Okay, you can turn to chapter 32. Our focus will be 15 to 35, but I'll begin reading in verse 1. So remember that the basic flow of the book, we have deliverance, demand, and dwelling. So chapters 1 to 18, God delivers his people out of bondage in Egypt. And then in 19 to 24, he commands them or makes demands of them in terms of his covenant. And then from 25 to the end, we see the emphasis on dwelling. Now in chapter 25, we begin the revelation of God's word in terms of building the tabernacle. So those instructions carry on from chapter 25 to chapter 31. 32 to 34 are a bit of an interruption in the narrative in terms of the tabernacle building, but it shows or demonstrates one of the needs for the tabernacle, namely the sinfulness of the people. So 32 is the sin or the idolatry of Israel. 33 and 34 speak more of restoration after that act of sin. And then from 35 to 40, we have the construction of the tabernacle. So I'll read beginning in verse 1 in chapter 32. Now when the people saw that Moses delayed, coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron and said to him, Come, make us gods that shall go before us. For 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. And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me. So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool and made a molded calf. Then they said, This is your God, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt. So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. And the Lord said to Moses, Go, get down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshipped it, and sacrificed to it, and said, This is your God, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume them, and I will make of you a great nation. Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak and say, He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your fierce wrath and relent from this harm to 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 descendants as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever. So the Lord relented from the harm which he said he would do to his people. And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides, on the one side and on the other they were written. Now the tablets were the work of God. And the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, there is a noise of war in the camp. But he said, it is not the noise of the shout of victory, nor the noise of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing I hear. So it was as soon as he came near the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses anger became hot and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder. And he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them? So Aaron said, Do not let the anger of my Lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, make us gods that shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. And I said to them, whoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out. Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained, for Aaron had not restrained them to their shame among their enemies, then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp and said, Whoever is on the Lord's side, come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. And he said to them, thus says the Lord God of Israel, let every man put his sword on his side and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that he may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother. Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, You have committed a great sin, so now I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. And Moses returned to the Lord and said, O these people have committed a great sin and have made for themselves a god of gold. Yet now, if you will forgive their sin, But if not, I pray, blot me out of your book which you have written. And the Lord said to Moses, whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book. Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin. So the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made. Amen. Well, the last time we were together, it was two weeks ago. Last week was the Pro-Life Talk. Two weeks ago we saw the first 14 verses, and basically we have the idolatry of Israel in verses 1 to 6, and then the intercession of Moses in verses 7 to 14. Now, notice specifically at verse 1. Now, when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, Moses goes up to the mountain at the end of chapter 24. And in chapter 24, verse 18, it tells us that he was up there for 40 days and 40 nights. Well, at that particular time, the children of Israel had no way of knowing how long Moses was going to be up there. God didn't say, hey Moses, I want you to come up here for 40 days and 40 nights. So they did not know, and in their lack of faithfulness, and in their antsiness, and in their desire to want to get back on track and get to the promised land, they tell Aaron to make us gods that shall go before us. Now, the specific idolatry in view here is the violation of not just the first commandment, but the second commandment. Remember that the first commandment defines for us the object of worship. You shall have no other gods before me or besides me. The second commandment demands that we worship the true God in the correct manner. And so they are predicating of these gold calves, or of this gold calf, that it is Yahweh. They are predicating of the true God something that is false, and thereby are engaged in the sin of idolatry. It is, as Moses reports later, a great sin. It is a vile transgression of the law of God Most High. Unfortunately, Aaron is complicit in this. Aaron goes along with it. His feeble excuse that we'll see tonight, notwithstanding, he was right there alongside of the people engaged in this act of idolatry. So the idolatry is in verses 1 to 6, and then the intercession of Moses in verses 7 to 14. God tells Moses what's happening in chapter 32, beginning in verse 7. and then God tells Moses that his wrath is hot against them and that he is going to consume them and make a great nation from Moses. Now Moses declines this, Moses denies this, Moses intercedes on behalf of the people in verses 11 to 14, and we see that God relents. This is spoken in the manner of men. It's an improper predication. God doesn't change. There's no variation. There's no shadow of turning with them, but it's written for our understanding. The Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people, verse 14. So God and Moses deal on the mountain And now we pick up the narrative with Moses coming down from the mountain. And I would title this section, 15 to 35, the judgment of God. So we've got the idolatry of Israel in verses 1 to 6, the intercession of Moses in verses 7 to 14, and now the judgment of God in verses 15 to 35. There's four particular points here. First, the anger of Moses in verses 15 to 21. Secondly, the response of Aaron in verses 22 to 24. Third, the judgment on Israel in 25 to 29. And then finally, again, Moses intercedes in verses 30 to 35. So his anger, the response of Aaron, the judgment imposed on Israel, and then the intercession of Moses in verses 30 to 35. So let's pick up the anger in verses 15 to 21. Notice his descent from the mountain. Moses is carrying the two tablets. Remember, he goes up there to receive the law of God, from God, and in verses 15 to 16, we see his descent, and then we see the uniqueness of the tablets. Notice how detailed the description is in verses 15 and 16. Moses turned and went down from the mountain and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand. Now the testimony is that covenant between God and man. It's between God and Israel. It says the tablets were written on both sides. On the one side and on the other they were written. Now it's not the case that you had the first four commandments on one tablet and then the latter six on the other tablet. We typically talk of the two tables of the law. The first table, commandments one to four, is our duty to God. The second table, our duty to man, is commandments five to ten. We typically think that the ten commandments were written that way. You had the first four here, and then you had the latter six here. That's not it. You had the entirety of both on both. In other words, all ten were on one, and all ten were on the other. These were the copies of the covenant parties involved in this particular arrangement. Similar to what we do today. If you make a transaction, you go to buy a car, you sign a contract, you get a copy of those documents, and they keep a copy of those documents for safekeeping. Well that's precisely what the two tablets of the law represent. That's why it's referred to as the testimony. You've got one copy that represents God, the suzerain or the king, and then you've got the other copy that represents the vassals or the Israelites. And then those two copies are placed into the Ark of the Covenant for safekeeping. So all of this was typical, not only for Israel, but ancient Near Eastern peoples. So Moses has these and notice again the tablets were written on both sides, on the one side and on the other they were written. And then in verse 16, now the tablets were the work of God and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. Typically when we refer to the Decalogue or the moral law of God, the Ten Commandments, we see specifically that they're written with the finger of God. Not that he's not responsible for the judicial law in 21 to 23, not that he's not responsible for the ceremonial law in 25 to 40, but there's a special significance about the Ten Commandments. It's trans-covenantal. the Ten Commandments are operative for all mankind at every place in life wherever he finds himself. Whether you're in the Old Covenant or you're in the New Covenant, the law of God vis-a-vis the Ten Commandments are binding over us. Now why this description of the two tablets in verses 15 and 16. Well, practically to show that this covenant transaction has been completed for the most part by God with Moses as he descends from the mountain. But I think as well it highlights the gravity of the situation when he casts those unique tablets down and breaks them. And when he casts these unique tablets down and he breaks them, he's not doing this based only on his anger. The text says that he's angry, but this wasn't a fit of rage. This was a highly symbolic act, and basically what it suggests is that the very covenant they had sworn faithfulness to in Exodus 24, they've already broke it. They've already trashed it. They've already basically reneged on their specific commitment to the God of heaven and earth. So as he comes down the mountain, he sees their sin. Notice in verse 17, Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted. He said to Moses, there is a noise of war in the camp. Back in chapter 24, verse 13, we see that Joshua, the successor, ultimate successor of Moses, at that time was his attendant. Joshua goes up the mountain with Moses, but he doesn't go all the way. Only Moses goes to the summit. Joshua probably goes up about halfway. He doesn't hear what's going on between God and Moses. He doesn't hear specifically what's going on in the camp of Israel. He knows that something's going on, and being a military-minded man, that's how he interprets it. Notice, there is a noise of war in the camp. So verse 18 at Moses' descent, when it says in verse 18, he said it refers to Moses. Moses says it's not the noise of the shout of victory, nor the noise of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing I hear. And then in verse 19 he gets a view of what's happening in terms of the camp of the Israelites. So it was as soon as he came near the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing. And so this was the problem. Now it wasn't that they were dancing. biblical example of dancing, where dancing isn't necessarily condemned by God. You see it in the Psalter, you see David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant. It wasn't that God is necessarily anti-dancing, and I'm not here to defend dancing, but the point is not that they were dancing. The point is that they were dancing in front of this golden calf. Last time I mentioned that it wasn't necessarily the case that they were engaged in any sexual immorality, but it's highly probable that in fact they were. When we compare this passage with, say, Numbers 25, there is suggestions that they were not engaged in absolute chastity and purity in this particular scene. So they're dancing before the calf and then notice the response of Moses according to verse 19b. So Moses' anger became hot and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Again, I think it's easy for us to sort of interpret this as a reactionary move on the part of Moses. He's so upset, he's so angry with them that he takes these tablets and he throws them down in frustration. I think that's the wrong way to read the passage. I think there's more going on with him casting the tablets out of his hands and breaking them at the foot of the mountain. I think Stuart explains this well. He says, was this action simply a hasty, angry, impulsive move on Moses' part? One specific way we know that it wasn't is that God never condemns him. God never rebuffs him. Remember when he is told to speak to the rock so that the water will be yielded, but he strikes the rock. It is that that God sanctions him. He can't enter into the promised land as a result of that. God doesn't sanction him for breaking these tablets. So he says, let me read that again. Was this action simply a hasty, angry, impulsive move on Moses' part? One that he might have regretted at a later time of greater personal calm? We suggest that such an explanation is unlikely. Instead, Moses' breaking of the tablets was an important symbolic act done carefully, deliberately, and openly for the benefit of the Israelites because of the way violation of a covenant is routinely described in the ancient Semitic world as a breaking of that covenant. So what better way to picture that than to actually break the tablets of the covenant. He says Moses broke the tablets at the proper place, the foot of the mountain, where it was a worship site. where the Israelites could see him do it as a public act signifying the breach of the covenant and the impending imposition of the consequences thereof, that is, punishment of the violators. So this is a highly charged symbolic act by Moses. It actually happened, it actually was factual, but there was a message communicated. These people had sworn fidelity to God, they had signed on the dotted line as it were, and now they had engaged in the greatest offense against those commandments. Have you ever wondered how David could be considered a man after God's own heart? You ever think about that? 1 Samuel chapter 16, God says, or 13 and then 16, God says with reference to Saul's dynasty, it's not going to happen. God wants a man after his own heart. You get to 2 Samuel chapter 11, David doesn't look much like a man after God's own heart. David engages in adultery, and David then engages in conspiracy to murder in order to cover up the adultery that he had committed. And yet the Bible tells us that he's a man after God's own heart. I suggest that the meaning is that David was not a perfect man, obviously, but David was never an idolatrous man. David was never a man that corrupted himself to the point where he reneged on his faithfulness to the Lord God Most High. Not that he was perfect, not that he was wholly harmless and undefiled, but that he never did corrupt himself by going astray relative to his duty to God. I'm not suggesting that it's okay to break the second table of the law. I'm not suggesting it's okay to engage in any sin whatsoever. But I am suggesting there is something specifically heinous about the act of idolatry. When you read through scripture, you'll notice that God has a real axe to grind against those who engage in idolatry. And so, Moses' anger became hot, he cast the tablets out of his hands, and he broke them at the foot of the mountain. And then he goes on to do, he burns the golden calf according to verse 20, grinds it down into powder. I'm not sure about the process here. And then he sprinkles it on water and then he makes the children of Israel drink it. I think this does two things. First of all, it destroys the idol. Get rid of that thing that is corrupt. But secondly, it was judgment upon the Israelites. Later, under Josiah, during his time of reformation, in 2 Kings chapter 23, he does something similar with an asherah pole. He doesn't sprinkle it on the water and make them drink from it, but he does burn this particular item, or idol, so that it's no longer operative. As well, this drinking of the water with this powder sprinkled into it is reminiscent of Numbers chapter 5. Numbers 5, if you've never read it, is probably one of the more interesting passages of scripture. I won't get into the details here specifically, but it's an occasion or a case where a priest is called to adjudicate in a particular matter. And he takes this water, and there's this bitter water, and a party involved in this particular matter has to drink it. And if this person is guilty, this bitter water will affect them in a very negative way. So some have seen a link between this water with this gold dust sprinkled in it from the idol and that in Numbers chapter 5. You can look that up later. The idea is that Moses is destroying the idol and Moses is sanctioning the people for what they have done relative to their reneging on the covenant. And then notice that Moses questions Aaron. And notice the supposition. Moses said to Aaron, what did this people do to you? What did these people do to you? He gives him the benefit of the doubt. He doesn't say, I can't believe you let this lot do whatever it is they wanted to do. He gives him the benefit of the doubt. Remember that Aaron is his older brother. When Aaron responds, he definitely defers in a very gracious and kind manner with reference to his younger brother. So he asks the question, what did those people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them? Now that brings us to the response of Aaron. Well, before that, he mentions it as being a great sin. He does that here, and then he does that later down in verse 31. And Gill makes this observation, a great sin as idolatry is, than which no sin can be greater. It being not only a breach of the first table of the law, but directly against God, against the very being of God and His honor and glory. It is a denial of Him and setting up an idol in His room and giving to that the glory that is only due to His name. Again, don't think this is something confined to Israelites in the ancient world dancing before their calf in Exodus chapter 32. The Apostle Paul gives us a very vivid description of idolatry in the Roman Empire in the first century. Romans chapter 1, he speaks concerning idolatry. Remember when Paul goes to Athens and he's waiting for his companions, and he looks at the city, and his spirit is provoked within him. Why? Because the city was given over to idols. 1 John 5, the apostle is writing to Christians, born again believers, blood-bought children of God. He's writing about truth. He's writing about righteousness. He's writing about love. He's writing about obedience to God. He ends the epistle on this note. He says, My little children, keep yourselves from idols. We would never end a letter that way. We'd write sincerely, or in Christ, or grace and peace to you. He writes, signs off his letter by saying, My little children, keep yourselves from idols." Why is that? Because the tendency of our hearts, we sing it in the hymn book sometimes, prone to wander, prone to leave the God that I love. Calvin says that our hearts are a perpetual idol factory. And it's not just, you know, golden calves. It's not just poles. It's not just rocks. It could be good things. Money, for instance. I mean, money's not good or bad. It's amoral. It's whatever the sinner who's using it does with it. But we can take a good thing, a non-good thing, an amoral thing, like money, and turn it into an idol. Isn't this what Jesus condemns in Matthew chapter 6? You can't serve God and mammon. We can take any good gift from God and make it an idol. If we give all of our attention, our time, our effort, our money to that particular venture, that's become an idol in our lives. So let's not go to the scriptures and say, wow, I'm glad we don't dance around golden calves. Oh, we just might, but it might not look like a golden calf. In fact, turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, Where I think Paul illustrates probably the biggest idol that any of us have ever encountered. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Specifically in verse 12. He says, For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God, or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all died, and he died for all. Now notice the purpose clause in verse 15, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again." Your golden calf may look just like you. Your golden calf may be the person you look at in the mirror every day. Your golden calf may be that person you give all your time, all your energy, all your attention to. Self-love, there is something biblical about that. Love your neighbor as yourself. I don't purposely ingest poison. I don't stand on train tracks actively when trains are coming. You don't either. There's a self-love that all of us have. But there's a self-love that goes beyond that. There's a self-adoration, a self-deification, a self that becomes all-encompassing. And one of the purposes for the cross work of the Lord Jesus Christ, He died for all that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. So your golden calf may look just like you. And while we want to condemn rightly these Israelites dancing around their golden calf, we need to be careful that we're not, like those Israelites, dancing around the golden calf of self. So, Moses asks Aaron what happened. So, what does Aaron do? He does what typically men do. They blame everybody else, right? Would you love to have a politician confess over COVID? Well, just one. You know, we stepped out of our lane. We made some mistakes. We were wrong. They will never do that. It's just the nature of man to pass the buck, to blame others. Remember when God comes to deal with Adam in the garden? Who told you you were naked? Who told you you could eat this fruit? He says, the woman you gave me. And he's blaming not just the woman, but he's blaming God. You know, everything was great down here when it was just me. I didn't have these kind of pesky women handing me fruit all the time. It's the woman that thou hast given me. So he throws her under the bus. And he tries to throw God under the bus instead of accepting responsibility. Well, Aaron does the same thing. It's those people. They're wicked. They're wretched. They're horrible. That's why you were supposed to lead them, Aaron. That's why you were supposed to say, no, we're not making a golden calf. No, we're not going to dance around it. No, we're not going to engage in idolatry. We're going to wait for my brother Moses and we're going to get instruction from God. But notice what Aaron says in verse 22. So Aaron said, Do not let the anger of my Lord become hot. You know the people that they are set on evil. Again, that's probably not surprising. That's not, you know, wow, I can't believe that is the possibility because look at what Moses already said in verse 21. What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them? So he knows that the people aren't perfect. He's dealt with them for years. He's dealt with them with the various struggles and trials that they've had, or he's going to be dealing with them in even more detail. So this isn't surprising information. So when Aaron says, you know the people that they are set on evil, he doesn't say, well, you know what, I gave in, and I reneged, and I was a weakling, and I was a coward, and I went ahead and did this. No, he doesn't do that. And then he kind of blames Moses too. Look at what he says. For they said to me, make us gods that shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." Now he's reporting factually what they had said to him in verse 2. But could there be a little bit of, you know Moses, had you been here, these things wouldn't have happened. If you wouldn't have tarried up on the mountain and you would have been present, they wouldn't have been languishing and waiting and restless and cajoled me into making this thing. So he blames them, he blames Moses, and then he blames chance. Notice in verse 24, I said to them, whoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it to me, I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out. Now, that's a pretty interesting explanation. Have you ever thought that you could throw gold into a fire and out would pop a calf? I don't know that any of us would suspect that. There's two ways to go with this particular statement. Some suggest that it's Satanism. Some suggest that the supposition is that Aaron just does what he's told, he takes this gold, he throws it in the melting pot, And then Satan and his forces take over and out come this golden calf and this is what leads the people away. I think it's far more likely that he just didn't want to admit what he did. I think it's far more likely that he knows exactly what he did and he doesn't want to cop to it. He doesn't want to own it. He's a coward and he doesn't want to fess it up. Matthew Poole said not that he meant or thought to persuade Moses that the melted gold came out of the fire in the form of a calf by accident without any art or industry of his, which was ridiculous conceit and easily confuted, but only he conceals his own sin and the forming and engraving of it and lays the whole blame upon the people. That's the point. He's trying to pass the buck. He doesn't want to own his sin. He doesn't want to own the fact that he's complicit. He wants to blame them. He wants to blame Moses. He wants to blame the melting pot. He doesn't want to take responsibility for his own sin. Now that brings us thirdly to the judgment imposed on Israel. The old King James has verse 25, when Moses saw that the people were naked. I think unrestrained is probably a better interpretation, for Aaron had not restrained them to their shame among their enemies. What does that mean, to their shame among their enemies? I think it's simply this, that even the pagans were faithful to their gods. The prophet Jeremiah deals with Israel on that level in Jeremiah 2, specifically at verse 11. God, through the prophet, says, has a nation changed its gods? The Hivites and the Hittites and the Evirites, they all have their gods, but at least they're faithful to them. But you've exchanged me. You've gotten rid of Yahweh of Israel and have gone a-whoring after all these other gods. So I think the idea is that the pagans were more faithful to their gods than Israel was to their God, the true and living God. So I think that's the shame, that's the problem that is addressed here. Now notice he exhorts the people in verse 26. Now this is tough stuff. Moses is going to do something here that will no doubt offend our delicate sensitivities. No doubt would cause the people in our generation, at CNN or wherever, They would go nuts over what we're about to read in this particular section. Now, look at what Moses does. Verse 26, he exhorts, Now, It almost sounds like the Levites were spotless and pure and holy and upright. John Gill argues that probably the only ones that died that day were the Levites. Okay? Maybe there were others. But think about this for a moment. When it comes to worship, now Moses had received this information on the mountain. So it has not been revealed to them yet that the Levites are going to be the clergy. The Levites are going to be the guys that are responsible for worship. But we see sort of that kind of activity even prior to Exodus chapter 28. So the Levites are brothers to Aaron. If Aaron is going to be the idol maker, perhaps he needs assistance with reference to not only manufacturing, but also to conduct the worship services. It probably wasn't an absolute frenzy. I don't think the pagans danced around their gods in absolute frenzy. There's always order, there's always liturgy, there's always structure. It's just a matter of the order of the liturgy of the structure. People come to our church or perhaps some of the Dutch churches in town, they say, man, it's so rigid, it's so liturgical. Well, charismatic churches, Pentecostal churches, they have a liturgy as well. You can't just wander into a Pentecostal church and do whatever it is you want. There's some sort of structure There's some sort of order, there's some sort of discipline imposed. Now, there might be the odd case here or there, but for the most part, I don't think I can wander into glad tidings and get to preach, or city life, or whatever it is. There's always some sort of liturgy. So, the reality that some of the Levites were most likely guilty. And so, 26, when it says, and all of the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him, It could have been in a manner of let's get as close to the right side as we can possibly get. Because we do not want to be on the opposite side here. And then notice when Moses tells them to kill. Don't spare your brother, okay? So it's not that the Levites were the holy, spotless, pure, sanctified persons here. They were as guilty, perhaps more guilty, and perhaps the only tribe that was guilty in terms of actual execution. So then notice, with reference to their overt siding with Moses at this particular point, Moses gives this instruction in verses 27 to 29. So verse 27, He said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out, from entrance to entrance, throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. I don't think that means in an offensive way, okay, you search out your brother, you search out your companion, you search out your neighbor, and you slaughter them. No, I think it's to be read this way. Don't let your personal connections cloud your judgment relative to executing the judgment of God. In other words, justice is blind. You're not supposed to go based on your brothers, based on your companions, and based on your neighbors. Well, this is my brother. This is my companion. This is my neighbor. I can't execute the judgment of God against him. That's why. It's not a, hey, I want you to go and wait behind the bush, and when you see your brother, lop his head off. That's not the point. The point is, is don't let those close associations affect you from carrying out the judgment of God Most High. So notice in verse 28, So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Now that wasn't all of the guilty parties, if you drop down to verse 30. Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, you have committed a great sin. Well, the 3,000 were dead, but it wasn't just the 3,000. It was other persons. Again, I think Gil's right that the bulk of the deaths were with the Levites because they were primarily culpable and responsible. Now, the people were not guiltless, and Moses says as much there in verse 30, but the primary emphasis is upon this leadership class that had failed. And then notice as well in verse 29, then Moses said, consecrate yourselves today to the Lord. Can you imagine that? They've got bloody swords from 3,000 dead people in the camp of Israel. We don't think that consecration could possibly be joined with judgment. And yet God's Word says it most certainly can. Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, and then notice, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother. In other words, God will bless you for carrying out the judgment of God. Now, in terms of the actual scenario, again, I think Stuart is good here. He says, a modern person accustomed to the sentimentalism of Western liberal thinking might find the idea of killing idolaters impossible to justify. I'll go you one further. We think it's, you know, unjustifiable to kill pedophiles and rapists and murderers. We find it, you know, reprehensible, the thought of capital punishment or the death penalty. Brethren, the Bible upholds capital punishment. It upholds the death penalty, not just in Genesis 9, 6, but in Romans 13, 1-4. That civil government doesn't bear the sword in vain. That sword means that he has the authority to execute criminal offenders. So back to the quote, a modern person accustomed to the sentimentalism of Western liberal thinking might find the idea of killing idolaters impossible to justify. Listen to what he says. Moses, on the other hand, understood that leaving idolaters in the midst of Israel to influence others away from the opportunity for eternal life was impossible to justify. For Moses, it wasn't unthinkable to kill idolaters. For Moses, it was unthinkable to not kill idolaters because they were going to lead everybody else astray. He goes on to say, God revealed to him that a fight was underway over saving truth. If the idolatry was allowed to continue, many people in ancient Israel would turn from saving truth to condemning falsehood, from the promise of eternal life with God to destruction in hell. And since Israel was the repository of God's saving truth at this time, allowing the idolatry to continue might have affected the potential for eternal life of countless future generations of Israelites and Gentiles alike. I think he's right. What we perceive to be unthinkable was absolutely positively the will and the mind of God with reference to these idolatrous wretches that were gonna spread this cancer throughout the rest of the nation. Turn over to Numbers 25. I've already alluded to that. We're kinda reading, well we are reading that in our evening services. Numbers 25 is a very similar passage. We're not gonna get to the last section tonight. We're gonna close out here in just a moment. So we'll look at the intercession of Moses, God willing, next Wednesday night. But Numbers 25 is a passage somewhat similar with reference to the punishment of idolatry. Notice in 25.1, Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. This was instigated by Balaam. Sunday night I had mentioned that Balaam is a curious fellow. Balaam was a prophet for profit. P-R-O-P-H-E-T. He prophet as a prophet, but for profit. P-R-O-F-I-T. This is how the New Testament refers to him. He was a greedy wretch. He did what he did to get money. But God used him to communicate truth. God used him to communicate messianic prophecy. Kind of an interesting thing. 31.6 tells us it was at the instigation of Balaam that this transpired. And essentially what's happening is if you can't best Israel in battle, Get them to compromise their seed. Get them to compromise at the level of infidelity to Yahweh. So 25-1, Now that's not just the sexual emphasis, but when this happened, there was a religious or a spiritual emphasis. And I don't want to get too far afield here, but oftentimes it was the case that you had prostitutes that worked at temples so that there would be this sort of an idea that between the consorting of these two people, the gods would be inclined to do good things for the worshippers. They would worship in this manner. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. Then the Lord said to Moses, Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel. So Moses said to the judges of Israel, Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor. It's an amazing passage, isn't it? Now, there's no New Testament equivalent for this. There's no, okay, in the church, you know, pastor, get your sword and cut off the head of anybody that engages in idolatry. That's not the way it works. The church does not bear the sword. The church bears the keys of the kingdom. They can excommunicate persons that engage in sin and they're unrepentant. It's the civil state that bears the sword. And right now, we thankfully don't have a civil state that is punishing heresy or punishing, well, they are, but just not the way that the Bible specifies it. So anyways, we don't have to worry about a numbers 25 scenario in the church. Hey, we had these five people. They danced around the calf. So this Sunday, instead of a baptism, we're going to have an execution. That's never going to happen. That's not a new covenant application. That is not something that obtains. But in this instance, as a theocracy, under God, this is the way they rolled. Now notice in verse 6, and indeed one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Can you imagine that? They're all weeping. They're all broken. And this guy comes parading his new dime from Midian, and he says, look what I got. Now when Phineas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand. And he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel, and those who died in the plague were 24,000. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with my zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in my zeal. Therefore say, Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel. One final passage, Psalm 106, Divine Commentary on Phineas. Psalm 106 rehearses this same instance, and in the Psalter, in the songs of Zion, they would have sung about Phineas doing what he did. So in Psalm 106, 28 to 31. They joined themselves also to Baal-Apeor, and ate sacrifices made to the dead. Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds, and the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stopped, and that was accounted to him for righteousness to all generations forevermore. So basically, the point that I want to close with is that idolatry is very, very bad. So when God commands Moses, Moses didn't just come up with this. Hey, let's just take the sword and walk from entrance to entrance and cut down everybody that's in, you know, that's guilty. This was of God. This is God's response to the idolatry of men. Numbers 25, same sort of an instance where we see God's response to the idolatry of men. So when we consider that, we get to 1 John 5, and that godly apostle ends his epistle with, my little children, keep yourselves from idols. We ought to take that very seriously and understand the propensity of our heart and the remaining corruption that we struggle with. It doesn't have to be a gold calf at the foot of Mount Sinai. It doesn't have to be, you know, prostitutes at Baal Peor. It doesn't have to be the various idols that the nations around us engage in. It could be a good thing. It could be us ourselves. Idolatry is a wretched thing, and may God grant us the grace and the presence and the power of his spirit to resist that temptation to engage in idolatry. Well, hopefully that brings some life out of 32 to our particular setting. Again, we don't take swords and cut down everybody that's engaged in idolatry, but we learn from here the gravity of the sin of idolatry. Well, let us pray. Our gracious God and Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the consistency in both the Testaments concerning the sin of idolatry. We know that this is a great sin, as Moses reports here clearly in a couple of places. I pray that you would give us grace and strength and wisdom and all that we stand in need of to resist this temptation, and all temptation, and to seek to be faithful, to seek to pursue holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, and cause us always to stand in awe at what the Savior did on behalf of His people, who took the sin or the punishment that we deserve for our sin, He took it upon Himself, and then he was raised again the third day. We thank you for the Lord Jesus and the gospel of our salvation. Go with us now, watch over all our brothers and sisters in our church, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, any questions or comments about any of that material? Oh, no, I'm just amused at the notion of, first, Pentecostals noting the rigidness of Reformed worship and liturgy. I find that really dumb. Any time they come here, they, ugh, it's so boring. It's ugh. They can't stand it. But if I go there, there is some liturgy. Right, right. They have a liturgy. Right, but I'm saying I find that whole dynamic quite amusing. It is amusing. I think there would be a of God, okay? And what I found so powerful about that is that we, as sinful creatures, when we're exposed to that perfect law, well, we track for it, right? So in a sense, we're not in the presence of God, but yet we, I think, we're still reflecting on it. We still haven't tasted it on this side of eternity. Imagine if that veil was pulled back with that, what would we think? Oh yeah, oh yeah, for sure. Yet it's interesting, the last time, the way they make God is completely opposite to the way God reveals himself. You know, one of the emphases is don't manufacture. Don't manufacture. One of the emphases is, you know, don't lose your mind and dance around and, you know, get involved in everything God commands. And this is why I think that, in many ways, Exodus 32 is sort of the anti-Tabernacle chapter. Everything God is telling them with reference to the tabernacle and what they're supposed to do, that one goes out the window and they do just the opposite there in 32. It's really a breeze. All right. Well, hopefully next week we'll finish this chapter. And then for those of you who are waiting to get to the bloody end of the book of Lange,