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We'll finish out this chapter 
this evening. Remember that we are in the section where they're 
being commanded or told or instructed on how to build the tabernacle. 
That's chapters 25 to 40. So 25 to 31 is the actual instruction, 
and then 35 to 40 is the construction. We have this bit of an interruption, 
chapters 32 to 34. Basically, the people of Israel 
play or engage in idolatry before 
the golden calf. And of course, that illustrates 
their need, ultimately, for the tabernacle that would be a place 
where they could find atonement with God Most High. So I want 
to read beginning in chapter 32 at verse 1, just to review 
and get it in our minds again. We've got the idolatry of Israel 
in verses 1 to 6, the intercession of Moses in verses 7 to 14, and 
then the judgment of God in verses 15 to 35. So 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. 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. So all 
the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their 
ears and brought them to Aaron. 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. 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. 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. And the Lord said to Moses, go, 
get down, for your people whom you brought out of the land of 
Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly 
out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves 
a molded calf, and worshipped it, and sacrificed to it, and 
said, this is your God, O Israel, that brought you out of the land 
of Egypt. And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, 
and indeed it is a stiff-necked people, 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.' 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? 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. 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. So 
the Lord relented from the harm which he said he would do to 
his people. And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, 
and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand. The tablets 
were written on both sides. On the one side and on the other 
they were written. Now the tablets were the work 
of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the 
tablets. And when Joshua heard the noise 
of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, There is a 
noise of war in the camp. But he said, It is not the noise 
of the shout of victory, nor the noise of the cry of defeat. 
but the sound of singing I hear. So it was as soon as he came 
near the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses' 
anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands 
and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Then he took the 
calf, which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it 
to powder. And he scattered it on the water and made the children 
of Israel drink it. And Moses said to Aaron, What 
did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin 
upon them? So Aaron said, do not let the 
anger of my Lord become hot. You know the people, that they 
are set on evil. For they said to me, make us 
gods, that they shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man 
who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what 
has become of him. And I said to them, whoever has 
any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it to me, and I 
cast it into the fire, and this calf came out. Now when Moses 
saw that the people were unrestrained, for Aaron had not restrained 
them to their shame among their enemies, then Moses stood in 
the entrance of the camp and said, whoever is on the Lord's 
side, come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered 
themselves together to him. And he said to them, Thus says 
the Lord God of Israel, Let every man put his sword on his side, 
and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp. 
And let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and 
every man his neighbor. So the sons of Levi did according 
to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men 
of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, Consecrate yourselves 
today to the Lord, that he may bestow on you a blessing this 
day. For every man has opposed his son and his brother. Now 
it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, 
You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord. 
Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. Then Moses returned 
to the Lord and said, Oh, these people have committed a great 
sin and have made for themselves a God of gold. Yet now, if you 
will forgive their sin, but if not, I pray, blot me out of your 
book which you have written. And the Lord said to Moses, Whoever 
has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book. Now 
therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have 
spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before 
you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, 
I will visit punishment upon them for their sin. So the Lord 
plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which 
Aaron made. Amen. Well again, by way of review, 
in verses 1 to 6, the people of Israel are fretful because 
Moses has not returned. He went up to the mountain according 
to 2418. He was not told by God how long 
he would be there. Neither were the people told 
how long he would be there either. And so the people get a bit impatient 
and then they ask Aaron to make this golden calf. Now this is 
the sin of idolatry. Remember the first commandment 
defines the object of our worship and the second commandment demands 
the particular way that we worship. Notice that they predicate of 
this gold calf that it is actually Yahweh. So notice in verse 4, 
this is your God, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of 
Egypt. So when Aaron sought, he built an altar before it, 
and Aaron made a proclamation and said, tomorrow is a feast 
to the Lord. So they have the object of worship, 
which is Yahweh, but they have the wrong manner, which is this 
visual aid, this golden calf, which they had been prohibited 
by God from engaging in. So the idolatry of Israel. And of course, God's anger is 
expressed toward them, His righteousness, His justice, His judgment of 
them, and Moses intercedes on their behalf in verses 7 to 14. We see that summarized in verse 
14, so the Lord relented from the harm, which He said He would 
do to His people. Now, that doesn't mean there 
won't be some sort of sanction imposed, which the next section 
takes up, but it means that He's not going to cut them off covenantally. He's not going to destroy them 
and start afresh with Moses. So Moses' intercession was blessed 
by God. So in verse 15, Moses now comes 
down from the mountain. Remember that when he went up 
to the mountain, according to chapter 24, Joshua attended him, 
but Joshua went only up about midway. He didn't go up to the 
summit of the mountain and didn't hear God, and he did hear something 
going on in the camp of the Israelites, but he wasn't exactly sure what 
it was. Being a military-minded man, 
he hears the noise of war, according to verse 17. When Joshua heard 
the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, there 
is a noise of war in the camp. But he said, this is Moses, it 
is not the noise of the shout of victory, nor the noise of 
the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing I hear. So he descends, 
he sees what they're doing, they're dancing around this calf, They're 
giving it praise and worship and adoration. And then, of course, 
he asks Aaron what's going on. And Aaron does what sinners typically 
do. They pass the buck. They throw 
people under the bus. They try to get rid of, or they 
try to avoid blame. So first, he blames the people. They're very wicked. They're 
very vile. They're very wretched. And then he sort of offhandedly 
blames Moses. He repeats what they had said, 
and perhaps with that same sort of thing. If you hadn't have 
been up on the mountain so long, if you had come back down sooner, 
we wouldn't be in this mess. And then, of course, he blames 
chance. I took the gold, I threw it in the fire, and out came 
this calf. So he knows what he's done is wrong. He's trying not 
to identify it as wickedly as it sounds. Now, of course, that 
then brings this sanction imposed by God through Moses upon the 
people that were guilty. but it wasn't all the people 
that were guilty, it was representative. Gill argues that it was primarily 
from the tribe of Levi, that most likely the Levites at this 
particular time were assisting Aaron, who was one of theirs, 
in terms of the fabrication of this idol, and then the worship 
of this idol. So notice in verse 28, the sons 
of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and about 3,000 
men of the people fell that day. Now when we get to our passage 
tonight, notice in verse 30, now it came to pass on the next 
day that Moses said to the people, you have committed a great sin. 
So 3,000 are dead, but there's still guilty people within that 
particular people group. And so Moses comes to deal with 
them. And so we see, again, his intercession 
on behalf of the people. Moses does that often for the 
nation of Israel. And in that, he is like the Lord 
Jesus Christ. In fact, Matthew Poole makes 
that connection. It is to be considered that Moses 
speaks this, as also many other things, as the mediator between 
God and Israel, and as the type of the true mediator, Jesus Christ, 
who was, in effect, to suffer this which Moses was content 
to suffer." So Moses basically says, blot me out of the book. 
if you will not relent in terms of judging these people so severely. So essentially what we have in 
this section is the rebuke by Moses of the people in verse 
30, the request of Moses of God in verses 31 and 32, and then 
the response of the Lord in verses 33 to 35. So notice in the first 
place his rebuke in verse 30. It came to pass on the next day 
that Moses said to the people, you have committed a great sin. 
Notice that idolatry is always treated as a great sin. Not that 
adultery isn't a great sin, not that lying isn't a great sin, 
not that, you know, all the other things given to us in the Decalogue 
are great sins, but you really see God's enmity toward idolatry. It is to set up a rival to God. It is to assert of something 
other than God what is true of God and God alone. It is to give 
to something other what is only due to God and to God alone. When we give our time and our 
energy and our talents and whatever it is that we possess to that 
which is not God, that is great sin according to God's Word. 
And so he rebukes them. And again, there are those who 
are guilty of this particular sin. And then notice that Moses 
expresses his desire to make atonement. So he knew, he understood 
what was already true. We see it back in the book of 
Genesis. In Genesis chapter 3, after Adam and Eve sinned, God 
kills an animal and covers them with that skin. We see there 
that emphasis on blood atonement. And then when we get to Genesis 
chapter 4, at the end of the days of the week, we see Cain 
and Abel go to present their offerings to the Lord. Now obviously 
Abel does so in a correct manner. He brings blood for atonement. So Moses understood the need 
of atonement when you have a holy God and when you have sinful 
man. I think we looked at Numbers 
25 last time. In Numbers 25 you see a very 
similar situation, specifically in verses 1 and following. Basically 
what you had were the children of Israel played the harlot, Israel was joined to Baal of 
Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. When 
it says they played the harlot, it was idolatrous, but it was 
also a compromise in terms of the seventh commandment. That's 
the way that Baal was worshipped, in terms of a compromise with 
reference to fidelity. And so it says in verse 4 of 
chapter 25, the Lord said to Moses, take all the leaders of 
the people and hang the offenders before the Lord out in the sun, 
that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel. 
So Moses said to the judges of Israel, every one of you kill 
his men who were joined to Baal of Peor. I dealt with this last 
week. I had a good quote from Stuart 
where he says, the modern reader and persons in Western civilization 
are absolutely shocked to see this kind of thing happen. Moses 
commands these Levites to kill 3,000 people. We see the same 
sort of emphasis here where they're going to kill these idolatrous 
and adulterous Israelites. And Stuart points out, Moses 
would be shocked at the thought of not doing that, of actually 
allowing that sort of leaven of idolatry to spread among the 
professing people of God. You cannot allow for that. You 
cannot let that happen. It's like gangrene that will 
ultimately circulate through the entirety of the body and 
destroy it. And so in verse 6, Indeed, one 
of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren 
a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of 
all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at 
the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Now when Phinehas the 
son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from 
among the congregation, took a javelin in his hand, and he 
went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both 
of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her body. 
So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel, and those 
who died in the plague were 24,000. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 
saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the 
priest, has turned back my wrath from the children of Israel, 
because he was zealous for my zeal among them, so that I did 
not consume the children of Israel in my zeal. Therefore say, Behold, 
I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him 
and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting 
priesthood. Now notice, because he was zealous 
for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel. So 
the children of Israel, whatever they knew or did not know, they 
certainly understood our God is holy, we sin against Him, 
and we have a need for blood atonement. When you get to Psalm 
106, specifically in verses 28 to 31, it commends Phinehas. It doesn't say, you know, he 
was just some guy that was off his mind and he engaged in some 
vigilante justice. No, he's commended for what he 
did in terms of that situation at Baal Peor. And back to our 
particular passage, with reference to these men who killed these 
men, Moses is able to say in verse 29, consecrate yourselves 
today to the Lord. that he may bestow on you a blessing 
this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother." In 
other words, it's not contrary to the will of God to execute 
justice. It's not contrary to the glory 
of God to execute righteousness in terms of the punishment of 
criminal offenders. So that's what's happening. And 
so Moses reminds them of their great sin, and then he says that 
perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. And then he makes 
this specific request of God in verses 31 and 32. Notice he 
confesses their sin. Verse 31, then Moses returned 
to the Lord and said, Oh, these people have committed a great 
sin and have made for themselves a god of gold. And he says in 
verse 32, yet now, if you will forgive their sin. Commentators 
notice he just breaks off the sentence there. Doesn't finish 
that sentence. He simply says, if you will forgive 
their sin, we can sort of surmise what the rest of it would be. 
But then he goes on and says, but if not, I pray blot me out 
of your book which you have written. So he requests that he dies with 
them if God blots them out, or if God removes them in terms 
of his covenantal dealings with them and his blessings upon them. Now in this way, again he sounds 
very much like our Lord Jesus Christ, who basically was blotted 
out on behalf of his people. He gave himself for our sins. But in the New Testament we see 
correspondence with the Apostle Paul. Romans chapter 9, the Apostle 
Paul says a very similar thing as Moses does in Exodus 32. Now in Romans chapter 9, Paul 
takes up the issue of the Jews, ethnic Israel. Where do they 
fare now in this situation where Gentiles are coming into the 
church of the Lord Jesus Christ? So chapters 9 to 11, the Apostle 
takes up that particular question. But he doesn't sort of just drop 
into the theology, he highlights the real necessity in terms of 
thinking through this, and not only the necessity, but the practicality. That he himself has witnessed 
his own countrymen reject and resist the very Messiah that 
was sent by the Father to them. So notice in Romans 9.1, I tell 
the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing 
me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and 
continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself 
were accursed from Christ. That's the Greek word anathema, 
translates the Hebrew word harem, and it means something that is 
devoted to destruction. It is something devoted to destruction. 
So Paul says, I could wish that I myself were devoted to destruction, 
separate from Christ, condemned for my brethren, my countrymen, 
according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the 
adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service 
of God, and the promises, of whom are the fathers, and from 
whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is overall the 
eternally blessed God. Amen. Now that's a stark contrast 
between what we find with Paul and Moses and those guys we looked 
at on Sunday in John chapter 9. They led by intimidation. They led by coercion. They led 
by bullying. They expressed their own fearfulness, 
they're cowardice in that they would not face the Lord Jesus 
Christ, but they'd try to get at him through the adulterous 
woman and they'd try to get at him at this man who was born 
blind and had been healed. A stark contrast between the 
true man of God that we find here in Paul and we find in Moses 
versus the religious leadership at the time of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. So when Jesus upbraids them and reproves them, they 
have it coming. They're wretched people. They're 
not following the example that Moses set forth, Paul certainly 
picked up on that, and Paul lived in a manner that was consistent 
with that. So back to our text in Exodus chapter 32. He makes 
that request. And again, it's a powerful one. 
If not, I pray, blot me out of your book which you have written. More on that book in just a moment. Now notice the response of the 
Lord in verses 33 to 35. He essentially says to Moses, 
I'm not going to blot you out because you didn't engage in 
this particular sin of idolatry. You didn't engage in that which 
was a great sin. You didn't engage in that which 
is an offense. So in verse 33, the Lord said 
to Moses, whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out 
of my book. Now, for New Testament readers, 
we know something about the Book of Life. In fact, you can turn 
to the New Testament. So, I think at times, Exodus 
32-33 presents a bit of a challenge to New Testament readers in terms 
of the Book of Life that is spoken of by the apostles. So, Philippians 
chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. We have 
this reference to a Book of Life. specifically at chapter four, 
at verse three. I urge you also, true companion, 
help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement 
also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the 
book of life. And then the book of Revelation 
speaks concerning this book of life in a whole host of places. So you can turn there, Revelation 
chapter three. Revelation chapter three, specifically 
at verse five. He who overcomes shall be clothed 
in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the 
book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and 
before his angels. And then over in the Beast chapter, 
chapter 13, specifically at verse 8, all who dwell on the earth 
will worship him whose names have not been written in the 
book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And then in chapter 17, specifically 
in verse 8, Chapter 17 is the destruction 
of the scarlet woman and the beast. I'm sorry, verse 8, the 
beast that you saw was and is not, and will ascend out of the 
bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth 
will marvel, whose names are not written in the book of life 
from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that 
was and is not and yet is. And then over in chapter 20, 
same sort of emphasis, specifically at verse Verse 12, chapter 20, 
verse 12. And I saw the dead, small and 
great, standing before God, and books were opened, and another 
book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were 
judged according to their works by the things which were written 
in the books. The sea gave up the dead who 
were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were 
in them. and they were judged, each one according to his works. 
Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is 
the second death. And anyone not found written 
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." And then 
21, 27. 21, 27, but there shall by no 
means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination 
or a lie but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of 
Life." And then again in chapter 21, I'm sorry, chapter 22, verse 
19. And if anyone takes away from 
the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away 
his part from the Book of Life, from the Holy City, and from 
the things which are written in this book. So as New Testament 
readers, we're pretty sure that it's a secure place to be in 
that Book of Life, right? Sounds like you're not going 
anywhere. If your name has been entered 
in the book of life by God from before the foundation of the 
world, you are safe and secure from all alarm. You're not going 
to be cast out. You're not going to lose your 
inheritance. You're not going to be ultimately in hell. Now, when we look at Exodus 32-33, 
it might challenge that. It might cause us to reflect 
and say, well, does God blot people out of the book of life? 
Am I the only one that's ever sort of thought through this? 
I hope not. I hope I'm not making something up that'll cause you 
a bit of distress or concern. But I always think it's good 
to sort of face these things head on. One of the things that 
I think we can surmise, based on the text we've looked at in 
the New Testament, is that yes, or no, I don't know how to phrase 
this, you can't be removed from the Book of Life. If you're in 
that Book of Life, by the sovereign grace of God Most High, you're 
in that Book of Life by the sovereign grace of God Most High. The New 
Testament and the Old Testament teaches us that those who are 
really saved are saved to the uttermost. Matthew 1.21 tells 
us that you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will 
save His people from their sins. That's a definitive declarative 
statement. He's not going to falter. He's not going to fumble 
the ball. He's not going to lose you. You're 
not going to go to hell. John chapter 10, we'll see that 
as we move through our exposition of John's Gospel. Jesus speaks 
about the elect of God, the saved, the believer in Christ being 
in the hand of God and nobody can pluck you out of his hand. 
Romans chapter 8, the Apostle says, I'm persuaded that nothing 
can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus 
our Lord. Philippians 1.6, he who began 
a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ. So 
when we look at these New Testament passages, we can be assured that 
sinners for whom Jesus died will not lose their salvation. So 
going back to Exodus 32, what does verse 33 mean? The Lord 
said to Moses, whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out 
of my book. Now, as I ponder this, I think 
it's conditioned by the covenant that we find it in. When we come 
to the New Covenant, it is an unconditional covenant for our 
part. It is conditional on the part 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, Jesus lived in perfect 
obedience to the law, Jesus died as our substitute and sacrifice 
on the cross, Jesus was raised again for us and our salvation, 
and when by grace we believe in him, We are accepted in the 
Beloved. We're not going to be cast out. 
We're not going to be lost. We're going to have our ebbs 
and flows. We have our remaining corruption. But God has stationed 
Jesus at his right hand as an advocate with the Father, even 
Jesus Christ the righteous, for when we do sin. So there is an 
unconditionality concerning the New Covenant. We are in by grace 
and we stay in by grace. The Old Covenant was not so. The Old Covenant was not a covenant 
of grace. The Old Covenant was a covenant 
of works. How do we know it was a covenant 
of works? Go back to chapter 24. Because after the giving 
of the law, both the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments are moral 
law, and the judicial law in chapters 21 to 23, the children 
of Israel are called upon to ratify this covenant. They're 
called upon as a covenant party to enter into this contract with 
sanctions with Yahweh. Remember the two tablets have 
the same law on each tablet. It's not like there's four and 
then six commandments on the other. Both tablets contain all 
of the law and then both tablets are deposited in the Ark of the 
Covenant because both tablets represent the parties of the 
Covenant. One copy is Yahweh's, the other copy is the people. So in 24, they ratify that covenant. Notice in chapter 24 at verse 
3, all the words which the Lord has said, we will do. And then 
verse 7, then he took the book of the covenant and read in the 
hearing of the people, and they said, all that the Lord has said, 
we will do, and be obedient. Turn over to the book of Leviticus, 
Leviticus chapter 18. Leviticus chapter 18, Paul invokes 
this passage in the book of Galatians. Let me just make sure it's 18, 
sorry, let me look at Galatians here. Yes, Leviticus 18.5, So the old 
covenant was in fact a covenant of works, so it's conditional. And in fact, when we get to the 
end of this particular chapter, we see that God says that, you 
know, verse 35 for instance. So the Lord plagued the people 
because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made. There 
was a sanction. 3,000 people died. There was 
judgment, there was chastening, but it wasn't the curses of the 
covenant that you find in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. It was 
sort of a one-off, an ad hoc judgment upon them for their 
sin, but it wasn't a disenfranchising them from the covenant. So when 
we consider 32-33, I think because we're dealing with a conditional 
covenant and a covenant that again, for the most part, has 
to do with physical things. The old covenant secured for 
the nation of Israel a land. It promised a kingdom. It afforded 
kings for that kingdom. But it was primarily physical. 
I'm not suggesting that no one in the Old Covenant was saved. 
But they were not saved because of the Old Covenant. They were 
saved because of the promise of the New Covenant. The coming 
of the Lord Jesus Christ and His blood would be retroactively 
applied to them, according to Hebrews 9.15. So in 32-33, the 
Lord said to Moses, whoever has sinned against me, I will blot 
him out of my book. I think it has to do with physical 
death. I think it has to do with physical 
judgment, and that it does not obliterate the blessed emphasis 
on this secure book of life that we find in the New Covenant. 
In fact, in Psalm 69, we read this, let them be blotted out 
of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous. So it's not that you can lose 
your salvation because God said in Exodus 32-33 that he's gonna 
blot you out of his book. If you are in the Lamb's book 
of life you are safe and secure. When we come to this particular 
passage there is a book that is conditioned by the Old Covenant, 
by a conditional covenant of works, that if you falter, if 
you rebel, if you transgress, God will kill you. And that's 
the emphasis in Exodus 32-33. But then moving on from there 
to show that this is not the finalization of this Old Covenant 
situation, he promises to continue with that. In other words, Moses 
keep on with reference to the Exodus. Notice in 34. Now therefore, 
go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. 
Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day 
when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon 
them for their sin. So basically, that's programmatic 
for everything that's going to follow subsequent to this. If you go back to chapter 23, 
chapter 23, we have this announcement of the angel that is going to 
go before them and lead them into the land of promise. So 
2320, behold, I send an angel before you to keep you in the 
way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 
So back to chapter 32, he says, resume the program. We've purged, 
we've dealt, we've done away with these sinners. They're blotted 
out of the book of the living. Now we continue with the plan. 
So this expresses both the justice and judgment of God, but also 
the mercy and grace of God. Remember in the former part of 
the passage, he is angry and expresses that to Moses. And 
Moses says, or he says to Moses, I'm going to eliminate all them. 
and I'll make a great nation out of you." Moses obviously 
intercedes, the Lord relents according to verse 14. Language 
spoken in the manner of men, there's no change in God, but 
rather expresses something concerning His justice and His judgment. 
Now the plan continues. Behold my angel shall go before 
you, nevertheless in the day when I visit for punishment, 
I will visit punishment upon them for their sin. When you 
engage in these sorts of forays in the future, there's going 
to be chastisement, there's going to be discipline, there's going 
to be these sorts of outbreaks in terms of the sanctioning power 
of God Most High. But at the same time, everything 
that God had promised was going to come to pass. So this is not 
invalidating that, but rather it is the plague of God upon 
these people for their particular sin, but it does not disenfranchise 
them from their covenant communion with Him. And that's what 35 
means. So the Lord plagued the people 
because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made. But 
they continue on, they fulfill all that God had called them 
to. Not, I say that like they were good. I mean, God dragged 
them, basically, to get them where they were supposed to go. 
That's His mercy, that's His grace. He managed, not managed, 
but He kept them together in spite of them. So they do not 
reap the curses of the covenant. That is held back for a later 
date. It's going to happen in the Northern 
Kingdom, it's going to happen in the Southern Kingdom, and 
then it's going to happen to Israel as a whole when they're 
ultimately shut down in terms of Old Covenant religion. So 
the book of life, or the book that God blots people out here 
in verse 33, is not the book of life that we find in that 
new covenant setting that we cannot be blotted out of. Now, 
in conclusion, just a couple of thoughts. First, the idolatry 
of the people. Look at verse 8. It's been a 
couple weeks since we looked at that, but note, well, verse 
7. Moses is on the mountain with God. And then Moses, so the Lord 
says to Moses, go get down for your people whom you brought 
out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have 
turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. Now, 
it's quickly just in terms of literature, right? Chapter 24, 
all that God has commanded we will do. Chapter 32, they're 
dancing around this golden calf. Well, Moses was up on the mountain 
for 40 days and 40 nights. It's not a long time, brethren, 
and they corrupted themselves quickly. We need to guard our 
hearts in terms of idolatry. Little children, my little children, 
keep yourselves from idols John ends with in 1 John 5 and verse 
21. We should really see and appreciate 
the enormity of the said of idolatry. I pointed to the example of David. David was a man after God's own 
heart, and yet David did some pretty horrible things as a Christian, 
as a believer, as a blood-bot, but he never ever engaged in 
idolatry. He didn't corrupt himself to 
the core in that fashion. As well, in this passage, the 
conduct of Moses is really excellent also. There's righteous indignation 
in light of their sin. Remember last week we talked, 
he didn't throw down the tablets in a fit of rage. He's angry, 
the scripture tells us that, and he throws down the tablets, 
but he's never upbraided for that by God. When he strikes 
the rock, God says, you're not going to enter into the promised 
land. That was an expression, or that was coloring outside 
the lines. So God sanctions him as a result 
of that. There's no sanction here. What 
Moses does is not only legitimate and just, but it's also symbolic. He's showing them that they've 
reneged. They've broken the covenant. 
They've already betrayed what they said in chapter 24 about 
all that Yahweh has commanded we will do. This was a very powerful 
image for the children of Israel to witness and to see. As well, 
His gracious intercession in order to deal with their sin. 
Now, I'm not suggesting that all of us are going to have that 
Moses spirit and that Paul spirit in terms of, you know, God send 
me to hell if my fellow Canadians don't get converted. There's 
something about that compassion, there's something about that 
concern, there's something about that kind of love that a man 
has for others that is very attractive and perhaps Praying that God 
would soften our heart to the plight of the heathen around 
us. To the plight of the people around 
us that stand in need of the gospel of our salvation. Again, 
we're not all Moses called to lead the people of Israel out 
of Egypt. We're not all Paul canvassing the Roman Empire, 
taking the gospel. to the farthest parts of the 
known world at that time, but we certainly can pray. We can 
certainly pray for people we know, people we love, people 
that we're close to, people that perhaps we're not so close to. 
We can pray for the various churches, we can pray for the various missionaries. These are real expressions of 
a compassionate spirit relative to a desire to see people converted. 
I mean, brethren, I don't know if you're looking at the same 
world I'm looking at, but we certainly have lots to pray for 
in terms of the world around us. I mean, it's getting nuttier 
and nuttier day by day. And what do people ultimately 
stand in need of? They need the gospel of Jesus 
Christ, our blessed Lord. And then the final observation, 
I just would remind you of Paul's teaching in the book of Romans, 
specifically in Romans chapter 1. I alluded to this the other 
night in the sermon on, you know, Paul speaks of the revelation 
of God's wrath in 118, and then the revelation of God's righteousness 
in Romans 321. But in between there, from 118 
all the way to chapter 3 and verse 20, the apostle highlights 
the universal depravity of man. All men, every man, Jew, Gentile, 
all are liable to the justice of God Most High. Well he starts 
with the Gentiles and the primary emphasis there is on their idolatry. They suppress the truth and unrighteousness. They exchange the glory of the 
incorruptible God for that which is corruptible. They bow down 
to creatures. They bow down to anything and 
everything. It's just a bleak and dark picture 
of what man looks like apart from the gospel of our salvation. 
And then when he goes on in that passage, he speaks of the nature 
of God's judgment for that people group. So in other words, you 
can't say, well they were Gentiles, they didn't have the Bible, how 
come they're getting punished for this? Well, there's the doctrine 
of general revelation. God reveals himself through the 
created order, and that's what Paul appeals to in Romans chapter 
1. The effect, the creation, leads 
us to the cause, or God. There's a sense of deity in all 
man. This is what Paul is appealing 
to. We are created in His image, so therefore we're hardwired 
in a certain way. We're hardwired with some vestige, 
some degree of the law, according to 2.14 and 2.15, but we're also 
hardwired in some degree with the knowledge of God. The old 
boys called this the sense of deity, the sense of divinity. 
That's why you find worshipers all over the place. That's why 
you find worshippers in the remotest parts of the earth. Why is that? 
Because evangelists were there and brought them the Bible? No, 
because they have a sense of deity being God's creature. But 
because they don't have the written revelation of God, they worship 
that, you know, they worship falsely, they worship incorrectly, 
they worship in a godless, idolatrous manner. So then Paul goes on 
to say that they will be given over. It says three times in 
Romans 1. The people rather exchanged the 
truth for idols, so God gives them up. 21 to 24. That's punitive 
justice there. That's God's just, righteous 
judgment of wretched sinners. The people exchanged the truth 
for a lie. God gave them up. Verses 25 and 
26a. And then the people exchanged the natural use for the unnatural. God gave them up. Verses 26b-31. And with reference to that Romans 
1.18. The wrath of God is revealed 
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. We 
look at the vice list there in Romans 1, and it's bad. I mean, 
people murder, they engage in immorality, you know, children 
are disobedient to their parents. But those are all symptomatic 
of the biggest issue in Romans 1. Although they knew God, they 
did not honor Him as God, nor were their hearts thankful. Paul's 
emphasis in 118, the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness 
and unrighteousness. That's not accidental. What we 
think and believe about God affects that we live in light of that 
knowledge. So it's ungodliness and then 
unrighteousness. You have ungodly thoughts about 
the true and living God, guess what happens? You're going to 
live like a wretch. You're going to live like they 
do in Romans chapter 1. That's why when the prophets 
come to Israel, yes, they rebuke them for their sexual sin. Yes, 
they rebuke them for, you know, their oppression of one another. 
They rebuke them for the rejection of the true and living God. Idolatry 
never produces good character. Idolatry never produces faithful 
living. And one final quote, this is 
from John Stott. I think this is money. I think 
this is gold. I think it really does picture 
for us how bad idolatry is. He says, all idolatry, whether 
ancient or modern, primitive or sophisticated, is inexcusable. whether the images are metal 
or mental, material objects of worship or unworthy concepts 
in the mind. For idolatry is the attempt either 
to localize God, confining him within the limits which we impose, 
whereas he is the creator of the universe, or to domesticate 
God, making him dependent on us, taming him. whereas He is 
the sustainer of human life. Or to alienate God, blaming Him 
for His distance and silence, whereas He is the ruler of the 
nations and not far from any of us. Or to dethrone God, demoting 
Him to some image of our own contrivance or craft, whereas 
He is our Father from whom we derive our being. In brief, all 
idolatry tries to minimize the gulf between the Creator and 
His creatures in order to bring Him under control. More than 
that, it actually reverses the respective positions of God and 
us. So that, instead of our humbly 
acknowledging that God has created and rules us, We presume to imagine 
that we can create and rule God. There is no logic in idolatry. It is a perverse, topsy-turvy 
expression of our human rebellion against God." I think he's right 
on. And I think, as I mentioned before, 
Exodus 32 is an anti-tabernacle depiction. This is smack dab 
in the middle of here's how you build the tabernacle and then 
we're going to build the tabernacle. They do it in exact the opposite 
way. There's free will offerings just 
like with the tabernacle and they give those free will offerings 
to put it in the oven and to get this golden calf. This is 
an anti-tabernacle section imposed right in the middle. Again, I 
think to highlight the very necessity for the tabernacle they are being 
commanded to build. This is the place of atonement. 
This is the place of bloodshed. This is the place where God and 
sinners are reconciled. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the true 
depiction of what idolatry looks like in passages like this and 
Romans 1 and other places in the Scripture, specifically in 
the Old Testament prophets with the children of Israel always 
going away from You and turning to those things that are not 
God. Yet we know that's not a problem only confined to the Old Testament. 
We know, as John says, we're to keep ourselves from idols, 
so God help us and give us grace to pursue those things that are 
pleasing in your sight and help us to be just full of love and 
full of obedience to our blessed Savior. And we pray in His name. 
Amen.