As we continue our series, Waiting on God, we are looking at instances from the Old Testament when people decided that waiting on the Lord was not the best decision for them and the fallout that came about each time. Waiting is not an easy task in our lives today. So many things push us to seek quick and easy answers. Life doesn’t always work that way, though. Many things in this life are things we must wait for. Often, the best things in life are those things we wait for.
When we choose to run ahead of the LORD with things in our lives, we open the door for pain to enter in a way that leaves great scars. Our impatience in matters within our lives opens the door for other things to enter that we never intended. I want to look at one of those unwelcome guests that creep into our lives when we are impatient with the LORD’s timing in our lives. We find an instance of this unwelcome guest in Exodus 32 of the Bible.
The Journey of the Israelites
As we come to Exodus 32, we need to know what is going on. The LORD had delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt by the power of His mighty hand. He was leading them to the Promised Land. This was a journey that would end up taking 40 years to make (talk about having to wait).
Where we break into the story is at the place known as Mount Sinai. This was the mountain where the LORD called out to Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery. In Exodus 3, this mountain was called Horeb. It was in Exodus 3 where the LORD told Moses that a sign this was the LORD’s plan would be that Moses and the Israelites would worship on this mountain. In Exodus 19, Moses leads the people to Mount Sinai, where he goes up to receive the Law of God.
The Israelites Grow Impatient
From Exodus 19 to Exodus 32, six weeks pass. Moses is on top of Mount Sinai for six weeks talking with the LORD. The Israelites are at the base of the mountain with Moses’ brother, Aaron. What we see transpire is the result of impatience growing within the Israelites.
When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!” Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf. Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and made an announcement: “There will be a festival to the Lord tomorrow.” Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party.
Exodus 32:1–6 CSB
These verses show the Israelites growing rapidly impatient with the LORD and Moses. Moses had been on top of Mount Sinai for six weeks, and they were just there waiting. The LORD did not seem to be in a rush to get all the matters done. The LORD took His time in explaining to Moses how His chosen people were to live in this world.
Why is it that we so often grow impatient with things so easily? It could be that we see some actions are coming, and we want to get them done. Isn’t accomplishing the task given to us a good thing? It could be that we see what is before us as a chore to finish so we can get to what we really want to do.
Whatever the case, we often do not like to have periods of waiting in our lives. As this impatience grows in our lives, it can cause us to make some very unwise decisions. We see this happen in the verses that we read.
The people push Aaron to make “gods” for them to worship. (Exodus 32:1)
The Israelites began to get uncomfortable with the waiting. Like many of us, they wanted to see some action and movement, but the LORD had them in a “wait and see” mode. They pushed Aaron to fashion idols to worship so they could have something tangible to hold on to. Do we crave the tangible more than the genuine?
Aaron wanted to keep the peace, so he gave in. (Exodus 32:2-4)
Aaron knew that he was outnumbered in leadership. He could see the crowd growing restless. He wanted to keep the peace, so he gave the people what they wanted — an idol to worship.
You may be one that does not like conflict. The idea of people being angry or upset with you gets you all out of sorts. Some people will do whatever is necessary to keep the peace in a situation — even if it is doing the wrong thing. One truth that we may not like (but we need to learn) is there will be times in this life when peace is not the best option. Sometimes, we will be called to “rock the boat.”
The people wanted to worship what they could control.
The Israelites at the base of the mountain had Aaron create an idol for them to worship. While things may have been said like, “This is something we can see…” or “this is something that we know is real because we can touch it…”, there was something else at play. The reality was that the Israelites wanted something that they could control. This golden calf was a creation of their hands and imaginations. They may have remembered that one of the false gods in Egypt was represented by a bull.
Whatever the case, this “god” or idol was something the people could control. This idol would not ask anything from them that they were not willing to give. This idol would stand tall but not be demanding. This idol would be what they wanted but nothing they needed.
Idols are meant to appease our minds while still not demanding too much from us. It is an indication of the desire in our own hearts to rule our lives ourselves instead of allowing someone or something else to do so.
Idolatry
We may think that idolatry only takes place in other lands or times. We may think of idols as statues that people worship, but they come in all shapes and sizes. Tim Keller defined an idol as “anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, and anything that you seek to give you what only God can give” (Counterfeit Gods).
We live in a world where idols surround us constantly. Some of the idols we encounter have been constructed by ourselves. These are things or people that we set up in our lives and look to do what we should be looking to God for. These things may not be inherently wrong, but they become idols in our lives when we give them more power and control of our lives.
How to prevent idolatry in our lives
As we think about the prevalence of idols around us, we would do well to be on guard against them since they cannot provide what they ultimately promise. To keep idols from taking ground in our lives, we must take active steps to identify them and set guardrails in our lives to prevent them from taking ground in our hearts.
I want to share with you three action steps to take to prevent idolatry from happening in your life. Each of these steps pertains to the issue of identity.
Recognize who God truly is
The Israelites were quick to set up this idol in Exodus 32 because they did not have a clear understanding of who the One true God was. They didn’t see clearly that He is holy.
Lord, who is like you among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?
Exodus 15:11 CSB
They didn’t remember that He is the Creator of all things who stands outside of creation. They didn’t grasp His omniscience (all-knowing), His omnipotence (all-powerful), and His omnipresence (all-present).
Each of us was created by the God of the Bible with a vacuum in our hearts for worship. We may not be able to explain or articulate it, but we were made to worship something outside of ourselves. We look to other things to fill that void when we do not recognize the One true God for who He is.
Recognize who we are
We are created beings. There is not one human being that has ever existed or will ever exist that was not created. No one just “appears.” Because we are creations, we are finite in our abilities and knowledge. No one is not dependent upon other things for their existence. If you don’t believe me, just hold your breath.
Not only are we dependent creatures, but we are also sinful by nature.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.
Romans 5:12 CSB
Because of Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey God’s commands in the Garden of Eden, we have inherited a sin nature from them. This sin nature is the part of us that wants to do what we want above what God desires. Because of this sin nature, we cannot trust ourselves to make the right decision every time. We desperately need One who will love us despite our sins and help us become what we should be. That One is Jesus Christ.
Recognize what “things” are
As we talk about idols in our lives, we realize that every idol has been created. These creations were allowed by the holy God to be created for His purposes. They become dangerous when they get out of their lane and function in a way they were not intended.
Creations we encounter in this life are tools to help us in ways. They were never allowed to be created to replace God in our lives. They are given to us to be used as He intends. God will never create something that He intends to replace Him because nothing in all of creation could do what the One true God does. If we are not careful, these tools will be used against us to push us further from the One we need most.
What to do with idols in our lives
We may be here today and realize some things in our lives have gotten “out of their lane.” We may be seeing clearly for the first time idols are present in our lives. What do we do with those?
- Confess them – We need to come to the point of calling them what they are. We may be tempted to make excuses or downplay the severity. Don’t do that. Call them what they are.
- Repent of them – As we identify idols in our lives, we must turn from them and turn back to Jesus.
Conclusion
The issue of idolatry is not something for some faraway land. It is often taking place right here in our midst. We must be alert and recognize what is happening around us and within our lives. This is not a matter of games. This is a matter of our lives.
We see from the Bible that the LORD takes idolatry very seriously. He knows idolatry is stealing people’s hearts from the one source of true life – Him. Thankfully, the LORD has given us victory over every idol that attempts to drive us from Him. The question becomes will we follow Jesus or a false, weak impersonation?
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