Exodus 32:1-14
(sermon note: 10-06 sermon note)
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ Aaron said to them, ‘Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.’ They rose early the next day, and offered burnt-offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” ’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.’
But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, ‘O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, “It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth”? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, “I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.”’ And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about a man who wanted a pet. So he visited his local pet shop and inquired. The man approached the first clerk he saw, “I want a pet. But not just any pet. I want an obedient pet. One that would do anything I ask of it no matter what.” The clerk responded, “I know just what you need!” The clerk stepped out back for a few minutes and returned with a tiny box containing a centipede. The man looked at the centipede and cried out, “A centipede, really?!” “Yes, trust me.” “Sold!” the man replied with a little apprehension. The man took his new pet back home and immediately started giving it orders. “I am going to go cook in the kitchen. I would like you to clean this entire living room. Make it spic and span.” After the man finished cooking and eating, he returned to his living room in the most well-kept state it had ever been. Dusting, organizing, and everything in between was taken care of. He was amazed. “Okay, that was really cool,” the man said. “Now I want you to do the same for the kitchen.” After relaxing on the couch, he checked on the kitchen to find it in a perfect state of cleanliness as well. He just couldn’t believe how amazing this centipede was. On Sunday morning, he tasked the centipede with going out and getting the newspaper. The centipede stepped outside to fetch it. 10 minutes went by…30 minutes…1 hour… Impatient and confused, the man stepped outside to see the centipede still at the front of the door with no newspaper. “Where’s my newspaper?!” he shouted. “It’s been an hour!!” “I’M STILL PUTTING MY SHOES ON!!!”
Poor centipede just couldn’t catch a break! It wasn’t as if it didn’t want to obey its master. It just got bogged down with putting shoes on all of its hundred feet. And I imagine it was frantically lacing up its laces judging by how quickly he obeyed the earlier commands to clean the living room and kitchen. Poor, poor centipede indeed! Now I hate to point out the striking similarity between that centipede and the Israelites in today’s reading. We’ve moved beyond the 10th plague and the first Passover of last week’s reading to when Moses had brought the newly freed Israelites to the foot of Mt. Sinai. Of course, we know that it was a natural place for Moses to bring the people since he had gone there many times prior to leading the people out of slavery. On top of Mt. Sinai, Moses had spoken directly with God and sought his guidance in leading the people. While he was up speaking with God, the people became restless and coerced Aaron into building them a golden calf as a means of reassurance. They weren’t fully trusting of Moses and our God and needed an idol to worship while Moses was away. As someone pointing out in our Bible study this week, the people hadn’t quite distinguished Moses from God. In their minds, Moses WAS God, and his extended absence left them desperate to create something tangible to worship and seek comfort and assurance from. We heard how this greatly angered God and in turn Moses. God said, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it.” But wait a second! God had made that commandment with Moses and Moses alone at this point! God hadn’t put that commandment to stone yet and the people weren’t of it yet. Why all the anger over a falsely disobeyed command?! Can’t be angry at the people for disobeying a commandment they hadn’t even been given yet, God! Can’t be angry at a centipede for having so many shoes!
But I suppose God’s anger was meant to spur Moses into taking responsibility for the people’s behavior if anything. God was testing Moses’ commitment to his people by claiming to be angry with them. Funny how God pointed the finger at Moses for their behavior…”your people are misbehaving!” And Moses turned right around a pointed the finger right back at God…”no, they’re your people, God!” It’s no wonder that God chose not to destroy the people for their behavior. He wasn’t really mad at them. They didn’t know not to make false idols! Well, it’s a minor inconsistency in Scripture. The people would go on to disobey God’s commandments plenty of times after receiving them. We are naturally sinful people and will commit sins knowingly and unknowingly.
Lucky for us, God gave us a set of rules to help curb our sinful natures. What a gift to be given such rules! They encourage and sustain LIFE! And we know our God is a God of life, abundant life. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Pair that up with his proclamation that he didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (Matt 5:17) and we realize that the law leads to abundant life. Careful…the law itself isn’t abundant life but simply leads to it. Thus, we need both the law and the gospel as Luther so eloquently taught us.
The law is useless without obedience though. We need to first and foremost obey God’s laws if we are to ever hope for abundant life. God said through the prophet Isaiah, “if you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” (1:19) Who among us wouldn’t want to eat of the good of the land? We ALL want to live life abundantly and we ALL can by obeying God’s commands! God richly blesses those who keep his commandments. Recall earlier in the book of Exodus, right after God initially gave his commandments to Moses, God told Moses about an angel who would come and speak on God’s behalf. God advised, “but if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.” (23:22) God not only richly blesses those who keep his commands, but He also protects them from their enemies. Again, who wouldn’t want God to protect them from their enemies? Two amazing benefits to obeying God’s commands!
Our God is not only a God of life but also a God of love and love is the source of all life. Without love, we are nothing and have nothing. God’s commands were graciously given to us out of love, and we ought to regard them as nothing but gifts. Let us seek to obey his commands just as eagerly as that centipede. More importantly, let us eagerly give thanks for them. Thanks be to God!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
