{"id":6253,"date":"2024-01-01T19:34:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T19:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/?p=6253"},"modified":"2024-01-01T19:34:40","modified_gmt":"2024-01-01T19:34:40","slug":"the-golden-calf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-golden-calf\/","title":{"rendered":"The Golden Calf"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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. 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.\u201d<\/span>\u00a02\u00a0<\/sup>So Aaron said to them, \u201cTake off the\u00a0rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.\u201d<\/span>\u00a03\u00a0<\/sup>So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.<\/span>\u00a04\u00a0<\/sup>And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden[a<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0calf. And they said,\u00a0\u201cThese are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!\u201d<\/span>\u00a05\u00a0<\/sup>When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron\u00a0made a proclamation and said, \u201cTomorrow shall be a feast to the\u00a0Lord<\/span>.\u201d<\/span>\u00a06\u00a0<\/sup>And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And\u00a0the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up\u00a0to play.<\/span><\/p>\n

7\u00a0<\/sup>And the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0said to Moses,\u00a0\u201cGo down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have\u00a0corrupted themselves.<\/span>\u00a08\u00a0<\/sup>They have turned aside quickly out of the way that\u00a0I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, \u2018These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!\u2019\u201d<\/span>\u00a09\u00a0<\/sup>And the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0said to Moses, \u201cI have seen this people, and behold,\u00a0it is a stiff-necked people.<\/span>\u00a010\u00a0<\/sup>Now therefore\u00a0let me alone, that\u00a0my wrath may burn hot against them and\u00a0I may consume them, in order that\u00a0I may make a great nation of you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

11\u00a0<\/sup>But\u00a0Moses implored the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0his God and said, \u201cO\u00a0Lord<\/span>, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?<\/span>\u00a012\u00a0<\/sup>Why should the Egyptians say, \u2018With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth\u2019? Turn from your burning anger and\u00a0relent from this disaster against your people.<\/span>\u00a013\u00a0<\/sup>Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you\u00a0swore by your own self, and said to them,\u00a0\u2018I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\u00a014\u00a0<\/sup>And the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.<\/span><\/p>\n

15\u00a0<\/sup>Then\u00a0Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the\u00a0two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written.<\/span>\u00a016\u00a0<\/sup>The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.<\/span>\u00a017\u00a0<\/sup>When\u00a0Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, \u201cThere is a noise of war in the camp.\u201d<\/span>\u00a018\u00a0<\/sup>But he said, \u201cIt is not the sound of\u00a0shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.\u201d<\/span>\u00a019\u00a0<\/sup>And as soon as he came near the camp and\u00a0saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.<\/span>\u00a020\u00a0<\/sup>He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.<\/span><\/p>\n

21\u00a0<\/sup>And Moses said to Aaron,\u00a0\u201cWhat did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?\u201d<\/span>\u00a022\u00a0<\/sup>And Aaron said, \u201cLet not the anger of my lord burn hot.\u00a0You know the people, that they are set on evil.<\/span>\u00a023\u00a0<\/sup>For\u00a0they said to me, \u2018Make us gods 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.\u2019<\/span>\u00a024\u00a0<\/sup>So\u00a0I said to them, \u2018Let any who have gold take it off.\u2019 So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

25\u00a0<\/sup>And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose,\u00a0to the derision of their enemies),<\/span>\u00a026\u00a0<\/sup>then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, \u201cWho is on the\u00a0Lord<\/span>‘s side? Come to me.\u201d And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.<\/span>\u00a027\u00a0<\/sup>And he said to them, \u201cThus says the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0God of Israel, \u2018Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you\u00a0kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\u00a028\u00a0<\/sup>And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell.<\/span>\u00a029\u00a0<\/sup>And Moses said, \u201cToday you have been\u00a0ordained for the service of the\u00a0Lord<\/span>, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

30\u00a0<\/sup>The next day Moses said to the people,\u00a0\u201cYou have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the\u00a0Lord<\/span>;\u00a0perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.\u201d<\/span>\u00a031\u00a0<\/sup>So Moses returned to the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0and said, \u201cAlas,\u00a0this people has sinned a great sin. They have\u00a0made for themselves gods of gold.<\/span>\u00a032\u00a0<\/sup>But now, if\u00a0you will forgive their sin\u2014but if not, please\u00a0blot me out of\u00a0your book that you have written.\u201d<\/span>\u00a033\u00a0<\/sup>But the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0said to Moses,\u00a0\u201cWhoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.<\/span>\u00a034\u00a0<\/sup>But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you;\u00a0behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

35\u00a0<\/sup>Then the\u00a0Lord<\/span> sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made. (Exodus 32)<\/span><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/b><\/p>\n

We have now arrived at one of the more well-known parts of the Exodus story. There are a lot of really well-known Bible stories in the book of Exodus and they all seem to stand out for different reasons. The Burning Bush is well known-for its supernatural quality. The plagues of Egypt are known for the hardness of Pharaoh\u2019s heart in the midst of them. The crossing of the Red Sea is well-known for God\u2019s mighty power to save. And the golden-calf incident stands out for the high-handed rebellion of Israel in the face of all that God has just done for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve said on other occasions, it can be easy to look at the Israelites and think, \u201cHow could you be so blind?\u201d But this event stands in Scripture as a sermon to US today. It stands in Scripture as a mirror into the rebellion lurking in our own hearts of our old man. It stands in Scripture as a warning to US of the hardening deceitfulness of sin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Man\u2019s Sin<\/b><\/p>\n

It is nearly as soon as the covenant is made, that it is broken by the people. The astonishing speed at which they turned from confessing, \u201cYes, we will keep this covenant,\u201d to worshiping a golden calf made by Aaron is remarkable. It shows that you can take the Israelite out of Egypt, but it\u2019s much harder to take the Egypt out of the Israelite. Yet, how often do we read or hear the Word of God and then turn around and the next thing we do is sin? How often do you get in the car after church and sin against your family in sinful anger or impatience, or children disobeying your parents? Or how often do you sin right after the service, in conversations of gossip or ungratefulness as you are standing around with others?<\/span><\/p>\n

If we know the sinfulness of our own hearts, we ought not be surprised how quickly Israel turned to sin. It entices, it deceives, and it hardens. We ought rather to be surprised at God\u2019s mercy. We ought rather to be surprised that God relented in His anger. Even Moses\u2019 patience and intercession for them is surprising. So let\u2019s first consider this sin and what it was.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One church father comments, \u201cWhen Moses was absent, the people worshiped the calf and openly committed the sin that was hidden in their hearts.\u201d This shows us that the problem of sin and idolatry is not so much a matter of their surroundings. You can take Israel out of Egypt and away from all the sin and idolatry that surrounded them there, to a desert with God on a mountain in smoke and fire, and find that sin and idolatry is still in the heart. And that is the ultimate problem of sin – the sinful and idolatrous heart of man. This is a much more difficult problem to fix. Indeed it takes the work of God\u2019s Spirit to change out our old heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh.<\/span><\/p>\n

In our own struggle with sin, it is obviously good and wise to remove outside temptations to sin and ungodliness in our lives. Yet we ought not be deceived into thinking that that will fix and remove all sin and temptation from our lives. If we think that fixing all the things outside of ourselves will fix our problems, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment or despair, for we will find that after putting in all the proper safeguards, we may still be tempted and fall into sin. This is to teach us that WE are the problem, and to drive us to total dependance upon Christ Himself. We need Him to save us, to help us, to sanctify us, to give us aid and His Spirit. And this is to show us the only real solution to sin is to have our sin forgiven by Christ, and be filled with His Spirit to walk anew in the ways of life according to His Word.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now what is the context of Israel\u2019s sin here? In verse 1 it says \u201cWhen the people saw that Moses DELAYED to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, \u201cUp, make us gods 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.\u201d The first sin was impatience. They saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain and their faith failed them. They didn\u2019t wait, they didn\u2019t trust, they were tired of waiting around. So they sought to take matters into their own hands and make gods who would go before them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aaron seems to be quite the pushover here as he immediately concedes and fashioned for them a golden calf from their golden earrings. Now why did Aaron form a golden calf for them? There are different theories about the significance of a golden calf. I think that a number of them could be true at the same time. Some say that the golden calf was one of the Egyptian gods they worshiped in Egypt. This could be true. Along these lines, in the ancient world, it was common to envision or create imagery of different gods riding on calves, or animals like that. It was believed that if you enthroned your god, as it were, on an animal like this, this is how he would move or come to you or go before you. It was the idea of conjuring up your god to act for you. So it seems likely, this is part of what was going on. This comports with them being dismayed at Moses\u2019 delay on the mountain. They grew impatient and they wanted to make God move. They thought maybe they could manipulate or conjure Him up like the other gods. But Yahweh is not like the other gods of Egypt. He is not manipulated by impatient men. He is not to be thought of and imaged in this way. He is not to be worshiped in this way.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not just an ancient temptation or thought process. There are still forms of worship today built around trying to manipulate God to move or act in the way that the worshipers want Him to move or act. You see this in different musical forms of manipulation, or through certain practices of images, or other false forms of worship today, in which God has not prescribed that He is to be worshiped or approached.<\/span><\/p>\n

This leads us to the other element of this sin. Was this sin idolatry – worshiping false gods – or was this sin false worship of Yahweh? I believe it was both, because making images of God in worship is idolatry. 1 Corinthians 10:7 calls it idolatry, saying, \u201cDo not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, \u2018The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.\u2019\u201d And yet, we also find the calf was intended to image Yahweh. At the end of verse 4 it is declared after the calf is made, \u201cThese are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!\u201d And then in verse 5, Aaron declares that it shall be a feast to the LORD – Yahweh.\u201d So were they worshiping other gods? Yes. Were they attempting to worship Yahweh, but in a false way? Yes.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is at least a violation of the first 3 commandments. One, \u201cYou shall have no other gods before me.\u201d Two, \u201cYou shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them\u2026\u201d And Three, \u201cYou shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.\u201d In calling an image Yahweh, they took His name in vain.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is also possible that there was sexual immorality involved, as the phrase \u201crose up to play\u201d in verse 6, is one which can denote such immoral behavior. If this is the case, this also is not just an immoral sin, but part of false worship, as it was common among pagan practices for such immorality to be involved. Clearly, God has forbidden such activities in His worship, or otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s Wrath<\/b><\/p>\n

The next thing we note is God\u2019s wrath toward sin. As this sin is going on, the LORD tells Moses to \u201cgo down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.\u201d It is almost humorous how God calls them Moses\u2019 people. And then later in verse 11, Moses calls them God\u2019s people, \u201cwhom YOU have brought out of the land of Egypt\u2026\u201d It\u2019s almost like when a dad comes home from work and the wife tells him, \u201cYou need to talk to your son, who did such and such\u00a0 today.\u201d But the LORD\u2019s anger against Israel burns righteously hot as verse 10 says, \u201clet me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.\u201d It\u2019s as if God is ready to destroy them all and start over with Moses, as He did with Noah after the flood, or in calling Abram of Ur to make a great nation from one man.<\/span><\/p>\n

But this is certainly not to be seen as some kind of divine temper tantrum, but as the just wrath of God toward sin. This is what sin deserves. It is high-handed rebellion against a good and holy God who has shown His great power and made covenant with His people, and yet they quickly turn away from Him to sin and idolatry. Any view of sin that does not recognize the justice of God\u2019s wrath as deserving upon the sinner, is a woefully insufficient and man-centered view of sin. The wages of sin is death. This is what makes sin so wicked, is that it is committed against a Holy God who is a consuming fire of white hot purity and righteousness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Man\u2019s Excuses<\/b><\/p>\n

But notice next, Aaron\u2019s excuses when he is confronted. This is what we so often are tempted to do when we sin – make the lamest excuses. In verse 21-24 Aaron blames it on the evil intentions of the people. He says they gave them their gold and \u201cI threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.\u201d Like it just happened. Like his hands did not craft it for them. This is just comical. And yet we do this all the time. \u201cIf my spouse didn\u2019t say or do this, then I wouldn\u2019t have said or done this or that.\u201d This is the temptation we face when we sin. We know it was wrong, so we make excuses, instead of just running to Jesus for forgiveness, confessing to whom confession needs to be made, and being free. And even when we make excuses, we can just be free to say, \u201cI am sorry. I made excuses for my sin and should not have. Please forgive me.\u201d It doesn\u2019t do Aaron any good to say, \u201cBut look at how they are intent on evil.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Mediator\u2019s Intercession<\/b><\/p>\n

Next, notice one of the amazing things about this passage: Moses\u2019 intercession. First, Moses intercedes for the people, pleading to God for them, while still on the mountain, before he comes down to see their sin. The LORD tells Moses of His wrath toward these stiff-necked people and verse 11 says, \u201cMoses implored the LORD his God\u2026\u201d Then Moses turns it back on God as we mentioned earlier, saying, \u201cO LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against YOUR people, whom YOU have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?\u201d Notice how Moses pleads to God for mercy on account of God\u2019s saving them out of Egypt. He says, \u201cNo LORD, you did save this people by your great power and might and it was marvelous, why do you now wish to destroy them? You did deliver them out of Egypt after all!\u201d Then secondly, Moses implores God on account of God\u2019s reputation among the Egyptians. He basically says, \u201cWhy should the Egyptians have reason to think poorly of you for bringing the Israelites out to then destroy them?\u201d Thirdly, Moses then pleads for mercy on account of God\u2019s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. He accounts God\u2019s promises to them to multiply them and their offspring as the stars of the heavens and to give them a land to inherit. Matthew Henry says, \u201cGod\u2019s promises are to be our pleas in prayer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Notice how Moses does NOT plead on the basis of the goodness of the people – \u201cO Lord, you know they aren\u2019t really that bad.\u201d He does not try to downplay the sin – \u201cO Lord, they did not really have all that bad intentions, they just wanted to worship you, but were misguided.\u201d But Moses essentially pleads on the basis of God\u2019s glory, His Word, and promises. This is a great example for us in how to plead with God in prayer. We see this all throughout the Psalms. \u201cSave us Lord, for your namesake.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And consider how beautiful a type of Christ Moses is in his intercession for his people. As Moses goes before God, mediating between God and Israel, so our Lord Jesus does for all Israel – the Church of God. The mighty hand of God – the Lord Jesus – has delivered us from the bondage of darkness and sin in His work on the cross and resurrection, and now He sits at the right hand of God interceding for His people. 1 John 2, when we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. We are the sinners who have sinned against our very savior, and the Lord Jesus is on high, ever living to intercede for us when we sin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then Moses goes down, sees the rebellion, and then returns to the mountain with God, and again intercedes for his people. In verse 32 Moses asks God to forgive their sin and if He will not, Moses says, \u201cplease blot me out of your book that you have written.\u201d This is remarkable. Moses is basically offering himself in the place of the people. This is like the apostle Paul in Romans who says that he would be accursed for his kinsmen. And this is like the Lord Jesus, who does offer Himself for His people, taking their curse, death, and punishment for them. God does not accept Moses’ offer and neither could Paul be accursed for his people. They too were sinners needing a savior and substitute. But Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself for His people is accepted. The Holy One of Israel, the One without sin, the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! There is no other mediator or substitutionary sacrifice for us, other than the Lord Jesus. Not Moses, not Paul, not Mary, not any saint, not your mother or your father, not yourself, but Jesus only. And it was like Moses\u2019 offer, that Jesus willingly laid His life down for us – no one took His life from Him, no one twisted His arm, but of His own accord gave His life.<\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s Judgment & Mercy<\/b><\/p>\n

Finally, this leads us to notice God\u2019s judgment and mercy; indeed His mercy in His judgment. The first thing we see when Moses comes down the mountain is that Moses throws down the tablets of stone with the law as he sees this great sin, breaking the stone tablets, which is a fitting picture of what the people have done in worshiping the calf. They have broken God\u2019s law, they have broken the covenant that was just made. And then Moses, in holy zeal, proceeds to take the calf, burn it down in hot fire, grind it to powder, scatter it in the water and make the people drink it. Moses basically says in these actions, \u201cYou like your god so much? Well you can drink them!\u201d This is a sign of how God may give us over to our sin and make us eat it. Augustine says, \u201cThe trial by ordeal forced the people to swallow their own idol.\u201d Another church father says, \u201cMoses pulverized the calf and made them drink it in the waters of testing, so that all who had lived to worship the calf would die by drinking it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems we have a picture here of what Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 10 where He talks about the bread and cup being participations in Christ. And then he implies that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God, and Paul does not want the Corinthians to be participants with demons because you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, nor the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Those who were given to worship their idol, participated in it, in drinking it to their death, just as the idol was destroyed.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what did Jesus do for His people in His suffering on the cross? He took the cup, and did not let it pass from Him – the cup of God\u2019s wrath for our sins – and He drank it down, so that we might not drink and be destroyed. And so we, by faith, participate in Christ and drink of Him, the Living Water, unto life.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next part of God\u2019s judgment on Israel is seen in verse 25-29. Moses draws lines in the camp – those who are with the Lord\u2019s side and those who are not. And the Levites are commissioned to go throughout the camp and put to the sword those not on the Lord\u2019s side, even their brother, companion, and neighbor, about three thousand men were felled. And then in verse 29 Moses says that this was done so that God might bestow a blessing upon you this day. There is God\u2019s mercy in judgment. The camp had to be purified from this evil, and that was a blessing to the people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is there sin in your home? Is there sin in your life? It must be put to death. It must be removed, and that is a blessing and for the good of your home and life. Sin that is allowed to live and persist in your life will only bring more death and destruction. It must be put to death to bring life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now why is it that the Levites are mentioned here as bearing the sword in the camp? It is not just coincidence or irrelevant. Remember Jacob\u2019s son Levi? He was one of the brothers who slaughtered the Shechemites, destroying an entire people for what they did to his sister. Jacob was not happy that this was done. And when Jacob blesses his sons at the end of his life in Genesis 49, he says that Simeon and Levi are brothers with weapons of violence which are their swords. And then he says, \u201cCursed be their anger, for it is fierce and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.\u201d And as God is the greatest storyteller of all time, God takes this curse and makes it a blessing, in a sense. The Levites were scattered throughout Israel, without a land plot, but they were made priests, and thus all throughout the land there were Levitical priests for the people. And here at the golden calf, the violence of their sword is put to God\u2019s use to purify Israel of evil.<\/span><\/p>\n

But even in this great bloody judgment that came upon the people for their sin, we ought not be scandalized by it, but rather marvel at the mercy in it. Only three thousand men of the people were killed. Many more were delivered and saved from the sword! Many more received mercy! One church father says, \u201cThe death of a few delivered many from death.\u201d This is the mercy of God. Throughout the Bible, God\u2019s mercy unfolds and we see it increase and abound. Much earlier when God destroyed the world with the flood, it was the whole world, save Noah and his family that were destroyed. There were a number of instances, like the golden calf, in Israel\u2019s history where hundreds or thousands were killed for the sake of the rest of the nation. Until finally Jesus Christ, the True and Perfect Israelite comes, and One man – Jesus Christ – is put to death so that all Israel may be saved. Our sin is great, God\u2019s judgment is greater, and God\u2019s mercy in His judgment is greater still. May Christ be praised.<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 106:19-23, \u201cThey made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red sea. Therefore he said he would destroy them – had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Look and see Christ, God\u2019s Chosen One, standing in the breach before God, turning away His wrath from destroying you, and be saved.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":6254,"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":[61,1744,1947,461,1946,1948,637,664,678,699,836,1026,1114,1550,1949,1950],"class_list":{"0":"post-6253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sermon","8":"tag-61","9":"tag-aaron","10":"tag-calf","11":"tag-exodus","12":"tag-golden","13":"tag-idol","14":"tag-idolatry","15":"tag-israel","16":"tag-jenkins","17":"tag-joshua","18":"tag-moses","19":"tag-rebellion","20":"tag-sermon","21":"tag-sinai","22":"tag-stone","23":"tag-tablets","24":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/187974-moses-breaks-the-stone-tablets-on_lg.gif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5461,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/war-with-amalek\/","url_meta":{"origin":6253,"position":0},"title":"War with Amalek","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"January 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Click HERE for sermon audio Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.\u00a09\u00a0So Moses said to\u00a0Joshua, \u201cChoose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with\u00a0the staff of God in my hand.\u201d\u00a010\u00a0So\u00a0Joshua did as Moses told him,\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\/2023\/01\/Mosesraisesstaff-770x439_c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/01\/Mosesraisesstaff-770x439_c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/01\/Mosesraisesstaff-770x439_c.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/01\/Mosesraisesstaff-770x439_c.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5137,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/staff-wars\/","url_meta":{"origin":6253,"position":1},"title":"Staff Wars","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"August 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"And the\u00a0Lord\u00a0said to Moses, \u201cSee, I have made you like\u00a0God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your\u00a0prophet.\u00a02\u00a0You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land.\u00a03\u00a0But\u00a0I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though\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\/2022\/08\/MOSHED-2022-8-15-10-2-57.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/MOSHED-2022-8-15-10-2-57.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/MOSHED-2022-8-15-10-2-57.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5122,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/with-a-strong-hand\/","url_meta":{"origin":6253,"position":2},"title":"With a Strong Hand","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"August 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"But the\u00a0Lord\u00a0said to Moses, \u201cNow you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with\u00a0a strong hand he will\u00a0drive them out of his land.\u201d 2\u00a0God spoke to Moses and said to him,\u00a0\u201cI am the\u00a0Lord.\u00a03\u00a0I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac,\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\/2022\/08\/MOSHED-2022-8-8-15-2-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/MOSHED-2022-8-8-15-2-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/MOSHED-2022-8-8-15-2-5.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6302,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/constructing-the-tabernacle\/","url_meta":{"origin":6253,"position":3},"title":"Constructing the Tabernacle","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"February 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Click HERE for sermon audio On the Sabbath Today as we look at chapter 35-39, we find that everything here is a repetition of what we\u2019ve seen in chapter 25 and following concerning the materials and instructions for the tabernacle and the priests. So we will obviously not read all\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\/02\/1280px-figures_the_erection_of_the_tabernacle_and_the_sacred_vessels.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/1280px-figures_the_erection_of_the_tabernacle_and_the_sacred_vessels.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/1280px-figures_the_erection_of_the_tabernacle_and_the_sacred_vessels.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/1280px-figures_the_erection_of_the_tabernacle_and_the_sacred_vessels.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/1280px-figures_the_erection_of_the_tabernacle_and_the_sacred_vessels.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6319,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-cloud-descends\/","url_meta":{"origin":6253,"position":4},"title":"The Cloud Descends","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"February 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Click HERE for sermon audio \u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0spoke to Moses, saying,\u00a02\u00a0\u201cOn the\u00a0first day of the first month you shall\u00a0erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.\u00a03\u00a0And you shall put in it the ark of the testimony, and you shall\u00a0screen the ark with the veil.\u00a04\u00a0And\u00a0you shall bring in the table and arrange it,\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\/02\/the-tent-of-meeting.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/the-tent-of-meeting.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/the-tent-of-meeting.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6291,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/moses-shining-face\/","url_meta":{"origin":6253,"position":5},"title":"Moses’ Shining Face","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"February 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Click HERE for sermon audio When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with\u00a0the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face\u00a0shone because he had been talking with God.[d]\u00a030\u00a0Aaron and all the people of\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\/02\/MOSHED-2024-2-12-15-58-52.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/685"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}