* The Golden Calf

Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet 

Exodus 32:1-8   And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not (know not) what is become of him. 

(Moses was with God in the mount for 40-days.)

And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the Lord.

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

(They gave their sacrifices for sins ... and then they went out and sinned!  This is like church goers today who confess their sin and then they go out and sin.)

7 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest 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 them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

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God knows everything that is being done.

In the New Testament church, the only rules we have for the church are those set forth in the New Testament.  Yet we see today churches setting up "graven images" and teaching their people to bow down to these stone images and to pray to various dead people which they have called "saints".

The New Testament Bible teaches us that dead people are asleep.

People who are asleep have no power to do anything.  People who are asleep do not watch over us as some churches think.  People who are asleep do nothing!

Jesus clearly shows us the dead person is sleeping.   John 11.  Lazarus had died.  Jesus told His disciples that Lazarus was asleep.  The disciples said then Lazarus does well that he is sleeping.

John 11:12-14    Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.  Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. 14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

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All sorts of abominations have been brought into today's church and the people are taught to worship such things.  This is like that "golden calf" which the people created as their god which would go before them.  And to all others, these church followers show their "gods" as they cross themselves and look religious in the sight of some men. 

(Crossing yourself is one of the abominations man has created outside of the New Testament for this  is not in the Bible at all.  It is just a superstition created by man, but sadly under the guise of religion.)

And man sets up feasts which are not in the Bible:  Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and such

When these feasts take on a religious bend and we are not told in the Bible to do such, this becomes evil and hurts people, creating much sorrow and covetousness, especially in the lives of those persons where life is less than "perfect" on this earth.  For an "idol" of the perfect life is set before our eyes and few, if any, achieve such and therefore sorrow becomes rampant.

Isaiah 1:14  God says: Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto ME; I am weary to bear them.

Those idols created by man and worshipped and followed by other men are like that golden calf set up by man.  

God sees and at some point will judge that which is being done in today's religious groups and also in today's world, just as God judged Sodom in the days of Abraham.  Genesis 19

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God was very angry and wanted to destroy the people who had replaced HIM with the golden calf.

Exodus 32:9-10   And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 

stiffnecked:

- haughty and stubborn

- arrogant and disdainful, looking down on those considered to  be inferior

- determined not to change attitude in spite of good reason to do so

10 Now therefore let ME alone, that MY wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

The "wrath of God" will come at the end of this present world and will torment all who are still living on this earth.  Revelation 8-16

***

Moses intercedes for the people.  But when Moses comes down from the mountain and realizes what the people are actually doing Moses is livid against them.

God knew what they were doing but Moses didn't know how bad they were when he was pleading for them.  When Moses saw them, then he was very angry against them.

Exodus 32:15-28  And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. 

And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.  And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)  Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.

And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

Judgment follows sin.  There will be some sort of judgment come as a result of sins when there is no repentance from those sins.  And when there is repentance, the person will no longer do those sins.

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Exodus 32:30   And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

Today, in the New Testament church, Jesus is the atonement for our sins.

But when we have been enlightened by God to see that which we do as sin, and when we are forgiven by the blood of Jesus, we must not do those  sins in the future.  For there is one sacrifice for those sins and if we keep doing those sins, there is no more sacrifice for those sins.

New Testament Bible warns:

Hebrews 10:26-31    For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 

29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

For we know HIM that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto ME, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge HIS people.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

***

So if a homosexual sees his sin according to the Bible,

Romans 1:26-27   For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 

... and if that homosexual denounces his sin of homosexual actions and no longer does that and is forgiven that sin through Jesus, but returns again to that sin, there is no more sacrifice for that sin.

II Peter 2:20-22    For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

And so it is with all sins, to return to that sin after you have received knowledge of it as a sin and you are redeemed by the sacrifice of the blood of Jesus, there is no more sacrifice for that sin.

If you do such, it puts you into a very terrible position.

Let us all be warned.

I Corinthians 6:9-10   Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (homosexuals), nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

But surely none of us wants to return to previous sinful ways of life.

Romans 6:20-21    For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.  What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?  for the end of those things is death.

Hebrews 6:4-6   For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put HIM to an open shame.

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So is there any hope for repeat offenders when they have the knowledge from God after that first sin?

I believe the hope for such is destruction of their flesh.

Paul says:  I Corinthians 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

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Exodus 32:33-36  And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against ME, him will I blot out of MY book.

Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit (judge) I will visit their sin upon them.

And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

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Look at that which the scriptures showed us about God from this golden calf example:

*  God wanted to destroy the people when they turned from HIM and set up another god.

*  Moses interceded for the people so God did not destroy all of them at that point.

*  When Moses came down from the mountain and saw what they had done Moses was very angry.  And Moses ordered the Levites to slay a number of the idol worshippers, 3000 men were killed at that time by the sword by the Levites.

*  God said he would remove the idol worshippers from "HIS book", the book of life.

*  God brought a plague upon these idol worshippers.

So though Moses interceded and God did not destroy all these people immediately, God did remove them from HIS book, and also some were killed immediately.

So make no mistake, there is a price attached to sin.

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