Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20100926.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Exodus: God's Forming The Nation Israel For His Abrahamic Covenant
Part II: God's Forming Israel To Heed Him, Exodus 15:22-40:38
L. Interlude: Correcting Israel's Waywardness From Heeding God
1. Guidelines On Discerning Institutional Evils
(Exodus 32:1-6)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    We have a great need today to be able to discern how to stay personally upright amid a world of perceived evils in institutions:

    (1) Many people now distrust all sorts of human institutions:

    (a) Paul Hughes' article, "Year of the outsider'" in the September 20, 2010 issue of the Republican-American, p. 1A, cited a political scientist in Fairfield, Connecticut who observed a climate of "distrust that many people have toward government, and not just government institutions, but institutions in general.'"

    (b) Reflecting this distrust, Carl Paladino, a Republican candidate for governor of New York, was cited as saying on pate 6A of the same paper: "There is no such thing as Democrats vs. Republicans anymore. It's a ruling class of people vs. the people. That's it."

    (2) Spiritual evils often plague even religious institutions. A story on page 8A of the paper by AP reporter, Jacob Adelman, titled, "Missing cult members found alive," told how Reyna Marisol Chicas of Palmdale, California led 12 followers in her distorted teaching on the Rapture of the Church to leave "behind cell phones, identifications, deeds to property and letters indicating they were awaiting the Rapture" and go to an undisclosed location.

    Fear of a potential religious group suicide in view of the fact that children were reported to be in the group spurred police to make a frantic search of much of Southern California! Thankfully, a tip led them to find the group safe in a Littlerock, California park.

    News of events like this often leads people to view Churches like us that hold to the Bible's truth on the Rapture as somewhat cultic!



    So, as perceived evils plague various institutions and leads many to distrust all sorts of groups, we ask, "How can I discern evils so as to stay upright in relating to institutions?!"

    Need: "How may I discern evil to stay upright in institutions?!"

  1. Exodus 32:1-6 documents the rise of institutional evil in Israel:
    1. When the people saw Moses stayed long on the mount, they belittled him, and met to press Aaron to make gods to lead them, Exodus 32:1!
    2. Aaron knew they were wrong (Ex. 32:22), but, fearing the crowd, he told them to give him their gold earrings (Ex. 32:2). Earrings were often thought to be protective charms ( Zon. Pict. Ency. Bib., v. Two, p. 177; Gen. 35:4), so Aaron aimed to make the people rethink their proposal since it would cost them their personal charm protection!
    3. The people were so intent on idolatry they gave up the gold, Ex. 32:3!
    4. Aaron still hoped to avoid idolatry, so he formed the gold into a young bull, Ex. 32:4a. In Egypt from which Israel had come, a young bull would serve as a seat for an unseen god ( Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 155, 512), revealing Aaron formed the animal in hope that the people would view it as the mere base upon which Israel's True God dwelt.
    5. However, the people treated the bull as a god (Ex. 32:4b), so Aaron built an altar in front of it and announced a feast unto the True God so they would worship the True God, not the bull, Exodus 32:5; Ibid.!
    6. By then the people were so wild, they became immoral (sahaq, Ex. 32:6) in line with the bull's pagan fertility symbolism, Ibid., p. 155!
  2. Examining Exodus 32:1-6 in its context exposes at least 13 signals we can use to discern evil in institutions to stay personally upright:
    1. The Signal of Impatience: the people came to errant ideas on Moses and God when they were impatient, Ex. 32:1a (1 Tim. 5:22, 24-25).
    2. The Signal of Great Insecurity: fear of the vacuum of a godly leader and a protective deity led the people to want a substitute god, Ibid.
    3. The Signal of Peer Pressure: the people assembled and pressured Aaron (Ex. 32:1b), and he yielded to them, violating Exodus 23:2a.
    4. <+@>The Signal of an Inverted Role Order: God's role order was inverted as the crowd led and Aaron obeyed, Ex. 32:1c-6 versus Ex. 24:14.
    5. The Signal of Illogic: The people told Aaron to make gods to lead them, Ex. 32:1d, but it is illogical for man to follow a man-made god!
    6. The Signal of Ignoring God's Validations of His Leaders: to belittle Moses (Ex. 32:1e), the people had to ignore the fact that he spoke to God face to face (Ryrie St. Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Dt. 34:10), and that no other mortal did the miracles God had him do, Dt. 34:11-12.
    7. The Signal of Self-Contradiction: the people contradicted themselves, claiming Moses had led them from Egypt (Ex. 32:1f) only to belittle Moses and claim the calf god had led them from Egypt (Ex. 32:4)!
    8. The Signal of A Misplaced Trust: the gold earrings for the calf came from the spoils of Egypt when God rescued Israel by the plagues on Egypt's futile gods (Ex. 12:12, 35-36; Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Ex 32:2), so to worship a god that was formed from the spoils Israel took from Egypt in an Egyptian theological format was a misplacement of trust!
    9. The Signal of Growing Unholiness: Aaron's efforts to placate the crowd by yielding to their ungodly wishes versus countering them only empowered the people to sin all the more, Exodus 32:2-6.
    10. The Signal of Ignoring God's Experiential Evidences:
      1. Israel had seen Moses enter a fiery cloud on Mount Sinai, which cloud stayed there during his time with God, Exodus 24:17-18.
      2. Also, all 40 days that Moses was on the mount (Ex. 24:18), God had faithfully provided manna for Israel's food needs, Ex. 16:35.
      3. Thus, there was no need for Israel to need a substitute god: the True God always gave evidence of His presence and His care !
    11. The Signal of Ignoring God's Word:
      1. The people knew God's Ten Commandments, Exodus 24:3.
      2. The 1st command prohibited idolatry, the 2nd one banned making images (Ex. 20:2-6) and the 7th one forbade adultery (Ex. 20:14).
      3. Israel violated all 3 in Exodus 32:1-6, so she ignored God's Word!
    12. The Signal of Ignoring God's Past Personal Guidance:
      1. When Moses had previously read the Ten Commandments to them, the people had formally agreed to obey them, Exodus 24:7-8.
      2. Thus, failure to heed God's past personal Exodus 24:7-8 guidance led to the peoples' Exodus 32:1-6 idolatry just opposite what 2 Timothy 3:13-14 directs us to do today with God's past leading!
    13. The Signal of Gross Unfaithfulness: only 40 days before, the people had pledged to heed all of God's laws (Ex. 24:7-18), so to take only 40 days to go from promising to heed God's laws to full-orbed, immoral pagan worship exhibited gross unfaithfulness!
Application: May we (1) trust in Christ as Savior to become a child of God whom He leads, John 3:16; Romans 8:14. (2) May we discern and stay upright in institutions via the above guidelines by dependence upon the Holy Spirit's power, Galatians 5:16.

Lesson: To discern and stay upright in institutional issues, may we take the tests listed above to discern evil in staying personally upright, and rely on the indwelling Holy Spirit to stay personally upright, Galatians 5:16.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 The Lord powerfully applied this message last week.

I was given a book by a member of our Church who felt it would edify as one of its authors was a Christian leader of a reputable organization that I have often cited in past messages.

So, assuming it would edify, I began to read the work, but, in doing so, noticed very upsetting ideas! It held "there are many things that we can do to make our churches more culturally relevant to the 20-something generation," adding that the youth "might totally reinvent what church' looks like . . .", that traditional pastors like me should reexamine their call to the ministry, hinting it might be better for us to get out of the pastorate!

Stunned that these ideas were in a book by an author who led a group I have long respected, as I prepared and applied four points of this sermon out of Exodus 32:1-6, the Lord countered the book's ideas:

I recalled reading the 1996 book, The Coming Evangelical Crisis co-authored by 14 reputable evangelical leaders that reported on page 33 that evangelicals in the last half of the 20th century had tried to "engage the larger world of thought and culture"! The result was "the theological unity that once marked the movement" had "given way to a theological pluralism that was precisely what many of the founders of modern evangelicalism had rejected in mainline Protestantism." Thus, these 14 reputable leaders would hold (1) to make a Church "culturally relevant" as the book I was given suggested would corrupt it with error and unholiness like parts of evangelicalism are now corrupted!

(2) I also recalled the signals of God's gifting and work over the years indicate He has called me to perform precisely this ministry.

(3) Also, I remembered that Scripture teaches the Church is to be led by mature men, that novices should NOT lead it, 1 Timothy 3:6!

(4) I also recalled that God had signaled in recent months how very effective is what we now do in the ministry of His Word toward the discipling of especially several people in their 20s !

So, based on applying four of the 13 points in this message out of a passage we happen to be scheduled to view today, I knew I was to resist these ideas in question though they had come from a reputable author I have often cited. I was to resist these ideas to heed the Lord!

So, may we heed the lessons of Israel's institutional failure in Exodus 32:1-6 to discern God's will for us and stay upright!