Endtimetalk – Blog

A Replacement God

{Golden calf is a fascinating four part series based on a true biblical story recorded in Exodus 32. The lessons are instructive for us today}

Introduction

The story brings us to the great exodus of the ancient Israelites from Egypt under leadership of God, Moses and his brother Aaron. Their long night of slavery (430 years) came to an end in a showdown of power between the God of the Israelites and the mighty Egyptian Empire. When the dusts settled, the entire Egyptian arm forces, officials, generals, intelligence experts, and millions of dollars in equipments were lying in a watery grave at the bottom of the Red Sea. Furthermore, the Egyptian economy was demolished and their entire labor force gone, approximately three million strong.

We caught up with them camping out at the foothills of Sinai, the mountain of God. Moses has gone up the mountain to meet God, and when he did not return at the forty-day mark, they reckoned he is dead. They then commissioned the Priest, Aaron to build them a god, a god of gold to replace the God of Moses. With their new god in place, these once god-fearing folks cast off all moral restraint, and started dancing around their god of gold in a licentious, debauched party unbecoming of the worse of heathens much more the people of God. What happen next demands the reading of Part 1 and 2 and or the original story in the second book of the Bible, called Exodus (chapter 32). It is shocking!

The Focus for Our Time

Human nature remains the same in all times and places; that is one reason this story is instructive for us today. The golden calf is a substitute or replacement god for the God of the Bible. To the ancient Israelites, it took the form of a golden calf shortly after their liberation from Egypt. Later in their history, Israel’s substitute god took on various forms and names. But most popular among them was Baal, and it was not often made of gold. I must emphasize that anything that occupies the number one place in a person’s live, affection and devotion is an idolatrous displacement of the God of the Bible. God wants to be the Lord of our lives, the center of our affection and devotion, if he is not Lord of all; he is not Lord at all.

Idolatry today is subtle on the one hand and overt on the other; it ranges from the apparent harmless to sophisticated behavior that displaces the God of the Bible or the attempt to worship him in ways contrary to what he will accept. The golden calf teaches us that Idolatry can easily happen, it can seriously hinder, and it can painfully humiliate. Seven points are given in this article to help us spot idolatrous activities and devotion and stay clear of them. Again, the golden calf is a substitute god of our own making that comes to us in various forms and shapes today, even masquerading to be true worship.   

1) We Have A Golden Calf When…

We worship anything or anyone that is not the God of the Bible. Anything or anyone that occupies the first place in our affection, loyalty and devotion is the god we worship. We may not even be conscious of what we are doing, and it may be well intended, but in the eyes of the God of the Bible that behavior is idolatry. God must be first place, he will not share worship with any other.

 Let’s look again at the actual wording of the first and second commandments as shown in the second book of the Bible, the book of Exodus (chapter 20: 3-6 NIV):

“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

The first prohibition “no other gods before me,” literally means, in my sight or in addition to me or in opposition to me (see footnotes: Ryrie Study Bible, 1986). The second prohibition is that we should construct no god for ourselves or anyone else. The third prohibition is we should not bow down and worship any other god be it of our own making or some one else’s making. We should worship the Creator not his creation or our creation.

The Almighty is Sovereign over all creation, and has the right and the power to tell us what to do and how to live. If we violate one or all three prohibitions, we have a golden calf on our hands. The penalty attached to idolatry is generational; it affects not only us but also our children and grandchildren. It could become a spiritual malignancy in our family tree, and finally leads to judgment.

2) When We Think Material Gain is Godliness.

We have a golden calf on our hands when we embrace the philosophy that material gain is godliness. Material prosperity is largely a common grace blessing like rain, sunlight, food and the like. God sends rain upon the good and the wicked, “upon the just and the unjust.”   The abundance of material things we possess, largely have to do with the choices we make, the wise counsel we receive, the quality investment we make, and the hard work we pursue.

If material gain is godliness then the rich and powerful of this world are more righteous than church people. And the rich young ruler that walked away from eternal life because he refused to get rid of his riches, did not walk away from much. In like manner, the rich fool that death overtook in the mids of his prosperity (Luke 12:18) deserves an apology, and the poor man Lazarus could have taken a more scenic route to heaven.

In all ages of the church we have had preachers and teachers who peddle a false gospel that to be righteous is to be materially well off, if not rich. They think spirituality is to be judged by the size of your bankbook, how many houses you own, the cars you drive and the other luxury perks you can show off. This philosophy has given rise to the greedy merchandising and profiteering of the gospel, and people starting up ministries and planting churches as a business to rake in money.  Some do it under the pretence and disguised that they love the Lord and  souls.

 Don’t get we wrong here, there is a business aspect to the church that warrants wise management and stewardship. And ministry leaders according to their work and sacrifice should be paid well and live well, the Lord of the church promised that much plus life everlasting. Furthermore, the intellectual property of preachers and teachers cannot be just given away free. I am talking about the extreme, the constant over pre-occupation with selling, collecting, merchandising, being driven by greed, material gain. Some ministries now mimic the former Psychic-Net Work; you can call in, give your contribution, and get a personal prophecy in return.

The Bible teaches that material gain is not godliness or spiritually, and our godly pursuits should not be used as a “means to financial gain” (1Tim. 6:3-5). The Apostle Paul goes on to make a few more compelling points that should put to shame many preachers and teachers who claim to represent Jesus Christ and his church. The man who is responsible for writing more than half of the New Testament gives his perspectives on material gain and godliness:

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love endurance and gentleness” (1Tim.6:6-10 NIV)

Again, the Bible is not anti-rich or wealth or against people having their material stuff. God has no premium on poverty. But the Bible does not want us to think having abundance of things is godliness or any evidence of our spirituality. Above all, God does not want the pursuit of the material to be our motivation; we can have things but things should not have us or else we have a golden calf on our hands.

 3) When our Treasures are Only in Earthly Banks:

 There is a class of treasures that we earn on earth, but we bank in heaven. These are the deeds of love, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, peace-making, goodness, justice, mercy, humility, faith, obedience, purity and charity, to list a few. These spiritual deeds generate for us, a currency that earns great dividends to our account in the bank of heaven; the place where it is eternally safe. The Rabbi from Nazareth says it this way:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also….No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matt.6: 19-21, 24).

Note the words in the preceding quote, “For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Now underscore the last line of the quote, “You cannot serve both God and money.” The issue here is this: when our  affections are centered on money or things material; they become our god. We have a golden calf on our hands.

Our best earthly valuables are not lasting; they have no eternal values. They can be swept away by hurricane, earthquakes and tsunami in a moment and take us along with them as we have often seen. Then we must face eternity poor and void of anything valuable. The book, “The Master List Uncovered” is a good preparation guide for time and eternity.    

 4) When Political Correctness Substitutes Biblical Correctness.

 The term “political correctness” is being toss around everywhere lately, even preachers, church leaders, and religious broadcasts and broadcasters are now genuflecting to this concept. The Kingdom of God has its own politics and the playbook is the Bible. Therefore, those of us that represent this Kingdom and its king should aim at biblical correctness over political correctness. The kingdoms of this world have their own lower case “gods,” representatives, and their own politics and political playbook. So, we will give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s (Matt. 22:21).

That being said, it does not mean we must become hateful and intolerant to those who are different and believe differently from us. Like one preacher rallying his church to burn the Holy Koran; that is a classic example of hate and intolerance.

Furthermore, I am not saying that Christians should abandon public office and those that run for them and serve in them. No, we should not withdraw support  and head for the mountains. On the contrary, we must effect change in the culture, but use the values and standard of our own playbook to bring about such change.                     

5) When We Become Owners Rather Than Stewards

When we become possessors and owners of God’s creation rather than stewards, we have a golden calf on our hands. The divine mandate given to mankind in Genesis (1:28) is that of ruler, caretaker, manager not owner (see also Psalm 8). The Creator is the owner of his creation: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it…” (Ps.24:1).

Therefore, when we become consumed with things material as if they have eternal values, and we give little or no place to things spiritual, our possession has become our god. Finally, disasters either remove these things from us or remove us from them, and we are left bereft, poor and naked to stand before the Almighty in judgment.

6) When Our Gaze Is Fixed Only On Things Temporal

The word of God teaches that there are things temporal and things eternal. The temporal things are seen; they are apprehended by sensory perceptions and experiences. These things are perishable, transitory, and are of far less value than things eternal. Therefore, we are told to fix our gaze on things eternal (2 Cor.4:17-18)

The preceding statement is somewhat paradoxical, if eternal things cannot be seen, how then can we fix our gaze on them? The answer is, they can be seen only through the eyes of our inner being or through the eyes of faith. It is as when a blind man grasps a truth, he says, I see! The Bible says, “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor.5: 7 NIV).

Every human life is on a journey leading to an eternal destination that is fraught with unspeakable joy or misery. Everyone needs a reliable destination guide.

7) When You Religion Takes Priority Over Your Relationship

 Your relationship with Jesus Christ comes first in everything and over everything; if not, you have a golden calf on your hand. Your church should be a fellowship and a training ground to help you serve God better. The church and those who lead them are servants of Christ and should be respected and supported, but they are not gods unto themselves. Here is a guiding principle given by the great Apostle Paul, follow me, even as I also follow Christ (1Cor.11:1).

Be sure the leader you are following is indeed following Christ.  But how can you know that?  First, your relationship with Christ must be in tact, if it is, you will be guided by the Holy Spirit. You prayer life and your knowledge of the word will help you to see if someone is walking according to the word and according to Christ. We know trees by the fruits they produce.

I must hasten to say that our leaders are not perfect; they have feet of clay. They are not angels. So we don’t go around looking for faults, because he who looks for dirt will surely find it.  We should make sure that we are not  gossiping people’s imperfections. That is the  Satan’s work; gossip is surely not becoming of true followers of Christ. 

Conclusion

From the tower of Babel to the Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Grecian and Roman empires mankind have sought to replace the Almighty God with a god of his own making. It did not work then and it will not work now. These mighty empires have all fallen and their gods perish with them. Now they must rise from the dust at the end of the age to face the real and true God with the big “G”–He is the Almighty. My recent book, The Master List Uncovered” tell us all we need to know about what’s coming and how to position ourselves to be on the winning side.

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Author: Michael Dewar

Copyright © 2011 Michael Dewar ∙ All Rights Reserved

www.michaeldewar.com

Twelve men were following their teacher, they asked this question of the teacher, “…what will be the sign of the end of the age? The teacher said, “watch out that no one deceives you…” for many deceivers will come and deceive many. He then gave them these signs to look for: 1) wars and talk of war, 2) nation rising against nation, 3) kingdom in conflict with kingdom, 4) famines, 5) earthquakes in various places, and 6) he gave them a series of person to person troubles.

I was reflecting of the earthquakes in Haiti, Peru, Chile, Christ Church, New Zeland, and now in Japan. Natural disasters have always been around but not at the level of intensity that we are witnessing now a days. What on earth is going on?

Could it be that the teacher was right? One of the students recorded the full discourse of the teacher, you may want to read in Matthew 24.

by Michael Dewar
endtimetalk.com

{The Golden Calf is a fascinating series in four parts  based on circumstances and consequences surrounding the actual building of the calf during the time of Moses and the lessons it holds for 21-century man}.

Review

In Golden Calf, Part 1, we find the former slaves of Egypt camping out at the foothills of Mount Sinai. Their 430 years of servitude came to a dramatic end with a spectacular display of divine power under the leadership of Moses. Now Moses is summons to the top of Sinai for a rendezvous with the Almighty himself, the God of Israel. He left the people, nearly three million strong, with his brother Aaron and few of the elders.

When Moses did not return near 40 days, the Israelites reckoned that he was dead. They commissioned Aaron to build them a golden calf to displace the God of their liberation. They then cast off all moral restraint and immersed themselves in a debauched, licentious, idolatrous party. Such unbridled passion, such malignant pleasure was not becoming for the worse of heathens much more the people of God.

In the heat of their celebration, Moses returning from his  mountain-top meeting with God, his face glowing like that of an angel; in his hands two slab of stones with the Laws of God engraved, laws given to govern the new nation. But on seeing the outrageous sensual carrying on, his righteous indignation kindled, he smashed to pieces the tables of the law. What followed was catastrophic and demands a personal hair-raising read of the original account (see Exodus, chapter 32).   

 Why Did Aaron Do It?

It is said you should never criticize a man until you have walked in his shoes. Given the same set of circumstances, we may make same choice as Aaron. With that in mind, I tried hard to absolve Aaron for his lead role in the golden calf fiasco, but the more I think about it, the stronger I feel that I just cannot let him off the hook. What was he thinking? What kind of man is he? Where is his grit, his faith, his resolve? He is Moses’ brother, the head priest and worship-leader of the community; he is God’s man on the scene. Moses left him and the other elders in charge, rather than conducting a prayer meeting, the priest, fashioned a golden calf to displace the God of Israel. I am baffled!

How could they persuade him and the company of elders to do such a dastardly, cowardly, wicked act?  Did they hold a .38 revolver to his head, or a grenade with the clip removed? Did they have him against the wall with intimidating words such as—you do as we tell you or else, your wife and children, you and your entire clan will be history? Yes, they may have levied bold threats against him, but he only likely weapons they might have in the desert would be: wooden clubs, stones, spears and swords. Or may be, Aaron was suffering from what we now know as, the Stockholm syndrome, when a captive under the threat of death begins to think and act kindly towards his captors.

 Where is Aaron’s faith and courage, didn’t he learn anything from Brother Moses? Moses stood before mighty Pharaoh and demanded and secured the release of God’s people. When Pharaoh sent his arm forces after them, the God of Israel destroyed them all. Didn’t Aaron realize by now that God could multi-task; he could meet with Moses at mountaintop and protect Aaron in the valley all at once? Where is his faith, courage and imagination? How could he stoop down so low to pick up so little?

 It would have been better to stand as a man of faith and choose death over idolatry as Daniel and his companions did in later years in Babylon. They chose the fiery furnace and the lion’s den over idolatrous worship. Being burnt to death or torn to bits by lions are no pleasant ways to die, but they faced it boldly as men of faith, and God honored their faith, and delivered them from the jaws death, miraculously. But Aaron chose to honor the people’s wishes and dishonor God. His action holds powerful lessons for us today as we live out our faith amidst the trying circumstances of life.

 When Faith Worships the God of Gold

God gave them the gold to serve their needs not to be the object of worship. Money, the god of gold is no doubt the driving motivation behind the worship activities of many modern-day priests, bishops, pastors and preachers; their churches and ministries have become a moneymaking enterprise and not to the glory of God. Are all preachers greedy for the gold and perverted by money? Or, they all rotten to the core, and should we all abandon churches, hold on to our pocket books and run for the hills? A thousand times no! A few bad weeds in the garden is no grounds for the rejection of the whole garden.

 But what I want us to know is this: the golden calf worship is alive and well in 21-century Christianity and the Lord is grieved about it. The risen Christ charged the wealthy church of Laodicea as being neither “cold nor hot” (Rev.3:14-22). The church was comfortable in its luxury and wasn’t even aware that it was spiritually dead and self-serving. The golden calf had become the god of that church and they had gone dead cold on their love for the Lord. Anything that is given first place in one’s affection over the God of the Bible is idolatry. Your golden calf may not be constructed with gold, but it occupies the golden place of value in your affection, the place that should be kept only for the God of your redemption.

 The People Pleaser

 Aaron the priest of God, chose to please the people rather than please the God who appointed him to the priesthood; he was a people pleaser. When the preacher stops hearing from God and his ears are only tuned to hear the people, financial contributions is often the unspoken main reason. The People Pleaser’s mantra is—make the people comfortable, please the people, don’t upset the people, or they may leave my church to the church across town and contributions will dry up. Does that sound familiar to you? It is commonplace in the church of today. Biblical correctness has given way to political correctness, and true orthodoxy is sacrificed on the altar of a post-modern, decadent culture. If you require holiness and preach against sin, you are called intolerant and not for inclusiveness. As a result of this—many are preaching a compromised, diluted gospel that will get you anywhere but heaven. It is packaged to please everyone and offend none.

 Golden calf worship is when the man of God is bowing before the “mammon of unrighteousness.” He has forgotten his true mission, to make disciples, and is peddling a feel-good gospel of fine homes and luxury cars, a discipleship without cost. Bonhoeffer (1995) in his book, The Cost of Discipleship, calls it the “cheap grace,” a gospel and discipleship that demands nothing of us, no repentance, no godly sorrow for sin, no sacrifice or responsibility. You just say a little fortune cookie prayer and you are saved! Come on in, we are all on our way to heaven. We forget that Jesus does not save us in our sins; he saves us from our sins (Matt.1:21). The true gospel demands life-style change.

  Jesus said on the Day of Judgment many will claim to have preached, cast out devils and did great miracles in his name, but he will deny ever knowing them, and will tell them to depart from him for they are workers of iniquity (Matt.7:22:21-23). In other words, they were only serving their own self-interest not honoring the Lord.

Christ honored John the Baptist calling him one of the “greats” of God’s kingdom. But, it appears as if John never even owned a good suit of clothes,  never ate caviar, never had celebrity status at king’s court or flown on his own private jet. These perks seem to be the hallmark for success in the kingdom today, but I am not sure how such luxurious excesses are viewed by Christ, the true head of the church.  

But don’t get me wrong now; I am not anti-wealth. I hear heaven’s streets are paved with gold, walls are made of jasper and gates made of pearls. God spares no expense in his construction of the New Jerusalem; it is certainly not built on the cheap (Rev. 21:18-27). Wealth is okay as long as it does not become our God, the object of our affection and the motivation of our devotion, for that is when it becomes the golden calf. It is not money that is evil, it is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil (1Tim. 6:10). 

  Aaron, the Priest—spineless, faithless, could not be trusted with the people of God for forty-days. He fashioned the golden calf, did he worship the calf as the others or he just lack the gravitas to stand as a man of God and encourage the people to exercise faith in their God. If he were living in Hitler’s Germany, would public pressure cause him to throw in his lot with that satanic tyrant or would he take a stand like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, even if it cost him his life? Sometimes you wonder, how much it takes for the most devote among us to kneel to the god of gold!   

Cooperation With Evil

The golden calf story raised another compelling issue—that of cooperation with evil. Aaron, the Priest of God knew full well that he was leading the people in idolatry, the breaking of the first and second commandments. Cooperation with evil is one of the critical sins that many believers are guilty of and at times not even aware of it.

 If you knew that the company from which you purchase your merchandise were using the funds to murder babies in a third world country, would you continue to support them? If you knew that the dollars you contributed to a certain charity were used to finance the sterilization of poor women in Mexico and Haiti, would you continue to give to that charity? If you know that the office you rented that doctor is an abortion clinic, would you renew the lease? If you own stocks in a company that manufactures dangerous chemicals outlawed in the United States, but not so restricted in certain third world countries, what course of action would you take? Bear in mind that these chemicals hurt humans, especially children who are most vulnerable, hurt animals and the environment.

 Each question in the preceding paragraph reflects a different scenario of how easy cooperation with evil can be. The fact is we knowingly or unknowingly cooperate with evil each day. You say, but if I don’t know am I responsible? Yes, you are responsible? If you unknowingly run a stoplight, should the police officer give you a ticket? Yes, you should be ticked. Ignorance of the law does not mean you are not guilty of breaking the law. In this interdependent world, we can no longer sit passively on the sideline saying, it is none of my business, when the toys your kids play with are built in China or Mexico. We must be proactive in educating ourselves that we can be responsible consumers. Where children and women are being abused in manufacturing a product that it can be sold cheaply on the streets of the United States, do I have a responsibility?

 Cooperation with evil in today’s world is a very complex problem; we have hardly scratched the surface here. But at least we have raised some awareness to it. I may devote a series to it in the near future.

 Conclusion

In our story, Aaron knowingly participated in the evil of idolatry. He had the people removed their gold ornament and they melted down huge amounts of that gold, then hammered and sculptured it to the desired shape, then they polished the animal of gold and called it their god. Is this the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses? Is this the God that liberated them from slavery and promised to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey? Idolatry is always irrational and foolish; we may never know Aaron’s true motivation for doing what he did. Except that he lacked faith and courage and was scared straight.

 The question could be answered by asking this question: who stand to benefit the most from this idolatrous rebellion? The answer is Satan, the evil one benefit big time. It was his big opportunity to mess things up and divert worship to himself.

 The age-old conflict between personified good (God), and personified evil (Satan) is about worship. The first four of the Ten Commandments is about honouring God (worship); the other six is about honouring people who are made in the image and likeness of God. Satan wants to be worshipped and his way of getting it is to corrupt the worship of God. Once worship is corrupted by Satan’s meddling, God cannot accept it. Satan gets worship by first corrupting God’s people. He starts with the leaders as he did with Aaron in the absence of Moses. Power and money are a deadly combination; they corrupt worship very fast and no one is immune to their enchanting powers. The Golden Calf is Satan’s clever way of diverting worship to himself. Satan was a worship leader; he still likes to hang out in places of worship and around people that worship.

This article raised many questions. I hope you will join the discussion and give us your feed back.

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