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Really, Awful Worship

Have you ever watched the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston (I actually met him once, but that’s another story)? 

That movie is a serious commitment of time (3 hours & 40 minutes!).  My favorite part is listening to Edward G. Robinson say, “where’s your God, now, Moses” (as only EGR could say).  I look for excuses to utilize that line, employing a really awful EGR impression.

One part that struck me as odd (lots of it struck me as odd, especially today) is the scene where Moses is atop the mountain getting the tablets and the Israelites are at the bottom of the mountain making a golden calf and gearing up for an orgy.

The written Word has the same dichotomy (without the allusion to the wild party atmosphere).  Israel had just witnessed the great plagues; came through a major miracle at the Red Sea; and seen Pharaoh’s Army destroyed by the God they now dismissed in favor of a man-made idol. 

It is true that many other peoples left Egypt in the company of Israel, but their pagan influence could not have been so great as to lead the people astray so soon after witnessing the great plagues and the Red Sea phenomenon . . . could it?

I survived combat in Desert Storm and it changed me in significant ways.  The effects are not so great 30 years after the event, but you can bet I was still greatly impacted two months after the fact.  What I witnessed was not near as significant as what Israel went through, and yet, we have the image of idolatry less than two months after the Red Sea!

Let me suggest that we (and director, Cecil B. DeMille) are looking at it wrong.

Why would they make a bull? 

Yahweh had just humiliated all the gods of Egypt with His plagues (a good exposition of how Yahweh used His plagues to illustrate the powerlessness of the pantheon of Egyptian gods who were thought to protect Egypt is given in Berean Breadcrumbs, Fracturing the Faith – Vol-5 and 6) and He had audibly given all that were at the base of Mount Sinai His ten commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), and now they craft an idol that was used by the humiliated Egyptians and that Yahweh had expressly prohibited in His second commandment (Exodus 20:4-6)?  Maybe there is something else going on here.

When Moses ascends Mount Sinai for his fifth time (he does this a total of seven times at the age of 80!), the word tells us that he was on the mountain for 40 days and nights (Exodus 24:18).  The other accounts do not give a time frame, but I am assuming they were of a significantly shorter time frame because this ascent is the only one where there is an expressed fear that something has happened to Moses.

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 what is become of him.

Exodus 32:1

After Yahweh had given His ten commandments audibly to all the people, they freaked out:

18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. 19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

Exodus 20:18-19

Now, in chapter 32, the people are fearful that Moses – their intercessor with Yahweh – is dead because he has been gone so long.  They were not permitted to set foot on the mountain (chapter 19:21-24) so they could not send out a rescue party.

Someone or something had to lead them and intercede for them because they feared Yahweh.

So, why would they make a bull? 

The ancient Hebrew alphabet was actually a pictograph – meaning, a record consisting of pictorial symbols (as in a prehistoric cave drawing) representing words, phrases or ideas.

The first letter is “Aleph” with is depicted by an oxhead (strength).  Combined with letter “Lamed” (authority), it was how they depicted Yahweh’s name.

The obvious choice for an idol would be an ox or a bull.  Israel had witnessed a very dangerous Yahweh reek incredible havoc on the Egyptians and now they felt they had no viable way to communicate with Him since Moses was gone. 

They wanted Yahweh to continue to lead and protect them, but they were also extremely frightened of Him so they demanded Aaron make a precious idol to show Yahweh that they still thought he was their God.  Aaron could have told them to ‘go pound sand’, but he was probably nervous about having to fill his brother’s shoes so he obliged them.

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.

Exodus 32:5

I think the calf was initially a true desire to worship Yahweh the best way they knew how, but once you violate His Instructions (in this case, the second commandment), there is a downward slide from good intentions to corrupt manifestations.

Whether their intentions were pure or not, Yahweh expressly told them not to make idols and He is not going to change His Mind because the people wanted to please Him ‘their’ way. 

Meanwhile, back up on the mountain:

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: 8 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. 9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 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.

Exodus 32:7-10

They fashioned a calf and gave Satan an opening.  Soon they were worshiping the idol and proclaiming it to be their God.

Yahweh told them,

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 

Exodus 20:4-6

Their attempt to worship Yahweh, contrary to His Decrees, almost got them killed.  How often do we do that today?

  • Do you celebrate a loved one’s birthday by fixing them a splendid meal they are allergic to?
  • Do you celebrate your spouse’s birthday on the day your ex was born?
  • Do you celebrate Easter (Ishtar – Babylonian goddess of fertility) when Yahweh expressly tells us to celebrate Passover and First Fruits (Numbers 9:1-5; Deuteronomy 16:1-8)
    • Do you have the traditional ‘Easter ham’ despite Yahweh telling us pork is “unclean” (Leviticus 11:7)
    • Do you make colored eggs despite this tradition comimg from the dipping of eggs in the blood of sacrificed infants?
    • The evil rituals used in “Christian (pagan) holidays” are spelled out in my book, Grafted: Embracing Torah (free on kindle for a limited time).
  • Do you celebrate Christmas on Nimrod’s birthday – complete with an entire array of pagan rituals, even though Christ was born in the Fall?

I wrote about the pagan rituals that the church has brought into the celebration of Christmas in my last blog (Party Like a Pagan – Christmas).  This is not what Yahweh wants any more than He wanted the Israelites to make a golden calf.

Make a commitment to do what Yahweh wants – not what YOU want Him to want . . . despite the hate you are going to get from people close to you.

Shalom

By rkeck777

I have carefully searched the Scriptures for decades to find the Truth of what God wanted for my life. I was raised Roman Catholic and even attended seminary in the 1980s in Indianapolis, IN. They asked me to leave because I kept questioning the faith by pointing out where Catholic doctrine was counter to the clear teachings of the Scriptures (these differences are covered in many books). I was told that I was “too orthodox” and asked to leave.
I thank the Way International for teaching me ‘how’ to read the Bible. Just as one needs to be taught to read Shakespeare, there are literary rules used throughout the Word (e.g., context, first use, figures of speech, etc.) that make the study of the Bible thrilling and fulfilling (These rules are covered in many books). The Way had its own problems and their proclivity for teaching how to understand the Scriptures led to their undoing when some of their teachings were exposed to be counter to the clear teachings of the Word.
This is not intended to be an auto-biography but I want you to understand that my search has taken me in many varied directions and at the age of 58, I once again made a ‘shift correction’ towards what I believe to be a greater understanding of true faith. It is never too late for God to reveal the answers to the desires of your heart.

I began a thirty day fast after Thanksgiving 2018 for both spiritual and physical health reasons. I listed my reasons on a dry-erase board so they were constantly before me. Those who know me were shocked that I planned to go thirty days without food. I explained that Christ went forty days and he wasn’t sixty-five pounds overweight. I don’t believe I would have been successful without my list and a desire to see the changes come about in me.
Number one on my list was to ask for forgiveness. My transgressions unto the Lord are numerous and senseless (as I’m sure is the case with most people). This is where the opening verse comes in. Someone actually shared it on Facebook (see, FB is not totally worthless) and I was struck by what it said of God’s own heart. I looked it up in my Bible so I could see the context and I saw the verse was highlighted and there were notes in the margin. I was shocked. I had seen this verse - I had parsed the Hebrew words in the verse - I had saved my thoughts in the margin - and I had completely missed the Heart of God in the Verse.
Parsing, examining and searching the Word and various study helps is important and it has its place, but God only wrote one Book for His People so seeing the why, the heart, of what is written is vital. In a nutshell, in Isaiah 43 God tells us that HE forgives us for HIS sake because unforgiveness is so toxic that God worries about its effects on Himself. I couldn’t believe I had missed this simple, yet powerful truth and knew I had to examine every aspect of my faith to see what else I had ignored.
It is very easy to delve into the Bible to verify the doctrine one already has and this is what I had done for decades. Luckily, I had been ‘thrown out’ of my church the year before based on a personal disagreement with the Pastor. God had some major Truths He wanted to share with me and I was now not as likely to bend scripture to whatever my current church was teaching. The process behind the Revelation does not have a linear path that can be easily transcribed and this narrative is already lengthier than I had planned so let’s just cut to the chase. The epiphany is probably the reason you are reading this book in the first place and you are probably wondering if I will ever come to the point.

God told me that ‘Christ did not come to start a new religion or a new Covenant’.

Read that again.

Yes, Jesus brought about the New Covenant promised by God (Jeremiah 31:31) in the Old Testament, but he did not bring about something different than what had been prophesied. “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Where, in scripture, is it prophesied that God will ‘suspend’ His Laws for a time?
I could not have received that a year ago because I was so steeped in the Faith I had ‘clothed’ myself in. I understand that early believers were referred to as “Christians” but that was merely a derisive label given to them. In my civilian jobs, I was called supervisor, foreman, boss fellow, and several other names I chose, in good taste, to not repeat. These are all titles and did not change the underlying character of who I am. There are two very good YouTube videos I found that explain this so well that I recommend you stop reading now and watch them before continuing.

The Error of Dispensationalism (Remastered) - 119 Ministries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RL2hZSpKEE
Identity Crisis - Passion for Truth Ministries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN-1jUc963g

Yes, I understand Jim Staley is (was, depending on when you read this) in jail. He is an imperfect messenger (as are we all), but if you cannot distinguish between the messenger and the message then you are going to miss out on much of what God is sharing to you with the Scriptures and in life.

I was reminded of the lesson of Ananias and Sapphira from Acts 5:
1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. 6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. 7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. 8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. 9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. 10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. 11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

Ananias and Sapphira had obviously done a good work in selling their property and giving much of the proceeds towards the Ministry but their hearts were wicked in that they wanted praise for having done this and false praise at that since they kept back some of the money but they led people to believe that they had contributed the entire amount. Any amount would have been a worthy contribution but they wanted to be puffed up in their pride by lying to the Apostles and to the Holy Spirit. The shock and shame of having their hearts exposed by the Spirit through Peter was too much for them.

You must work out your path AND you must want to follow that path. Our Father is not impressed by people who feel obligated to do something they do not want to do (“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” Matthew 15:8). God also tells us that, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1John 5:3). The Torah was not intended to be burdensome but the Religious Leaders, over time, added to and agonizingly interpreted the existing Instructions with their traditions (Talmud). I do not believe that this was God’s intention. God’s Instructions are not based on circumstance but the application often must be. This is your responsibility - please do not relinquish the accountability of your walk to others.

The two most important things you much figure out for yourself are, “what is God’s Heart in commanding such and such” and “what is my heart in obeying His Commandments”. This is a journey, much like marriage, and diligence to your relationship will produce wonderful results.

3 replies on “Really, Awful Worship”

[…] Do not let it become an empty tradition like Easter and Christmas – my book examines how we took Pagan rituals and tried to “Christianize” them.  We happily anticipated these holidays and partook of all the traditions in preparation of the holidays without knowing how the traditions started nor understanding that Yahweh does not accept worship that uses impure or mindless rituals (see my blog, Really, Awful Worship). […]

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