Introduction: Read Exodus32.

This dramatic passage comes like a bolt from the blue set as it is in the midst of the rather staid and far from exciting instructions about the tabernacle, its furnishings and the priesthood. It is a shocking episode in the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites. It is a sad reflection on human nature that the Israelites lapse into idolatry so soon after agreeing to the covenant God made with them - a covenant that depended upon them keeping the Law.

(A) The people's folly.

Why did the people want man made idols to worship? It is highly likely that the golden bullock - for that it is what it was rather than a calf - was just the first of what would eventually be many golden gods. This explains their request: "Come make us gods that will go before us." v1. There are at least five possible reasons:

(1) The Israelites were not long out of Egypt. They were already nostalgic for certain aspects of their old way of life. The Egyptians had numerous gods. There were also other Semitic tribes in Egypt. Baal was their god. He was represented at this early date by a young bull. Baal worship was to exercise a hold on the Israelites for centuries - right up until the Babylonian exile. One of the attractions of Baal worship were the drunken orgies and sexual licence that accompanied them.

There is a dangerous period in the experience of new Christians when the excitement of being a believer wears off and aspects of the old life resume their appeal. I can understand this as a keen sportsman. Sunday morning football clashes with the morning service, midweek cricket matches coincide with the prayer meeting and Sunday cricket is incompatible with evening worship. Meeting together with a few elderly ladies for morning worship compares badly with a round of golf with ones mates and a jolly time at the bar afterwards.

The stakes are high! If the means of grace are neglected it is not long before the new convert begins to drift away from the Lord Jesus Christ. Eternal life is traded for sport on Sunday!

(2) The Israelites were immature believers. The Bible records that a mixed multitude left Egypt under Moses' leadership. The people were not all true descendants of Abraham but probably included other enslaved races and maybe even some impoverished Egyptians. This mixed multitude had not been long out of Egypt and still retained their slave mentality.

Teacher's realise that highly immature children need constant supervision. They depend upon the imposed discipline of the teacher to work satisfactorily. If this discipline is relaxed immature pupils will take advantage of it to misbehave. A class of seven-year-olds cannot be left for long to work unsupervised but university students work quietly in the library together.

Immature Christians may need close supervision. They will make mistakes and go astray unless disciplined by wise leaders. Christians who are mature in the faith should also be prepared to make some allowances for those who are still babes in Christ.

(3) The Israelites were resentful at the absence of their leader. They said, "As for this fellow Moses, we don't know what has happened to him." Calling Moses, 'this fellow', was not very respectful! It suggests that they were peeved and apprehensive about Moses' absence. Perhaps they decided to get back at Moses and at the same time cheer themselves up by making a golden god and having a party.

Children who have been taught by a teacher for some time and become familiar with his ways are often seriously put out if he leaves the school. They will often take out their resentment on the new teacher who has to struggle hard to assert his authority.

Sadly the same thing happens in Baptist churches. A popular, charismatic preacher draws a crowd and gets everybody pulling in the same direction. Then he leaves! This inevitably leads to some folk leaving with him. Those left squabble among themselves. The ill will this engenders results in some more departures. What appeared to be a thriving church fast becomes a rabble. In desperation another pastor is called. He has a hopeless task. Some don't like the new man and so further defections occur.

(4) The Israelites wanted to be like everybody else. The discontented mixed multitude wanted to have gods of gold like the Egyptians and other Semitic tribes. Yes, Yahweh would still be their god but he would be represented by a golden bullock. The Israelites wanted something tangible to bow down to. Their god must have a presence.

Later, in the time of Samuel, the Jews clamoured for a king. The elders approached the ageing judge and said, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." 1Sam8v4. This upset Samuel - he felt rejected. But God told him, "It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods." 1Sam8v7and8.

I think church leaders began to dress up in sumptuous robes to be like worldly potentates - emperors, kings and princes. It is about time worldly adornments were abandoned.

There are many nonconformists who will not accept what is called a plurality of elders. This seems to have been the practice in the early church. But, today, the majority of Christians in the nonconformist tradition will not accept a joint leadership. They want a single leader - someone in overall charge. This is the way of the world with its headmasters, chief constables, chief of the armed forces, prime ministers, chief executives and so on.

Jesus did not appoint one of his disciples to be the leading man. He did tell his disiples that the last shall be first and the first last. This is not a principle adopted by the world - nor is it very evident in the church!

(5) The Israelites got bored quickly. They were camped below Mt Sinai with nothing to do except gather manna and milk their goats. This was all very tedious. The Israelites longed for a diversion. They wanted some fun. So they organised an orgy: a golden idle, a big feast - singing, dancing and sex. It wasn't long before they were rocking round the clock!

Recently there has been a minor outcry because some teacher pulled down the blinds in his classroom because his pupils were being distracted by a snow storm. Perhaps he was trying to teach them division of fractions - a subject that cannot compete with a snow storm. Most of the correspondents to the Daily Telegraph's letter page were disgusted by the teacher's action. Children should be allowed some fun! My sympathies are with the teacher! Snow is NOT the teacher's best friend. Children will happily look out of the window for a whole lesson willing the snow to lay and hoping that school will be abandoned for the day and that they will be sent home early. Mathematics is not always fun! But I am grateful for the many hours of tedious exercises that left me a master of arithmetic - even the division of fractions.

The desire for excitement and fun is evident among some Christian worshippers. This leads to services being dominated by singing, swaying and dancing. It is fine for singing and dancing to be part of worship - but not to the exclusion of Bible teaching.

Some types of worship are unpopular today - such as the old fashioned prayer meeting. Christians who sing gospel with gusto on a Sunday are reluctant to attend a mid-week prayer meeting. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will take hold of folk engaging in public prayer so that they thrill the soul.

(B) Aaron's weakness.

It seems incredible that Aaron should succumb to pressure and make a golden bullock to represent Yahweh. Hadn't he learned anything from his brother? So let us first look at the reasons Aaron behaved as he did:

(1) He was flattered to be approached in the absence of Moses: His brother had vanished from the scene and now he was the main man. It went to his head! Perhaps, Aaron was jealous of his brother. On another occasion he and Miriam began to talk against Moses, saying, "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he also spoken through us." Num12v1and2

Jealousy does an awful lot of harm. It sours relationships in school. If one teacher gets much better results than his colleagues there will be a lot of muttering behind his back.

Jealousy is especially destructive in the church. It is hard for a senior minister to cope with the rising popularity of his assistant. It is even difficult for an itinerant preacher like myself being passed over in favour of less able men!! It must be difficult for rabid evangelicals in the Church of England who see less gifted middle of the road liberals preferred before them for high office.

(2) He was willing to give the people what they wanted. Aaron hoped to gain popularity by pandering to popular opinion.

I have known teachers like this. I had a colleague who when the sun shone in the summer used to let his class sit - or lay - or sleep outside. Another one allowed her favourite girls to apply make up to one another and varnish each other's nails. Easy going teachers let standards slip just to be liked.

Church leaders may be guilty of giving their congregations what they want: long sessions of repetitive chorus singing, dancing in the aisles and the shortest of sermons peppered with lots of jokes.

Jesus spent most of his earthly ministry teaching. He was addressed as Rabbi. Many of the things Jesus said were profoundly unpopular. He seriously upset the religious leaders denouncing them for their legalism and hypocrisy. However, he also upset his disciples - especially when he talked about his death. "Be that far from you, Jesus," said Peter.

(3) He thought if everyone wanted it, this made it all right. So if the vast majority wanted idols this made it acceptable to have idols. As we have seen this was the argument put forward by the tribal leaders in the time of Samuel: "Everyone else has a king - so why can't we have one."

This is how Christians talk today. A couple may have a son who is sleeping with his girl friend. The parents say, "Times have changed since our day - everybodies doing it now." As if that makes it right!! Attitudes to homosexual relationships have changed over recent years in Britain but that does not make them an acceptable alternative to heterosexual relationships for the Christian.

Aaron showed his weakness by:

(a) Blaming others. It was all the fault of the stiff-necked people. Ever since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden people have made excuses for their disobedience to God. Aaron was not prepared to take responsibility for his actions.

Our prisons are full of people who blame others for their criminality. If only they had been brought up differently!

Individual Christians are apt to blame their old nature, their circumstances and even God for giving in to temptation. If only Adam hadn't sinned, if only they hadn't been given the opportunity to sin and if only God had spared them the temptation.

(b) Downplaying his own actions. Aaron tried to explain away his behaviour by saying, "I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf. v24. This was a downright lie. What actually happened was: Aaron took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. v4.

Aaron would not accept his guilt. He was like the holocaust deniers and Japanese who cannot admit the atrocities inflicted on British prisoners of war. Aaron was culpable of a great sin. Moses said later: "And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too." Dt9v20.

The best policy when we do wrong is to admit it, confess it and sue for pardon in the name of Jesus who laid down his life a ransom for sin.

(c) Losing control. Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of cntrol and so become a laughing-stock to their enemies. v25.

Weak leadership in the state, schools and the church results in anarchy. I have seen how children take advantage of a weak teacher. I can recall a decent man but ineffectual teacher being surrounded by a gang of grammar school boys who were kicking him. Paul had to assert his authority over the church in Corinth because church meetings were degenerating into a free for all. Several were trying to prophesy at once, others were gabbling in tongues and some of the women were heckling. Paul told the Corinthians to do things decently and in order.

(C) God's reaction.

God was angry! The people had chosen to break the second commandment and chosen to represent the Lord of Creation by a man-made bullock of gold. This was a huge insult. Even a real life bullock was more like God than a golden idol. God is the creator of all living things. Man for all his scientific knowledge cannot create the simplest living organism from scratch. Not so much as a virus!

Let us examine:

(1) God's anger. God was angry at man's stupidity and arrogance. The Israelites were unwilling to accept that there was a being so much greater than themselves.

Initially God disowned the Israelites. He said to Moses, "Go down because YOUR people ........ . v7. God told Moses he would destroy the Israelites and instead make a great nation out of Moses and his descendents.

Today God is angry with those who wilfully reject his son. He has provided a way of escape from the dark paths of sin. God accepted the sacrifice Jesus made for the forgiveness of sin. He will adopt into his family all who put their trust in his Son's saving work at Calvary. God will ultimately destroy all those who spurn his Son.

(2) God's flexibility. God was open to persuasion. Moses said to him, "Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people." v12. Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. v14.

Some would argue that God is sovereign. He is not like us. God knows the end from the beginning. It is foolish to think we can change God's mind or influence him. If that is the case why bother to pray. Was Jesus wrong to say, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. .... If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Lk11v9to13. The Christian's status as a son of God encourages him to ask for good gifts.

(3) God's justice. See vs31to35. God wasn't prepared to allow Moses to be punished to atone for the people's sin. Moses asked God to forgive the people their sin; failing that Moses offered to bear the punishment himself. He said, "But if not, then blot me out of the book you have written." v31. God was not willing to do this. He told Moses that the guilty parties must be punished for their sin and afflicted them with a plague. This was only just.

Today if an innocent person offered to take the punishment due to a murderer or a rapist so that they could be set free no judge would agree to it. This is because there is an element of retribution about punishment. It would not be just to free a murderer, even if someone was willing to be punished in his place, because it would not be just. The murderer himself DESERVES to be punished; he deserves to suffer for the crime he has committed. So God visited the culprits of a grave offence with the plague.

The Christian gospel conveys the wonderful truth that at Calvary God's grace trumped his justice. It wasn't just that Jesus suffered so that we could be spared the consequences of our sin. We deserve to be punished - Jesus did not! It isn't correct to say, as many do, that at the cross God's grace and justice met. There was nothing just about a truly perfect man being punished for our sins. However, God in grace, passes over our sin for his Son's sake who offered himself as the ultimate sacrifice for sin for those who believe in him.

(D) Moses the intercessor.

We see something of Moses' greatness in the Golden Calf episode:

(1) His concern for God's honour. When God threatens to destroy the Israelites Moses argues that is not in God's best interests. Moses is invariably forthright with God. He is never fearful about speaking out. On this occasion Moses:

• Reminds God of how much he has done for the Israelites. If he abandons them all his efforts will have been in vain.

• Tells God to preserve his reputation among the Egyptians. They would be delighted if God's people were wiped out in the wilderness.

• Asks God to remember the promises he made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

There were other great souls in Israel's history who were concerned for God's honour - men like, David, Elijah, Daniel, Nehemiah, Ezra and Mordecai.

Jesus taught his followers to pray: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." Our first request should be for God's honour. This should be a feature of our private prayers. How concerned are we for God's honour? It is not honouring to God when churches decline and close, when Christians squabble, when churches split, when we show no real love for one another.

(2) His justifiable fury. Some Christians believe it is never justified to be angry. It is important to be angry at times. Jesus was angry with the hypocrisy and greed of the religious leaders whom he gave a tongue lashing.

Moses acted in anger to:

• Break in pieces the tablets of stone on which God had written the ten commandments. Some say this was unjustified and done in pique. However, it was a dramatic and visual way of stating that Israel had broken the commandments and broken the covenant with God - made so short a time ago.

• Grind down the golden calf to dust, mix it with water and make the elders drink it. I assume it was the elders who drank it as they were the ones responsible for maintaining order in Moses absence.

• Quell an insurrection. Law and order had broken down. Moses saw that the people were running wild. v25. It was a shocking witness to visiting traders. Moses acted quickly and decisively to quell the riot. He used force. He quickly recruited men of his tribe, the Levites, and sent them through the camp to kill those behaving lawlessly and dangerously. It is easy to accuse Moses of brutality but the fact is if we had serious riots on our streets force would be used by the authorities to restore law and order.

  Sometimes church members get out of control and are guilty of wild behaviour. Something like this happened in the church at Corinth and Paul visited the church to exert discipline. He also wrote them some very stern letters.

Moses was one of the rarest of leaders. He loved his people more than he loved himself. The evidence:

• Moses did not accept God's offer to make him and his offspring a great nation. See v10.

• Moses reminded God that the Israelites were his people. See v11.

• He offered to make atonement for the Israelite people. See v30. Moses confessed his people's sin, he asked for forgiveness on their behalf and failing all else offered to be written out of history if this would atone for the Israelites' sin.

Moses' intercession was substantially successful. God did not abandon his people. How grateful we should be that our intercessor in heaven is none other than God's own Son - his precious son - whom he can deny nothing.