Today in chapel Dr. Moore preached a message on idolatry from Exodus 32, where the people of Israel grumble and Aaron makes a golden calf for them right after they were led out of Egypt and while they are at the foot of Mt. Sinai, where God is giving the law to Moses.
His observations were helpful. First, idolatry is seen in a pull toward a Christ-less god. The Israelites were ungrateful to God for delivering them from Egypt. They credited Moses with having led them out of Egypt, and they grew uncomfortable when Moses was “missing” for a long time. Because they wanted to feel like they had a leader, they asked Aaron to give them a god to go before them. But the true and living God, who had delivered them from Egypt, was talking to Moses on Mt. Sinai. They exchanged the God who had delivered them for a god that could not deliver them but that made them feel comfortable because they could control it (the idol). They even gave this idol God’s name, the LORD. Ingratitude, fear, and self-deception led them to do this.
Second, idolatry is a pull toward a Christ-less intercession. Rather than depending on God as he should have, Aaron sought to establish peace by caving in to the people’s desires and doing what they wanted. Had he interceded correctly, he would have had a tough time with a great many grumbling people, but he would have kept them more on track with the true God. Moses followed the right pattern, pleading for the people and asking to be blotted out of God’s book if God destroyed the people. But God did not accept his request. Ultimately, Christ is the only one who can intercede for us and actually cover over our sins, because He is the only one who has been without sin and whose death pays the penalty for sinful humanity. All other forms of intercession, forms that do not depend on Christ, are idolatrous, whether they are based on idols, better marriages, better finances, or just self-improvement. Nothing will heal the sin in our lives completely except Christ’s intercession on our behalf. Christ is everything!
Third, idolatry is a pull toward a Christ-less judgment. The Israelites were judged in the same way as the Egyptians. Their brothers and sons died. God sent a plague among the people. When God’s people choose not to trust in their God, they place themselves in the camp of the Egyptians and will face the same judgments, without a God to mediate on their behalf.
If anyone is interested in listening to this message, it will soon be available at http://www.sbts.edu.
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