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Awesome Hands – Part 111

The Golden Calf

February 22, 2017

The golden calf is a fairly common and talked about story for many reasons, but some of the more common ones include how the children of Israel turned their back on the Lord so shortly after being freed from Egypt and also how they took what the Lord has given them and then worshipped those things.

While these points are important and accurate and will be discussed within this study, there are additional tidbits of godly wisdom hidden with the overall story of who we are in Christ today.

Our verses for today are found in Exodus 32:1-4 and are the next time we see hands mentioned since our last study’s group of verses.

Exo 32:1  And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Exo 32:2  And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
Exo 32:3  And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
Exo 32:4  And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

When reading only these verses it is easy to hit our heads and think to ourselves, “what were they thinking!?” However, had we been there in their situation, we would have done the same thing. In truth, we do have this mindset on a regular basis, but it may not be readily apparent what spirit we have that is causing us to think this way.

As we look at these verses, there are some very interesting points which add a lot of detail to what it is we just read.

Remember, it is the Lord’s work, by His Hand alone, that the Israelites are in this situation to begin with.

Exodus 14:31  And Israel saw that great work^H3027 which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.

The very first verse of this chapter points us to why the Israelites went astray in their thinking.

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount”, is nothing more than an admission and judgment on themselves out of their own mouths. It is not Moses who delays at all, but it the same voice that shook the mountain and thundered from the top that has Moses where he is.

In other words, they blamed Moses for what the Lord was doing through Moses and how it affected them.

“Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.”

Instead of waiting on the Lord who had done the “first works” by bringing them out of Egypt, they decided to petition the high priest to create a god that did the EXACT THING the One True God had already been doing for them. They didn’t want something different. They wanted it FASTER according to this verse.

“Make us gods which shall go before us” and make it happen right now!

So, what does Aaron do? What does their minister do? He listens to them, and in listening to them he “one ups” them.

Exo 32:2  And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
Exo 32:3  And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

Isn’t it interesting that Aaron tells them to “break off” their golden earrings and the scriptures are recorded to make sure anyone reading this knows emphatically that the gold comes from their ears?

What then is the significance of breaking this gold from their ears? First, let us look at how “break” is used in other parts of scripture.

Exo 32:2  And Aaron^H175 said^H559 unto^H413 them, Break off^H6561 the golden^H2091 earrings,^H5141 which^H834 are in the ears^H241 of your wives,^H802 of your sons,^H1121 and of your daughters,^H1323 and bring^H935 them unto^H413 me.

H6561
pâraq
Total KJV Occurrences: 10
break, 3
Gen_27:40, Exo_32:2, Exo_32:24
brake, 1
Exo_32:3
broken, 1
Eze_19:12
deliver, 1
Lam_5:8
redeemed, 1
Psa_136:24
rending, 1
Psa_7:2
rent, 1
1Ki_19:11
tear, 1
Zec_11:16

Here are a few of the verses listed above:

Gen 27:40  And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

Eze 19:12  But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.

Lam 5:7  Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
Lam 5:8  Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.

Psa 136:24  And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.

What is the significance of this action of removing the gold the Lord had given them from their ears spiritually speaking? Remember, the Lord took the riches of Egypt and gave it to the Israelites when they left Egypt, and it was during the SMITING of Egypt that this happened.

Exo 3:20  And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.
Exo 3:21  And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty:
Exo 3:22  But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

Exo 11:1  And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.
Exo 11:2  Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.

The Lord causes the Egyptians to give their gold to the Israelites because the Israelites asked to borrow the gold, and now they “break” it out of their ears to create their own gods?

This next set of verses may shed some Light on what is being told to us.

Exo 21:1  Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
Exo 21:2  If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
Exo 21:3  If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
Exo 21:4  If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
Exo 21:5  And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
Exo 21:6  Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.

The earrings of gold which the Israelites used for the golden calf are a type of the love the Israelites had for the Lord and His miraculous deliverance of them out of Egypt.

By breaking them and giving them to Aaron to create other gods to follow, we can see that the Israelites has turned their hearts and minds away from the Lord BUT STILL WANTED the things He alone provided for them from these gods they wanted created for them.

Does this at all sound familiar to your walk with the Lord?

We all create false gods and a false god, another Jesus, in our hearts and minds, sometimes not even known to us, which causes us to claim the name of the Lord but not actually have Him as our Husband.

We are drawn to the Lord with a deadly wound in our lives only to be healed of it, but how quickly we forget the deadly wound we had!

What makes this process so deceiving is that your ministers let you do it, did not protect the flock and even encourage and preach idol worship! This is what Aaron says about and to “the sheep bleating in his ears”.

1Sa 15:13  And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
1Sa 15:14  And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

Here is Aaron’s response to the bleating of the Israelites by Moses delaying coming down from the mount:

Exo 32:3  And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
Exo 32:4  And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Aaron not only forms the molten calf with a graving tool, the people then give all the credit of their deliverance to this golden calf!

What was Aaron’s response? Why, it was to double down!

Exo 32:5  And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.
Exo 32:6  And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

Aaron actually goes on to make an altar for this golden calf and then have the audacity to say, “tomorrow is a feast TO THE LORD”! Wow!

As I think on this, I recall to myself my own mindset throughout my walk with Christ, and I can remember far worse offenses to the Lord that mimic this same exact thought process.

“I will dedicate this to the Lord,” whatever “this” might happen to be at the time “because the Lord will be pleased with it”.

“I’ll kill for God and country.”

“My sins are forgiven, therefore the Lord doesn’t care that I just sinned”.

“If you do this for me Lord, then I will do this for you”.

“It’s only a minor sin”.

“I know you have far greater evils to deal with then what I just did”.

“The Lord and I have an understanding, so He knows why I am the way I am and will not old me accountable for being me”.

On and on it goes, and I am guilty of them all and far more than these. Some of them I can’t even claim to have done in ignorance but fully knowing what I was doing without being ashamed at the time. Chief of sinners I am indeed.

What is important about Aaron’s response is that we all realize that the Lord also caused Aaron to take up the mindset he had that led him to think it was okay to do what he did. He not only listened to the flock when he should have been the one leading the flock during this time, but he then claimed to be dedicating to the Lord this feast they would have.

How then can we avoid falling in this pitfall again?

If we recall what it is that caused us to be brought before the judges to dedicate ourselves to our master, then we will be on the right track once we define things properly.

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

2Jn 1:6  And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

Exo 21:5  And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
Exo 21:6  Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.

It is the Love of the Lord that causes us to remember WHY it is we love Him.

If Love is to keep His commandments, what causes us to WANT to keep His commandments? I love how 2 John 1:6 defines keeping His commandments. We WALK AFTER His commandments.

We walk according to His commandments which is what walk “after” means according to the majority of the time “after” is translated.

What could be one heck of a strong reason to love the master who owns you as a slave so much so that you will have your freedom in 7 years, but you REFUSE that freedom? That is one heck of a love!

Could it be that your family is there, and you don’t want to leave them? Why, yes, of course, but not only that. Could it be that your master was so good to you as a slave that he ALLOWED you to have that family, while a slave, in the first place? That probably has a lot to do with it. Taking care of you and your family while under his rulership is not a light matter at all.

For us, we know we are prisoners of Christ and servants to His headship over us, but we also are WILLING SLAVES and servants. Sure, we could seek freedom to DIE outside of His love, but what benefit would that bring?

Sure a servant can be freed from his master in 7 years, but what is freedom if your family is still enslaved?

Phm 1:9  Yet for love’s sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

Gal 1:10  For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

We are in good company when we consider other servants to Christ:

Col 4:12  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

Tit 1:1  Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

Phm 1:25  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Written from Rome to Philemon, by Onesimus a servant.

Jas 1:1  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

2Pe 1:1  Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

Jud 1:1  Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

Being servants, we also have a higher calling, which makes perfect sense to those who are in the know of what our purpose is and HOW IT IS that we “keep His commandments”.

Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Gal 4:7  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Being a son NOW, allows us to become the ultimate servants of Christ to the Christ, His body, His church and His bride.

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

We rest from our labors, but OUR WORKS, given VIA THE HANDS OF THE LORD, are what cause us to remember why it is we Love the Lord, because our remembrance of these things causes us to want to share it with the rest of the body of Christ.

We love the brethren, the church, by KEEPING THE FAITH that these things are true.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Instead of building a golden calf with the gold from our ears, let us continue to show our Love for the Lord by wearing our spiritual golden earrings for all to see.