Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

Synopsis of 3.17.24 Sermon

Exodus 32:1-14 NKJV
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.” 
2 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.” 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 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!” 
5 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.” 6 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. 
7 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ” 9 And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! 10 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.” 
11 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? 12 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. 13 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.’ ” 14 So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

I.          INTRODUCTION 

1. One of the most important things to a believer is the power of relationship. A relationship with God is a give and take relationship. By that we mean, God pours in and we pour out and likewise, we pour in and God pours out. The relationship is reciprocal.
   1. For example, as a result of the Children of Israel following God, he called them His chosen people. God delivered them from bondage and brought them out of Egypt.
2. It is important to know that God claims us. There are many however that do not claim Him. For example, many people wonder if we really go to church, because of how we act outside of the church.
   1. The relationship we portray in the church ought to be the same in public. We can’t act like we are not in relationship with God, when we get around other people.
3. God is referred to as the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. The older people of this time often said this to show the consistency of God throughout the generations.
4. There are things that can get between us and the blessings of God. The Children of Israel allowed a golden calf to make them loose focus from God.
5. A calf may be cute when it starts out, but at the end of the day, it is still a bull. This is the moment you have to renew your commitment to God and not let the bull hinder you from what God called you to do.
6. The children of Israel came out of Israel. They were liberated from Egyptian bondage. They began to rejoice and give God glory after they were freed.
7. They saw God get them through the Red Sea. They sang the song of Moses when they got on the other side.
8. Moses goes up the mountain to get instructions from God. They wanted laws to govern them in the ways of God (later we find out that these lawns would be called. the 10 Commandments). While Moses was up there, it took too long for some of the people. They thought Moses wasn’t coming back, so they wanted a new God. They got impatient.
9. Aaron told them to give him their gold and he melted it and created a bull or a golden calf. The idol worship of bulls was common in Egypt. Now the Children of Israel’s focus is on the bull, instead of on God.
10. God was angered by this. As a result, God told Moses that he was going to destroy them. Moses asked God to spare them and give them another chance.
11. When you come out of Egypt, there will be a lot of things that try to get your attention. This is the last day the bull is going to block your blessing!

II.          REALITY OF IMPATIENT PEOPLE

• Some people get anxious when God doesn’t move when they think He ought to move. We insert our own agenda in the process when we should be waiting on God.

A.  God Does Not Move on Our Time Frame 

1. God is not in time. He is in eternity. God doesn’t operate in our time.
2. God will step out of eternity and work things out in the future for you. God can step in and out of time.
3. You’re not waiting on God; He is waiting on you.
4. Things to know about God’s time:
5. Don’t whine and worry. Know that God has everything under control.
6. He’s working while you’re waiting. God is at work concerning your situation.
7. The wait will be worth it. God may move similar to cooking something in a crockpot. Anything cooked slow is always better than something that was just microwaved. There is a little something different about the crockpot compared to the microwave.

B.  Getting Ahead of God Always Leads to Poor Decisions 

1. When we get ahead of God, we are led by our emotions. This gets us into trouble. You have to wait with patience.
   1. Example: Instead of waiting on God, we hook up with last chance Johnny or Last chance Sally and then we wonder why things don’t turn out good.
   2. If you think about it, all the headache and heartache in our lives was usually because we didn’t wait on God.

III.          RESORTING TO IDOLATRY IS A PROBLEM 

• They took the gold and repurposed it. They had gold. When they left Egypt, they brought the gold. God won’t let you leave empty-handed.
• They took the gold that God intended for them to use for the kingdom and repurposed it for bull. It was supposed to be a blessing for them, but they sacrificed it for the bull.

A.   Idols Attempt to Fill a Gap Only God Can Fill 

1. God says thou shalt not have any gods before me. As God was giving this out to Moses, Aaron and the Children of Israel were yet making an idol. Don’t let anything take priority over God himself!
2. When you have an idol, you are saying God is no longer enough. When you don’t know what you have in God, you will use some bull to fill it. This might be a job, a relationship, money, socializing, and etc…
3. Whatever you need, God’s got it!

B.  When Our Priorities Shift We Start Playing

1. While they were down there with the bull, they were playing. Moses is up on the mountain praying and they were at the foot of the mountain playing. Imagine, the Leader was up on the mountain getting instructions for their future, and they were down at the foot of the mountain having a party!
2. When you start playing too much, it indicates you have shifted from your commitment from God. You have gotten caught up in the bull. What we need now are people who are serious about the things of God.
   1. The Bible says, “When I was a child, I thought as a child, but when I grew up, I put away childish things!”

IV.          RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION IS PROVOKED

A.  Ingratitude Angers God 

1. You can get over someone saying something crazy to you, but when someone looks at you as you haven’t done anything for them, this angers you. This is called
2. When you think about all that God has given us, and we decide to give more allegiance to a bull than Him, how do you think this makes God feel?
3. When you have shifted your allegiance:
   1. Your priorities will be out of wack. Your priorities will be where your possessions
   2. You passion has shifted – How is that you can come out of what God brought you out of and then you be tired when it comes to the things of God? When it comes to worldly things, we can stay up all night, but when it comes to the things of God, we get tired.

B.  Wickedness Provokes God’s Wrath

1. Wickedness provoked God to the point where he wanted to destroy the Children of Israel. God is merciful, but there are things He doesn’t tolerate.
2. Iniquity is the bending towards something. It is likely something that you shouldn’t do, but you desire it anyway.
3. Iniquity will create trespass. My iniquity has grown so strong, it builds curiosity, and together they make you want to trespass.
4. Miss the Mark. This is trespassing causing you to miss the mark. This is sin! When you have iniquity, trespassing, and sin, and you begin to like and be comfortable with sin. This causes you to fall into
5. Wickedness– This is when you justify what’s in God’s law in order to make provisions for your sin. When you are in wickedness, this brings God’s wrath against you!
6. Thank God for Mosses! He was negotiating on the behalf of the Children of Israel.
7. God is angered by some of the things we are doing. God will deliver us out of something, just for us to go right back and get caught up in it again. God will provide us with something we need, and we will go right back and lose it again.

V.          REJOICE FOR WHAT INTERCESSION PREVENTED 

• Thank God for the intercessions. Intercessions matter. Moses is standing in the gap of God’s people.
• Intercession is an advocate that speaks on behalf of those that have been oppressed. They stand in the gap and act as a conduit for grace and mercy.
• Sometimes our grandparents acted as intercessors for us, when we were in the streets.

A.  God Hears the Plea of His Leaders

1. Moses was their leader. God spoke to Moses, for the Bible says, “and the Lord said to Moses…”
2. The Lord speaks to your leader to get the Word you need to you. Moses spoke to the people on behalf of God.
3. Moses pleaded with God, so that He wouldn’t kill the Children of Israel for what they had done. God was angered so much, He told Moses that he would start over and make Moses name great!
4. Moses still prayed for the people, despite what they had done. There is no telling how many things you were delivered from, because of your leader and their prayers on your behalf. God changed his mind and spared them, because of the intercessions of Moses. Remember, somebody prayed for you!

B.  It Could Have Gone Another Way

1. If you need something to thank God for, know that it could have gone another way!
2. They were at Mount Sinai. If they messed up this mountain moment, they would mess up their post mountain blessings.
3. This is your defining moment. Either you’re going for the blessing or you’re going for the bull.
4. 4 ways to unlock blessings:
   1. Release the bull – Let it go! It is holding up your blessing.
   2. Return to how it all began – Get back to what first got you out. Get back to where no one had to beg you to come to church. Go back to your first love!
   3. Restore the benefits – No good thing will God withhold from them that walk upright.
   4. Rejoice in the blessing – Know that God will always be there.