Overview of: ExodusToday's Reading:
Ex. 32:1 – 33:23
"Idolatry and Mercy"
Focus Verses: Ex. 32:31-32
31 So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written."
Insight:
The Golden Calf was not some new invention of the Israelites. During the time of the Exodus, the image of "The Bull" was an object of worship in Egypt. It was also widely worshiped among their neighboring nations in the Ancient Near East.
Moses had been on Mount Sinai for forty days and nights--long enough for the people of Israel to speculate that something bad had happened to him. In his absence, they reverted to pagan idolatry and turned back to a god-image they had learned in Egypt. They fashioned a calf idol out of gold and then celebrated the deity it represented. They gave this bull-god credit for their deliverance from Egypt and then engaged in the pagan practices of ritualistic gluttony and sexual immorality.
What a stark and shocking reminder of just how far the people of Israel were from understanding or knowing the true God who had delivered them from slavery! Though Moses was angry with the people, but he begged God to forgive them.
Response and Action:
The people of Israel were so close to God, and yet so far away from him. Moses was in the very presence of God on Mt. Sinai, receiving God's promises and commands, but the people of Israel were distant, disobedient, and confused in the dark valley of their ignorance. They needed the commands and guidance Moses was receiving from God. They needed truth and light from God, and they needed to turn away from their idolatry and pagan ideas.
I need to draw near to God. The truth revealed to me in the Bible will help me to leave the darkness of my ignorance and help me to recognize the One True God. I need guard against confusing the truth of who God is with the many false concepts and beliefs so prevalent in the world around me.
O God, thank you for your Holy Word. I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Save me from ignorance and false gods. Thank you for Jesus who has made you known to me. Help me to follow in his way and to build my life upon the solid ground of his words. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
New Testament for Today: Colossians 1:13-14
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
In Context: Colossians 1:1-23
Proverb for Today: Prov.6:16-19
"There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers."
Resources:
Breaking the Idols of Your Heart
by Dan Allender and Tremper Longman
