Apostasy and Intercession - 250311

SPEAKER 1 Hello, I'm Cassie Sollano. Welcome to Let God Speak. Is it possible to be experiencing daily powerful supernatural miracles from the almighty God and then turn away to worship idols of your own making? Sounds ridiculous. Well, incredibly, that's exactly what some of the Israelites did. Stay with us as we discuss their apostasy and Moses intercession. On our panel today, we have Junior Sulusi and Rod Butler. SPEAKER 2 Hello. SPEAKER 1 Welcome. Dear Lord, please bless the study we do today and help us to understand it from a new perspective. Thank you for the gift that is your word and the opportunity we have to spend together today. Please be with us and bless the words we say so that they may reach the people watching and listening. In Jesus name, Amen. SPEAKER 3 Amen. SPEAKER 1 The exodus of the Israelites and mixed multitude from Egypt was epic. They witnessed the parting of the Red Sea and walked across dry land. They were led by a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud during the day. They were given water. Miraculously at Merah, they were fed daily in the wilderness with manna from heaven and water from the rock. God offered them the covenant. And they witnessed the events at Mount Sinai. Moses had given them the civil ordinances. God then called him up to the mount. All the time, the people had daily physical manifestations of God's awesome power. We are going to pick up the story in Exodus chapter 32, beginning at verse one. We read. Now, when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron and said to him, come, make us gods that shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, for we do not know what has become of him. Rod. While Moses was on the mount with God who was leading the people. And how long was Moses with God? SPEAKER 2 Well before Moses went up into the mount, Moses left instructions on who to go to if the people had any matters to be dealt with. And we pick up that in Exodus 24 and in verse 14, I'll just read that. And it says, and this is Moses speaking to the elders. And he said unto the elders, tarry ye here for us until we come again unto you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them. So essentially, those were the people who were left to look after things. Aaron of course, being very senior, being the brother of Moses. And Moses was up in the mount for 40 days and 40 nights. And it's interesting, you wonder, well, how do you get food and water? God sustained him for 40 days and 40 nights. SPEAKER 1 Right. Thank you for that, Junior. If Moses had been on the mount for more than five weeks, why would the people go to Aaron and ask to make gods to lead them? SPEAKER 3 Difficult to understand. They were still receiving manna each day and water from the rock. And so these were miraculous miracles, you know, you think that they would, their attention would be focused to their creator, you know, but we can only speculate, perhaps they still did not understand who God really was, or their understanding was marred by their everyday preoccupations and old sinful habits from the Egyptian culture. SPEAKER 1 Yes, we can really only speculate, can't we? Lets continue reading Exodus 32, 2, 4 and Aaron said to them, break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters, and bring them to me. So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and he fashioned it with an engraving tool and made a moulded calf. Then they said, this is your God, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt. This is even more baffling. Aaron actually organized the making of the golden calf. Aaron definitely knew who God was. Rod, what was he thinking? SPEAKER 2 We don't know. But when you read verse one and you look at the sort of language of the people speaking up, make us gods which will go before us, you get the impression there was pressure and coercion there. It's likely or possible that Aaron was under a lot of pressure from people that were really serious about you do this and you know, Aaron had to make a decision. And unfortunately he made the wrong decision because he complied with what they said. And this was in direct violation of the first two commandments. Thou shalt have no other gods before me and don't make any graven images. So it's hard to understand. But you know, if you were under pressure, they needed someone who would not sort of wilt to. The pressure, would stand firm. But Aaron didn't stand firm. SPEAKER 1 Yes, we could only imagine what it would have been like if he found that strength. SPEAKER 2 Yes. SPEAKER 1 In verse four, the people now claimed that this golden calf made from their earrings and fashioned by Aaron was the God that brought them out of Egypt. Junior, what does this say about the people. SPEAKER 3 Now? This is the irrationality that comes from idol worship. To make something with your own hands and then believe that it is, you know, God. That's quite baffling. But if we go to Psalms chapter 135 and verse 15 to 18. Sorry. The Bible reads, the idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them, so is everyone that trusts in them. So the golden calf likely resembled the Egyptian bull God called APIs or APIs or the cow God also called Hathor. So instead of worship their creator, the Israelites worship their own creation. And so, you know, we need ask God, what is our golden calf? You know, that might distort our thinking. SPEAKER 1 Yes, thank you for that. That's so important. Now, was Aaron's failure in leadership fully to blame for the apostasy rod? SPEAKER 2 Well, he should have stood firm, but he didn't. And unfortunately by not standing firm, he actually encouraged or emboldened those apostates to go further. You know, if someone says no, then that's it, it's the end of the road. But if, oh well, maybe if they're sort of half hearted, you'll push. And the people pushed. And Aaron actually not only caved in on that first bit, but he went even further. If we read verse 5, you read 1 to 4. If you read verse 5, it says, this is Exodus 32, 5 it says, and when Aaron saw it, this is the golden calf that he just made, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation, said, tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. So here we have Aaron, who just made a golden calf and is now mixing worship of the true God with an altar with idol worship. You can only wonder, what was he thinking? But he's really, he's really gone, done the wrong thing by not standing firm. And he's really emboldened the apostasy. SPEAKER 1 Yes, he was such a pivotal person in that situation. Let's continue reading verse six. Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. What does this phrase rose up to play mean, Junior? SPEAKER 3 Heathen idolatry feasts resulted in gross sexual immorality. The people had memory of the Egyptian festivals and so rose up to play early next day. Now it means that they started to party inappropriately to serve their own man made God. And we'll find that in verse 25 of chapter 32, which reads, and when Moses saw that the people were naked, for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies. Now the people, I guess you can also say the people had no conscience of their immorality. Yeah. SPEAKER 2 And also too, it's interesting that idol worship plagued the Israelites through most of the history. And Paul writes about the effect of the downward moral spiral of getting involved in adultery. I'd just like to read Romans. This is Romans 1 from verse 22 down to verse 25. And this is Paul writing to the church. He says verse 22. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds and four footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator. So when you read Paul writing that and you think about what was happening back then with the Israelites before the golden calf, you can only imagine what rose up to play was they were probably very morally distorted. SPEAKER 1 Yes, that seems so evident when we read this story. We wonder, how could they do such a thing? We tell ourselves we would never do that. But Rod, are we really any different? SPEAKER 2 No, we're not any different. In many ways, their thinking was grossly distorted. And they were victims of their own culture in many ways. Because they'd been in Egypt for many years, they grew up with idols. And so when they're by themselves out in the wilderness, they're reverting back to what they felt comfortable with. And you know, we all have a spiritual dimension and we need to fill that dimension with worship. So we either worship the true God, and if there's no true God there, we'll worship something. Trust me, we'll worship something. And most people will worship an idol. They want to fill that spiritual dimension. So we've got to ask God, you know, what are the idols in our life? What do we have to put aside to keep our focus on worshipping you, the true God. SPEAKER 1 Yes. On that topic, Junior, can you give some examples of the idols we might struggle with today? SPEAKER 3 An idol is something that captures our imagination, affection and time, and replaces God. Now we become what we behold, and we will rise no higher than whatever idol we serve. Idols today have different shapes and forms. Idols today can be pride, money, power, sex, food, tv, drugs, alcohol, impure thoughts, culture, tradition, pornography, pleasures, work, sports, family, even video games, films, music, the list goes on and on. SPEAKER 1 Yes, yes, and we must all think about that. That there has to be something that could affect us, that we can't think we're above that. Now. Rod, what was the outcome of this rising up to play behaviour? SPEAKER 2 Well, if you think back when God just previously given the ten Commandments and God sort of said, I'm the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of Egypt, God now says something completely different about these people which are apostatizing. And we pick this up from verse 7, Exodus 32. From verse 7, I'll read verse 7 and 8. It says, and the Lord said unto Moses, go get thee down for thy people. So here's God disowning these apostate people. Moses, they're your people, they're not my people, which thou brought us out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made them a molten calf and have worshipped it and have sacrificed thereunto and said, these be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. I mean, you couldn't think of a more insulting offense to God than what these people have just done. So as I said, the Lord has disowned them. He doesn't want them anymore. As far as he's concerned, they're apostate. Moses, they're yours. And that's what he did. SPEAKER 1 Right, thank you. I'll pick up from there. In Exodus 32 verses 9 and 10 and the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them and I will make of you a great nation. So God pronounces judgment. They are all going to be consumed. How does Moses react to this, junior? SPEAKER 3 Well, Moses intervened to save them. He reasoned with God twice. And so the first time he says, the Egyptians would say, well his argument, the Egyptians would say that God intended for from the beginning to take them into the wilderness and kill them. Now this would malign God's character to the heathen. Now the second argument is reminding God of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give their seed the land of Canaan. So God changes his mind in Exodus 32 and verse 14 where it says, and the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. SPEAKER 1 Right. Thank you. So Moses then came down from the mount. He had the ten commandments on the two tablets. He met up again with Joshua. Let's read in Exodus 30, 32, 17, 19. And when Joshua heard the Noise of the people as they shouted. He said to Moses, there is a noise of war in the camp. But he said, it is not the noise of the shout of victory nor the noise of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing. I hear. So it was as soon as he came near the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses anger became hot and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Rod. What does this say about their behaviour? SPEAKER 2 It says that their behaviour was completely and utterly chaotic. You know, we. God is a God of order. God is an order of calmness and peace. He's not an order of chaos and randomness. And this incident reminds me very much of when Elijah had the was worshiping and all the people came to choose between which God. And all the prophets of BAAL were screaming and yelling. And Elijah comes to the altar and just has a quiet prayer and God answers. So what it tells me is that it tells me these people were unhinged. And that's not how God, God wants us to be in our right mind. Quiet, calm and orderly. SPEAKER 1 Yes, we can understand God's how he found it so offensive. SPEAKER 2 Yes. SPEAKER 1 So who, so what was Moses reaction when he came to the camp? Junior? SPEAKER 3 Well, just as you read, Cassiee, first God was wrath. He was angry. And now Moses is angry when he sees what they are doing. In verse 20, he says, and he took the calf which they had made, burnt it in the fire and ground it to powder and strawed it upon the water and made the children of Israel drink of it. SPEAKER 1 Right. SPEAKER 3 Yeah. SPEAKER 1 Wow. So who does Moses go to first? Rod? SPEAKER 2 Well, after, as Junior just said, after he'd done that, the person he goes to is Gesu, his brother Aaron. And we pick up in the next verse, which is verse 21, and Moses said unto Aaron, what did this people unto thee that thou has brought so great a sin upon them? Moses just can't believe that Aaron's done this or allowed this to happen. So he goes to his brother and confronts him. And rightly so. SPEAKER 1 So moment of truth. Did Aaron take responsibility for his actions? Junior? SPEAKER 3 Absolutely not. And we find that in verse 22 and 23, and Aaron said, let not the anger of the Lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, make us gods which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And so he blames the people that they were set on mischief, implying that there was nothing he could do and that he was forced to do their bidding. SPEAKER 2 And when you read the next verse, it gets. And it goes even further. It gets worse, doesn't it, Junior? Because, you know, one lie now is leading to another lie. It may have been true that he was actually coerced, but in actual fact, he could have made a stand. Nothing was to stop him making a stand. God would have protected him. But then in verse 24, he goes further, and he says. And I said to them, whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire. And then out came this calf. You know, hocus pocus. Magic's now happening. Suddenly, a golden calf comes out of the fire. And this is from Aaron. Aaron's telling this great big lie to his brother. It's. It just shows you how once you get involved in making excuses, one thing can lead to another thing. You've got to be truthful from the start. You've got to make a stand truthfully. And if you. If you stick to the truth, you've got nothing to worry about. SPEAKER 1 Yes, It's a slippery slope the other way. SPEAKER 2 It's a slippery slope. Yes. SPEAKER 1 So during this interrogation by Moses, the people are still partying. They haven't taken any notice. How did Moses bring it to a close rod? SPEAKER 2 Well, in verse 26 and verse 27, we see what happens here. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him, and he said unto them, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, put every man his sword by his side and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp and slay every man his brother and every man his companion and every man his neighbor. Now, this sounds absolutely barbaric, but you've got to think of what's happening here. These were people who are living in the very presence of the Almighty God. They're seeing miracles. They've got no excuses. And. And despite all that, they've apostatized. They've given God away to an idol, a golden calf. And so Moses is basically sort of saying, all right, who's on my side? This is spiritual warfare, and you've got to make a stand. So the people had to decide between good and evil. There was no fencing here. You had to be one way or the other. And by this account, the Levites, the tribe of Levi, they stood by the side of good. And of course, they then were given the instruction to go into the camp, and all those people that were still partying and still insulting God with their great sin, they were put to death. Again, you know, it seems very, very hard, but in the context, there was no excuse. So that's what happened. That was how it was put. That's how the thing was put down. There was decisive, corporal capital punishment, basically. SPEAKER 1 Thank you for that. Now, let's apply this to our present time, because spiritual warfare is just as relevant now, isn't it? So reading Exodus 32, verse 28. So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and about 3,000 men of the people fell that day. Junior, what does this say about the importance of strong leadership in the church? SPEAKER 3 Strong leadership is vital. Regardless of the apostate forces rallied against us. Strong leadership is needed to nip apostasy in the bud, not let it take hold. Of course, weak leadership will allow apostasy to creep in. This will result in spiritual casualties. In these last days, Satan will try everything to corrupt the church. But when we read Joshua 24:15, he stands up and says, and if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. SPEAKER 1 Thank you so much for reading that. It's so powerful, isn't it? SPEAKER 3 Amen. SPEAKER 1 All those who indulge in festivities now were terrified that they were going to be put to death. So, Rod, what does Moses do? SPEAKER 2 Moses, incredibly, Moses intercedes for them. And we pick this up in verse 31 and 32, and it says, as Moses returned under the Lord and said, oh, this people have sinned a great sin. Yes, they certainly had, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if that will forgive their sin, and if not, blot me, I pray thee out of thy book which thou has written. So Moses is actually wanting to exchange his life for the people, if that's what it took for them to be forgiven. That's incredible intercession. SPEAKER 1 It shows a lot about Moses. And we still hear today of people interceding in prayer for someone else. Junior, what does it mean to intercede in prayer for someone? SPEAKER 3 Interceding in prayer for someone is to ask God to intervene and give what is urgently needed. God allows free will. Behind the curtain of the unseen world exist rules that regulate how the powers of God, good and evil interact. Intercessory prayer gives God legal rights to enter Satan's territory and save sinners. For example, this may be for material help overcoming sickness, persecution or spiritual help. Moses intercessory prayer petitioned God to forgive the people's sin and not abandon him. People. SPEAKER 1 Yes. Thank you. So Rod, some people might read this story and think killing the rebels was too harsh. Why didn't or why couldn't God just banish them from the camp? SPEAKER 2 Because this sin was so great they had to be removed. If they stayed there without apostasy in their minds, it would be a continual drain and a temptation for the people. This was a new Hebrew nation just starting out. They had just been given the law. God was their ruler. They had no excuses. So it was extremely important that they didn't go into irreversible sin by having people there that were apostate sinners. It would weaken the witness of the Hebrews if to the nations which are surrounded had witnessed what was going on. So basically the elimination of these people was necessary for the nation. And in some ways with our church today, we've got to call out sin. Yes, the wheat and the tares grow together, but we have to call out sin. Otherwise if sin gets in and the leaders don't do anything about it, what happens? The whole church then starts to suffer. So there's a lesson there for us. But in this particular case, it's very, very strict because they had no excuse. They were in the presence of God as their leader. SPEAKER 1 Yes. Thank you. It's so important to think about it in this context that we have today. SPEAKER 3 Yes. SPEAKER 1 So as we've touched upon, Moses was willing to offer his life for the people. What does that make Moses Jr. Well. SPEAKER 3 He demonstrated his total dedication to the Lord and his sacrificial love for the people. Moses was a type of Christ. Just as Jesus offered his perfect sinless life to redeem all of us sinners, Moses was prepared to sacrifice his life for his people. SPEAKER 1 That's a deeply powerful thing. SPEAKER 2 Moses was a type of Christian. I mean, he was represented what Jesus did for us. And you can only wonder at the love that Moses had as in the presence of God. And yet he was with these sinful people. He would exchange his life. That's how much he had love for his people. And when we think of that, just think of the love that Jesus has today for the people that don't love him who are apostate. Jesus loves him with a that love. We can't even understand. SPEAKER 1 Well, thank you for that. I think it's a wonderful note to close on. Thank you both for the discussion Today. The Israelites experienced amazing miracles. Yet when their visible leader Moses was absent too long on the mount with God, they apostatized. We humans have short memories of the great things God has done for us. The lesson From Exodus the 32 is that we must spend time with God daily, reading our Bibles, talking with him in prayer, and speaking to others about Him. When the critical moments come, and they will, we can turn to him in full confidence. He will deliver us. SPEAKER 3 Amen. SPEAKER 1 We are glad you joined us today on Let God Speak. All our past programs plus teacher's notes are available on our website 3abnauaustralia.org.au. email us on [email protected]. join us again next time. God bless. SPEAKER B You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from you.