I've spent the last several weeks studying Exodus 19 - 32 and have learned so much that it's unbelievable. Wow! The Lord sure does pack a lot into a little, that's for sure! I wanted to share a few truths that the Lord taught me and showed me over the last few days with you guys too.
First let me refresh your memories of what this portion of scripture is all about. Moses has led the Israelites out of Egypt and to Sinai, where the Lord announced that He would speak to all the people there. The people became so terrified when they saw the manifestations of God that they begged Moses to speak to them himself instead of God because they were afraid of Him. That's always made me feel sad when I read that, because even back then, God wanted a personal relationship with each of the people, but like we so often do, they preferred to follow a man instead. That's in Exodus 20:18–21 if you'd like to read it for yourself.
In the next several chapters, the Lord, continuing to speak to Moses so the people could hear Him, told them what His expectations of them were, since they were now His People. He explained to them, how they were to be different from the rest of the world, and what that meant for them. At night, Moses wrote down everything the Lord had said to them. When the Lord had finished speaking all his laws to them, the people responded to Him saying that they would do all that He required. After that, Moses built an alter and made a sacrifice, and then read all he'd written down to the people. The people again responded saying they would do all that he'd said. Then sprinkling the blood from the sacrifice, both on the alter and on the people, Moses confirmed the covenant between them and the Lord.
Then the Lord told Moses that he was to come the rest of the way up the mountain so the Lord could give him the laws written on stone tablets and explain them to Moses more. So Moses appointed Aaron to be in charge in his absence and went up the mountain the rest of the way and into the glowing cloud that looked to the people like a consuming fire. (This had been there the entire time, it didn't just suddenly appear; and the people knew that the Lord was in the "cloud".)
In the next 5 chapters, God explains to Moses how the people are to worship Him and more of His laws. In the meantime, the people were at the bottom of the mountain, just relaxing and doing their daily routines. I would imagine that for quite some time they probably couldn't think of much else except all the miracles they'd seen and experienced since leaving Egypt, and especially hearing from God themselves most recently! Wouldn't it have been interesting to have been able to listen in to them as they spoke to each other about it all? It's hard to imagine going back to "normal routines" after such miraculous things had happened and after hearing from God Himself! And yet, we not only do, we also seem to somehow forget the miracles we've experienced where the Lord our God has shown us His power and might and His great love for us. As you can tell, I've been thinking about this for some time as I also posted the thread Have you experienced or seen a major miracle? the other day in hopes of talking more about this.
I also imagined what it might have been like for Moses, up on the mountain, inside the cloud...speaking to the Lord so intimately as He did, for such a long period of time. (40 days straight!) He spoke to God the way a person speaks to a friend. The bible even says it that same way a little bit later in Exodus 33:11. I've always felt that the way Moses and the other people in the bible (like Abraham, David, etc) spoke to the Lord were examples for us to follow, and shows us the way the Lord wants to interact with us all the time, not just during times we set aside to "pray" or on Sundays. It's obvious that those 40 days changed Moses even more, for we see the spiritual growth in him by how he reacts when the Lord tells him what the people have been up to while they've been chatting. But, I'm getting ahead of myself...
At some point, the people, who I'm sure had been excitedly talking about all the miracles and what the Lord had in store for their future, began to get discontented. They began to get tired of waiting for Moses to return. They wanted to be getting on their way to this "promised land" not sitting on their behinds waiting. But how did they go from fear of God, to excitement and wonder at all that had happened, and agreeing to do all He asked of them, to discontent and complaining all within 40 days???
I'd always wondered about that, and this time as I studied, I was determined to find out, partly because I knew that, much as I hate to admit it, I've often done the very same thing.
Before I get into what caused the people to become so discontented, I first want to share what they did about it, because this too unfortunately reflects a lot on how we often act.
First they became discontented and began complaining about how things were going as I've already said. After more days of talking about it, they went to Aaron, who Moses had left in charge and actually asked him to make them an idol! Now, remember, 39 days earlier they had stood fearfully listening to God Himself speak to them and replied that they would obey Him. He had given them His 10 commandments at that time, and if I recall, I'm pretty sure those said they weren't to make any idols!
Part 2
OK, to understand how they could have gone so wrong so fast, we need to remember where they came from to start with. They'd been living in Egypt as slaves all their lives before now and had been immersed in Egyptian religion and philosophy and their worldview all that time too. They remembered their heritage and had held onto it all during their captivity which I'm quite sure was due to the Lord's intervention on their behalf, but they couldn't avoid hearing and knowing the worldview, religion and philosophy of the Egyptians anymore then we can avoid the worldview of the society we've been born into. But if we go all the way back to when they were getting ready to actually march out of Egypt, we remember that they weren't the only ones to leave! Some Egyptians came with them! You can find that in Exodus 12:38. One little verse that we tend to overlook and never think about again!
We aren't told who the other people were, although they had to be Egyptians or at least living in Egypt at the time, and for some reason wanted to go with the Jews. Perhaps they had learned to fear the One True God because of all the plagues that God brought down on Egypt to make the Pharaoh let them go. Maybe they figured they'd be better off with the Jew's then staying home, maybe some of them had close relationships with the Jews and didn't want to be away from them. We don't know though so all we can do is guess. But, if you think back to when they were traveling from Egypt to Sinai, where they are now, they frequently complained about the conditions they were living in and angered God each time. It started just 3 days after crossing the red sea and singing God's praises! And the complaining became a habit for them. I can't remember at the moment exactly where the Lord gives us a hint about this, but at some point when they were complaining we learn that it's actually the others that started it, not the Jews. (It's somewhere between Ex 12 and Ex 32) That certainly doesn't take any blame from the Jews for following such bad examples, but it does help explain how it began.
Think of how it is in our own lives and I think you'll see what happened. We know how God wants us to live, but at the same time were immersed in the worldview around us which is ruled by Satan. We can avoid temptation by keeping ourselves away from things that are bad influences, but what happens when, say a co worker, or a neighbor who isn't saved, comes to you and begins complaining about what's been happening lately? Unless we're alert and aware of Satan's schemes, we often fall right into the trap that's been laid and wind up complaining right along with them, don't we? And if that person or persons are around us constantly, then pretty soon, we tend to start acting just like they do. That's one reason the Lord warns us that bad company corrupts good morals.
Here again we see the Truth of God which is so different then the truth the world teaches us. The world tells us that everyone is basically good, so if a good person hangs around a bad person, the bad person will start acting more like the good person. But the Lord tells us it doesn't work that way at all, because people aren't basically good, but are basically evil and will always tend to lean toward their sin nature as that's natural for them. This is why the Lord insisted that the Israelites not intermarry with others and that they not have anything to do with Gentiles other then to tell them about Him. Instead they were to represent Him to the Gentiles and show them (us) what God required from us and what God gave in return; but they were never to become close with any Gentile that hadn't converted to Judaism. Later, the priests took God's Word too far and added to it, making up a bunch of laws and leading the Jews to sin and isolate themselves from the world. So instead of being God's representatives to the world, they became snobs and thought and acted as though they were better then anyone else. (even though God had told them and shown them repeatedly that they weren't!)
Back to the point though, these "others" that came with the Jews, began complaining whenever they were afraid. They didn't have the background of growing up knowing about the Lord that the Jews had, so we can give them a bit of a break there. This was all pretty new to them, but still....Did you notice that every time they complained it was because of fear? Yep. If you read about their trip to Sinai, you'll see that every time there was a "problem" (in their minds), instead of facing it with faith that the Lord who was leading them would provide, they began to worry, and then to fear and then to complain, all of which are sins. Sin is like a disease in that it's infectious and will infect everyone around if they aren't alert. No matter how many miracles the Lord did for them to provide for their needs, when each new situation arose they met it the same way and the whole community followed their lead.
It was the same way this time. Now after talking about these miracles, they began to worry that Moses hadn't returned yet. A little more time passes and during that time, they focused not on the miracles or on God, or on what Moses or God had told them before He left, not even on the miraculous "cloud" that was over the place on the top of the mountain where Moses was with the Lord. No, they focused on their fear - that Moses wouldn't return. That something happened to him. Now what would they do? Who would talk to God for them? And they became afraid and complained. Realizing that has really made me take a much harder look at when I complain!
So they complain and say that Moses has been gone so long and they don't even know if he will return or what's happened to him, and ask Aaron to make them a god that they can see and follow since they obviously can't follow Moses as he's not there. I've always thought that they were asking Moses to literally make them a god...like the gods the Egyptians worshiped, but now I no longer think so. Let me explain why.
Aaron evidently caved in to peer pressure although as the leader in charge while Moses was gone, He should have stood up to them, calmed them down and told them to wait on the Lord and have faith. He took all their jewelry they had on and made it into a calf and told them that would be their god and made an alter and everything for it. But then, he told them that the next day they would have a festival "to the Lord" and that's exactly what they did! (Exodus 32:5–6) As I continued to read, the more I saw what they were doing...the very same thing that happens today and the very thing that the Antichrist and false prophet will use to unify all religions! Later, when I read all the commentaries (and this time I did read every single one LOL) I was surprised to find that most of them agreed with me and only a couple thought they were actually worshiping a false god.
Before I can explain what they did, you have to know what they did: they held a worship service, sacrificing offerings, and then sat down to eat and drink together-although in this case it was more then that, it was more like a wild party and orgy that happened! So where did they get the idea that was the way to worship the One True God? From the culture they grew up in of course! Basically, they wanted to worship God, but they wanted something to look at, something solid they could see while they did so, so they had the calf made. This wasn't anything new. We all know that's the norm for many religions even now, including some who dare call themselves Christian! But they didn't yet know how God wanted to be worshiped. All they had to go on were the patriarchs, their fathers of old, and they had sacrificed to God, so that's what they decided to do. But they also added a bit more to it. The Egyptians and other religions always incorporated getting drunk as a skunk and having wild parties and sex with everyone as part of their worship, so apparently they decided that this would be a great way to let off some steam and chose to do this as part of their worship too. I'm sure they had lots of great excuses as to why it should be that way, one probably being that other people did it that way. You guys will probably laugh at me, but I even learned a new word that applies to this: Syncretism (attempt to unite and harmonize things especially without critical examination or logical unity) brought about the ludicrous combination of an idol, an altar, and a festal celebration held in a bizarre attempt to honor the true God. The MacArthur study Bible
Now do you see why I said we do the same thing today or rather some do? You just have to go look in the "today's teachers" forum and you'll find it happens every day now too. What's kind of scary is that many of the things that they're bringing into our churches are designed specifically to keep us from thinking or critically examining ideas! I think that's because this is what the Antichrist and false prophet will use to unify all the religions. It certainly wouldn't work at all if the people were used to being bereans or thinking and examining things critically and carefully to be sure they're scriptural. Instead the false teachers tell people to go by feelings and to empty their minds, not to be critical, etc. Well that's what the Jews did and that's what got them in so much trouble! They used no discernment! God was more then just a little upset with them about this!
God was so angry that He was going to kill every single one of them and make a nation from Moses' descendants instead! 
Part 3
What caused them to go from the heights of revelation to the valley of idolatry then? Can we summarize that, so we can beware of it in our own lives?
The first thing I noticed was the warning that we're all programmed if you will, by the world before we're saved. Once we become saved, our job is to become programmed by God's Word and His ways instead of the world. Personally, I tend to look at myself and how I'm doing that way as though I'm weighing it on scales with the world's ways and worldview on one side and God's Word and His way on the other side. My goal is for the side with God's Word and His ways to be heavier then the side with the world's ways on it. God calls this, growing in our faith and says that as we grow in our faith, it strengthens that new nature we have. So quite literally as we grow our sin nature exerts less influence on us and our new nature exerts more influence on us. That's why it's so very, very important that we study His Word daily with Him. We need our new nature to get stronger and stay stronger then our sin nature and that sin nature is being fed daily, constantly by the things other people say to us, the TV, radio, songs, movies, books we read, etc. We simply can't escape that as long as we're living in this body. So to counter that, we have to feed our new nature daily too.
What happened to the Israelites was that they quickly fell back into the worlds ways when they became impatient, scared, or worried. Their old natures were still in charge, especially during emotional times. And they had the others that had come with them to encourage that old nature too, and that's another thing we can watch out for.
When we're around people that aren't saved, we need to keep in the very front of our minds that no matter how much we like them, they are the enemy of our God and our enemy too, although they may not realize it. Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for them and we should most certainly do that too. He died for us when we were still His enemies so we need to care for them in that same way, but at the same time, not allowing them to influence us at all. We need to be very alert when we're around the unsaved, so we don't get sucked into the world's way of thinking about things.
While we can and should love and care for them, help them and do all we can for them, we can't really be real close to them and be with them constantly as that would be very stressful for us. Instead we need to have more fellowship with others who are also saved so we can relax our guard at least a little and enjoy being with others we can share our hearts with, and who can encourage us and hold us accountable too. The problem the Israelites had was that they didn't keep their guard up or keep in mind the difference between themselves and those who didn't have any experience with God at all other then what they'd experienced together since leaving Egypt. Perhaps if they had worked harder at teaching them what they knew about God, they might not have fallen so far or so hard like they did.
What I try to remind myself about the difference between me and the unsaved and the peril I'm in when with them, is that it would be a lot like asking an uneducated janitor for advice about my finances and accepting that they knew just as much as a financial adviser would. Both may be good people, but you sure don't want to bet your retirement on the janitors advice! That's how it is with the saved and unsaved. Both may seem to be good people, but you sure don't want to take the advice or worldview of the unsaved person to heart because regardless of how nice they are, they are still the child of the devil and your enemy and the enemy of your Savior. So I try to make my mind set such that I see my job with an unsaved person that I like to be one of teaching them as much as I can about God and hopefully getting them to come over to my side so I can finally really be friends with them.
Next you can hardly avoid realizing that their feelings are what started this whole thing. They began feeling impatient, worried, etc. and began focusing on that instead of focusing on what they already knew about God and all the miracles they'd experienced. That tells me again that we need to control our thoughts and emotions and not let them control us. If when they had started feeling impatient and worried, they had begun to start thinking about God and all He'd done and the laws He'd given them instead, they would have soon been reassured that there was nothing to be impatient or worried about. Another way of looking at it would be to see that they were focused on themselves, what they wanted, instead of focusing on God and what he wanted. That too is a good way to ensure that we keep our thoughts and emotions in control so we don't sin. To me, it seemed like they were acting like spoiled children demanding that they get what they wanted, when they wanted, how they wanted and not caring about anything or anyone other than themselves. Just like we do all the time.
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