Who do you serve?

Exodus 32:1-6 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, "Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." Aaron said to them, "Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." Now 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." So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

Idolatry is not simply spiritual ignorance. It is also deliberate turning away from the spiritual knowledge and worship of God. By nature, we as humans have difficulty exercising faith in the unseen. Human nature also grow impatient with God's method and timing of His work. What was true for the Israelites in Moses' day is all too true for many of us. The cry is for something that can be seen and touched. But when we turn to an idol, God is dishonored and man is misled, degraded, and exposed to the possibility of ruin. The idolatry of the Israelites was a very serious sin that had profound effects on them and led to dramatic intercessory prayer by Moses. Moses was on Mount Sinai forty days receiving the Law from God. The Israelites should have used that time to prepare themselves for the reception of the Law. Instead, they succumbed to the temptation to disobey the teachings of God that they had already received .
Moses, they implied, had forsaken them, so they would need another leader.

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, "Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." Yielding to their demand for an idol, Aaron told them to bring their golden earrings to him. Aaron said to them, "Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." In rejecting the authority of Moses, the people were actually rejecting God. With the gold he had received, Aaron made a statue of a calf. After making the calf, he constructed an alter for it and proclaimed a feast day. Aaron tried to pass off the calf as being representative of God by proclaiming the feast day as being "to the Lord".

While still on Mount Sinai, Moses was told about the idolatry of the Israelites. Exodus 32:7-8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, "Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. "They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'" He was told that God intended to destroy the rebellious people and replace them with a "great nation" which would descend from Moses. Exodus 32:9-10The Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. "Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation." He asked God to spare all of the people because of all that he had done for them. He feared that their destruction would only dishonor the Lord.

When Moses returned to the camp, He learned that God had indeed spoken the truth. What he saw completely dismayed and disgusted him. There were only 2 sides.. A right side and a wrong side. There was a side for God and a side against God. This was actually the second time Moses had interceded for the people in this sort of matter. Exodus 32:11-14 Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, "O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? "Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, 'With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever." So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. This time, however, he was ready to offer a sacrifice for atonement. Exodus 32:30 On the next day Moses said to the people, "You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." What could he offer? He decided to offer himself. Exodus 32:32 "But now, if You will, forgive their sin and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!" If the Israelites could not be forgiven any other way.. He was ready to be a sacrifice for them.

God would not allow Moses to be an atonement for the Israelites, however. Each individual would have to account for his or her own sin. Exodus 32:33 The Lord said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Moses would continue to serve as Israel's leader. In His own time and His own way, God would deal with the rebellious people. Surprisingly Aaron was not judged harshly, as he was permitted not only to live, but to continue to serve as Israels high priest.

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Taking captive means to kidnap. False teachers are "kidnappers. Satan is behind all unscriptural teachings and practices. In our society today, we do not see him using golden calves to entice people, but he does seek to lead them astray in other ways. One of the motivating factors in the idolatry of the israelites was their impatience. Perhaps they were weary of waiting for the promised land. They had been at Mount Sinai too long, they reasoned. They were ready to move on. "Make us gods which shall go before us", they demanded. They had a God who abode them and manifested His presence by a cloud and a pillar of fire. But they wanted more. They were hurrying to a land flowing with milk and honey and could not wait for the Lord to accomplish His purposes for and with them. We too sometimes get impatient with God, don't we? When we do, we are very likely to sin. In turning away from God, we probably turn to something else. That is the essence of idolatry.

Having been given a god which they could see and touch, the people worshipped it. They had made a god to please their fleshly nature and used religion as an excuse. Moses challenged them with the question of who was on the Lord's side. To be on God's side requires commitment. It requires trust. It means trusting and not trying to do things our way. It means not giving up on His promises. Are you serious in worshiping and serving the Lord? He has given specific instructions in all these matters. It is just as important for us to follow the paths He has laid out for our lives as it was for the Israelites to do so then.

Consider what decisions He might have you make now and what changes might be in order to make Your life more pleasing to Him.