Exodus 32:25-35

Transcript

00:00:01:04 – 00:00:38:52
Clint Loveall
Hey, everybody. Happy Monday. Thanks for starting the week with us as we continue through to this year. I maybe have a little Michael, maybe a rough way to start the week as we continue to unpack the story of the Golden calf And the last we saw, Moses has confronted Aaron today. Moses in some way begins to try to get the people back under control and that this happens in a in a very harsh manner.

00:00:38:52 – 00:00:58:21
Clint Loveall
So let me read this then we can we can talk about it. Moses saw that the people were running wild for Aaron had let them run wild to the derision of their enemies. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me and all the sons of Levi gathered around him.

00:00:58:21 – 00:01:31:28
Clint Loveall
He said to them, Dust, says the Lord, the God of Israel, Put your sword on your side. Each of you go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp. Each of you kill your brother, your friend and your neighbor. The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about 3000 fell on that day. Moses said, Today you have ordained yourself for the service of the Lord, each one of you at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day.

00:01:32:02 – 00:02:03:21
Clint Loveall
So really harsh story. Really interesting story. There are those and I don’t know the ins and outs of the history or the interpretation, but there are those who suggested that underlying this story is something more akin to actual rebellion, that perhaps between the lines in this story you read of a faction that rose up against Moses and that there was a sort of civil war.

00:02:03:45 – 00:02:28:10
Clint Loveall
I don’t know that there’s anything on the surface of the text that would justify that or would support that, But it has been suggested in both Jewish and Christian history that there is a deeper, darker story here that we now only catch a glimpse of through this narrative. Nevertheless, because we don’t know that we take this for what it’s written.

00:02:29:13 – 00:03:05:49
Clint Loveall
And Moses here again, shows the seriousness of this sin, the seriousness of this idolatry, this disobedience, and that the people are running amok, that justice must be meted out, that order must be restored. And that turns into a quasi military action where people have to attack their kids, people, their kinsmen, and try to subdue the nation again. The people who at this point, at least as it’s painted here in the text, have gone completely off the deep end.

00:03:06:00 – 00:03:35:47
Michael Gewecke
Yeah. So obviously you come to attacks like this and it’s disturbing. And as you reflect upon that idea that Moses is calling to himself, the people who are going to be set apart for religious service, you see what precipitates that. And I think it leaves a lot of questions open for us as modern readers, certainly, but also as simply Christians seeking to read this in the old Testament.

00:03:35:47 – 00:03:56:42
Michael Gewecke
I think a few things might be helpful context. I don’t know that we’re going to come up with a satisfying, quote unquote answer to what’s happening here, But I do think there’s a few things we need to remember. The first is that God, in the context of Exodus, is the holy calling, justifying God that God has been faithful to the Covenant.

00:03:57:00 – 00:04:21:16
Michael Gewecke
And here, this idea that the people have been unfaithful is not just that they made a mistake, but it is that they’ve decided to live fully outside of that covenant with God. They have taken it upon themselves to to pleasure themselves, to live without any rule, without any order, to simply follow their own path instead of following the path the dog clearly laid out.

00:04:21:37 – 00:04:56:49
Michael Gewecke
And that kind of infraction in the face of a holy God. Certainly within the context of the Exodus, Old Testament narrative is one for which there is no simple restoration, and there’s nothing that these people can do to get themselves back into the circle. And the reality is, when these folks have sinned against a sinless God, this action is in some ways considered within the realm of the text to be a right judgment that this is not God being vindictive or God going the extra mile.

00:04:56:49 – 00:05:18:57
Michael Gewecke
This is God calling the people to account for the thing that they’ve done. And so one contextual element of this is this may strike us as very, very challenging in the text, but there’s a sense in which for the original readers, I think, that this may be the just desserts, that this may actually be the right response. And I’m thinking of that in the righteous sense response.

00:05:19:15 – 00:05:49:55
Michael Gewecke
Now, I also think it’s worth noting, you know, what Moses says here is substantial. He says here in verse 26, I believe, who is on the Lord’s side, come to me. And that’s the fundamental question of this text is on whose side are you on whether or not there’s a rebellion side? There are certainly a side here that’s chosen to be outside of God’s way and therefore to be outside of God’s people.

00:05:49:55 – 00:05:59:47
Michael Gewecke
And the call here to do this that’s very, very difficult to describe thing is clearly rooted in that choice.

00:06:00:50 – 00:06:33:01
Clint Loveall
Yeah. And keep in mind that we saw the conversation between Moses and God. Moses remembers that God was ready to wipe out the entire people. God was ready to let His wrath eradicate the entire nation of Israel. Except for Moses. And so we see again, the seriousness here, the the threat that this kind of behavior, that this kind of disobedience brings with it.

00:06:33:27 – 00:07:12:23
Clint Loveall
And and Moses is determined as the leader to quell this revelry, as he called it, and to get order. And that comes here at the cost of life. And the priests, the sons of Levi, that’s essentially code for priests, distinguished themselves, as you said, Michael, with service on God’s side, that that they strike down those who are guilty, that they punish those who have been wicked.

00:07:12:39 – 00:07:40:33
Clint Loveall
Now, that’s uncomfortable for us. That’s all kinds of issues being raised. And yet in the context of the story, that is what they deserve. That is justice, or at least through the lens of the text. That’s what justice looks like in this episode, in this instance. And so, yeah. And Moses, you know, we see that again at the end of the text verse 29, there.

00:07:40:35 – 00:08:18:12
Clint Loveall
Moses commends the people. You’ve ordained yourselves for service at the cost of a life, at the cost of a brother or son. And you brought a blessing on yourself to this state. Choosing to do the right. But hard thing is, is a feather in the cap of the priest. It is a compliment to them that they have been they have counted themselves on the Lord’s side, even at the cost of harming their own kin’s people, of harming their own nation, their own countrymen.

00:08:18:34 – 00:08:31:13
Clint Loveall
And so, again, I you know, I don’t know what you do with this text other than to say this is the seriousness with which idolatry is viewed in the context of Exodus.

00:08:31:33 – 00:08:55:49
Michael Gewecke
Yeah. And maybe the seriousness of the rupture of the people of God’s relationship with God. You know, all of this language about order, the law given which, you know, we know that Clint is touching on different aspects both for and against the powerless. You know, it both protects those who need protected. And in some ways it also protects those who don’t need protected.

00:08:56:04 – 00:09:39:59
Michael Gewecke
But yet the law is clear. It’s it it seeks to provide structure for the people. And here in the moment of the people structure being completely dismantled, the the idol springing forth, as Aaron said, and the people’s complete sort of lot loss or lack of any kind of ethical boundary. This is the final straw. And Moses, interestingly, doesn’t you know, he doesn’t claim that he doesn’t claim some kind of a position here.

00:09:39:59 – 00:10:01:40
Michael Gewecke
He does say verse 27, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel. Right? So in that way he invokes the name of the God. But I think it’s striking that the narrator didn’t tell us that God had this encounter with Moses. I mean, for this time on the mountain, we never heard God say to Moses, This is the prescription of what will happen.

00:10:01:40 – 00:10:31:13
Michael Gewecke
I think in texts like this, the texts that are disturbing that that are difficult to read, sometimes the lack of detail is itself a component of the story. There’s some mystery as to what’s going on here, and it’s not been filled in. And besides a couple of people speculating, I mean, we’re not going to we’re not going to know exactly what’s in fields here other than the severity of the rupture between God and the people and the cost that has now been paid for that rupture.

00:10:31:19 – 00:10:55:44
Clint Loveall
Yeah, interestingly, but perhaps not accidentally. God doesn’t comment on it at all. There’s no before there’s no instruction given to Moses that he should do this, at least that we’re privy to. He does present it as in God’s name, but afterwards there’s nothing about it either. In fact, if we continue here, we see that God is not yet done with the people.

00:10:56:04 – 00:11:12:45
Clint Loveall
And this I think Michael is a fascinating I don’t know if we’ll be able to finish this today. Maybe we’ll carry it over tomorrow. But on the next day Moses said to the people, You’ve sinned a great sin, but now I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make an atonement for your sin. So Moses returned to the Lord.

00:11:13:03 – 00:11:33:46
Clint Loveall
And so the last people have sinned, a great sin and made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will only forgive their sin. But if not, blot me out of the book that you have written. But the Lord said to Moses, who ever sinned against me, I will blot out of my book, but now go lead the people to the place about which I’ve spoken to.

00:11:33:46 – 00:11:55:15
Clint Loveall
You see, my angel shall go in front of you. Nevertheless, when the day comes for punishment, I will punish them for their sin. Then the Lord sent a plague on the people because they made the calf the one that Aaron made. So there is a lot going on in this section. We have again Moses acting as the mediator.

00:11:55:24 – 00:12:15:59
Clint Loveall
I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement. That is a loaded word, Michael. If we read that through the lens of the New Testament and through the story of Jesus, we know something of atonement. It’s fascinating here that that word is spoken by Moses in this context as the mediator. So Moses went up to the Lord.

00:12:15:59 – 00:12:41:04
Clint Loveall
He says they’ve sinned. He acknowledges the greatness of their sin. They have given. I mean, they’ve paid for this in some blood. And then he says, if you will only forgive them. But as a true leader, he says, if not, blot me out of the book you have written. These are bold words, you know, essentially saying, look, Lord, if you’re not going to forgive them, then just I’ll take their fate.

00:12:41:15 – 00:13:00:39
Clint Loveall
I don’t maybe this harkens back to that conversation when God said he’d make a nation out of Moses. But but here he says, if you’re not going to forgive them, then don’t count me. Count on me either. I want out. And the Lord says to Moses, Whoever sinned, I will blot out of the book. And it’s interesting to read this.

00:13:00:39 – 00:13:25:42
Clint Loveall
Are Moses and God arguing here? What is the nature of the conversation? God says, Go lead the people to the place. I told you. In other words, the plan hasn’t changed. I’ll send my angel and then never the less. When the day comes for punishment, I will punish them for their sin. It. It’s a little bit. There’s just a little bit of an echo of.

00:13:26:04 – 00:13:49:30
Clint Loveall
Listen, Moses, you don’t tell me what to do. I’m not sure that’s going on here, but there does seem to be a little. Hey, God, I know they were wrong, but. But forgive them or. Or, you know, count me with them. And then God says, Yeah, keep going on the plan. But I blot out who I want to blot out and I punish who sins.

00:13:49:42 – 00:14:00:59
Clint Loveall
And you’re not changing that, Moses. And I don’t know if there’s animosity in this. I don’t want to introduce that idea because I don’t think it’s explicit in the text, but it’s a very interesting passage.

00:14:01:15 – 00:14:20:24
Michael Gewecke
Yeah. And if at this point you’re still maybe swimming in this a little bit, I just want to circle back around. Remember a few days ago, and this study makes zero sense if you didn’t hear or didn’t join us for the golden Calf conversation, you you really need to pause here and you need to jump over there and then find your way back here.

00:14:20:24 – 00:14:49:13
Michael Gewecke
It’s going to provide the necessary context for what’s happening here. But if you were with us there, suffice it to say, you know, we couldn’t really have oversold the I don’t think the severity of that action. You know, I think we really tried to emphasize how big of a deal that story was and and why that the narrative just slowed down to magnify it so much when we had just come out of this very different kind of section of the text here.

00:14:49:13 – 00:15:09:54
Michael Gewecke
Clint, I think it’s obvious now in light of Moses, his action in calling the the Levites and then now Moses, his words with God on the mountaintop, because remember, this is all bookended by the mountain, right? And it starts with Moses up on the mountain with God. This stuff is happening at the foot of the mountain. Now Moses comes down the mountain.

00:15:09:54 – 00:15:33:37
Michael Gewecke
He has all of this kind of engagement happens that the killing of the kinsman. And then now he comes back up the mountain where he’s engaging with God. And it’s very clear that God is not yet moved. Beyond that, there still is punishment ahead. The punishment is not done for this action. And so, you know, clearly this is going to be troubling words for anyone reading the text.

00:15:33:37 – 00:16:05:42
Michael Gewecke
But to whatever extent you’re troubled, I hope you see the severity that was intended by by that original infraction that this golden calf thing is not it’s not just a small oops. This is not how I went out of the way. And I carelessly fell into a thing. Now, this is clearly being treated at every stage, every ripple of the story to follow the golden calf up to this point has showed us the severity of that infraction.

00:16:05:42 – 00:16:27:54
Michael Gewecke
And what was intended in that story was for us to see the people literally making a choice between the God who called them out of Egypt and this God that they would rather imagine that they would rather create to look like a calf. Right. And that that kind of disparity is the thing that sits at the bottom of the text.

00:16:27:54 – 00:16:58:04
Michael Gewecke
And that question, to name it explicitly, is ultimately going to be who is your God? Right? That’s the question that has come to the people. And many of those people chose the God other than the one who rescued them from Egypt. And the response to that is one voice. It’s unequivocal. It is obvious God’s relationship with those who chose another God in the same way that God’s relationship with Pharaoh, who resisted the one true God, was a one sided conversation.

00:16:59:04 – 00:17:27:54
Clint Loveall
I want to be I want to be careful with this word because I know it’s a word with some baggage and causes can cause some pain and has caused pain for people. But I mean, I think the right word here, Michael, is adultery. The people have tossed God aside. They they chose another God, either the golden calf or the gods that the golden calf represented from other people groups.

00:17:28:22 – 00:17:58:30
Clint Loveall
But either way, that you get there, the people have essentially traded God in for something else. And that kind of wound in a relationship that that kind of being scorned is not something that God is going to forget. And and we have to be very careful here that we don’t read God as a character, that we don’t read into God.

00:17:58:30 – 00:18:30:05
Clint Loveall
The idea of being like a scorned husband. But the people have literally been unfaithful and they have literally sought a new God. And that’s not wrapped up in a few verses. This becomes a scar in the relationship that really, I mean easily until they go into the Promised land is a part of the narrative from here on out.

00:18:30:18 – 00:18:58:08
Clint Loveall
They are no longer simply the people God delivered from Egypt. They’re the people that God delivered from Egypt who threw God aside to try and follow another God. And that changes the tenor and the character of the story. And it it it has a weight that I don’t know that we often feel. Again, we are well versed in forgiveness and grace, and that is in this story.

00:18:58:42 – 00:19:23:11
Clint Loveall
But in a it’s written in a different way because there’s also punishment and accountability here. And and we see that God is not yet God is not yet over this. The people have not yet atoned, paid for their sin. And God is not simply going to overlook this level of disobedience and unfaithfulness.

00:19:23:36 – 00:19:50:25
Michael Gewecke
So we’re in chapter 32 today. There are 40 chapters in the book. So eight to come. It’s hard to not see and recognize that there is a kind of act that has happened in the story, right? And by that I mean a turning moment. I think you said it well, there, Clint. The idea that people have been rescued from Egypt by God, clearly one of the pivotal acts not just of Exodus, but of the entire scriptures.

00:19:51:05 – 00:20:19:55
Michael Gewecke
But now further into the story that the people have in another turning point turned away from God. And so the call back to faithfulness was the call to take life. What was the cost would be the life of the people themselves. And that once again, you know, I don’t wanna be a broken record. We’re not going to resolve the tension of that today, but that’s the severity that the story is trying to present.

00:20:20:09 – 00:20:48:43
Michael Gewecke
And if you’re going to enter and live in the story, then we have to grapple with the cost of turning from God and therefore from a Christian vantage. At the very end of our conversation that your client, the immense, incalculable value of Jesus’s atonement for us, the price he paid for those who have also turned away from God is shedding a completely different light when we come to a text like this from the lens of the Christian gospel.

00:20:48:43 – 00:20:50:40
Michael Gewecke
But that’s maybe another conversation for another time.

00:20:50:54 – 00:21:02:13
Clint Loveall
Yeah. Thanks for being with us again. Tough way to start a monday, but the interesting part of the text and opens up a new a new aspect, I think, of the story from here on.

00:21:02:33 – 00:21:11:51
Michael Gewecke
We will see you all tomorrow.