SERMON: ANTICIPATED PROMISES

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to 1 Samuel 1:9-11, 19-20 [read 1 Samuel 1:9-11 and 19-20]

 

1 Samuel 1:9 Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house. 10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11 And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

 

1 Samuel 1:19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20 So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,[a] saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

 

            -- a lot has happened since we last checked in on the story of the Israelites in light of God’s promises -- last week, God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai, where He makes a promise that they will be His people and He will be their God, provided they abide by the terms of the covenant and obey Him in all things

            -- but things didn’t work out that well -- no sooner had Moses gone up the mountain to receive instructions on how to worship God and build a tabernacle for His name, then the people made an idol in the form of a golden calf to worship in the place of God

            -- this was the first instance in Scripture we have of the Israelites trying to fulfill the promise on their own -- but it would not be the last

 

            -- as we turn now to the Book of 1 Samuel, we find the nation of Israel securely in place in the Promised Land as God had led them across the Jordan River into the land through Joshua’s leadership -- however, just like at Mt. Sinai, the people constantly turned away from God and His sovereign rule and tried to fulfill the promises of God in their own strength and in their own ways

            -- they turned to idols again and again -- and they were punished by God for their disobedience as He allowed other nations and other people groups to come in and raid them and conquer them -- the people would cry out for a Savior, and God would raise up a judge to lead the nation -- not only in their battles -- but to lead them back to the worship of the One True God -- but once the danger had passed, it wouldn’t be long before they turned away from God yet again

            -- this is the continuing story of the nation of Israel in its early days -- the days of the judges -- when, as it says in Judges 21:25, “in those days, Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit”

            -- their example causes us to ask the question, “What do we do with the promises of God in our lives?” -- do we trust in God’s will and God’s ways in all things and believe in faith that the promise will come true, even if we don’t know how? -- or do we copy the pattern of the Israelites, and try to bring about the promise in our own strength and in our own way, suffering whatever consequences there are?

 

            -- this morning, we are going to look at a young woman who has come face-to-face with those very questions -- not as the leader or judge of the nation of Israel -- but in her personal life -- but how she deals with these questions in her life allows us to contrast the pattern of Israel versus the way God would have us go

 

II.  Hannah’s Dilemma

            -- the subject of our study this morning, Hannah, lived in the waning days of the judges -- she was one of two wives married to an Israelite named Elkanah -- his other wife was named Peninnah, which means “fertile” or “prolific” -- and that was part of Hannah’s problem

            -- Hannah was barren -- she could not have children -- and in her day, to not have children -- especially, to not have a son -- was disgraceful -- it was assumed that there was something wrong with you -- that there was a reason why God was withholding His blessing of children in your life

            -- Peninnah, on the other hand, didn’t have a problem bearing children -- she had many children, where Hannah had none -- and Peninnah used her children to lord it over Hannah -- to provoke her to tears -- to make her think she was less than she actually was in the sight of their husband

            -- Hannah was miserable, even though it was clear that Elkanah loved her as much, if not more, than Peninnah -- when Hannah would get depressed and weep and not eat because she did not have children, Elkanah would go to her and ask why she was so sad -- was he not worth more to her than ten sons?

            -- but nothing he said could remove the longing in her heart for children -- the promise of children was something dear to all Israelite women -- I have heard that the greatest desire of all Israelite women was to be the one chosen to bear the promised Messiah -- to be the one who would usher in the Kingdom of God on earth

            -- so, when the family traveled to Shiloh to worship God and make their annual sacrifices, her childlessness weighed heavily on her mind

            -- Hannah faced a choice in how to handle it -- how could the promise of children be fulfilled in her life? -- what could she do?

            -- if you remember, Abraham and Sarah faced a similar choice -- God had come to Abraham and made a covenant with him and said that his children would be more numerous than the stars in the sky -- but as time passed and Abraham and Sarah grew older and her womb remained empty, they decided to take matters into their own hands and to fulfill the promise in their own way

            -- Sarah turned her servant Hagar over to Abraham so that Hagar might bear a child for him that would be the child of the promise -- but taking things into their own hands -- trying to fulfill the promise in their own way -- resulted in disaster and is the root of the conflict between the Israelites and the Arab nations to this day

 

            -- so, what does Hannah do when faced with a similar situation? -- as we saw in the passage we opened with, Hannah chose the path of God -- rather than trying to follow Sarah’s example -- rather than following the pattern of the Israelite nation who constantly tried to do things their own way apart from God -- Hannah chose to believe and trust God

            -- when the family went to Shiloh to worship God, Hannah went alone to the tabernacle and poured out her heart before the Lord -- she wept much and made a promise of her own to God in her prayer of faith -- that if God would grant her a son, she would dedicate him for God’s service

            -- and God heard her prayer -- He saw her heart -- He remembered the promise -- and in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son she called Samuel -- which means “heard of God”

 

            -- Hannah learned a lesson about trusting in God and in the promise rather than trying to meet her desires in ungodly ways like Sarah and like the nation of Israel -- in response, Hannah prays a prayer of exaltation and worship that echoes Mary’s prayer after she is chosen to be the mother of Jesus

            -- Hannah’s prayer affirms that human strength and success come from and are exalted only in God -- as Susan Koenig put it, “all human ways to exert power fall short in comparison with God, who can reverse human circumstances of status and power”¹ and bring to pass all that He has promised, regardless of how impossible it may seem to us

 

            -- if you would, turn over to 1 Samuel 2, beginning at verse 1, and let’s look at Hannah’s prayer

 

1 Samuel 2:1Then Hannah prayed and said:

 

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;

    in the Lord my horn[a] is lifted high.

My mouth boasts over my enemies,

    for I delight in your deliverance.

 

2 “There is no one holy like the Lord;

    there is no one besides you;

    there is no Rock like our God.

 

            -- as Hannah begins to cry out to God, she speaks with a truth that the nation of Israel has yet to learn: the greatness and the saving power of Yahweh

            -- for it is in Him and Him alone that power and deliverance is found -- it is in Him and Him alone that holiness and righteousness are found -- for He is our Rock -- there is no one beside Him -- there is nothing we can do that can compare with what God can do for us

 

            -- rather than following the example of Abraham and Sarah when she was childless, Hannah turned to God in her need -- He heard her prayer -- He quickened her womb -- and Samuel was born -- so she rejoices here in this prayer

            -- this is a reminder to us that we need to go back to the Lord in praise and thanksgiving after He answers our prayers and works in our lives -- I’m reminded of the story of the ten lepers that Jesus healed in Luke 17 -- the lepers had come to Him, asking for healing -- He sent them to the priest to show themselves to him, and as they went, they were healed -- only one of them -- a Samaritan -- returned and fell at his knees and worshiped Jesus and thanked Him for His healing

            -- we’re good at asking God to work in our lives -- to bring healing to us and others when we are sick -- to provide for us when we are in need -- but we always need to remember to go back to Jesus as Hannah does here, and thank Him and praise Him for His miracles and promises that have come to pass

 

            -- in verse 1, when Hannah says that her horn is lifted high in the Lord -- that’s a phrase we see in the Old Testament quite often -- the word, “horn,” here means strength -- so, Hannah is literally saying that she finds strength only through God -- that she can do anything through God -- when she says that her horn is lifted high in the Lord, she’s saying the same thing that Paul says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

 

            -- verse 3-5

 

3 “Do not keep talking so proudly

    or let your mouth speak such arrogance,

for the Lord is a God who knows,

    and by him deeds are weighed.

 

4 “The bows of the warriors are broken,

    but those who stumbled are armed with strength.

5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food,

    but those who were hungry are hungry no more.

She who was barren has borne seven children,

    but she who has had many sons pines away.

 

            -- here we see Hannah voice the lesson of faith that the nation of Israel has yet to learn -- each of them did whatever seemed best to them -- and they clamored for a king so that they could be like the other nations -- in their pride and arrogance, they assumed they were fully capable of becoming a mighty nation on their own -- that they were fully capable of meeting their needs and fulfilling the promise apart from God

            -- we can make strides in human endeavors -- we do a lot in our own strength -- there’s a lot of churches and church programs that are built on the strength and the will of people, not God

            -- but, as Hannah points out here, man’s strength and man’s accomplishments are fleeting -- they may show results at the start -- churches may grow big -- you may show great progress in your job -- your hard work may produce money and power and prestige -- but it accomplishes nothing in the eternal

            -- it’s so easy to point to people who had it all, but in the end collapsed with nothing to show for it -- think of Howard Hughes, one of the richest men in the world during his day -- who lost most of his money before he died from poor health and addictions, with no direct descendants or immediate family to mourn him or to carry on his legacy

            -- or think of churches that are built around charismatic and powerful preachers that collapse when the preacher is tripped up in public sin or when they pass away -- because the church was built on the strength of man rather than on God, it collapses with no lasting legacy for the kingdom

 

            -- Hannah points out here the reversal of fortunes and strength through God -- the bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength -- those who were full now find themselves hungry, while those who hungered now are full -- those who were barren are blessed with many children while the ones who had children grieve as theirs are taken away

            -- it is the same lesson that Jesus taught in the Beatitudes -- the blessed are those who trust in God and put their faith in Him, rather than in themselves or human strength

 

            -- verse 6-9a

 

1 Samuel 2:6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive;

    he brings down to the grave and raises up.

7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth;

    he humbles and he exalts.

8 He raises the poor from the dust

    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;

he seats them with princes

    and has them inherit a throne of honor.

 

“For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;

    on them he has set the world.

9 He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,

    but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.

 

            -- Hannah’s prayer reminds us that God is sovereign over all humanity -- God is the giver of life and our Creator -- it is in God that we find life and meaning and purpose -- God is ever active in our world and an ever-present help in our lives

            -- as Henry Blackaby pointed out, “God is always at work around us” -- it is the Lord who brings death and makes alive -- it is the Lord who brings some down to the grave and raises up others -- it is the Lord who sends poverty and wealth, not our human effort

            -- it is the Lord who raises the poor from the dust and the needy from the ash heap

            -- Hannah had learned the true source of life when she prayed for a son to be born -- and she continued to trust in God and His providence the rest of her life

 

            -- second part of verse 9b-10

 

1 Samuel 9b:“It is not by strength that one prevails;

10     those who oppose the Lord will be broken.

The Most High will thunder from heaven;

    the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.

 

“He will give strength to his king

    and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

 

            -- as Hannah concludes her prayer of thanksgiving to God, we see the overall theme and message for the nation of Israel that is going to come through her son, the prophet Samuel

            -- Samuel grows up to be the transitory leader for the nation of Israel -- he is the last true judge and prophet in his day -- the last judge who trusted in God and who believed in God and who sought to fulfill the promise in God’s way and God’s will -- he is the last leader who pointed to God as sovereign over the nation

            -- we see in him echoes of Jesus -- the promise of the Son who was to come -- the Messiah -- who would come to lead the nation of Israel forever spiritually and sovereignly, as both King and Priest

 

            -- the people continued their pattern of turning away from God and trying to do life in their own way while they gave lip service to the Lord -- they still came to worship as usual -- they still made sacrifices, as usual -- they still maintained their religious life, as usual -- but it was just a Sabbath Day religion -- not a way of life

            -- they liked God on the Sabbath -- they liked compartmentalizing Him and keeping Him around and giving lip service to Him on that one day a week -- but the rest of the week, they lived like there was no God

            -- and when things started to go bad again -- when they started to suffer the consequences of trying to fulfill the promise on their own -- they looked around them at the other nations and decided they wanted to be like them -- the answer to the promise, in their minds, was to have a king, just like all the other nations

            -- God granted their wish and appointed Saul as their first king, to the dismay of Samuel -- who continued to advocate for the people to live under God’s leadership and not the leadership of an earthly ruler

            -- he kept repeating the same truth that his mother Hannah prays here in these verses -- that it is not by one’s own strength that you prevail, but only the strength of the Lord -- what we try to do in our human strength and with our human wisdom is destined to be shattered and destroyed

            -- God will thunder against those who set themselves up against the Kingdom of God -- His judgment will fall on them -- God gives strength to His king -- literally, the anointed one -- the Messiah -- and the horn of His anointed will be exalted

            -- at the end, we find that the promise and the power and the glory are found only through God

 

III.  Closing

            -- so, what we see here in the story of Hannah and in her prayer of exaltation, is the foreshadowing of the destiny of Israel if they continue on their path of trying to meet their desires through worldly means

            -- In Samuel’s lifetime, this turning away from God and exaltation of self will be seen in the clamor of the nation for an earthly king -- and all you have to do is read the accounts from 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles to see that this did not turn out well for them

            -- there are brief interludes in their history where we see kings who bring about restoration and revival in Israel -- periods that come about when God raises up godly men like David who lead the nation both spiritually and sovereignly -- but, unfortunately, the list of kings who resemble David as men after God’s own heart are few in number for the nation of Israel

            -- despite Hannah’s warnings in this prayer -- despite the words from her son, the prophet Samuel, who was Israel’s last judge, the overall trajectory of the Kingdom of Israel from this point on is a turning away from God and a turning towards trusting in man and man’s strength until eventually the people are removed from the Promised Land and carried off into captivity in Assyria and Babylon

            -- one day, as this prayer promises, true restoration and revival will come to Israel and to this world -- but it will only come when Jesus returns to take up the throne of Israel as King of kings and Lord of lords -- when the Kingdom of God on earth is fully established and God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven

 

            -- so, the take-home message from today is that the Promise is only fulfilled through God -- when we try to do life in our strength and in our own way apart from Him -- or when we look to man or the government in place of God -- our efforts will be in vain

            -- for strength and power is found only in God -- and is realized only by those who come to Him in humbleness and in true faith as Hannah does here

            -- let us pray

 

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1 Susan Koenig http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4584

 

THOUGHTS ON THE CHURCH AND THE CORONAVIRUS

 2020 has been a difficult year for me.  Not just because of the historic events that all of us have been living through, from the impeachment and political divide in the U.S. to the pandemic and the unprecedented natural disasters that have swept the globe, but because of the response of the church and Christians to these events.

 I guess I could be described as somewhat of a chimera.  Not only am I a pastor, but I am also a scientist.  A wildlife biologist, by training, having received my Master’s degree in the field of zoonotic diseases.  In other words, I have experience and training related to situations exactly like the one we are facing with the zoonotic pandemic that is COVID-19.

 And I guess it is that training and experience that has caused me discomfort as I have watched the scientific reality of a global pandemic dismissed as either a contrived political maneuver to wrest the presidency from Donald Trump or a fantasy that has been conceived of by the left in an effort to attack our Christian faith and the act of worship in the U.S. 

 I have tried unsuccessfully through social media, in my sermon messages, and in conversations with coworkers and friends to explain the reality of the virus from a scientific point-of-view.  But to no avail.

 At the beginning of the pandemic, we were told that wearing masks would not provide the best protection against the coronavirus.  Later, this advice changed, as the U.S. Government’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute for Health (NIH) suggested that wearing a mask was now recommended, not necessarily to prevent the wearer from becoming infected, but to minimize potential exposure to others, especially among asymptomatic people with COVID.  Where I see science at work, testing hypotheses and changing protective recommendations and trying new treatments based on the results of trials and new information, others see a conspiracy or the changing of recommendations simply to fit the left’s agenda.

 When we were told to quarantine and to socially isolate in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus, I understood this as an appropriate measure in the absence of a vaccine.  If you are not around someone that is infected, you cannot be infected.  If you are infected, symptomatic or not, if you are not around someone else, then you can’t spread the virus to others.  It is a time-proven method of containing infectious diseases, especially when there is no other way to combat it (i.e. a vaccine).  However, others assumed this was a malicious act from the Government, which then morphed into a malicious act from the left (i.e. liberals) to control our actions and to take away our rights.  I was left dumbfounded by the lack of understanding of the reason, even in the face of the scientific reality of people getting infected with COVID and with the more vulnerable populations succumbing to the disease.

 But I was especially taken aback by the actions of the church and of many Christians during this pandemic.  When the Government required social distancing and quarantine and the necessary suspension of in-person worship services, some in the church refused to comply and said this was an unconstitutional act in violation of the First Amendment.  Granted, in some cases, in some states or localities, the rules against gathering for worship appeared to be more restrictive than those for shopping or eating out.  But if you consider the difference between causal associations in public to buy groceries versus the amount of time in close proximity to others during worship, it makes sense.  I understood it.  I immediately complied with our church and with our Bible study.

 But some in the church would not back down.  Rather than complying for the good of all or seeing this as a temporary sacrifice until the end of the pandemic, court cases appeared throughout the country.  Most recently, a case brought by the Catholic diocese in New York made its way to the Supreme Court this past week, where the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, agreed with the church that the pandemic restrictions employed by the state of New York were more restrictive and unconstitutional.  They won the case, but they missed the point.

 In better circumstances, would we like to be meeting together face-to-face for worship, as we have always done?  Certainly.  But as churches and as Christians, we have a biblical mandate to protect the most vulnerable.  Throughout scripture, we are told to look out for the poor and the widow and the orphans.  We see the example of the early church in Acts taking care of the widows and making sure they had food and resources.  It is from Scripture that our concept of the Sanctity of Life is derived.

 But while some associate the term, sanctity of life, only with the protection of the unborn, this term encompasses all who are vulnerable and in need of protection, from the unborn to the elderly to the widow to the orphan to the foreigners and strangers at our door.

 Which begs the question:  How should the church have responded to this pandemic? 

 For some churches, the answer was to go to court and fight for their constitutional rights to gather, regardless of the impact that could have on their congregations, especially the most vulnerable within those congregations, or society as a whole.

 For others, the answer was to respond in what I contend is the more biblical path -- to willingly make sacrifices in order to serve and protect the sheep in our care and those around us.  In other words, to look at the government-mandated order to socially isolate and not gather together in worship as normal not as a malicious attempt to take away a constitutional right, but to look at it as an opportunity to help the greater good.  To do what we could to stop the pandemic from spreading, both within our congregations and in the communities in which we live.  As opportunities to reach outside the walls of our sanctuaries and into the lives of those around us, making sure their needs were met during this time and making sure they were safe and secure from possible infection.  In some cases, that might mean that Christians even sacrificed their own health and their own safety, not to come together in worship, but to minister to those who needed it during this time: the sick, the elderly, the vulnerable.

 This is the pattern that we see throughout the history of the church.  When previous pandemics and sicknesses affected communities, the church wasn’t fighting for their right to gather in worship.  No, the church was in the world, taking care of the sick and ministering to others in the name of Jesus.

 I think Martin Luther’s words from the 16th century plague that hit Europe are instructive:

 “It would be well, where there is an efficient government in cities and states, to maintain municipal homes and hospitals staffed with people to take care of the sick so that patients from private homes can be sent there. . . . That would indeed be a fine, commendable, and Christian arrangement to which everyone should offer generous help and contributions, particularly the government. Where there are no such institutions—and they exist only in a few places—we must give hospital care and be nurses for one another in any extremity or risk the loss of salvation and the grace of God.

 “Others sin on the right hand. They are much too rash and reckless, tempting God and disregarding everything which might counteract death and the plague. They disdain the use of medicines; they do not avoid places and persons infected by the plague, but lightheartedly make sport of it and wish to prove how independent they are. They say that it is God’s punishment; if he wants to protect them he can do so without medicines or our carefulness. That is not trusting God but tempting him. . . .

 “No, my dear friends, that is no good. Use medicine; take potions which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street; shun persons and places where your neighbor does not need your presence or has recovered, and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city. What else is the epidemic but a fire which instead of consuming wood and straw devours life and body? You ought to think this way: “Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison and deadly offal. Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid persons and places where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me, and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely, as stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.” [Emphasis added]

 Let me sum up my thoughts on this:

 This pandemic is not a conspiracy.  It is not a fantasy.  It is not the conception of the mainstream media or the Democrats or the Republicans.  It is a reality.  It is the result of living in a fallen world that has been corrupted from the original creation of God.

 The Government is not trying to take away our rights to gather to worship.  The Government is not trying to erase the first amendment by limiting our ability to worship as normal during this pandemic.  The Government is stepping in and trying to impose restrictions on gathering that the church should have self-imposed long before, similar to how Luther recommended the same to the protestants in Europe during the plague of 1527.

 As Christians, we should be the leaders in the protection of those around us.  We should be the hands and feet of Jesus at this time, reaching out to the community and protecting the most vulnerable.  We should not be fighting to huddle inside our sanctuaries while all around us people are getting infected and dying.  For the most part, we have failed to be the church Christ called us to be.

 But it’s not too late to make a difference.  We have the opportunity to show Christ to our congregations and our communities and our country by how we respond to this pandemic.  We don’t have to make it about self.  We can choose to make self-sacrifices in order to minister to others and protect the sanctity of life. 

This Week in Quotes -- 15 November

 "It's what we do with what we know that lets the world see who we really are." -- Bob Goff, Dream Big

"Faith looks out instead of in and the whole life falls into line." -- A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

"Prayer is first and foremost the active presence of the Holy Spirit in our personal and communal lives."  -- Henri Nouwen, The Spiritual Life

"Am I simply a member of the church or am I a true follower of Jesus Christ?" -- Nik Ripken, The Insanity of God

SERMON: AN IDOL PROMISE

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Exodus 32:1-14

 

32 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[a] 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.”

 

2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 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,[b] Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

 

5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” 6 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.

 

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’

 

9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

 

11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” 14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

 

            -- In The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen relates a tale from ancient India -- Four royal brothers each decided to master a special ability -- they separated to work on their skills, and after some time, they came together to reveal what they had learned.

            -- "I have mastered a science," said the first, "by which I can take a bone from an animal and create the flesh that goes with it."

            -- the second brother responded, “Well I know how to grow skin and hair on an animal if there is flesh on its bones."

            -- The third brother said, "I am able to create its limbs if I have the flesh, the skin, and the hair."

            -- "And I," concluded the fourth, "know how to give life to that creature if its form is complete."

            -- after seeing how their abilities complemented each other, the brothers went into the jungle to find a bone so they could demonstrate their specialties -- As fate would have it, the bone they found belonged to a tiger -- the first brother added flesh to the bone -- the second grew hide and hair -- the third completed it with matching limbs -- and the fourth brought the lion to life

            -- Shaking its mane, the ferocious beast arose and jumped on his creators -- He killed them all and vanished contentedly into the jungle

            -- this is what happens when we create idols in our lives -- they devour us

            -- unless we first seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness -- unless we put God first in our lives -- our goals and our dreams will become idols -- creations of our own making -- that will consume us and destroy us and destroy our relationship with God¹

            -- this is exactly what the Israelites discovered in this passage from the Book of Exodus

 

            -- as this story opens, Moses had led the nation of Israel out of Egypt through the Red Sea -- they had seen the power of God in the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army -- they had followed the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night -- they had eaten the daily manna from heaven and the quail that provided meat daily -- they had drunk from the water that came from the rock

            -- God had led them to Mt. Sinai, where God came before them and spoke to them from the cloud -- on that day, God affirmed again the covenant with the people of Israel -- that they would be His people and He would be their God -- and all the people agreed

            -- they accepted the covenant of God -- they received the Law and the Ten Commandments and agreed to follow God and to obey all His laws and commands -- in Exodus 24:7, the people proclaimed, “we will do everything the Lord has said -- we will obey”

            -- now Moses has been called up onto the mountain to receive more instruction from God, including the plans for the construction of the tabernacle and how the Israelites were to worship the Lord -- as this chapter opens, Moses has been on the mountain with God for forty days and forty nights, receiving all of God’s instructions and revelations

            -- but while he was in the presence of God, disaster struck in the camp of the Israelites down below -- let’s pick up this story in Exodus 32 and see what we can learn about living in the promise and not forgetting it

 

II.  Scripture Lesson (Exodus 32:1-14)

            -- verse 1

 

32:1 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[a] 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.”

 

            -- here we see the root of the disaster that is about to occur

            -- as I said, Moses had been called up on the mountain to be with God, and he had been away for so long, the people become impatient -- it seemed like nothing was going on -- it seemed like they were going no where -- and now they had no one to lead them

            -- so, they gathered around Aaron and demanded that he make them gods who would go before them -- the Hebrew text here tells us that this was more than just a polite request -- they surrounded Aaron to the point of violence -- they threatened him -- they bullied him -- they forced him do their will -- to give them what they wanted -- and Aaron, rather than standing in the truth and doing what he knew was right, gave the people what they asked for

            -- that’s the problem with weak leaders or leaders who seek the applause of the crowd -- instead of standing in faith-- instead of standing in truth against the crowd’s unrighteous desires -- they capitulate and do what the crowd demands -- they give the people what they want -- not what they need -- whether out of fear or the desire for applause

 

            -- despite all that the Israelites had seen and experienced in their escape from Egypt, they still were lost in their heart -- they still were far from God

            -- in their time in Egypt, the Israelites had become accustomed to the Egyptian religious practices of idolatry -- of worshiping a physical representation of a god -- many of them carried with them idols from Egypt even as they fled Pharaoh -- they had learned to put their faith and trust in that which they could see or in the leaders that were before them

            -- for a time, they had followed “this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt” -- but now he’s gone away, and they can’t see him anymore -- and so they want something else or someone else they can see that they can follow

            -- this can be a problem with us today -- we tend to see things first with our fleshly eyes and not the eyes of our heart -- we forget the spiritual -- we forget that there is a spiritual reality around us that actually controls the physical world we see

            -- and we do the same thing the Israelites did -- we seek the physical first in our lives and trust in what we can see rather than that which we cannot see -- the Israelites had not followed Yahweh out of Egypt, but Moses -- a physical being they could see and touch -- and now, in Moses’ absence, they desired another physical image to follow

            -- who are we following with our lives? -- are we following the crowd? -- charismatic politicians? -- popular preachers or teachers? -- are we following men instead of God? -- where is our faith?

 

            -- the people demanded that Aaron make them a god who would go before them -- now understand, in their minds, this was not a turning away from God, but the creation of an image of God -- something they could see -- something that they could worship

            -- it’s a fine line -- as Charles Hodge said, “Idolatry consists not only in the worship of false gods, but also in the worship of the true God by images.” -- there’s a reason why God expressly forbade us from creating graven images and idols in the Ten Commandments

            -- the Israelites thought they were making a representation of the God they had pledged to follow -- but in reality, they were trading the image of the Creator for the created -- and, in doing so, they would be making God in their own image instead of worshiping Him for who He was -- idolatry is always a form of self-worship, since the idol that we make is a reflection of who we are -- idolatry is making God in our image

            -- “No created thing can convey God’s true and complete character. That’s why God commanded Israel not to make any image or likeness of anything in heaven or on earth as an object of worship. Such images dishonor God because they distort His glory, and this can lead to sin.”

 

            -- verse 2

 

2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 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.”

 

5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” 6 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.

 

 

            -- Aaron has the people give them their gold -- to make a sacrifice on their part -- so that he can make for them the god they desired -- he melted the gold down and formed for them a golden calf to be their god

            -- “calf” is more properly translated as “young bull” -- it was an image of power -- of fertility -- of sexual strength -- the image of the bull was a common image of worship in Egypt and other nations in that day

            -- and when the people began to worship the golden image, Aaron commits an even more grievous sin -- he goes from just being an idol maker to an altar maker -- while Moses is on the mountain with God being instructed on the proper manner of worship, Aaron sets up his own religion with a priesthood, an altar, and a new god -- and establishes an order of worship and sacrifice in opposition to the worship of the one true God           

            -- the people embraced this new religion -- they worshiped the golden calf instead of the God they had promised to worship -- they broke bread together -- they ate the meat that was sacrificed on the idolatrous altar -- and they joined together in celebration and revelry, possibly to the point of engaging in sexual sins and sins of the flesh -- idolatry and false worship always leads to excesses in our lives

 

            -- verse 7

 

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’

 

 

            -- the Lord sees all -- even as He was meeting with Moses on the mountain, He was aware of the great sins occurring below Him -- He tells Moses to “go down” -- other translations have this as “go down, quickly” -- to return to the people because they have become corrupt

            -- notice how God addresses the people in His command to Moses -- He tells Moses, “your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt” -- your people -- because they had chosen to turn away from God and worship an idol in His place, they were no longer His people, but Moses’ people

            -- here we see how God views idolatry -- the people had made a graven image to represent the God who brought them out of Egypt, but you can clearly see that this golden calf is not God in any form or fashion -- God Himself says in verse 8 that the Israelites have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and worshiped it -- not Him

            -- they were saying one thing with their lips while their hearts were worshiping and offering sacrifices to a false god

            -- idolatry -- in whatever form it takes -- is always a turning away from God and the exaltation of self

            -- we can’t go our own way and still go with God -- every day we have a choice to make -- whether to remain in the covenant and stand in faith in the grace and mercy of the cross and be God’s people or whether to turn away and do our own thing and worship gods of our own making and no longer be the people of God

 

            -- but there’s something you need to see here -- something important -- we see grace and mercy in God’s command to Moses -- when God tells Moses to go down quickly, He is calling for Moses to stand in the gap -- to intercede for the people -- to lead them to repentance and to turn them back to the one true God

            -- what we are seeing here is an example of God’s prevenient grace -- or, as Wesley termed it, God’s preventing grace -- which always seeks to prevent us from turning away from Him -- it always seeks to lead us to repentance -- it always seeks to draw us near to the One who saves

            -- God’s command to Moses is an act of mercy and grace to a people who knowingly disobeyed God’s command and who had violated the covenant they had made with Him

 

            -- verse 9

 

9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

 

11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

 

            -- God tells Moses to leave Him alone that He might destroy these stiff-necked people  -- as if Moses could stop God from doing anything -- remember Who is speaking -- this is the Lord God Almighty -- the all-powerful creator of the heavens and the earth -- the Great I Am -- there is nothing that He can’t do and there is nothing that can stand against Him in all of creation or in the spiritual realms -- so, why does He tell Moses to “leave Him alone?”

            -- because, in reality, there is one thing that touches the heart of God -- a faithful intercessor -- in the sands of the desert before the burning bush, God had called Moses to be the mediator for the nation of Israel -- to stand for them before Pharaoh and before God -- to be their shepherd who would lead them out of Egypt and back to the promise -- a picture of the Christ who was to come

            -- God tells Moses, “leave Me alone and I will destroy them and I will make you into a great nation” -- the fate of Israel is now in the hands of Moses -- God would not abandon the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- the promise would continue through Moses as the faithful son of Israel

            -- this was a test of Moses in the same way that Abraham was tested in the command to sacrifice his son Isaac -- would Moses choose self over righteousness? -- would Moses choose to allow these people to perish so that he might be exalted?

            -- the implication here in God’s words to Moses to “leave Me alone” are that God would relent if Moses interceded for the people -- there is power in intercession -- when we stand before God on behalf of another -- when we stand before God on behalf of a nation -- we see that here in the words of God to Moses

 

            -- verse 11

 

11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

 

12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” 14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

 

            -- Moses chose service over self -- he become the intercessor -- appealing to God for the people -- not because of any righteousness or goodness on the part of the people -- but appealing based on the goodness of God -- of who He was and the glory due His name

            -- the people in no way deserved mercy or grace from God -- they had chosen their path -- they had turned away from God -- they had created an idol for themselves in His place to be their god and the object of their worship -- there was nothing redeeming in the people to cause God to relent and turn away from destroying them

            -- this was also true of us, as the Bible reminds us that all of us had sinned and fallen away from the glory of God -- that there was none of us who did good -- we had all turned away to our own selfishness and self-idolatry

            -- but, as Moses points out here, God’s grace and goodness far surpass anything in creation -- he appeals to God’s name and reputation -- he appeals to the relationship God had made with Israel -- and he appeals to the promise that God had given to Abraham that could not truly be fulfilled if the nation was destroyed

            -- God chooses to turn His wrath away because of His sovereign grace and mercy, not because of anything that we are or that we do -- God chooses to turn His wrath away because of His great love for us, demonstrated through His sending Jesus to die on the cross for us

 

            -- notice that in his intercession, Moses calls the nation, “your people -- the people of God,” once again -- yes, they had chosen to turn away -- yes, they had chosen to sin by making the idol and worshiping it -- but they were God’s chosen people -- the people of the promise -- and through God’s grace and mercy, the people would truly become His again -- not just in name, but in deed and in their hearts

 

            -- Moses’ intercession was successful -- in verse 14 we read that the Lord relented and did not bring on His people the disaster He had threatened

            -- so, does this mean that God changes His mind? -- no, not in the sense that we understand changing our minds -- to change our minds means that we have looked at alternatives and decided to take a different approach -- to try a better direction -- than that which we previously had decided on

            -- but the Bible is clear that God is not like man -- He is immutable -- unchanging -- His word stands and does not change -- as it says in 1 Samuel 15:29, “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.”

 

            -- so, what has happened here? -- verse 14 clearly says that the Lord relented -- some translations say “repented” -- does that mean that God changed His mind or not?

            -- the fact is God did not bring on His people the disaster He had threatened

            -- and that last holds the key to understanding what is going on here -- the Lord had threatened a disaster -- He had threatened to destroy the people -- but that was a conditional declaration, not an unconditional command

            -- in other words, God’s declaration to Moses in verse 10 was that His anger may burn against the Israelites and that He may destroy them -- in other words, God might do this -- it doesn’t mean that He necessarily will  

            -- remember, God is all-knowing -- He knew the people would eventually repent of their sin -- He knew the course they would take even as Moses stood in intercession

            -- so, God did not change His mind -- He never said that He would definitely destroy the people -- it was a conditional declaration -- because the people responded to God’s prevenient grace through the intercession of Moses, God relented from what He said would happen if they did not turn back

            -- we see the same conditional declaration in the Book of Jonah, when God calls Jonah to intercede on behalf of Ninevah -- God proclaimed that Ninevah would be destroyed because of their wickedness, but when they repented of their evil ways, God had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened -- once again, a conditional declaration dependent on the response of the people

            -- God does not change His mind, but He does offer conditional declarations and warnings to us based on our response to His prevenient grace

            -- in this case, even though God relented of His threat to destroy the nation of Israel, they still suffered the consequences of their sin, although to a lesser degree -- because of their unfaithfulness and idolatry, we read in verse 35 that a plague came upon them -- God’s judgment still came on the people because of their sin

 

III.  CLOSING

            -- so, what can we learn from the story of the golden calf?

 

            -- first, no matter how much our hearts desire to return to Eden and the Promised Land, we tend to find ourselves living in Egypt

            -- in the absence of the presence of God, we always drift away into idolatry -- as the hymn writer put it, “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it -- prone to leave the God I love”

            -- we need to make sure of what land we are living in -- we need to make sure our feet are planted in the Kingdom of God, and not in this world

            -- when you start seeing idols in your life -- when you start putting more importance and focus on money and possessions and people -- on power and prestige and fame -- on anything other than God -- this is a warning sign that you are drifting away from where you should be -- that you are no longer following God, but following your own desires

 

            -- second, when we can’t see God, we tend to search for substitutes

            -- this whole episode with the golden calf happened because the people lost sight of God and they searched for something to replace Him -- when we lose sight of God, our faith begins to dim

            -- how can we keep our eyes on Jesus? -- by staying close to Him -- by keeping our focus on Him -- by knowing Him through our prayers and our worship -- by keeping Him before us in all things

            -- it comes down to faith -- being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see -- God dwells in the realm of faith -- and to make sure we are following Him and not an earthly substitute, we must worship Him in truth and in faith

 

            -- third, the judgment of God is something to remember

            -- Jonathan Edwards, the 18th Century American Preacher, once preached a sermon called, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” -- God has given us boundaries -- He has placed limits on what we can do, to protect us and to keep us safe -- to cross that line -- to go outside the boundaries is to cross into the danger zone -- and there are always consequences for our actions

            -- to go too far is to invite the wrath and judgment of God -- to go too far is to remove ourselves from the protective hand of God

            -- the Israelites flirted with complete destruction by making an idol of a golden calf -- and even after God relented of His threat to destroy them, the people still suffered the consequences of their sin because of the plague that came upon them

            -- salvation and protection are only found in Jesus -- when we remain in Him and follow His commands, we are protected from the dangers of crossing the boundary

 

            -- finally, we are all called to be intercessors for others

            -- in Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gave us the Great Commission and charged us to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything He has commanded us

            -- we are to stand before the people and point them to the cross -- we are to pray to the Father to withhold His judgment and wrath and to pour out His prevenient grace on others and on our nation so that they might return to Him

            -- the Bible tells us that the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective -- they move the heart of God -- they lead people and nations from the brink of disaster

            -- we are called to faithfully pray for others and to tell them the good news of Jesus and the salvation of the cross

            -- as Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:18, “always keep on praying for all the saints” -- and, I would add, for all those who are yet to be saints

 

            -- we’re going to close now in prayer -- and as we do, I want you to take a moment to consider where you are with God -- are you trying to straddle the fence -- living with one foot in the kingdom of God but still drawn back to Egypt in your heart? -- have you been making idols in your life? -- have you been faithful to the One who has called you?

            -- let God speak to you as we close and as the last hymn is played -- and respond to His word as you are led by the Spirit

            -- let us pray

 

1 Modified from Nathan Castens, Chanhassen, Minnesota. Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 1.

2 Our Daily Bread