The Golden Calf debacle prompts several intriguing exchanges between God and Moses. Here’s the first while Moses is still on the mountain:

And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. (Exodus 32.7, ESV)

That is NOT what the LORD said back in Exodus 20:

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Exodus 20.2, ESV)

Sounds like a conversation between parents: “YOUR son…”

Then God threatens to destroy them but Moses intercedes:

And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.” But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, “O 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 say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people…” (Exodus 32.9 – 12, ESV)

Moses’ prayer is based on the honor of God’s name. Also, as my friend Henry Clay says – Henry is a very powerful pray-er – God likes it when we make a case. Think of Abraham before the judgment of Sodom in Genesis 18. Or Job:

Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. (Job 23.3 – 4, ESV)

The back-and-forth between God and Moses continues in Exodus 33:

The LORD said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you,…but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (Exodus 33.1 – 3, ESV, emphasis mine)

…Moses said to the LORD, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” And the LORD said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” (Exodus 33.12 – 17, ESV)

Moses is clear: “If your presence will not go with me, then we don’t want to go.” And Moses’ point is something like, “If you’re not with us, in what sense are we your people?” And God responds favorably: “My presence will go with you…this very thing that you have spoken I will do…”

Did God change his mind? A deep question, but these conversations illustrate the power of prayer. Intentional, deliberate, make-a-case prayer. “LORD, you want to do this because…”

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4.6, NIV, emphasis mine)

I reminded us yesterday that Jesus is our priest, and that’s a good thing because Aaron, the first priest, wasn’t all that great a guy. We’ve already seen that the infamous golden calf episode came right after Aaron had had a personal encounter with God! Now we come to Exodus 32, the golden calf chapter and see that Aaron has real issues.

First, when pressured, he makes the golden calf:

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. 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.” So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32.1 – 4, ESV)

Then, when challenged by Moses, he refuses to take responsibility:

And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. 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.’ So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” (Exodus 32.22 – 24, ESV)

Aaron was an incredibly weak leader and man. “Aaron…fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf.” (verse 4) is very different from “I threw it into the fire and out came this calf.” (verse 24) And of course, he blames the whole thing on the people who are “set on evil.”

A people “set on evil” need to be restrained, but Aaron doesn’t restrain them:

Moses saw that the people were simply running wild—Aaron had let them run wild, disgracing themselves before their enemies. (Exodus 32.35, MSG)

But here’s a thought: Aaron becomes the first high priest anyway! (See Leviticus 8 and 9.) Maybe he functioned OK as a priest, just not as a leader. We see this sort of thing all the time. For example, the Denver Broncos football team has hired several men over the past few years who were outstanding assistant coaches but terrible head coaches. The last one, Nathaniel Hackett, was said to be a genius as an offensive coordinator, but he was a miserable failure as head coach. I was at a game when the crowd took to counting down the play clock so the team wouldn’t incur a delay of game penalty because Coach Hackett apparently couldn’t keep up with it. He was fired before the end of the season, and the Broncos have hired Sean Payton who is a former, you guessed it, successful head coach.

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. (Romans 12.6 – 8, NLT)

Back to Exodus with a couple of chapters on the garments of the priests. Here are a few observations:

You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. You shall speak to all those wise at heart whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to set him apart as holy, in order for him to minister as priest to Me. Exodus 28.2, 3, LSB

The garments were to be made by those “wise at heart…filled with the spirit of wisdom.” I have noted before that the phrase “filled with the Spirit of God” was first used to describe Bezalel to build the Tabernacle. But here in chapter 28, a similar gift is for making the priestly garments.

Another observation: the garments were “for glory and for beauty.” It’s in verse 2, above, and also in verse 40. God is an extravagant artist!

For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty. (Exodus 28.40, ESV)

God is an artist, and we are his artwork!

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2.10, NIV)

There is also the concept of remembrance:

There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes…So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD. (Exodus 28.21, 29, ESV)

And there’s one more observation. Tim Keller taught that we should look for Jesus in the Bible. For example, in the parable of the two sons in Luke 15, Tim said that Jesus is the true “older brother” who did seek and save the lost. Who is our priest? Who carries our names before the Father? Jesus does!

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7.22 – 25, ESV)

Before we jump back into Exodus (I haven’t forgotten!), I want to write one more blog on Tim Keller. No promises, but I think this is the last one. It occurred to me that there are readers who have never heard of him and wonder what all the fuss is about. Someone just shared with me an extraordinary article Tim wrote called “The Centrality of the Gospel.” I hope you’ll take the time to read it in its entirety and pass it on. As the copyright notice at its end says:

Copyright © 2000 by Timothy Keller. This article appeared in adapted form in Chapter 3 of the book Center Church by Timothy Keller (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012). We encourage you to use and share this material freely—but please don’t charge money for it, change the wording, or remove the copyright information.

The point of “The Centrality of the Gospel” comes from Galatians 2.14 where Paul is describing a confrontation he had with Peter:

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, …

Tim writes:

Paul lays down a powerful principle. He deals with Peter’s racial pride and cowardice by declaring that he was not living “in line with the truth of the gospel.” From this we see that the Christian life is a process of renewing every dimension of our life—spiritual, psychological, corporate, social—by thinking, hoping, and living out the “lines” or ramifications of the gospel. The gospel is to be applied to every area of thinking, feeling, relating, working, and behaving. The implications and applications of Galatians 2:14 are vast.

I’m not going to summarize the article for you. Please read it for yourself! A fellow Navigator described it as “the best nine pages outside the Bible.” Another Navigator said, “I try to get it in the hands of every believer I disciple as soon as possible.” It’s certainly going to become another arrow in my quiver as soon as I internalize its message a bit more.

I’ll leave you with just two more snippets and a key verse:

Paul is showing that in our Christian life we never “get beyond the gospel” to something more advanced. The gospel is not the first step in a stairway of truths; rather, it is more like the hub in a wheel of truth. The gospel is not just the ABCs but the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom but the way we make all progress in the kingdom...

All problems, personal or social, come from a failure to apply the gospel in a radical way, a failure to get “in line with the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14). All pathologies in the church and all its ineffectiveness come from a failure to let the gospel be expressed in a radical way. If the gospel is expounded and applied in its fullness in any church, that church will begin to look very unique. People will find in it both moral conviction yet compassion and flexibility.

The gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world… (Colossians 1.6, NIV)

Earlier today, June 1, 2023, 921 cadets graduated from the Air Force Academy, about five miles south of where we live in Monument, Colorado. It’s a testimony to their discipline and perseverance in a very demanding environment. We had no reason to be in attendance today, but I have been to several of these, and it’s always thrilling.

The most exciting moment is at the end, after they have taken the oath of office, and they’re waiting to be dismissed. It’s so timed that when the Commandant commands, “DISMISSED!” the cadets throw their hats into the air in celebration as the Air Force Thunderbirds fly over. It takes split-second timing, and it’s a marvel. I cry as I write.

Afterward, the Thunderbirds do a 30-minute air show. From where our house is, we can hear ’em, but we can’t see ’em. These pictures of the four-ship with Pikes Peak in the background were made by Jen Thielke and posted on NextDoor.

With all that’s apparently going wrong these days, it’s nice to celebrate excellence.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4.8, NIV

I wrote last week about the passing of Tim Keller, and tributes continue to come, including this one from the Wall Street Journal. As I was reading John Stonestreet’s tribute on BreakPoint, I was struck by this sentence:

Keller was in his forties before he showed up on the public’s radar. Oddly enough, he went to Manhattan after pastoring a small-town Virginia church for nine years. Success in the Big Apple was by no means a sure thing. A theologically conservative pastor setting up shop in the “Babylon” of downtown New York City had all the makings of a fish-out-of-water story where the well-meaning parson was doomed to failure even before he set out. – Breakpoint, May 25, 2023

What got my attention was “small-town…doomed to failure…” Who else went to New York City from a small-town church, whose mission was doomed to failure? Ever hear of David Wilkerson of Cross and the Switchblade fame? In 1958, David Wilkerson was a small-town Pentecostal pastor in Pennsylvania when he read a story in Time Magazine about New York City gangs. He felt called to reach them. One of his converts was Puerto Rican gang member Nicky Cruz, about whom I’ve written before.

But compare and contrast these two men: both Tim Keller and David Wilkerson felt called to go to New York City from small-town pastorates. Tim targeted the elite. David targeted gang members. Their missions were both doomed from the start yet they both succeeded. They couldn’t have been more different theologically, preaching style, and probably personality. What did they have in common? They loved the people they were trying to reach.

Nicky Cruz: I could kill you, preach!

David Wilkerson: Yes, you could, Nicky. You could cut me up in a thousand pieces! And every piece will say ‘I love you!

The common people felt loved by Jesus, and the quote I posted from Tim Keller’s Prodigal God speaks of that. Here’s part of it:

Jesus’s teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day…If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did. – Tim Keller, The Prodigal God

God uses all kinds of people.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13.1 – 2, NIV)

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. (1 Corinthians 12.4, NIV)

Jesus didn’t leave anyone out. He tried until the end to reach the religious leaders without success.

I just noticed recently, from the beginning of the story, Jesus was trying to reach the leaders. In the story of the man let down through the roof, we have this exchange:

And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” (Mark 2.5 – 11, ESV)

By the way, I’ll never forget one pastor’s observation on “…when Jesus saw their faith.” What did Jesus see? Their tearing up the roof and lowering the man? Of course. But this pastor suggested one more thing: “I think they dropped the ropes!”

Back to the exchange with the scribes (religious leaders): “But that you may know…” Jesus hardly ever does things the same way twice. In this story, “Son, your sins are forgiven,” was designed to get the attention of the religious leaders. And then he closes with “But that you may know…”

I’m trying to tell you something here. You believe that the man was paralyzed because of some sin. Therefore, for him to walk, that sin must be forgiven. Right? Watch this!

Don’t give up! You’re trying to help someone understand the truth? Don’t give up. Try different approaches. Jesus used miracles, stories, direct confrontation, and even quiet conversations (See John 3) to reach the leaders.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 1 Corinthians 9.20 – 22, ESV)

It’s more than the unofficial start to summer…it’s a day to remember those who gave their lives in wartime. My friend John Ed Mathison wrote:

Remembering is something many of us are not very good at doing. It takes no effort to forget–it takes a lot of energy to remember. John Ed, May 24, 2023

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11.23 – 25, NIV)

So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live…And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. (2 Peter 1.12 – 15, NIV

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15.13, NIV)

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2.1 – 4, NIV, emphasis mine)

We were in Montgomery, Alabama, in the late 1970s when a tornado went right over our house. We were in the basement because of a tornado warning, but we weren’t expecting anything when WHOMP – we heard this awful noise and a brief shake of the whole house. It skipped over us and took down a large tree at the back of our lot. I don’t know why I’ve never associated Luke’s description of Pentecost with a tornado, but his language is clear:

When Luke is describing what happened on that first Pentecost Day in Acts 2, he chooses “a sound like the blowing of a violent wind” as his metaphor. The disciples heard a roar, probably like the sonic tumult made by a tornado, and the choice of the word “violent” or “strong” reveals the feeling he is seeking to convey—this is no light breeze we’re dealing with here! – Receive the Holy Spirit: A 70-Day Journey through the Scriptures by Dan Wilt

I shared this Annie Dillard quote over three years ago. It’s worth revisiting:

On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return. ― Annie Dillard, “An Expedition to the Pole” from Teaching a Stone to Talk (1982)

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4.31, NIV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1.8, ESV)

In the previous two blogs, I’ve listed five reasons to continue reading the Old Testament:

• “All scripture” is inspired and profitable
• Paul preached “the whole counsel of God”
• Some of the New Testament doesn’t make sense without it
• There are principles there you won’t discover anywhere else
• There are examples to follow or avoid

Here’s the last one that I’ll write about. You want to read the Old Testament because…

Jesus is there!

He may not be in every chapter, but he is there, as far back as Genesis 3.15. (And that’s not counting Genesis 1: “Let us make man in our image…”).

Here’s a sermon I would like to have heard:

And [Jesus] said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24.25 – 27, ESV)

Beginning with Moses (Genesis – Deuteronomy) and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. For example:

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen… (Deuteronomy 18.15, ESV)

¹  My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
⁶  But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
⁷  All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
⁸  “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” (Psalm 22.1, 6 – 8, ESV)

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor… (Isaiah 61.1, 2, ESV – compare Luke 4.18 – 21)

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53.5, 6, NKJV)

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. (Zechariah 12.10, ESV)

So let’s keep reading, even the Old Testament! (And don’t forget to supplement when necessary with Mark’s Gospel or the Psalms.)