{"id":5827,"date":"2023-07-03T21:09:25","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T21:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/?p=5827"},"modified":"2023-07-03T21:09:25","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T21:09:25","slug":"immorality-and-idolatry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/immorality-and-idolatry\/","title":{"rendered":"Immorality and Idolatry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click HERE for sermon audio<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cIf a man seduces a virgin[e<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price[f<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0for her and make her his wife.<\/span>\u00a017\u00a0<\/sup>If her father utterly refuses to give her to him,\u00a0he shall pay money equal to the\u00a0bride-price for virgins.<\/span><\/p>\n

18\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cYou shall not permit a sorceress to live.<\/span><\/p>\n

19\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cWhoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.<\/span><\/p>\n

20\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cWhoever sacrifices to any god, other than the\u00a0Lord<\/span> alone, shall be devoted to destruction. (Exodus 22:16-20)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If a Man Seduces a Virgin<\/b><\/p>\n

As we consider the laws before us today, it seems evident that the case in verse 16-17 would fit better with the laws of restitution in verses 1-15 that we looked at last week. The \u201cpenalty\u201d if you will, of a man seducing a virgin is not death, but to marry the woman or to pay the bride price without marriage. Thematically, this is more like restitution than the laws that receive the death penalty in verse 18-20. Nevertheless, we\u2019ll consider these laws together today.<\/span><\/p>\n

The basic use of this law is very straightforward, yet something that needed to be stated in law, so the people would know what to do in this situation. What were they to do in cases of fornication involving an unmarried woman? The answer was for the man to marry her. However, if the father refused to give away his daughter in marriage to this man, then the man would have to pay the bride price, without marriage.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a couple principles for us to consider here in this case. The first is the seriousness of the act of fornication. Of course all sexual activity outside the marriage covenant is sin and is to be avoided, repented of, and guarded against it. But the act of fornication carries a particular weight as it is the consummating act of the marriage covenant. And when it happens without marriage being declared and the covenantal vows exchanged, you have acted out the consummation of the covenant without the actual protection of the covenant. When this happens, God\u2019s law says, \u201cget married, enter into that covenant immediately and be husband and wife.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, there is a second principle for us to consider here, and that is the authority of the father in giving his daughter away in marriage. There may be a number of legitimate reasons why a father in this situation may not want to give his daughter in marriage to this man who has seduced her to lie with her. And in such a case the father has authority to refuse the marriage, while still requiring the bride price from the man.<\/span><\/p>\n

Laws like these may seem so strange and so far from us today, since we live in a radically egalitarian and highly promiscuous society, and have long since abandoned the practice of a formal bride-price. But for us as Christians, our identity is \u201csuch were some of you, but you were washed and you were cleansed.\u201d And now we are to live pure, quiet, and undefiled lives in the midst of a perverse society. Whatever the society is doing, doesn\u2019t matter to how we are to live. We are to live lives of purity and holiness, reserving ourselves for the beauty and protection of the marriage covenant in honor of our Lord Jesus. And this is the standard the Church is to uphold. And the fatherly authority that is so despised in our day today by unbelievers, is a means of provision and protection. Should a father have the wisdom to see that the man who seduced his daughter is not a man who will provide and care for her in a godly way, he ought to exercise his authority and make sure his daughter has godly care and provision and is not sent into a bad situation. Father\u2019s should see it as part of their responsibility to preserve their daughter\u2019s purity and be able to give them away in marriage to a godly young man one day.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is also some beautiful typology in this case law which shows us the redemptive themes foreshadowed in the law. In this case we have a young woman seduced by a man. The Hebrew word is different here than words used in contexts which talk about rape. So this is not a case of rape, but of seduction, the woman being deceived, and going along with the seducer. The typology goes back to the garden, where Eve was seduced, or deceived by the serpent to eat the fruit from the tree they were forbidden from eating from. She partook of that which was not yet for them to partake of. But God exercised His fatherly authority and did NOT give Eve to the seducer. He refuses, and instead clothes her, providing for her with the covering of sacrificial animal skins. The Father does not give her away, but keeps her, until the day when the true bridegroom, the Son, comes to take the woman, the Church, to be His bride.<\/span><\/p>\n

The apostle Paul uses this garden typology in speaking to the Church in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3, \u201cFor I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.\u201d It is the work of God, through the apostles, and through \u201cchurch fathers,\u201d if you will, to preserve and present Christ\u2019s bride as a pure virgin. He will not give her away to the cunning deception of the serpent, and the serpent will pay the price for his seduction, being bruised, crushed, and trampled underfoot by the bridegroom, Jesus Christ. So just as we are to be physically pure, we are also to guard against being spiritually seduced by anyone who preaches a different Jesus, or a different gospel, and so maintain biblical fidelity to the Word of God, and our One Redeemer, Jesus Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now when we look at this case law in context of the situation in which it was given to Israel, upon their delivery out of bondage in Egypt, there is one final point to be made, which I will let Gary North state. He says this, \u201cThis case law indirectly brings up the threat of slavery. This is the integrating theme of the case laws of Exodus 21-23. The penalties of public sinning are always of such magnitude that flagrant public sinning could and probably would involve a return to slavery for most publicly condemned sinners. This, of course, is the whole message of the Book of Exodus: God delivers His covenant people from slavery, but He threatens them with a return to slavery if they should continue to break His covenant. Ultimately, He threatens them with public execution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

North continues, \u201cThe bride price paid to the father by the seducer is a classic example of this return to slavery. The short-run perspective of the seducer is essentially the time perspective of Satan and his followers: a few moments of ecstasy in defying God, and eternity in bondage to repay Him. These forbidden moments of ecstasy began in the garden and will end at the final judgment.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is an excellent point that this case law punishes those who think only of momentary pleasure, and it teaches us that the momentary pleasures of sin have lasting consequences. This case law teaches us to think with the long term view of biblical righteousness, and how that is always better for us. Yet, we don\u2019t always, and we sin and we fail, and even foreshadowed in this law is the hope of a Heavenly Father who protects us and a coming Bridegroom to redeem us from our sin, who has indeed come to do just that and to make us His own. So let us keep ourselves for Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sorcery, Bestiality, and Idolatry<\/b><\/p>\n

We turn now to the laws in verses 18-20 concerning sorcery, bestiality, and idolatry. I am positing that these three laws go together, even though to us, at first glance, it may seem that the law about lying with an animal does not necessarily go with the other two, at least in terms of the nature of the sin. Sorcery and sacrificing to false gods are laws concerning false religious practice, in league with demons, while the other is a sexual sin. While it is a sexual sin, this perverse deviation is one which was intimately connected to false religious practice. While the sinful heart of man is no doubt depraved enough in some to commit such abominable acts of perversion, such a practice was more than just that, at least at the giving of this law. Such practice was a Canaanite religious practice. It was an act of sexual and creational chaos committed in chaos rituals for what some call the chaos gods. This is why it is sandwiched in between a law banning witchcraft and a law banning sacrifices to other gods besides Yahweh. These are things they would be seeing in the religious practices of the Canaanites in the land that they were going to conquer. The fact is that virtually every sexual perversion that seems to be increasing today has its roots in ancient pagan ritual and belief. Sexuality and religious practice always go together and they always lead to the other. In many different ways, we are to keep ourselves pure and within God\u2019s design, quite literally for the sake of our eternal souls.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Spiritual Reality and Harm<\/b><\/p>\n

The thing that we need to realize as moderns about these laws is that these are not laws against harmless things or fake things or mere mythical things. These laws don\u2019t have the penalty of capital punishment for no reason. They are laws with the most severe punishment because they are most severe crimes. Modern materialists often think things like sorcery are fake incantations and trickery. Even Christians today may think sacrifices to other gods are mere sacrifices to pretend idols of wood and stone.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the fact is, sorcery, or witchcraft, was punished so severely not because it was fake and harmless, but because it was very real, dangerous, and harmful. Specifically for Israel, it put the entire nation in danger of covenantal sanctions as covenant unfaithfulness and covenant breaking, and was a real binding to other gods.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, the word sorcerer here, which in the KJV is translated \u201cwitch,\u201d is rendered in the Septuagint as \u201cpoisoner,\u201d which indicates there is inherent harm brought upon others through this person\u2019s activities. So a sorcerer was one who harnessed, if you will, real powers of darkness, and often this was done with a twisted view of dominion, using various \u201cgateway\u201d drug-like substances. Indeed there is a rise in such substances going mainstream today which have led to countless testimonies of encounters with dark entities. This is not something to play with.<\/span><\/p>\n

In verse 20, when it talks about sacrifice to any \u2018god\u2019 – the root word there is \u2018elohim\u2019 – which often refers to real spiritual beings, such as fallen angelic beings in rebellion to God, not merely imaginary idols made up in the human mind. We\u2019ve talked about the legitimate spiritual power of the Egyptian gods, and the same is true for the Canaanite pagan religions in which Israel was entering to conquer and destroy. So the sacrificing to gods in view here are sacrifices which are made to feed into and are done in obedience to real entities of darkness. While this may seem far-fetched to the modern man, it was the belief of the ancient world, indeed most of history. In fact, one church father in the early centuries communicated this view, saying, \u201cPagan sacrifices feed and nourish the demons.\u201d \u201cSome people give no thought to the question of demons, that is to say, to the fact that these demons, in order to be able to exist in the heavy atmosphere that encircles the earth, must have the nourishment of exhalations and consequently are always on the lookout for the savor of burnt sacrifices, blood and incense. Since they attach no importance to the matter of sacrifice, we would express ourselves also on this subject. If men who give sustenance to robbers, murderers and barbarian enemies of the great king are punished as criminals against the state, how much more will they be punished justly who through offering sacrifice proffer substance to the minions of evil and thus hold them in the atmosphere of the earth! And this holds true especially if knowing the text, \u2018He that sacrifices to gods other than the Lord alone will be destroyed utterly,\u2019 they nevertheless sacrifice to these authors of evil on earth.\u201d So whatever you think of that now, take this quote and understand it in the historical context of Israel: fallen angelic beings or demons held no power over God\u2019s covenant people, unless they broke covenant and turned to them with sacrifices and worship. And when they did this they were plagued and judged and faced covenant sanctions from God.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, we see Israel abandon God for these very crimes in biblical history on various occasions. It wasn\u2019t for no reason that God gave these laws and penalties. God gives a fuller warning against these practices in Deuteronomy 18:9-14.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you come into the land that the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0your God is giving you,\u00a0you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations.<\/span>\u00a010\u00a0<\/sup>There shall not be found among you anyone\u00a0who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,[a<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0anyone who\u00a0practices divination or\u00a0tells fortunes or interprets omens, or\u00a0a sorcerer<\/span>\u00a011\u00a0<\/sup>or a charmer or\u00a0a medium or a necromancer or\u00a0one who inquires of the dead,<\/span>\u00a012\u00a0<\/sup>for whoever does these things is an abomination to the\u00a0Lord<\/span>. And\u00a0because of these abominations the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0your God is driving them out before you.<\/span>\u00a013\u00a0<\/sup>You shall be blameless before the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0your God,<\/span>\u00a014\u00a0<\/sup>for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0your God has not allowed you to do this.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Sadly, Israel fell into these very practices they were warned against. The wicked Jezebel was one such example, as it says in 2 Kings 9:22, \u201cAnd when Joram saw Jehu, he said, \u2018Is it peace, Jehu?\u2019 He answered, \u2018What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only Jezebel, but the wicked king Manasseh did all these things in 2 Chronicles 33:1-9.<\/span><\/p>\n

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.<\/span>\u00a02\u00a0<\/sup>And he did what was evil in the sight of the\u00a0Lord<\/span>, according to\u00a0the abominations of the nations whom the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0drove out before the people of Israel.<\/span>\u00a03\u00a0<\/sup>For he rebuilt the high places\u00a0that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made\u00a0Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.<\/span>\u00a04\u00a0<\/sup>And he built altars in the house of the\u00a0Lord<\/span>, of which the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0had said,\u00a0\u201cIn Jerusalem shall my name be forever.\u201d<\/span>\u00a05\u00a0<\/sup>And he built altars for all the host of heaven in\u00a0the two courts of the house of the\u00a0Lord<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a06\u00a0<\/sup>And he burned his sons as an offering\u00a0in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and\u00a0used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with\u00a0mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the\u00a0Lord<\/span>, provoking him to anger.<\/span>\u00a07\u00a0<\/sup>And\u00a0the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, \u201cIn this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel,\u00a0I will put my name forever,<\/span>\u00a08\u00a0<\/sup>and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land\u00a0that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses.\u201d<\/span>\u00a09\u00a0<\/sup>Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0destroyed before the people of Israel.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

As the wicked leaders went, so went the people, as the Prophet Ezekiel brings a covenant lawsuit against the people for these very crimes in Ezekiel 13:17-23.<\/span><\/p>\n

17\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cAnd you, son of man,\u00a0set your face against\u00a0the daughters of your people,\u00a0who prophesy out of their own hearts. Prophesy against them<\/span>\u00a018\u00a0<\/sup>and say, Thus says the Lord\u00a0God<\/span>: Woe to the women\u00a0who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and\u00a0make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in\u00a0the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people and keep your own souls alive?<\/span>\u00a019\u00a0<\/sup>You have profaned me among my people\u00a0for handfuls of barley\u00a0and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live, by your lying to my people, who listen to lies.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

20\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cTherefore thus says the Lord\u00a0God<\/span>: Behold,\u00a0I am against\u00a0your magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls whom you hunt go free, the souls like birds.<\/span>\u00a021\u00a0<\/sup>Your veils also I will tear off and\u00a0deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey,\u00a0and you shall know that I am the\u00a0Lord<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a022\u00a0<\/sup>Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and\u00a0you have encouraged the wicked, that\u00a0he should not turn from his evil way to save his life,<\/span>\u00a023\u00a0<\/sup>therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the\u00a0Lord<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

These were not only abominations that wicked Israelites went after, but the godly were mindful of avoiding and warning against, as King David says in Psalm 16:4, \u201cThe sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Reality of These Powers in the New Covenant<\/b><\/p>\n

Having stated the reality of these evils, we also need to view them in light of the work of Jesus Christ. We ought not live or view these things as if Jesus hadn\u2019t lived, died, risen from the dead, and ascended on high, for indeed He has. The fact is that the work of Jesus Christ has changed the authority, jurisdiction, and extent of the power of these powers of darkness. In the gospels Jesus talks about His binding of the strongman and the plundering of his house. In His ministry, Jesus cast out numerous demons and spirits and they knew their time was coming and they begged for it not to be so. Colossians 2:15 says that \u201cHe disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.\u201d The KJV says that He spoiled the principalities and powers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So while demons and powers of darkness remain, they are yet defeated in their power and jurisdiction. Jesus rules and reigns over all the nations and they do not have authority in the heavens anymore. Where the Kingdom of God goes, the demons must flee. At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we think about these things and how to apply them today, it is important to remember that these powers do not have the same power they had in Old Testament times. And the fact is, that many modern day witches, for example, are LARPING – they are live action role playing. It\u2019s a game, it\u2019s a religion devoid of power – it’s dress up. Sometimes it’s real, but many times it’s dress up. We should never play with it, but it\u2019s important to keep the very real work of Jesus in mind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How Do These Laws Apply in the Civil Sphere Today?<\/b><\/p>\n

Now the question you are all thinking, how should the civil authorities punish or not punish these things today? Obviously we are still commanded not to dabble in any kind of witchcraft, or bestiality, or sacrifices to any other god, but should the civil authorities put to death those that do? Let me give you a few considerations to make when thinking through these issues. First, the civil authorities should rule in light of the work of Jesus. You do not want to put to death those who are not really sorcerers – those who are just playing dress-up. How you determine legitimacy is very important.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider also verse 20, which says those who sacrifice to other gods are to be \u201cdevoted to destruction.\u201d Does that phrase sound familiar? It should. The word used there is the word \u201ckarem\u201d and is the same word used to refer to the Holy War Israel was to make upon the cities of Canaan and where they are told to devote them to destruction. The penalty for this crime is part of their conquest of Canaan. This shows the unique nature of this penalty in relation to the conquest. The law isn\u2019t unique, but maybe the penalty of devotion to destruction is. Canaan cities being devoted to destruction is a command and penalty tied to the Old Covenant land. Now that there is no promised land, there is no instruction to conquer and devote to destruction with the physical sword. The command was tied to the land. The fact that the penalty for sacrifices is the same as the penalty for the cities of Canaan seems to tie it to the land and covenant.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even my favorite Theonomist Gary North says, \u201c…punishments that were tied to Israel\u2019s land and the nation’s historical role are no longer binding\u2026\u201d He further explains, \u201cWith the death in 70 A. D. of national Israel, the harlot daughter and harlot wife, God removed the specific monetary penalties attached to the land. Christ\u2019s payment fulfilled the specific terms of the law, as did the death of the law-breaker, national Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Does this mean that the authorities should allow witchraft, bestiality, and pagan sacrifices to be flaunted in the public square? Absolutely not. But it starts first with us, God\u2019s people. That\u2019s who these laws were given to, God\u2019s covenant people. And what did they do? They went and broke them. We may think these things are far from us, but let us never drop our guard against sin and satan\u2019s devices. Let us beware of the spiritual idolatry in our hearts. We worship the triune God outwardly, but is there idolatry in our hearts? Are there areas in our lives where we make sacrifices to other gods as it were? We may be chaste or faithful to our spouse on the outside, but in our hearts are there perverted immoral desires? These should be put to death and devoted to destruction. Or, is there sorcery that you are allowing in your home through media and entertainment that you have let slip through, or that you have not put your foot down on in your home? Seriously, there may be legitimate sorceries we are allowing in our home through media and entertainment. That\u2019s got to be cut off immediately, it must not be suffered to live in our homes.<\/span><\/p>\n

And having ordered our own homes to worship the one true God alone, let us take the trumpet blast of the gospel to the public square which is filled with such blasphemies and blast it that no such perversions and idolatries remain, for Jesus is King, and the nations and peoples all belong to Jesus Christ, for He has disarmed the principalities and powers, to free men and women from their slavery and bondage, that they might freed to live forever with God. Our society has suffered many griefs in going after other gods, but Jesus stands ready to heal and to save and to make us whole again. The strongman is bound and Jesus\u2019 arms are strong and ready to save. Come to Him today.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click HERE for sermon audio \u00a0\u201cIf a man seduces a virgin[e]\u00a0who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price[f]\u00a0for her and make her his wife.\u00a017\u00a0If her father utterly refuses to give her to him,\u00a0he shall pay money equal to the\u00a0bride-price for virgins. 18\u00a0\u201cYou shall not permit a sorceress to live. 19\u00a0\u201cWhoever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":5830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1582],"tags":[1858,1865,1591,274,278,369,461,557,637,1864,678,679,699,1823,765,836,1866],"class_list":{"0":"post-5827","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sermon","8":"tag-1858","9":"tag-bestiality","10":"tag-case","11":"tag-christ","12":"tag-christianity","13":"tag-demons","14":"tag-exodus","15":"tag-god","16":"tag-idolatry","17":"tag-immorality","18":"tag-jenkins","19":"tag-jesus","20":"tag-joshua","21":"tag-laws","22":"tag-lord","23":"tag-moses","24":"tag-paganism","25":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/07\/main-qimg-590685929c4734bfac285e1262577f19-lq.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6277,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/renewing-the-covenant\/","url_meta":{"origin":5827,"position":0},"title":"Renewing the Covenant","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"February 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Click HERE for sermon audio The\u00a0Lord\u00a0said to Moses,\u00a0\u201cCut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first,\u00a0and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets,\u00a0which you broke.\u00a02\u00a0Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/img_6736.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/img_6736.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/img_6736.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/img_6736.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/img_6736.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6253,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-golden-calf\/","url_meta":{"origin":5827,"position":1},"title":"The Golden Calf","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"January 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Click HERE for sermon audio When the people saw that Moses\u00a0delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him,\u00a0\u201cUp, make us gods who shall\u00a0go before us. 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