Christ-Light Connections: God gives His Law to His People & The Golden Calf

The Christ-Light theme this week is God in his mercy spares his holy people when they sin. The character of God and the character of humanity are unveiled at Mount Sinai in the giving of the Ten Commandments and the sin surrounding the Golden Calf incident.

OT2 4A

God Gives His Law to His People — Exodus 19:1 – 20:21, 24:3-8, 12-18

Context

Three months have passed since the Israelites witnessed God’s might in the ten plagues, experienced delivery from slavery, crossed through the Red Sea, and watched the enemy Egyptians annihilated. They were daily and miraculously fed by manna and had seen water burst forth from a rock. They were gradually becoming acquainted with God and his characteristics. Now at Mount Sinai, it was time to learn more about the nature of God and what he demanded.

There is so much material and depth in this lesson! If you are trying to teach it in two days, don’t get lost in the trees of the Ten Commandments. Focus on the big theme of why God gives the Commandments.

Big Ideas

A two-way covenant (Exodus 19:5-8)

This covenant with God is different from the one he made with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). That earlier covenant was one-sided, God would do all the acting and keep all the promises. Here the promise comes with a conditional “if”.

“If you obey.”

When it comes to transactions with God, “ifs” makes me panic. I know myself well enough to admit that I have been breaking his laws all my life, and I will continue to do so until the day I die. I also know that God is always true to his Word. Here it seems that God’s continued commitment to Israel is bending his own rules. As the lesson continues, God will help make sense of this contradiction.

“We will do everything the LORD has said.” (Exodus 19:8)

Haha, yeah right! If you know anything about Israel’s history, you know that they definitely did NOT obey God. Israel wasn’t being hypocritical. They sincerely wanted to obey, and they truly thought that they could. Although a naive confession, it is one natural for fallen humans.

Consider every non-Christian religion. In general, they require something of the follower that is obedient, right, or good. There is a natural pride inside of the human soul that convinces us we can just do it.

Scary mountain, scarier God (Exodus 19:16-25)

What do you get when you mix an earthquake, volcano, thunderstorm, loud trumpets, and death threats? You get the way God chooses to reveal his law. The way in which God created such a terrifying scene revealed his seriousness about the law and gave the Israelites a glimpse of his wrath.

Conversation Starters:

• How do descriptions of the final judgment remind us of Mount Sinai?
• Examine the picture below. How are we spared from the wrath of God?

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The Law (Exodus 20:1-17)

Why did God bother to give Israel this list if he knew how thoroughly they would violate his law? In a sense, he was setting them up to fail. God showed them that in order to have a right relationship with him, complete obedience was required. In the coming days, Israel would become acquainted with the reality of their inability to obey. They would learn that they could not have a relationship with God based on their obedience. They needed another option.

This is where we get to the Ten Commandments. We could spend weeks studying these. A great source for further study is Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. However, for purposes of this lesson, focus on the forest not the trees.

Conversation Starters:

• Describe the relationship God commands us to have with him.
• Describe the relationship God commands us to have with our neighbor.
• How did Jesus make obedience even more impossible? (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28)
• Describe various ways in which Jesus obeyed these commands.

Digging Deeper

The Seeds of Faith resource provides great Law and Gospel points as well as thoughtful discussion questions.

40 Minutes in the Old Testament Podcast

• Episode 84: Mount Sinai is a freaky place. Darkness, thunder, lightning, and threats of death. What are the differences between Sinai and Calvary? Moses brings the words from God to the people.
• Episode 85: It’s time for the Ten Commandments! Well, it’s time for the first two anyway. What does it mean to have no other God’s before God’s own face? Are all images forbidden no matter what? What does it mean to take the Lord’s name in vain? Is God really jealous? 
• Episode 86: Finishing up the Ten Commandments. Lots of time talking about the Sabbath and why it contains almost as many words as the rest of the commandments put together.

OT 2 4B

The Golden Calf — Exodus 24:12-18, 32:1-34, 33:4-6, 34:1-10, 28

Context

God’s law and God’s terrifying wrath had been revealed to the Israelites. They knew the expectations and the consequences of failure.

But…Moses had been gone for a long time. It seems so odd to us that the Israelites of all people on earth would struggle with idolatry.

Big Ideas

Desperate to worship something (Exodus 32:1-2)

You would think that the people who had witnessed so many miraculous events would be committed to the LORD. But Moses, the mouth of God, had been gone for too long. The people felt the void of his absence and created something else to worship.

Humanity was designed for worship. If one does not worship the LORD, the void will be filled by someone or something else. An idol can be a false religion or anything that consumes our thoughts or holds our devotion.

Conversation Starters:

• What kinds of idolatry do you see around you?
• Can good things (family, health, reputation) become idols? How so?

Stiff-necked people and Moses’ appeal (Exodus 32:7-14)

Imagine trying to plow your fields with an 800-pound ox that refused to go or turn the way you asked. Such an ox is called stiff-necked. Israel will be given this nickname over and over again.

God’s wrath against sin is expressed right away. First, he denies his people calling them “your” instead of “my.” Then he tells Moses he will destroy them. Who could say that the Israelites didn’t deserve this?

Think back to Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham’s prayer. Abraham requested God spare the towns for the sake of the righteous. God agreed, but who could claim to be righteous? Now, contrast this with Moses’ prayer.

Conversation Starters:

• What reasons did Moses give to the LORD to spare the nation?
• If you were before the throne of God, what could you say in your defense?

Aaron’s guilt and shame (Exodus 32:21-24)

Moses confronts Aaron about the idol. Just as Adam blamed Eve for the first sin, so he blames the people. His excuse, “I threw in the gold, and out came a calf,” sounds foolish and desperate. (Pretty sure this excuse isn’t even as good as “my dog ate my homework.”)

The point is that guilt makes us feel shame. Without mercy, we are desperate to shove the guilt onto someone else.

Guilt shoving plagues me and my family:

• “I raged at my children because they deserved it.”
• “I hurt my brother because he was annoying me.”
• “I ignored someone in need because I’m busy with important things.“

Excuses are fig leaves for my shame.

Conversation Starters:

• How do you and the people around you guilt shove?
• What sets us free to fully confess our guilt?
• Who do we actually get to shove our guilt on to?

Consequences of Idolatry (Exodus 32:27 – 33:3)

After Moses’ call to repentance, 3,000 unrepentant died by the sword. God also punished Israel by sending a plague. Death is the consequence of sin. But, the greater consequence had not yet been issued. Because Israel had broken their covenant of obedience to God, God would no longer go with them. Sin results in separation from God.

All of this is the work of the Law on the hearts of the Israelites. Their once naive, optimistic faith was gone. What remained was sorrow over sin and a desperate need for mercy.

Repentance (Exodus 33:4-6, 33:12-17)

In distress, the Israelites mourned their separation from God. Moses, as their mediator, went before God to plead on Israel’s behalf. God who is compassionate and gracious, abounding in love and forgiveness gave his Presence back to his people.

Conversation Starters:

• What did Israel learn about her abilities to be obedient and committed to God?
• What did Israel learn about God’s commitment to them?
• Was God bending his own rules? How does Christ help us make sense of God’s judgment and mercy?

Digging Deeper

The Seeds of Faith resource provides great Law and Gospel points as well as thoughtful discussion questions.

40 Minutes in the Old Testament Podcast

• Episode 101: Since everyone is religious at heart, the people corner Aaron in Moses’ absence and demand a god to worship. Gold is pulled off the ears of the people, and the most famous idol in the Bible is fashioned. It’s an odd yet common thing to have the right God’s name but the wrong god altogether.
• Episode 102: Before Moses smashes the Ten Commandments and makes the people drink their idol, he has a strange discussion with God. Can you change God’s mind? How do we appeal to God? How is Moses not only a type of the Law but also a type of Christ?
• Episode 103: Moses questions Aaron about the golden calf. Aaron lies.
• Episode 104: How God views idolatry as adultery throughout the Old Testament. God has separated himself from the people, and Moses argues that holiness is at stake.