The Golden Calf (Exodus 32)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Well good morning my name is Chet I'm one of the pastors here grab a Bible and go to Exodus chapter 32. if you don't have a Bible with you there should be a blue one in the under the seat in front of you if you don't own a Bible take this one with you we want you to own a Bible we are working our way through the book of Exodus and we have gotten through where God has had a covenant ceremony.
And then Moses goes up into the cloud on the mountain and God has been giving him instructions and we're told that he's been there for about 40 days and so what we've been looking at the past several weeks are the instructions that God gave him for the Tabernacle for the Altar for the Priestly garments and the whole point of all the things that God has been giving the people of Israel and these instructions that he's been given to Moses is that Moses would go back down the mountain they would create these things build them together.
So that God can dwell among them so that he can have a place among them and that he can be their God and they can be his people that they're going to be set apart over and against all the peoples of the world to belong to him and they're going to have a tabernacle where his presence dwells now we said a while back that he's remaking some of what was lost in the Garden of Eden it's not perfect he's not going to just dwell with them the way that.
God dwelled with Adam and Eve but he's working back to he's going to have a people in his place that he dwells among that his presence is there and it's it's not the same but he's restoring some of this and so that's where we are I'm going to pray and we're going to get into the text together Lord we pray that you would help us to see your glory in this passage we pray that you would help us to see our sin and the.
Lord through your spirit we would run to Christ and we ask this in Jesus name amen so we're going to read Exodus 32 together today and so I want you to start in Exodus 31 you're welcome Exodus 31 verse 18. this is how Exodus 31 is ending and it says and he that's God gave to Moses when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai the two tablets of the testimony tablets of stone written with the Finger of God.
God has finished speaking with Moses and he gives him the tablets of the testimony and he's saying okay now go go do all that I've commanded you go down the mountain and let's get this thing started that's where we are chapter 32. when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain oh no no no no no he's not delayed he's coming that's that's the tension we should immediately feel when we read this no he's got the tablets and he's coming he's not he's you're wrong he's on his way it's a big mountain he's been up there he had a lot to get.
But he's coming it says but when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain the people gathered themselves together to Aaron now Aaron is Moses his brother and Aaron has been left in charge Aaron and her we don't see her in the story but we do see Aaron gathered to Aaron Aaron's going to be the high priest Aaron doesn't know that but Moses is going to come down and say hey we're about to make you some beautiful glorious garments and you're going to be high priest they gather themselves to Aaron and said to him up 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 that's about as bad as it gets they're like hey Moses walked up into that cloud but he ain't come back we don't know what happened to him and so here's our suggestion now hear us out because it's going to be the dumbest suggestion you've ever heard up make us Gods who can go before us now if you'll remember back not 40 days ago.
For them or just that 40 days ago for them they had a covenant ceremony where Moses read The Ten Commandments and they practiced it they said everything you say everything you command us we will do and then the next day they had a government Covenant ceremony that is sacrifice he read it again and they say everything you command us we will do okay first commandment you will have no other gods before me second commandment do not make any Idols up make us some gods Moses has delayed we would like to aggressively break the.
First two Commandments this is a rejection of God a rejection of his Commandments is this is baffling so Aaron said to them take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives your sons and your daughters and bring them to me what we wanted Aaron to say was no shut up you're not allowed to talk for like three weeks go back into the camp but that's not what he says he says I'm gonna need some gold now these were slaves do you know how they all have gold.
God blessed them with it when he brought them out of Egypt he helped them plunder the Egyptians so they take what God has blessed them with they give it to Aaron verse 3. so all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron and he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf okay so that word calf when we hear it we think baby.
But it really means in the first one to three years so it in its prime it doesn't make it much better but it's some sort of a ox and that's what it's going to be called later in the in the Book of Psalms it's an ox and it's a healthy one the young healthy one that's what he makes and they said these are your Gods o Israel who brought you up out of the land of Egypt when Aaron saw this he built an altar before it and Aaron made a proclamation and said tomorrow shall be a feast to the.
Lord now you need to notice something interesting happen in this passage verse 4 these are your Gods o Israel now that God's there is the word Elohim and it's a plural word for God gods it is at times used to talk about God the one true God they call him Elohim which is a plural word and so it can be translated God or Gods but 90 something percent of the time and primarily in the book of Exodus in Genesis when they refer to.
God as Elohim all the verbs and sentence structure around it are singular so it's singular verbs singular singular singular and then God's plural Elohim which can be taken as God's but it's used to refer to God here they use the word Elohim which doesn't give us much Clarity but the Senate structure around it is plural so this is a pretty good Fair translation some of your Bible translations might translate it differently but this is a fair translation that what they are saying is here are your Gods this is representative of your God's plural.
And so it then Aaron though tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord capital L O R D we've already talked about this that's the Divine name for God Yahweh or Jehovah depending on how you you insert vowels and so he says you know it's the Lord so it seems as if they're saying let's break Commandments one and two and Aaron's trying to sue him down to just breaking the second one so he's calling it the Lord but he's made a calf What's Happening Here is that they've said this is who we're going to worship this is what's going to go before us Calvin says this is John Calvin who's one of the reformers he.
Says this is monstrous Madness mixed with stupidity and he points out the Cloud's still there like God's presence is still what are y'all what are y'all doing this is this is insanity this is the nation of Israel's fall if Adam and Eve fell in the garden and brought sin into the world as God's restoring this the nation of Israel collectively comes together to do the same thing that they reject the primary thing that God has taught them and so where we.
See Adam and Eve in the garden and then they fall into sin and everything falls apart we see God renewing restoring this relationship building it back fixing it rescuing them he's going to dwell among the people and they immediately undo it and if you are not a Christian and I know that even some Christians struggle with this concept but if you're not a Christian what you can often think is God has rules I'm supposed to follow the rules and he's mad at me.
For not following the rules and you can think that it seems wildly unfair and we'll say things like how could God send good people to hell how can I know somebody who they're just nice they're a good person and I just don't see how God could send them to hell but what you've got to wrap your head around is this is the primary sin is a rejection of God and a worship of something else this rejection of God and a worship of something else that.
God has designed the world that he might relate to us as creatures that we might love him and know him and and he might endear himself to us and that we might belong to him and that we might be his people and there would be joy and Delight in that that he is the greatest above all things and what we do is we pick something else to worship and love it says verse 6. and they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings this is the same thing they did in the Covenant ceremony with him 40 days ago and the people sat down to eat and drink and Rose.
Up to play that word carries um debaucherous sexual connotations and that Paul even refers to don't commit sexual immoral immorality like they did so this becomes a wild party they are off the rails this is what Psalm 106 says about this is we're to understand this idea of worshiping something else Psalm says this they 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 but that's that's the primary sin is that we exchange the glory of.
God for some created thing some lesser thing that we swap him out for something else that's what Paul says in Romans that we exchange the glory of the Eternal God for images resembling beasts and calling things that we exchange the glory of God for a creature rather than the Creator and so this is idolatry this is the worship of something else this is the placing your hope in something else and so I want to trace out a few of the things that go into this.
First they say to him up make us Gods who will go before us if we're going to worship something else we usually we're going to pick something that we're going to base our whole life around this is going to go before us this is going to give us purpose this is going to give us Direction so that if you are worshiping something other than God you've picked a thing that wakes you up in the morning that gives you a reason to live that gives you guidance.
For how you're going to spend your days it goes before you it's the thing that helps you know Who You Are it's the thing that you look at and you say if I just have this then I'll be happy then I'll be fulfilled and then everything will be right that's idolatry that's the thing we picked that we're going to spend our time and devote ourselves to the other thing that if you'll look at this if you'll notice is that we often take something that.
God has given us so they took the gold that God had given them we have to take a good thing that God gave us and make it an ultimate thing y'all know the cake is delicious right but if you only eat cake you die I'm pretty sure it's not good for you I don't know if anybody's ever tested it it's meant to be in the spot that cake is supposed to be in a delicious good gift but not an ultimate thing and that's how everything works where.
God gives you health or he gives you physical ability or he makes you attractive or he makes you intelligent or he gives you a good job or whatever He blesses you with a thing and it's meant to stay in the spot for that in the food pyramid of your life it's meant to be there where it takes up that amount of space and it's a good gift it's a blessing but it's not meant to shift into an ultimate thing but the problem is we take good gifts that.
God gives us and we make them ultimate things most of the time when we pick an idolatrous something it's not a bad thing it's usually a blessing that we just make into an ultimate thing a God-level thing like children they become what you worship and serve and build your life around they become what makes you say I know I'm okay if or Romance becomes what you worship and serve and build your life around I know I'm okay if this goes before me this sets my day this helps me know who I am or work or attractiveness or physical health or whatever we pick something that's usually a good thing that.
God has given us and we place it in an ultimate spot and therefore it gets out of order and it's wrong the other thing I think we should notice from this passage about Idols is that they take work they don't move themselves they don't build themselves they take our effort our work to accomplish that he had to craft this into a calf and so whatever your idol is it's usually something that you're saying I'm building my life around this this helps me know who I am it's usually a good thing and it's usually something that you're putting in a lot of work.
For takes a lot of energy and time so if you want to try to discern where is that in my life look for those three things and you'll find most likely something that you have built an idol out of and this is the fundamental sin this is the sin and so they commit the sin which is a rejection of God a worship of something else they undo his whole plan which is he's they're going to belong to him and he's going to be among them and they're just like we're going to move on.
Now Christians we're in danger of doing this too we're in danger of taking a good thing and making it an ultimate thing but we're also in danger of doing what Aaron seems to be doing remaking God where he says it's the Lord we're remaking Jesus into something else I want to point something out to you about that I love about this Psalm Passage they exchange the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass foreign I love how much shade is thrown in those three words an ox like a like an ox like one that eats grass and you immediately go yes.
So dumb and it is but you know why they picked an ox because everyone around them picked an ox that's why they picked an ox because an ox to them represented cultivation you need an ox to get crops so represented strength it represented uh being fertile both in uh cultivation and in your Fields but also in your house and everybody had an ox and so what we're in danger of is going that's so dumb but I don't think we can say that's.
So dumb I would never do that I think what we have to say is that's so dumb I'd pick something that more suits my taste I would pick something way better than a calf and we see this you'll talk to people who have just rebranded Jesus and the more you talk to them more you understand what they're talking about it's like hi that Jesus just sounds a lot like a capitalist he doesn't have a lot to say about loving the poor he doesn't have a lot to say about how the love of money is dangerous he just he's kind of you've twisted this up like.
If you've ever seen a picture of Jesus holding an AR-15 it's like you've rebranded him to something that you like so that you'll talk to somebody and they'll have like you're like that Jesus just sounds a lot like a Republican or you talk to somebody and you'll be a part of a Church and you're just like that Jesus man he sounds a whole lot like he's bought into the idea that God just wants me to be happy and that doesn't mean the rejection of sin and the embracing of him is our ultimate Delight it means the pursuit of whatever I want or you talk to him and talk to someone and it's like ah you.
Really think Jesus won't tell you who you're allowed to love you don't think he's going to come in and say this is bad for you this is wrong for you that he's going to just co-sign anything you have to say because you sound a lot more like the sexual Revolution you sound a lot more like things I'm reading on the internet you sound a lot more like what's popular right now than you then you line up with this and this happens where he gets re-branded.
And so we've changed it we've crafted him into something that fits with us better that actually we change him so that we don't have to change and then we say it's a feast to the Lord and it's wrong that he's been reshaped and sometimes we do this intentionally and sometimes we do it unintentionally due to our sin but this is what it says here I want you to understand that it's not just the times that we're doing that but it's every time we sin that we're practicing some form of idolatry.
Because it says they forgot God their savior who had done great things in Egypt and you know that every time we sin in some small form we're practicing that we're forgetting our God is doing great things for us we're forgetting that Jesus is our ultimate Delight I'll give you an example I know I'm not trying to brag I am a pastor but I know I'm not supposed to lie I know that I learned it in seminary I didn't get an mdiv.
But I did learn this don't lie but I know I'm not supposed to lie but you all know there are times where I catch myself lying sometimes I don't even catch myself I just think about it later and in that moment I didn't want to please Jesus I wanted something else I wanted to please another person I wanted them to think highly of me I wanted them to not think lowly of me I won't even fight him for highly I was just fighting.
For neutral I wanted to not have to leave my house and help them there's a lot of things we might lie for and what you might lie about and what I might lie about might be different but the reality is in that moment we want something more than we want Jesus we forgotten how good he is and we do this with all of our sin we do this when we gossip we want something more than we want Jesus we do this.
When we should help someone we make excuses we do this when we should be generous and we aren't we do this when we commit sexual sin we just want something more than we want Jesus in that moment and that's idolatry we're telling ourselves this will make me happy this will fill me up this will give me joy this will give me the light and it'll do it better than Jesus Does I know I'm not supposed to have sex but I really want a boyfriend.
And so whatever you're willing to sin to have is ultimately something that you value more than God and so I don't think we can read this passage and go what fools without acknowledging I think I'm at the base of the mountain I'm not up there with Moses I don't think I'm the one up there doing what's right I think I'm the one down there pulling my earrings out verse 7. and the Lord said to Moses go down for your people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves they have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them they have made.
For themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said these are your Gods o Israel who brought you up out of the land of Egypt this would be like on your honeymoon watching your wedding video and seeing your spouse kissing someone in the wedding party in the video I mean just as as cataclysmically awful as you can possibly imagine the the derailing heartbreaking nature of this he's got him he's rescued them they're going to be his people he's going to dwell among them and they say we don't know where Moses went it's been too long and it's an utter rejection of all of that and the.
Lord said to Moses I have seen this people and behold it is a stiff-necked people now therefore let 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 he says leave me alone I'm going to destroy them and we'll restart with you 11. but Moses implored the Lord his God and said O Lord why does your wrath burn hot against your your people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand did you.
Notice that God said you were people who you brought out of Egypt and then Moses says no you're people who you brought out of Egypt God says they're not mine anymore Moses says no they are they're your people why should the Egyptians say with the evil intent did he bring them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the Earth turn from your burning anger and relent from This Disaster against your people remember Abraham Isaac and Israel your servants to whom you swore by your own self and said to them I 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 Moses says no remember your promises remember who you are remember that they belong to you remember be you that's what he's saying and the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people now you can tie yourself in a theological knot in this passage trying to understand how does a sovereign God who's planned all of this have a moment where he relents but he relents of something he spoke about doing and in the way he spoke about this in some ways he invited Moses to be an intermediary.
But this text is written so that we would see how much the people of Israel need an intermediary they don't know it but they needed Moses on the mountain pleading on their behalf they needed someone to stand in between them and God because they they need someone to stand in between them and God because of their sin and we're supposed to see God relenting out of his own goodness and out of his own choice and will to include Moses and how this works.
But we're also meant to see Moses who whined and came up with weird excuses about why he should not have to go in the first place who now stands with God and says please remember your promises and be good to them and God relents from what he had spoken about doing verse 15 then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand tablets that were written on both sides on the front and on the back they were written the tablets were the work of.
God and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets now the text just zoomed us beautifully in on how wonderful these tablets are and it did that on purpose verse 17. when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted so Joshua was midway Moses went up been talking to God Joshua's just been hanging out in the middle because he's waiting for Moses he's been camping out above the camp but below the cloud and Moses comes down to him he sees Moses he hears the noise down there and Joshua who leads in military things says this there is a noise of war in the camp.
Verse 18 but he said it is not the sound of shouting for victory or the sound of Cry of defeat but the sound of singing that I hear how bad do you sing that it sounds like War but it also means that we're not supposed to picture them holding hands and chanting in unison but a debaucherous chaotic celebration he says no that's a party and as soon as they came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing Moses anger burned hot and he threw the tablets out of his hand and broke them at the foot of the mountain that's why I zoomed in and told us how wonderful they were and it's this.
Picture of how wonderful everything was about to be and how shattered everything is now he was about to be exactly his God wants with them he's restoring it he's building them back into his people he's going to dwell among them and it's ruined I know a story of a lady who's felt like her husband was not holding up his marriage covenant and when he came home she had her China out and she was just breaking their wedding China while she was talking to him he said what are you doing she said I'm caring about our covenant as much as you do that's what this is he took the calf they had made.
So he just marches in 80 something year old Moses he's hot took the calf they have made and burned it with fire grounded to powder scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it all this stuff's still going on snatches it down Burns it I don't know how long he has the weight before burning it to grind it but he turns it not into a calf but he's not done it's not like he melted it was like next step no he grinds that into powder.
And then he stands there throwing it in the water it's like here you go y'all gonna drink that gold lip fools it doesn't say that part but I'll just he made the people of Israel drink it verse 21 Moses said to Aaron what did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them and Aaron said let not the anger of my Lord burn hot you know the people that they are set on evil which to be fair they haven't been the greatest they followed them around complaining and whining and surrounding them multiple times and tried to fight like they haven't been this isn't been the easiest group of people.
To lead but it's not because these people are worse than other people it's because these people are people and if we wandered around the desert together we'd also do some of this mess he says you know the people that they're set on evil in verse 23 4 they said to me 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.
So I said to them let any who have gold take it off so they gave it to me and I threw it into the fire and out came this calf I feel like that's kind of how his story had to go it had to start breaking down to the end y'all know he was quoting word for word what they said to him like he Nails it they said to me make us Gods who shall go before us ask for this Moses though they brought you up they said the man who brought us out of Egypt we don't know what happened to him.
So I said to them let me have your gold and then I took the gold and then there was I know remember there was a fire through I threw the gold in the fire I don't think I did anything else I think then it was a magic calf you ever talked to a kid in the middle of them being called in something that's what this sounds like to me what happened well he pushed me and then I don't like what comes after end.
Then give me a second how do I say I punched him in the face that's that's what that's where we're at this is pitiful out came this calf no response from Moses I think we're to assume he stares at Aaron like you've got to be kidding me 25 and when Moses saw that the people had broken loose for Aaron had let them break loose the division of their enemies if you were tempted to think Aaron didn't have a choice this passage says no Aaron could have led no Aaron could have had a backbone and I want to take just a.
Second there are a lot of people in this this room that lead things but I want to take just a second to speak to men culturally right now you're told a lot that you're the problem and that men are bad that's not true bad men are bad passive men are bad and you need to be real careful the times that you say it's them when it was really ah you should have led verse 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said who is on the Lord's Side come to me and I think he has to say this a bunch he's calling people to himself all the sons of Levi gathered around.
Him that's his tribe Moses and Aaron of the Trap of Levi Levi shows up he said to them thus says the Lord God of Israel put your sword on your side each of you and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor stop this find the people who are doing it and stop it and so they do verse 28 the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses and that day about 3 000 men of the people fell and Moses said.
Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord each one at the cost of his son and of his brother so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day faithfulness to God is often costly but it's worth it prior to this it does seem like it was in God's intent that the tribe of Levi would be as a tribe levitical priests but it's not mentioned and it seems like in this moment is where God seals it that it's not just going to be the sons of Aaron.
But it's going to be the whole tribe of Levi that's going to get to carry the being ordained set apart for his service seems like it we're slurdy so it settles down it goes from off the rails to a lot of death the amount of excitement this is a quiet and awkward and sad and the next day Moses said to the people you have sinned a great sin and now I will go up to the Lord perhaps I can make atonement.
For your sin so Moses returned to the Lord he walks up this mountain takes a while and he said alas this people has sinned a great sin they have made for themselves gods of gold but now if you will forgive them but if not Please block me out of your book that you have written and if you don't love Moses yet you should love him now because when he said maybe I can make atonement he meant maybe he'll take me instead maybe I can swap places with y'all you have sinned a great sin it's not that they've killed all the Sinners it's no collectively we've still.
So catechism cataclysmically failed and broken this Covenant judgment is on us but maybe maybe he'll let me swap out so he says if you'll forgive them forgive him but if you won't that can't happen can you take me instead 33. but the Lord said to Moses Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book God says no but now go lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you behold my angel shall go before you nevertheless in the day.
When I visit I will visit their sin upon them we're going to come back to 33 and 34. I want to finish the chapter 3 35. then the Lord sent a plague on the people because they made the calf the one that Aaron made because they made the calf the one that Aaron made so if we were unsure earlier as to whether or not Moses believed Aaron's story he does not but look at 33 and 34. the Lord said to Moses whoever sinned against me I will blot out of my book.
So who's that that's all of them but now go lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you behold my angel shall go before you nevertheless and the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them now 32-34 are meant to be read together and this gets clearer because at first you read this and go oh okay good good right like crisis averted but no this isn't good at all because what he says is go I'll send my angel the day I show up everyone pays.
For their sin and in 33 he's going to say I'm not coming because there's no way for me to come and not kill everybody safest thing not the best thing but the safest thing for them is that I'm not a part of this anymore I'll get you to the promised land but the whole plan of me belonging to you and you belonging to me is done and this is where I think we've got a wrap our head around idolatry and sin sometimes we say things like.
Well it's just not that big a deal I don't know why he cares that much I don't know why he can't just get over it and I want you to know that the Covenant he made with them and the Covenant that he desires for us is that we would belong to him and he would belong to us this is why the Bible talks about it as adultery and it's like you saying I don't know what she's so been out of shape about I know that they're married.
But why can't he just have a girlfriend it's like that it's because that's the whole point of marriage is that you won't have a girlfriend that was what you committed to and that's the whole design here is that we would belong solely to him and they would belong solely to him and he would belong to them and there would be delight and joy in this and he says I can't come because your sin stands in the way and I want you to know this the thing you want most in the world is that.
God would visit you and that you would belong to him the thing you crave and desire is that you would be able to Delight in him because he is wonderful that's the thing you want most but the thing you can't have and that you should fear is that God would show up and you would be in your sin what he's wanting is for him to belong to them but if he was up and their sin is there so the thing I most want is to get to belong to.
God and the thing I most fear is that he'd show up and I'd be in my sin and what we needed and what they needed was for God to say yes to Moses can you take me and forgive their sin and God says no because Moses is a sinner he doesn't even get to go into the Promised Land but what we needed was God to say yes so that we can have him visit us we can belong to him but not be in our sin we need somebody to go up the mountain.
God to say yes you can atone for their sin and that's what Jesus Does Jesus does what Moses can't do because Jesus is God who becomes a man and he's a man so he can stand on our side and he can stand in our place and he can live a perfect life but he's God so that he can live sinlessly and he can actually atone and so where Moses fails Jesus succeeds Moses walks up the mountain and says can you take me instead.
God says no and mo Jesus walks up the mountain and says can you take me and said instead and God says yes and that's what Peter comes and he proclaims in Acts 3 says this repent therefore and turn back that your sins may be blotted out that if we run to Jesus and ask for forgiveness he forgives because he's able to and those are your options be in your sin and be blotted out or have Jesus blot your sin out because there is a day.
When God visits and when he does he will visit the sin upon the people they'll pay for it but if you've trusted in Jesus your sin has been paid for there is no sin to visit upon you y'all this is the tension throughout the whole Bible that's what's going to be carried out throughout the rest of Exodus and moving forward is how is God going to have a people that belong to him how is he going to fix this problem because they're all sinful how will he ever bridge this Gap and the answer is.
Jesus Jesus is the one who unties this so that we can have God and not have our sin because Jesus can blot our sin out and if you don't love Jesus you should love him now you should see that he walks up the mountain and says can you take me instead and God says yes and Jesus dies so that you won't be in your sin so that you can have what you ultimately desire which is God and all the delight and all the life that comes with them let's pray.
Lord we're we're sinners and we're so thankful for Jesus that he blots out our sin that we have hope in you and you alone and so Lord may we trust in you may we worship you may we Delight in you may we run from our idolatry to you in Jesus name amen the band's going to come back up and I want you to know your hope is not that you will not be an idolater your hope is that Jesus walks up the mountain and pays.
For idolaters that's what Moses walked up there to do can I pay the debt of their idolatry and Jesus walks up and doesn't say they're all perfectly worshiping they're all perfectly loving they're all perfectly their hearts set on me he he goes up and says can I pay the debt of idolaters that's our hope and that's what we're going to sing about and rejoicing right now is that our hope is Jesus and only Jesus and nothing else.