prayer, striving to be holy as he is holy, becoming more like Jesus daily.

This morning, we are going to look at a tragic event in the history of the Israelites. Moses has been on the mountain with the Lord for forty days and forty nights. God has given Moses the blueprints for the tabernacle and the Ten Commandments. Moses is about to come down from the mountain, start the building project and usher the people into a glorious relationship with the Lord where they will worship Him as His chosen people and with Him as their God. This is truly a mountaintop experience for Moses, but it is about to come to a screeching halt because all is not well at the foot of the mountain.

The Israelites are not being obedient to God’s commands, they are not trusting in His plan for their lives, they are doing what is popular and going along with the crowd instead of doing what is right, they are not thankful for what God has done for them, and they are not using their gifts, talents and abilities for his glory. This causes their worship of the Lord to be contaminated, their gifts to be corrupted, and their morality to be compromised. In a nutshell, the one true God who desires to be in relationship with them has been removed from their table, and they have given Satan, the enemy, a seat at their table. They needed to learn that they couldn’t serve God and Satan at the same time; it had to be one or the other. The same is true for us today. The Bible says you can’t serve two masters, and so we must also decide who will have the seat at our table, the Lord or Satan. Praise the Lord that we serve and worship a God, who desires to be in relationship with us. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires a permanent seat at our table.

Let’s pray: Lord, we thank you for the opportunity and privilege to be in your house this morning. We thank you for your desire to reveal your heart to us. Help us to be willing to bring our hearts and minds in alignment with yours. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us as we learn from your Word today. Open up our hearts and minds to what you want us to learn and share with those we meet this week. Amen.

There is one point this morning, Idolatry, found in Exodus 32:1-6. This is what God’s Word says, “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” So, the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”

Paul in 1 Corinthians 10, warning us about Israel’s history, says that this event should be an example to us to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things and to not think we are standing firm but to be careful so that we do not fall. We fall when we sin, and instead of repenting, we compound our sin with more and more sin. In our scripture, this morning, we are going to notice that the Israelites succumb to several sins. By continuing to give into temptation, they gave the enemy a seat at their table. All these sins are still relevant for us today and we must fight the temptation to succumb to them, as well.

First, we give the enemy a seat at our table when we disobey God’s revealed will that comes from His Word and His Holy Spirit. The people realize that Moses has been gone “so long” and has not come down from the mountain. “So long” literally means “caused shame.” They felt that Moses had shamed them by not coming back in a timely manner. They believed that Moses and God should be on their timetable, and they are ready to get this show on the road. Moses’ absence has exposed the hearts of the people as they are impatient, disappointed, and frustrated that their expectations aren’t being met.

Moses has been gone for forty days and forty nights. The number forty in the Bible often symbolizes a time of testing or judgment. We remember the forty days of rain during the Great Flood, the forty years that the disobedient Israelites wandered in the wilderness and the forty days that Jesus was tempted by Satan. It is possible that these last forty days and nights have been a specific time of testing from the Lord not only for the people but for Aaron as well, as we will see later.

The people’s disappointment, frustration and impatience have caused them, first, to sin in their hearts and, second, to commit sin. Sin always starts in our hearts and if it is not checked we will succumb to it as well. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Guard your heart with all diligence, for it is the wellspring of life.” So, with this going on in their hearts they “gathered” around or literally “against” Aaron. They come as a hostile crowd making demands of him possibly seeing him as an obstacle to what they wanted to do. They demanded Aaron to “come.” “Come” means “get up” or “arise” and it was said violently to get him to do what they wanted. They may have thought that Aaron would be reluctant to their course of action and needed to motivate him by prodding him to act. Next, we see how the sin in their hearts manifested. They demanded that Aaron “make them gods who will go before them.” This was blatant disobedience to the will of God for His people. Ephrem the Syrian, wisely commented that the absence of Moses simply gave the Israelites the opportunity to “worship openly what they had been worshiping in their hearts.” Think about this: the people didn’t have an idol before this, they simply conjured one up out of the wickedness of their own hearts.

They had been freed from slavery in Egypt by the Lord but once again it was proving to be more difficult to get Egypt out of the Israelites than it was to get the Israelites out of Egypt. Remember, at the first sign of trouble in the wilderness, a food shortage, they wanted to run back to Pharaoh where they said, in Exodus 16:3, “we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Now they wanted to appropriate Pharaoh’s religion of idolatry. They wanted tangible gods that could be seen and touched. Again, we are no different today. We see the same pattern of sin in our own lives as we are always ready to go back to the Egypt of our sin and dabble in it for a little while.

There is some scholarly debate about which commandment or how many different ones they were violating. They were violating the second commandment to make no graven images of the Lord “in the form of anything in the heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” Some think that they also violated the first commandment to have no other gods before the Lord. The word “gods” is Elohim and can be either singular or plural. When we look at the NASB, which is the closest translation to the original, we see “make us a god who will go before us.” Then some also believe that they violated the third commandment to not misuse the name of the Lord their God when Aaron later calls the golden calf “Lord.” But it doesn’t matter which commandment or how many they violated; one was enough.

The people wanted a god “who will go before them.” “To go before” is used of God’s Presence in the pillar of cloud and fire that has led them since they left Egypt. Moses is not there, God is not there, and they are worried and anxious about who is going to lead them to the Promised Land. All they had to do was look up at the top of the mountain and see the fire which meant God’s presence was still with them. They had seen the fire descend on top of the mountain before and had seen Moses go up to it and come down from it many times. There was no reason to think that Moses or God had abandoned them. But that is how Satan works. He whispers half-truth and lies that make us question God’s presence, provision and protection, which causes us to be disobedient to the Lord.

The other way the Israelites disobeyed the Lord was by blatantly breaking the vows they made to Him. No less than three times had the Israelites promised to obey the Lord. In Exodus 24:3, they said, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” And then in Exodus 24:7-8, they made their vow with blood. “Then he (Moses) took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

The second way we give the enemy a seat at our table is by distrusting the Lord’s plans and promises. The Israelites didn’t trust the Lord enough to wait on Him to reveal His will to them. And they set off to work things out on their own and in their own way. How does distrust happen? It happens when we forget what God has done for us. It causes us to turn back to our wicked ways and our comfortable lives that we had before. The Israelites had spiritual amnesia. Psalm 106:21-22 says, “They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.” They witnessed the plagues with which the one true and living God defeated the Egyptian gods. They walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. They had seen the glory of God in the pillar and when He descended on Mt. Sinai. And they had seen His miraculous provision and protection and yet they did not trust Him.

Of course, again, we did the same thing today. We distrust the Lord when something doesn’t go our way, or our prayers don’t get answered the way we want them to. We also distrust when we don’t believe God is moving fast enough for us in one area or another or we forget what He has done for us in the past and His promises for our future. When these things happen to us, we can distrust the Lord’s love, care and concern for us and the next thing we know we have given the enemy a seat at our table. That brings us to our first next step which is to Trust in the goodness of God, wait on His timing and continually praise the Lord for what He has done for me. When we consistently do these things, we give the Lord a permanent seat at our table (Big Idea).

They also showed their distrust for Moses, God’s mediator, when they said they did not know what had become of “this Moses” who brought them up from the land of Egypt. In their minds he was delayed causing them to think the worst: Moses has abandoned us, or he’s been killed in the fire on the mountain. They used three tactics in confronting Aaron with their demands. First, they used evasive language and half-truths. Again, all they had to do was look to the top of the mountain and see the fire to find out where Moses was. Second, they disparaged and disrespected Moses who had already gone to bat for them with God numerous times. Third, they downplayed the Lord’s role in their salvation from slavery in Egypt and his presence, provision and protection so far in the wilderness. In fact, they ignored the Lord altogether not even mentioning his name. It is easy for Satan to undermine the truth when we keep God out of the picture.

Third, we give the enemy a seat at our table when we do what is popular or go along with the crowd instead of doing what is right. We see this as Aaron gives in when he is confronted by the angry mob. The language seems to indicate that they had been hounding Aaron until he gave in. His words “take off” or better translated “tear off” seem to be as violent as the people’s demand to “come, make us a god.” He demanded that they bring him the gold earrings that were in the ears of their wives, sons and daughters. He may have demanded these items because they were readily available. He may have also thought they would refuse to “tear off” their earrings, so he wouldn’t have to give in to their demands. This may be true, but Aaron should have said “NO” and called on Hur, who Moses left in co-charge with him, and the seventy elders to stand up against the people’s demands.

But he didn’t stand up to them and he found out that he was wrong. It says, “all the people”, meaning the majority, tore off their earrings and gave them to Aaron. Again, the wording seems to indicate they “tore” the earrings from their ears showing their commitment to their idolatry and willingness to pay the cost of having a “god” made to lead them. Also, there were probably some Israelites who were just going along with the crowd here as well. Again, today, we are guilty of following the crowd. We let others pressure us to do what is wrong and we do what is popular in our culture instead of what is right. We must take a stand and do what is right in the Lord’s eyes not men.

Fourth, we give the enemy a seat at our table when we distort our worship of the Lord. The first thing they did to distort their worship was to corrupt their God-given gifts, talents and abilities. The people corrupted their God-given “plunder” that they had received from the Egyptians as they left Egypt. God had provided gold and other resources for His people to make the tabernacle, His house, where he would meet with them and they would worship Him. Aaron used that same gold to make an idol in the likeness of a “molten” or golden calf as we have come to call it. Aaron also corrupted his God-given talents and abilities by fashioning or etching the idol to resemble a “bull” using a “graving tool” which would have been used by an engraver. This would have taken skill on his part and instead of using that skill for the glory of God he used it for his own glory and the glory of Satan.

Even if Aaron was not making an idol this was not the role that God had for him. He was called to be the High Priest of Israel and help the people to worship the Lord in the proper way. The Lord had chosen Bezalel to construct the tabernacle and all its parts. In Exodus 31, God told Moses he had “filled him (Bezalel) with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.” This shows how easy it is for our God-given gifts, talents and abilities to be distorted by sin. This is a warning for us today to not abuse the many kinds of gifts God has given to us.

There seem to be two different thoughts about how the molten calf was made. The reason for the different thoughts is because the wording in the Hebrew is not clear. The first thought is that it was a solid gold idol that was cast in the shape of a calf. The second thought is that the shape of the calf was made from a wooden frame overlaid with gold. This second thought coincides with how God commanded Moses to make the ark, the table of shewbread, and the frames for the tabernacle. They were to be made with acacia wood and overlaid with gold. This does make sense as later, Moses, in Exodus 32:20, “burned the golden calf with fire and ground it to powder,” but we are just not sure.

The second thing they did to distort their worship was to contaminate their worship of God. Why did Aaron fashion a calf? It was probably an image of a full-grown bull that would have been worshipped not only in Egypt, where they worshipped live bulls, but also in Canaan. An idol of a bull was associated with the strength and power of the deity. To use any image as a symbol for God is idolatry but to use a bull would have been considered blasphemy and as Moses calls it, “a great sin.” After Aaron had fashioned the molten calf or bull, “they said, this is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” “They said” is representative of a response from the people. The people contaminated their worship of the Lord by attributing what God had done for them to this dead idol. They also used the same words as the Lord when He introduced the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:2: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” The covenant was ratified between the Lord and the people because He had brought them out of slavery in Egypt. Now they were saying that it wasn’t the one true God who had saved them but this graven image.

Aaron also contaminated his worship of the Lord as he did two things. First, when he saw what they were saying, he built an altar before the golden calf. This was not a casual event. He wasn’t content in just substituting this idol for Yahweh, he chose to build an altar to it, even when he didn’t have to. Aaron may have built the altar in the way that God had mandated, with earth and undressed stones. And he seems to try to cover up the wickedness and cover his bases for later under the umbrella of proper worship.

Notice where Aaron builds this altar. It was directly in front of the god he had fashioned. This was an element of pagan worship done so the god could see the offerings made to it and the people would know that their sacrifices had been accepted. Do you remember where God’s altar was to be placed in respect to His throne? The altar was outside the tabernacle and God’s throne was in the Holy of Holies behind the veil. There was no direct line of sight. The Israelites had to be obedient to perform the sacrifices the Lord demanded and to have faith that He would see and accept them. But they wanted a tangible god that they could see and manipulate for their own purposes.

The second thing Aaron did was make a proclamation that “tomorrow, shall be a feast to the Lord.” Aaron set up an idol and then dignified and sanctified it by saying they were worshipping the Lord. The reason Moses gave Pharoah to let them go was so they could hold a festival to the Lord. Maybe Aaron wanted to associate this feast with that event, again, so he could say he was doing what the Lord ultimately wanted. The appropriate feasts and festivals would be originated by the Lord such as the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Aaron seems to be doing all he could to make this idolatrous worship close to looking like proper worship of the Lord.

By saying they were worshipping the Lord with this idol, they were creating another religion, opening the door to abandon the true worship of God. The worship of the golden calf was open apostasy, it was idolatrous, immoral, and insulting to God. Sproul comments: “The cow gave no law and demanded no obedience. It had no wrath or justice or holiness to be feared. It was deaf, dumb, and impotent. But at least it could not intrude on their fun and call them to judgment. This was a religion designed by men, practiced by men, and ultimately useless for men.” We give the enemy a seat at our table when we distort our worship of the one true God. We can do this today when we use God’s name to push our own agenda, when we say all religions lead to Heaven and when we endorse syncretism, meaning we combine many religions into one and worship it.

The third thing they did to distort their worship of God was to compromise their morals. The next day they “rose early” meaning they were eager to engage in worshipping the golden calf. This is contrasted with Moses getting up early to seal the covenant in Exodus 24:4, which says, “He (Moses) got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.” Next, they offered burnt and fellowship offerings and sat down to eat and drink. Again, this sounds a lot like how God had instructed Moses in the worship of the Lord but notice they did not include sin offerings. It may have looked like “proper” worship on the outside buy inwardly it was contrary to the will of God and attaching His name to it didn’t change that.

What they did next is not totally clear again because of the translation of the Hebrew word. The NIV says they “indulged in revelry.” The King James and the NASB say, “rose up to play” and the Amplified Bible says, “got up to play (shamefully – without moral restraint). The Hebrew word for “revelry” can have sexual overtones or can just mean “having innocent fun.” This could have been a drunken orgy or singing and dancing with abandon as David did before the Lord. But no matter what they were doing as they worshipped before the golden calf it was still idolatry, they were still distorting their worship of the one true God.

We must be careful not to fall into the same trap. In our church culture today, we hear of churches not even preaching the Word of God. They are saying that God is love and there is no Hell, and everyone will end up in heaven sooner or later. Some are preaching “feel good” messages never mentioning the word sin or the need to be saved from their sin. They may even disregard what the Bible calls sin, so they don’t upset anyone. Some churches may even focus on themselves getting the glory instead of God. People don’t want a holy God who speaks and confronts them. We must also be careful because we can do things “in the name of the Lord” but still not worship the Lord. And we can still have some orthodox acts of worship (they had a feast and made offerings) but worship unacceptably. When we distort our worship of God we give the enemy a seat at our table. That brings us to our second next step which is to Worship God the way He demands and requires giving Him all the glory and honor He deserves. When we consistently do these things, we give the Lord a permanent seat at our table (Big Idea).

Tony Merida tells this story in “Exalting Jesus in Exodus.” A few of our pastors and interns took a trip to Boston recently (written in 2014) to explore the idea of sending a church planting team to New England. The need for churches in the Northeast is great. One Christian leader there calls the area north of Boston “the desert.” Some estimate that it is currently one percent evangelical at best. As our friends described their culture to us, they pointed out that people worship in the Northeast. Some people worship the Red Sox. Others, in the world of academia and research, are slaves to ambition. In Salem, Massachusetts, they statistically have more witches than Christians. The Northeast is no different from anywhere else in the world. Left to ourselves, we will worship something other than the living God. To paraphrase John Calvin, “The human heart is an idol factory.”

In “No God but God,” Os Guiness and John Seel comment on how important this topic is: “Idolatry is the most discussed problem in the Bible. . .. There can be no believing communities without an unswerving eye to the detection and destruction of idols.” Idolatry is putting something or someone in the place of God. Anything you seek to give you what only Christ can give you (joy, security, peace, meaning, identity, and/or salvation) becomes an idol. Common idols today include money, sex, a person, approval of people, competence and skill, secure and comfortable circumstances, beauty, brains, success and/or ambition.

Idolatry has everything to do with each of us because it centers on the human heart. We need to replace our idolatrous attachments with genuine affection for the Triune God. As A. W. Pink has written: “Man must have an object, and when he turns from the true God, he at once craves a false one.” But this statement can also be reversed. The way to reduce our craving for false gods is for our minds and hearts to be intoxicated with the Spirit of the one true God. That brings us to our final next step which is to Have genuine affection for the one true God and for my mind and heart to be intoxicated with His Spirit. When we consistently do these things, we give the Lord a permanent seat at our table (Big Idea).

As Gene & Roxey come to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Heaven Father, in Jesus’ name, you are a great God, the one true and living God. You are all-powerful and have already conquered the world, sin and the grave. Help us to obey your commands, to trust in you alone, to do what is right, and to worship you in the proper way that you have taught and commanded us to do. Help us to remember your goodness, wait on your timing and praise you always for who you are and what you have done for us. Give us genuine affection for you and help our mind and heart to be intoxicated with your Spirit. Amen.

Opening: Giglio, Louie. Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at your table

Conclusion: Merida, Tony. Exalting Jesus in Exodus (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary Book 2) (p. 191). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

May 19, 2025/by Office

Enough Already

Before I Was Rudely Interrupted

A ‘SON’ Tan

Set In Stone

On a First Name Basis

Spiritual Radar

Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise

InSINerating Our Idols

Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table

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