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by Kevin Pauley
He is the one who was in the congregation in the desert together with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our forefathers. He received living oracles to give to us. Our forefathers were unwilling to obey him, but pushed him away, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what's become of him. They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made. – Acts 7:38-41 HCSB
The people of Israel had been slaves in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years.[1] Generation after generation of Israelites had been bred to submit to flashy pharaohs who claimed to be gods. They had been trained to look to the lion-like Sphinx, the dog-faced Annubis, or the catty idol Bast.
Yet, Elohim had systematically worked his way through the false gods, demonstrating their complete ineffectiveness.[2]Egypt.[3] As if that weren’t enough, Yahweh added insult to injury by leading the Egyptian army out into the desert, only to drown them![4] He had worked them over, destroyed them completely and sent the Israelis out of the bondage, laden down with the pillage of
Now the Jews were no longer slaves, but freed men. They were a holy nation, called by God to be a royal priesthood.[5] They had responded to the call, proclaiming as one man “Na’asseh ve’nishma” (we will do and we will obey).[6]
But within forty days of their liberation, they were bawling for Aaron to make for them a god they could see and follow to the Promised Land.[7]Mount Sinai, they grew impatient and decided to borrow the other nations’ methodologies in order to more effectively worship and unite the congregation. While Jesus (as the Angel of the Lord) was addressing the mouthpiece that they had chosen[8] on top of
Notice the errors: first, their hearts looked back to Egypt. They were looking toward those who had enslaved them for help. Second, they desired gods who would “go before them.” They got caught up in visible, comprehensible and inherently weak shadows of God and God’s ways. Third, they lost faith in God’s chosen leader, not because he had done anything sinful, but because he was doing something they were unused to. Fourth, they began celebrating the works of their own hands rather than the God who had liberated them.
We need to be cautious in looking to corporate America, professional sports or ancient faiths to lead our methodologies. We must be wary of being caught up in our visible forms of worship. We must obey those who govern us[9] as long as they are following God’s word[10]. And we must constantly check that we are not celebrating our own deeds, methods and programs rather than the Master Himself. Let’s not fall into the mistake of becoming cow worshippers.
Kevin Pauley is a pastor and writer. He lives in Illinois with his wife, Lynn, their five children and two dogs. His internet address is Berea.
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