Moses, Pt. 8: "Reap What You Sow" (Ex 32)

REAP WHAT YOU SOW (EXODUS 32)
In August 1989, a legal case in Los Angeles opened up a can of worms and had a rippling effect on the rest of the country and the rest of the world. Two young adult brothers - the Menendez brothers - from a wealthy family in Beverly Hills shot their parents in cold-blooded murder. The lawyer and the brothers told the court repeatedly that the brothers feared for their lives and that they had no choice but to kill their parents because their parents had sexually and physically abused them.

The brothers did not argue that the shots were accidental, and even though they first pointed to intruders, they eventually confessed to the killings. Just as the nation expected a guilty verdict after five long years of trail, it ended in 1994 with two deadlocked juries, and a mistrial.

The lawyer and the brothers had successfully used child abuse and fear in a murder case. Even though they were convicted of first-degree murder another two years later, the damage was done. Today the most popular defense arguments in criminal cases are insanity, provocation, and abuse - sexual, physical or substance.

In the 60s, the blame fell mostly on parents. Now scientists say the blame is in the genes, the DNA, and nature.

With a few exceptions, people get what they deserve for their wild, heedless, and outrageous behavior; they lie on the beds they make. As Dr. Laura once said on radio, “Problems are what happens to us beyond our control, like sickness; mistakes are what we make.” People are not prone or destined to make wrongful decisions, take senseless risks, or court bad company; they have a choice.

After arriving at Sinai after three months of travel (Ex 19:1), Moses made his first trip up the mountain (Ex 20) and returned with the Ten Commandments and the Book of the Covenant (Ex 24:7) to a rapturous audience that repeated in Hebrew “All that the Lord had said, we will do” (Ex 24:3, 7). All was well even after Moses spent forty days and nights up the mountain on a second trip (Ex 24:18), but when Moses was up the mountain the third time, the people defiled their bodies, disobeyed God’s word, and devoted themselves to other gods.

The refusal of Israel and Aaron to take responsibility for their sins made their sins more obnoxious before God. On the other hand, the Levites shouted, “I am for the Lord” and killed all that were responsible. Moses tried but failed in his bid to ask the Lord to forgive the Israelites and to punish him instead.

What does God want us to do when temptations come? What happens to the unrepentant even when a second chance is given? And how do we help others and ourselves in the future?

Exercise Restrain When You are Tempted
21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” 22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘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!” 25 Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. 26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him. (Ex 32:21-25)
Calvin Miller told the story of a talented but immoral and adulterous sculptor who received the gift of a huge block of marble from the king. The king’s instructions to him were also unusual: “Carve anything you like, only it must be a portrait of all that lies in the center of your soul. Before you begin, bring your hammer and chisel to the high altar of the cathedral. Lay them at the great altar of gold and beg with the dying Christ to sanctify your heart.”

The man was mad at all these specifications, restrictions and inconveniences. He said to himself, “Only when an artist is free is an artist an artist.” On Monday the following week, he ate all kinds of food when he started carving. On Tuesday at work, he was envious of his neighbor’s estate. The next day, lust occupied him while he labored on the sculpture. Other deadly appetites bothered him every day till the sculpture was ready.

When the king dropped in to see the masterpiece, he was horrified at what the gifted artist had done to his gift. The huge block of marble had become a formless, ugly, bulky, worthless, and contemptuous piece of stone! So the king asked him, “What is this? Did you consecrate your hammer and chisel at the great altar as I had told you?” The artist bowed his head in shame, “No, sire.” The king asked him sternly, “Why not?” The man replied, “FOR I WANTED TO BE FREE.” (Adapted from SBC Life, 2-3/99)

The decadence of the heart, as expressed by Woody Allen, is this: “The heart wants what it wants. There’s no logic to that.” Edmund Burke, one of the foremost philosopher and political thinkers of 18th century England, however, said we should put moral chains instead on our own appetites. (http://www.sermonillustrations.org “Self-control”)

An unrestrained lifestyle is not pretty. It is decadent, dangerous, and dishonorable to God. The out-of-control Israelites were vulgar; they were not running wild, as NIV sanitized it (Ex 32:25), but were running naked, according to the Hebrew text. They were as naked as the head on a bald man (Lev 13:45). The strange noises they were making in their lust and passion were like the cries of war (Ex 32:17).

Aaron did a great disservice to Israel. His fear of the people led them to commit a great sin (Ex 32:21). Fear of others led to sin against God. The only two other occurrences of the phrase “great sin” in the Bible refer to the great sin Abimelech accused Abraham of bringing to him when the patriarch was dishonest about Sarah’s identity (Gen 20:9), and the great sin of Jeroboam in enticing Israel away from following the LORD (2 Kings 17:21). The phrase “great sin” is stressed three times in the Exodus 32 (Ex 32: 21, 30, 31). Aaron said, “The people made me do it,” but the Hebrew text exposed Aaron’s irresponsibility: “Aaron made them naked unto their shame” (Ex 32:25). As the saying goes, “The buck stops here.” If the people were as evil as Aaron claimed, as their leader in the absence of Moses, he should know better and not encourage them, side with them, or condone their actions, which were causing them irreversible harm.

The no-stopping, no-clothes, no-holds barred desert party made them a “shame” or a “laughing stock” to their enemies. Strong’s definition of this word “shame” or “laughing stock,” which appears only once in the Bible, is “scornful whispering (of hostile spectators)”. An unrestrained lifestyle is an abomination to the Lord. A man with no self-control is like a car dooed without brakes. Out-of-control Christians make people laugh out loud at God’s name, cause the church to lose her voice, and make witnessing twice as hard.

Expect Rebuke from God If You Sin
26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him. 27 Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘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.’“ 28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. 29 Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.” (Ex 32:26-29)
On the day of the Columbine shooting, a friend from the former USSR was outraged by the student killings and voiced what life was like under Communism before Gorbachev took over, and why so many problems plagued his former country and the world today. He said, “Before Communism fell, if the length of a girl’s dress, especially a student’s, was two inches below the normal length, community leaders, neighbors and ordinary folks would spit at the father in a special town gathering and asked why his daughter was dressed like a prostitute. If the Columbine situation were to occur in his country and if the murderers had escaped, the authorities would summon the father, beat him up, and asked, ‘Where is your son? Why is he like that? What kind of a father are you?’ Fathers in the former country would often hit their wayward sons and daughters to remind them not to shame the family.” He added with sadness, “Now drugs, prostitutes and crime are rampant there, and possibly worse than in America.”

No doubt, Singapore’s 20 whacks on the bottom are more effective than America’s 20 hours of community service. It’s been said, “A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice.” (Ed Howe, American editor and novelist 1853-1937).

So far, Israel had escaped God’s anger, even though Moses had a first-hand glimpse of it when he initially resisted God’s call (Ex 4:14). Only Pharaoh had borne the brunt of the Lord’s anger (Ex 15:8). In the three previous instances – bitter water, no food, no drink – the Israelites got off scot-free, with egg in their face only. When they complained of bitter water (Ex 15:25), they received a lecture; when they complained they had no food (Ex 16:20), they ended up with a bad taste in the mouth at worst (Ex 16:27-28) and given another lecture; and when they had no drink, water gushed freely from a rock (Ex 17:6) and they received, of course, another stern lecture.

God’s anger at and rebuke of willful, contemptible sin was different from the previous slap in the wrist He gave Israel for their childish complains. When God roared and thundered his displeasure, people had to choose sides, three thousand people died, and a plague arrived (Ex 32:35).

Rebuke is not to censure or castigate, but to correct. However, the rejection of correction leads to self-condemnation. The Levites were given a second chance because they responded to Moses’ invitation to turn from their sin. In the past three instances when the Israelites sinned, complaining of bitter water (Ex 15:25), and of the absence of food (Ex 16:20) and drink (Ex 17:2), Israel’s outrageous attitude was tolerated, but they still did not change for the better. Shockingly, in all three previous instances, they did not reply Moses, praise God, or acknowledge their sin. They were taught a lesson but they did not learn their lesson.

Only the tribe of Levi was teachable, repentant, and urgent about it - 1 out of 12 tribes, or less than 10% support, made a stand for God and against sin. That’s the nature of evil. Evil speaks loud, attracts company, and gains momentum. As Paul Dickson said, “Never try to teach a pig how to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig.” (Paul Dickson, And I Quote 81, Ashton Applewhite, St Martin’s Press, 1992)

Atonement for sin and consecration to God are always possible. People that are genuinely repentant not only separate themselves from evil, but also consecrate themselves to God and renew their commitment continually. God desires no-nonsense repentance, not an inferior version or a reversible decision.

Encourage Others to Take Responsibility in the Future
30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31 So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, please forgive their sin--but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.” 33 The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35 And the LORD struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made. (Ex 32:30-35)
A football team was losing badly to their opponents. (Their running game was not going anywhere). They were grounded into the turf each time they tried to carry the ball. So their coach yelled from the sideline (for fresh legs), “Give LeRoy the ball!”

On the next play, however, someone other than LeRoy carried it, and was quickly crushed by the opposing defense. The coach yelled again, “Give LeRoy the ball!” but once more someone else took it, and was immediately beaten down by the other team.

(Infuriated and disgusted,) the coach called out a third time for LeRoy to take the ball. This time the quarterback ran over to the sidelines (to the coach who was shaking his head in disbelief by this time at the team’s defiance of his order) and said, “But Coach, LeRoy doesn’t want that ball.” (Discipleship Journal Issue 8, 1992)

Moses was an admirable man and a model leader and but no plea from him or promise from him of change in the Israelites or punishment that he was willing to accept on their behalf can change the Lord’s mind on taking personal responsibility for sin.

The LORD bluntly told to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book” (Ex 32:33). Why these harsh words from God (32:33)?

First, people can be stubborn, but they are not senseless. They have brains and choices, and they know the consequences. Sadly, the Israelites did not owe up to their sin even when they were given a second chance. The Law of the Harvest says this: Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny. Even hardened people know the harmful cost of sin on themselves, their family, and on society.

Second, sparing sinners is not the same as saving them. Moses could petition for the Israelites all he liked but it was never on behalf of them. He did not and could not speak for them, because they never spoke a word for themselves. They were still giving Moses and God the silent treatment, the black face and the jilted feeling. They were not interested in Moses’ grand sacrifice for them. As Isaac of Nineveh, an ancient mystic, said, “He who knows his sins is much greater than he who makes someone rise from the dead. He who can really cry over about himself is greater than he who teaches the whole world; he who knows his own weakness is greater than he who sees the angels.” (Gordon McDonald, Rebuilding your broken world, 1988 Oliver & Nelson p. 158). A desire

Third, God may sound severe, but He is steadfast. God’s proposal to make a great nation out of Moses’ lineage (Ex 32:10) was not a reversal, but an adjustment, of His promise to Israel. Moses was as much an Israelite as anyone.

Conclusion: Are you spending too much time arguing with God rather than reasoning with Him, blaming Him rather than taking blame, and excusing themselves and others when they misbehaved rather than encouraging themselves and others to take responsibility for their behavior. Do you allow circumstances to control you? Self-control is the hallmark of a fruitful believer (Gal 5:23).

The Bible says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please sinful nature, from that nature, will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life (Gal 6:7-8).