(The covenant broken)
Exodus 32:15-24
Coach
Steward stood 6 feet 8 and weighed about 275. It was half time and we were been
behind so he lit into us like there was no tomorrow. As the volume and
intensity of his words hit a fever pitch, he slammed his fist against the clip
board in his hand, breaking it into pieces. He had our full attention.
19 “When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the
dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them
to pieces at the foot of
the mountain.”
Aaron
then responded to Moses’ question about what had happened by saying, 24 “So I told them (the
Israelites), ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the
gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Obviously
Moses wasn’t impressed, because following this explanation he instructed the
Levites, “Each man strap a sword to his
side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each
killing his brother and friend and neighbor.” About three thousand
Israelites were killed that day. God had their attention.
Have
you ever had consequences to sin in your life like that? The correct answer is
yes! Two thousand years ago Jesus paid the price for our sin. Maybe you’re
thinking that you would never do anything like the Israelites did; nothing so
bold and in your face. Even the Lord admitted that they were a “stiff necked people”.
But
if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we aren’t that different
from them. After all, what motivated the Israelites if it wasn’t pride and control?
And how many times every day does our pride lead us to try to take control
because we don’t trust God?
Coach
Steward’s actions were to motivate us to not be lazy, but to be the best that
we could be; to recognize that the little mistakes we were making could cause
us to lose.
Moses did the same thing, but with more severe consequences because
the result of sin is not losing, it’s dying and Jesus came to bring life.
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