The Sin of Idolatry, Part 3

Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to Exodus chapter 32. Exodus chapter 32. It must have been An incredible announcement to Moses to be able to hear what God said to him there on top of Mount Sinai. As you recall, he had ascended the mountain some 40 days before Exodus chapter 32. Having been up there for that period of time, knowing that what the people had said before he ascended was the fact that they would do all that God said for them to do. So he knew the people's heart. He knew that they had made this overwhelming commitment to follow their God.

So he ascended the mountain with great encouragement. At the end of that time, God says, Moses, you've got to go down to your people because they have corrupted themselves.

Moses must have been thinking to himself, what happened? Having looked at the people of God, he realized that 400 years of Egyptian idolatry had ingrained itself in the lives of God's people. You see, the nation of Israel never really, truly left Egypt. Oh, they left it physically. They were out of the boundaries of the land of Egypt, but it had never truly left. Their heart. And Moses, having dashed those stone tablets to the ground, realized something of great significance. That he had to continue his ministry as a mediator of the people to their God.

We look first of all at the character of idolatry. And move from there to look at the condemnation of that idolatry.

And today, we want to look with you at point number three, and that is the compassion for the idolaters.

And that compassion is seen in two ways: the plea of Moses and the promise of God. You see, Moses was the mediator between God and the people. He would stand between the people and God and watch God do a great and mighty work. But at this time the crisis was greater, and the test of Moses' leadership would stand paramount as he once again would stand in the gap for the People. And this man demonstrates his compassion. Amidst his anger, against their sin, he would stand in the gap for them that God might spare their lives.

I'm not sure you can be a man of compassion unless you're a man of anger. Unless you're angry at sin, you can't be compassionate toward the sinner. And Moses was that kind of man. And he would begin to make a plea before God. It began on the mountain. Let me read it to you: Exodus chapter 32.

It says in verse number 9, and the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then, let me alone, that my anger may burn against them.

That phrase, now let me alone, tells us about how Moses. Would stand in the gap for the people of God. He would stand as that mediator between them and God. And God says, now, Moses, let me alone.

That my anger may burn against them, and that I may destroy them, and I will make of you a great nation. Verse 11: Then Moses entreated the Lord, his God, and said, O Lord. Why doth thine anger burn against thy people, whom thou hast brought out from the land of Egypt, with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, With evil intent he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy burning anger and change thy mind about doing harm to thy people.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Thy servants to whom thou didst swear by thyself, and didst say to them, I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they Shall inherit it forever. So the Lord changed his mind about the harm which he said he would do to his people. Here we see several things about the plea by Moses to God. It centers around two main aspects. The glory of God and the Word of God. And this is a great lesson for you and me to learn as we begin to understand how we plea to God for His mercy.

In his compassion to be bestowed upon his people. It deals first of all with the glory of God. You see, Israel had dishonored God. Israel, for all practical purposes, had discarded God. And Moses wasn't about to do that. Moses would appeal to the glory of God, to the name of God. To the purposes of God. When you speak of the glory of God, you speak of his nature. You speak of his personhood. You speak of his character as the great and awesome God that he is. And notice what Moses says.

Moses says these words, O Lord, why doth thine anger burn against thy people, whom thou hast brought out? From the land of Egypt. You see, what Moses did was appeal to the glory of God by appealing through the grace. Of God. It was the Lord God who brought them out of Egypt. And why is it God brought them out? It was for His grace. Or by his grace and for his glory. And listen very carefully. The grace of God would flow abundantly for Israel because of the blood of the lamb that was shed at Passover.

And that's what allowed Israel to be released from their bondage. It was the blood of the Lamb. And Moses is recognizing the fact that it's the grace of God that brought them out of their bo. It was God's grace that did it. And it was based on the fact that God, listen, had liberated his people. It was God who set them free. You see, Moses was all about the glory of God. It wasn't about him. God says to Moses, God tests Moses in Exodus 32.

He says, Moses, this is what I'm going to do. This is an obstinate people. So, what I'm going to do, I'm going to consume them. I'm going to wipe them off the face of the earth, and I'm going to make you a great nation. And Moses could have said, you what? That sounds pretty good. You're right. They are an obstinate people. They are a rebellious, stiff-nicked people. Let's start afresh. Let's start anew. Let's forget about the past. Let's kill them all and begin anew. This was a test for Moses. But Moses wasn't about his glory, was he?

He wasn't about his honor. Remember, way back in Hebrews chapter 11, I guess. Way ahead in Hebrews chapter 11. It tells us about how Moses by faith forsook Egypt based on the fact That he'd rather suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin for a season. Moses would forsake Egypt. He could have been the leader in Egypt. He could have been the next pharaoh in Egypt. But he forsook that nation. And now he has an opportunity to be a father of another nation. And what's he do?

He forsakes that opportunity as well. Because you see, Moses knew it wasn't about him. It was about God. First lesson we need to learn that when we plea to God to show His compassion and mercy, it must be on the glory of God.

It must be for Him and His purposes, not for me and my purposes. A lot of times we plea. To God and pray to God that somehow He will show His compassion on me for me and for my purposes. But for Moses, it was all about God. Lord, these are your people. You bought them. And it emphasizes the grace of God because, as unworthy as they were, as unholy as they were, and as ungrateful as they were. They deserved what? To be consumed. But the grace of God allows them to live. And Moses appeals to the fact that God is a God of grace.

He's a God of compassion. He's a God of mercy. And you are the one, Lord, who brought them out. Oh, it's all about the glory of God. And what's he saying? He says, Why should the Egyptians speak, saying with evil intent, he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy burning anger and change thy mind about doing harm to thy people. Lord, what is the world going to say? You purchased them, you bought them, you redeemed them, you took them out of Egypt, and now you brought them out to kill them.

Lord, this is about your glory. Listen to what the Lord God said through the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 20 when he recounts this whole scenario. He says, On the day when I chose Israel and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. On that day I swore to them to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had selected for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.

And I said to them, Cast away, each of you, the detestable things out of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled against me, and were not willing to listen to me. They did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I resolved to pour out my wrath on them to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But.

I act for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom They lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. God says, I spared them for my name's sake.

I spared them for my glory. And if you read the book of Isaiah, you read over and over and over again that Israel is called of God. For his glory, not for their glory. For God's honor, not for their honor. It's all about God. And so, whenever we appeal to God on the basis of anything, it must be from the premise that God Needs to be glorified. God needs to be honored. Moses sees that. He understands that. He knows that. And so he goes to God and says, Lord, you didn't bring him out here to kill him.

You brought him out here to demonstrate your grace. Your power, your glory. This is for your name. How did Joshua appeal to God on behalf of the people? The same way Moses did. Lord, it's about your name. It's about your honor. It's about your glory. Lord, show compassion on your people for your sake. Not for their sake. For your sake. And that's how he would plead. To us, God. It was based on the glory of Almighty God. Number two, it was based on the Word of God.

It was based on the Word of God. He said, In verse number 13, rem Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants to whom thou didst swear by thyself, and didst say to them, I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens. And all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever. You see, Moses would appeal to his God based on what God had already said. God had made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And because he did, Moses knowing that, he would go back and say, Lord, based on what you have already said, because you are a God of truth, because you have promised that you would establish a nation to the seed of Abraham.

I am appealing to you based on your word and your wor alone. Moses didn't appeal to God based on his own feelings, emotions, and sentiments. He appealed to God based on what God had already said. Folks, let me tell you something.

That is important. Because whenever you seek the mercy of God, And the compassion of God, you must seek it based on what God has already established in His Word. And that's why when we say, Lord, forgive me of my sin. Sins, for I have sinned against you. What do we base that on? We base it on: if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We base it on what God says in His Word.

We know in 1 John 2:1, it says, If any man sins, we have an advocate before our Father, and that is Jesus Christ our Lord. And so we know we can receive the forgiveness of sins based on what God has already said in His Word: that if we come and confess Him, He will forgive them because He is faithful. And he is true. You see, when we go to God and plead for him to show compassion on us, we plead to him based on his word. Let me give you a personal example.

When my first wife died some 21 years ago, I realized that it was a difficult experience for me. And so I went to my knees and began to plead. To God on behalf of His Word and His glory. I had not really studied Exodus 32, so I didn't know what Moses did in Exodus 32. 3. I just knew that when I was in desperate need, I had only one place to go, and that was to my God. When I was lonely, And when I was afraid, and I was all by myself in the darkness of my room, having to deal with the loss of my wife, I had one thing to do, and that was to go to my God.

And I went to him and I said, Lord, the Bible says thou art good and doest good. Psalm 119:6. And the Bible says in Romans 8:2.

That all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Therefore, Lord, you have my goodness at stake because it's your glory that's at stake. And the Bible says in Psalm 8, 11, that no good thing will the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.

And God, I'm going to purpose in my heart to walk a righteous and holy life, to follow your word, and to honor you. And therefore, Lord, the Bible also says that he who finds a wife finds a good thing. So, Lord, I'm going to appeal to you based on the fact that you are good. And no good thing do you withhold from those who walk uprightly, and that you cause all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to your purpose. I'm going to ask you for a good thing. And I'm going to ask you for a wife if it be your will for me.

Because it's all about your glory, it's all about your purposes, it's all about what you're going to do, it's not about how I feel it. This moment, but it was all based on the glory of God and the word of God. What does God say? And you know the rest of the story. One wife later, eight kids later, God has been good, very good. And God supplied. That doesn't mean that if you lose a spouse, God's going to provide you with another one. What it means is that when you go to God and appeal to Him based on On his glory and his word, God will deal with you as he sees fit according to his word, right?

And that's how we go to God, that's what we need to see God do in our lives. That's why Joshua said these words. Joshua, remember, Joshua was with Moses when he heard Moses. Anger burned against the people of God. In Joshua 23, verse number 14. Now, behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts. In all your souls, that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed. All have been fulfilled for you. Not one of them has failed.

Joshua appealed to God based on the fact that everything God said happen just like God said. And that's the way we need to be if we're going to plea to God. Show compassion on the lives of people. And that's the way we need to be if we're expecting God to be compassionate and merciful and kind toward us amidst our unworthiness, amidst our unthankfulness, and amidst our ungratefulness. And that's what Moses did on this day. He would go to his God and plead him based on God's glory and God's holy name.

Word. Then Moses went down the mountain. Then he saw what happened. And the anger of the Lord burned in his heart. He dashed the stone tablets to the ground, and they were shattered. He denounced Aaron, and then he goes before the Lord again. Listen to this: Exodus chapter 32, verse number 30. And it came about on the next day that Moses said to the people, You yourselves have committed a great sin, and now I am going up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves.

But now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not, Please blot me out from thy book, which thou hast written. And the LORD said to Moses, Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book. But go now.

Lead the people where I told you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin. Then the Lord smote the people. Because what they did with the calf, which Aaron had made, Moses never, never looked at their sin and thought it wasn't that bad. It was a great sin. But the compassion of Moses is still seen when he says, listen, I'm going to go up into the mountain. And what I'm going to do, if need be, make atonement for your sin. What's that mean?

I'm going to shed blood for your sin. He goes to God and says, God, forgive their sin. If need be, kill me. Kill me. Use my blood to atone for their sin. Here again, Moses demonstrates the essence of his. Of his leadership by willing to give his life away for the lives of Israel. He wanted to make atonement for their sin. Take my name out of the book that has been written. Now, there are some people who have a problem with this because they want to equate this book with the book of life in the book of Revelation.

You can't do that because it's not the book of life. How do we know that? Well, number one, Moses says, take me out of it.

So Moses says, you know what? I'll burn in hell for the sake of the people. That's not what Moses is saying. Moses is saying, Listen, take me out of the book of the living, the book of all those who are alive. There is a book that records the names of all those people who are alive. It is not the same as the Lamb's book of life in the book of Revelation, mentioned seven different times in the book of Revelation. Because Jesus said in Revelation 3, verse number 5, that he will not erase our name from the book of life.

Instead, He will confess us before his father. The Lamb's book of life has the names of all those people that are born again or will be born again written in it from eternity past. And it guarantees your eternal security. It guarantees the fact that you will be saved, and once saved, you'll never lose your salvation. Because the Bible says in Revelation chapter 17 and in Revel chapter 13 that all those people who took the mark of the beast, their name was never written in the land's book of life.

And Revelation 20, verse number 15, says that all those whose names were not written in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire. So don't mistake what happens in Exodus 32 with the book of all those who are alive with the Lamb's book of life in the book of Revelation because it's not the same. This is the book, the registry of all those people who are alive. And Moses is saying, Listen, write me out of that book. In other words, Moses is saying, I'm willing to die. I'm willing to give my life away.

For the people. The problem with that is that one man can't die for another man because Moses is a sinner. The only one who could die for your sins and mine is Jesus Christ. Christ our Lord. But Moses in Exodus 32 becomes that type of Christ as he would stand before the Father and the people. To mediate on their behalf and to be willing to give his life away for the salvation of his people. And that's what Jesus Christ our Lord did for us. That sinless, spotless Lamb of God who gave his life away that we might obtain his life and not experience the wrath of all.

Almighty God. Now, these people escaped the penal wrath of God on this day because of Moses. And this man, Moses, would go to God on their behalf. And yet, I want you to notice something.

They still had to face the consequences of their sin, didn't they? Because the Lord smote them with the plague. So there were consequences for their sin, but God was compassionate. Why? Because God would change his mind. Now, people have got a problem with that, don't they? How can God change his mind? God never changes his mind. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. God changed his mind about his divine intention. God never changes his mind about his divine decree. There's a big difference there.

And it's an anthropomorphic statement that talks about God in human terms so we can begin to understand how God functions with us as His sinful people. See, God had an int because of his anger. God never said this was a divine decree, but God never made a covenant that he would destroy them. God just voiced his anger to Moses. Because, as we saw earlier, it was a test for Moses to see what he would do. Would he want to have a nation after himself, or would he seek the glory of God based on what the Word of God says?

And that's exactly what Moses did. They deserved to die. But God and His compassion allowed them to live. Turn with me, if you would, to Psalm 103.

You know, God Himself is a God of compassion. The Bible says, as far as the East is from the West, so far as He removed our transgressions from us, just as a Father has compassion on His children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear H.

The essence of the text focuses on those who fear Him. He takes their sins and separates them as far as the East is from the West. He removes their transgressions from them. That's the compassion of our God. That's how He works. That's what he does. And I wonder this morning if you've experienced that mercy and compassion. God has been long-suffering toward you, toward me. God is patient with us. And God allows us to live from one day to the next that we might experience His mercy, His compassion, His goodness, His graciousness.

And the Bible says in 2 Peter 3. 9 that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. In 1 Timothy 2, he talks about it in verse number 4 that it is the will of God that we be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth. And I wonder this morning if you've experienced that goodness and compassion of God. And I'm wondering this morning if you realized how great God is toward you, that He doesn't deal with you according to your sins. Instead, he's long-suffering with you and patient with you, that you might learn to repent of your sins and get right with him, that you might learn to fear him so that your sins are separated as far as the east is from the west.

That he was patient enough to wait for us to come to him and to grant us salvation through his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And I trust this morning that's the case for you. Let's pray together.