C: In this lesson, we'll be looking at a sad time in Israel's history. Moses had gone up Mount Sinai to receive the Law of God. He was up there a long time, and so the people fell into sin. We'll learn about it tonight.

1. Go To God Together

Exodus 24:12-18
12 The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction."
13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God.
14 He said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them."
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,
16 and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud.
17 To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.
18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

C: God told Moses to go up on the mountain in verse 12. Moses took Joshua his aide with him up the mountain. This was a great opportunity for Joshua to learn.

Q: Can you imagine what it would have been like, going up on a mountain and meeting with God? There a cloud settled on the mountain, and to the Israelites below, it looked like a fire (v.17). For us, the lesson is simple. We should go to God together. When you pray together with people, it bonds you in love. We must do it with our wives if we are married. We should pray with our flatmates if we are single. And in this group, we should pray together.

2. Don't Forget Your Leaders

Q: How long did it take Moses to come down from the mountain? [40 days, according to Exodus 24:18.]

Q: Can any of you remember something that happened 40 days ago?

C: When Moses did not come down, the people grew impatient.

Exodus 32:1-6
1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, 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."
2 Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me."
3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.
4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD."
6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

Q: When the people criticised Moses, what did Aaron do? [Instead of rebuking them, he listened to them and made a calf-god for them, to calm them down.]

C: These people had forgotten their leaders. They had forgotten what God had done for them. God does not want us to do this, either.

Hebrews 13:7


C: Here the writer reminds us to remember our leaders, who converted us.

Q: Think about it for a moment. Who converted you? When was the last time you thanked them for saving your soul? Have you forgotten their love for you?

C: Let's decide to be loyal to the people who saved us from hell!

3. Prayer Makes a Difference

Exodus 32:7-14
7 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.
8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'
9 "I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people.
10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."
11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. "O LORD," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.
13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.'"
14 Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Q: How did God feel when he saw them make the calf? [Verse 10 says that he wanted to destroy them.]

Q: What did Moses do (v.11)? [He prayed.]

How did God react to this? [God listened to him!]

C: Moses had the courage to convince God not to destroy or punish the Israelites. When we pray, it does make a difference!

Psalm 106:21=23


C: This passage explains that Moses "stood in the breach" to save the people. We must do this for each other, and for the lost. When someone is weak, or falling into sin, they need our prayers. Our prayers can save their souls. Today, whatever the problems you are facing, remember that prayer makes a difference, and be sure to pray.

4. Do Not Tolerate Sin

Exodus 32:15-20
15 Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.
16 The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, "There is the sound of war in the camp."
18 Moses replied: "It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear."
19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.
20 And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

Q: What did Moses do when he saw the calf? [He broke the tablets with the ten commandments of God.]

What did he do to the calf? [He burned it, ground it up, and made the people drink water mixed with the statue's dust.]

Q: In the New Testament, which passage reminds you of this one? [When Jesus went into the temple, and drove out the animals and people with a whip.]

C: God's nature never changes. He cannot tolerate sin in our lives. We must hate the sin in our own lives, and drive it out completely, just like Moses did. He was not afraid of what people would think. He just wanted to do what was right.

5. Bag the Excuses

Exodus 32:21-26
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.

Q: How did Aaron react to Moses' challenge in verse 21? [He made excuses. First he challenged Moses, "don't be angry" (v.22). Then he blamed the people (v.22). Then he claimed the calf came out of the fire miraculously (v.24). Moses was upset. He saw that because of Aaron's excuses and compromises, "the people were running wild...out of control" (v.25). When the church is not hard on sin, then the world will laugh at us. Moses challenged everyone, "whoever is for the Lord, come to me." That is the challenge God gives us today: "if you are for me, then bag the excuses, and come to me."

Q: Are you making excuses? For missing quiet times? For being late to meetings? For getting angry? Are you blaming others, or are you accepting your own mistakes?

C: When we decide to make no more excuses, our lives change quickly.

6. Stand for the Truth

Exodus 32:27-35
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."
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.

C: Here the Levites went through the Israelite camp, killing about 3000 people. They did this because Moses had to get control of the crowd, or all of them would die.

Sometimes in the Old Testament God would command his people to kill others. He always did this to save lives in the end. He also did this as an example for us. Of course, we do not kill anyone, but we must stand up for the truth in the same way that Moses and the Levites did. Moses prayed to God, asking him to forgive them or to send him to hell (v.32)! This was a courageous prayer. Moses loved these people so much that he was willing to go to hell for them. We must pray for others, and never back down from what is true and right.

Conclusion

We must make sure we never go the way of the people in Exodus 32.