Why the Golden Calf Still Matters — 1 Corinthians 10:5-13 Explained

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, good to have you all back with us again, and we're going to keep right on going in First Corinthians, now in Chapter 10. And again, we always like to make you aware that all the past programs are available on video. We've put 12 programs on one six-hour video, and then that six-hour video has been transcribed by Jerry Poole, who's with us today. And that becomes in the little books. I think you'll see them on the screen before we start. And if you're interested in that for home Bible study use or for in your church, why, you call us on the 800 number or write to us, and we'll make sure that you get this information. Because, and I guess I should mention that for those of you who watch the program and you are incarcerated, you're in prison, you let us know because we send these little books out free to anyone that's in prison and without an income, and the same way if you have friends who are missionaries. We'll find the funds to be able to send these little books to missionaries overseas. We've already sent quite a few. Okay, now then for those of you here in the studio audience and for those of you joining us in your home, let's turn back to First Corinthians Chapter 10. And the whole idea here is that Paul is addressing these carnal believers at Corinth, and he's using everything at his disposal to teach them and to bring them under an understanding of his gospel, how that Christ died for the sins of the world, that His blood was shed, and that He rose from the dead. And of course, he has to constantly bring in all of their behavioral problems, and they had them. They were constantly tempted to go back into idolatry. They were constantly tempted to go back into immoral practices, plus all these other little hang -ups that he has been addressing. And so now then, as we saw in our last program, he goes back to Israel's experience in the wilderness and how that when they cried for water, Moses, by God's instruction, struck the rock, and out of the rock came water, and Paul now makes it so plain in this Chapter 10 that that rock was Christ. Now you want to remember that all through Scripture, from the beginning of the Old Testament all the way through to the end, whenever there is a typical reference to the rock, the rock is Christ. None other. It will never deviate. And so whether it's back in Exodus, the rock struck, or a little later in Numbers when Moses was supposed to have spoken to it, but he struck it, the rock is still Christ. You get to Daniel Chapter 2, when he has the vision of that rock cut out without hands and it strikes the image on its feet. That's the Second Coming of Christ, pictured as a smiting stone. And you come into Matthew, of course, where Peter made that tremendous confession of faith. And the Lord Jesus said, well Peter, you're right. Flesh and blood didn't reveal that unto you, the Father which is in Heaven revealed it unto you. And then he comes in that next verse and he says, Thou art Peter, which means a stone, but he says, upon this rock, capital R-O-C-K, upon this rock, speaking of himself, upon Christ, see, he would found the Church. And so we have to remember that all through Scripture, the rock is always Christ in typical language. All right, now then, let's come on down to verse 5, and again we're going to have to go back to Exodus. But in verse 5 of I Corinthians 10, he says, But with many of them, that is these Israelites, who had all come out of Egypt, they all came through the Passover experience, they all came through the Red Sea experience, they're all gathered around Mount Sinai, and of course Moses then has gone up into the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments. All right, what took place below? Verse 5. But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now here it comes, just like we saw last week, or last program, in Romans chapter 15, verse 6, where it said, All these things were written aforetime for our learning. Remember, we looked at it at the beginning of the program. Almost a repeat. Now he says, These things that happened to Israel were our examples that we can learn from. When I was a kid they used to teach us with what they called flannel graph and object lessons. I loved object lessons, because boy they could have such an impact on a little kid's mind. And that's actually what these things concerning Israel were. They were good object lessons that told a distinct truth. All right, so he says, These were our examples to the intent that we should learn, that like them we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted, neither be idolaters as were some of them. And then he quotes it, For the people rose up to eat, or they sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. All right, let's go back and look at it again. Exodus chapter 32. And it is just as applicable for us today as it was for Corinth in Paul's day, and just as applicable as when it happened back in Exodus. Now always remember, I've stressed this with my classes in Oklahoma so often. You know, I'm a proponent that we're not under law, we're under grace. But the God of the Old Testament, the God of the Mosaic law, is the same God that we deal with today, and He has not changed. God has not changed. He is the same yesterday and forever, today and forever. All right, now what do we have to understand then? That the things that God hated way back in Genesis, God hates today. And the things that God admonished Israel not to do for their own good, He admonishes us today not to do for our own good, because He hasn't changed. The circumstances of the world have not changed. In other words, the things that damaged the health of an individual back in Israel's early days are no different than they do today. And so here's the lesson. All right, back to Exodus 32. Moses had been up in the mountain now for almost 40 days, dealing with Jehovah God. God has already written with His finger, as the expression puts it, on the tables of stone the Ten Commandments, and He and Joshua now has joined Him, and they're on the way down from the mountaintop. Verse 1, Exodus 32, And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together under Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, with a small g, make us gods which shall go before us. Because after all, that's what they were used to in Egypt, you know. In Egypt everything was a god for the Egyptians, and I imagine some of it had rubbed off on these Israelites. But anyway, they said, 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 know not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Okay, break off your golden earrings, and the ears of your wives and your sons and your daughters. So this whole idea of men wearing rings in their ears is not new. They evidently did it way back here. And so he says, break off those golden earrings, bring them to me. And they did. Verse 3, And so all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and he fashioned it. He worked that. He must have been a craftsman of some sort. So he took this gold and melted it, and he fashioned it with a graving tool. And he made the molten calf. And he said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which, of course, was an Egyptian god as well, the calf, the ox, or whatever, out of one of many. And so they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Israel. Well, now that was a lie. That golden calf had nothing to do with bringing them through the Red Sea. Verse 5, Aaron, you know, I can never get over this man. I cannot get over Aaron, that he didn't even give them any argument. He should have preached them a sermon, shouldn't he? But he just does whatever they want him to do. And so he fashions this golden calf so it can be an idol for them. And then he goes right on and encourages them and said, Okay, here's your god. And he built an altar. So he was part and parcel of it, the way it looks to me. I hope I don't have Aaron confront me in eternity someday and say, Hey, what was the big idea down there in Oklahoma, running me up one side and down the other? Maybe it will. I don't know. But nevertheless, I can't figure the man out. How he went right along with all this and then actually helped him to build an altar all around this old golden calf. And then Aaron made a proclamation, verse 5, and he says, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. Now think about that. Here he was mixing the worship of this idol, this golden calf, and calling it a feast day of Jehovah. Now we think that's terrible. And it is. But you know what? They're doing the same thing today. They do the same thing today. I learned years ago that you can have some liberal, ultra-liberal preacher or theologian, and he can talk about resurrection. He doesn't mean what we mean. He's talking about something totally different. And the same way with so much of the terminology of New Testament Christianity. They can use the same words, but not in the same definition. And so what do they do? The same thing. They use Christian language. They refer to being led by the Holy Spirit. To me it's almost blasphemy, but they do it. All right, now that's exactly what Aaron is doing. He's taking the worship of this golden calf, hanging to the core, and then he says, Tomorrow we'll call it a feast day of the Lord. Verse 6. So here's where Paul is quoting. And so they rose up early in the morning of the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat, and to drink, and to play. Amazing, isn't it? Here they've had the proof of the Almighty God in fire on the mountain, the pillar of fire at night as they came out of Egypt, that pillar of a cloud during the day to give them shade from the sun, and yet they can go right down into the depths of idolatry and worship a stupid golden calf, a dead thing with no life whatsoever. But, again, it was an emotional thing. See, it appealed to their emotions. You see what they did? Oh, with that calf in the center of the camp, they sat down to eat and they rose up to play. It was just a practice of the satisfaction of the flesh. Okay, now then, verse 7. God has to move Moses out of the mountain experience a little bit, and He says, Come on Moses, get down, for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. Someone else didn't come in and do it. They did it of their own volition. They asked for it. You know, so often, even in our own present time, people who are guilty of things that are anti-scriptural will try to take the whole idea, well, I couldn't help it, I'm a victim of circumstances. No, they aren't. They are people of choice, and they make choices, and you can't get away from that. Or the same way here. These children of Israel were a people of choice. They didn't have to have that stupid calf. They weren't hurting. God was going to take care of them. But of their own volition, of their own choice, they said to Aaron, We've got to have a God to worship. As for Moses, we don't know what's happened to him. Okay, now then. I'm not going to read all these verses, but let's come on over to the same chapter 32, and verse 17. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people, now remember, there were millions of them, and they were having a celebration in the worship of this golden calf. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There's noise of war in the camp. He thought the people were being attacked and were probably screaming and yelling, running for their lives, see. And Moses said, No, wait a minute, Joshua, listen. That's not the sound or the voice of them that cry for being overcome, verse 18. But I hear the noise of them that sing, see. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh to the camp, that he saw the calf set out there in the middle, and the dancing. And Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables, that is, with the Ten Commandments, out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had burnt, and so on and so forth. Now then, I want you to come all the way for sake of time. He says to Aaron, verse 21, What did this people do to you, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? In other words, I imagine Moses thought, these people must have literally threatened Aaron with his life. Either you build us a god, or we'll kill you. I don't know, the book doesn't say that. But Moses is implying that the people put pressure on Aaron to bring all this about. And again, I can't understand Aaron. Look at his answer. Now remember what it said in the previous verses, that he took the gold, and he took the tool of a craftsman, and he made the golden calf. But look what he says. And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people, that they are set in mischief. For they said to me, Make us gods, which shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man that brought us up on the land of Edom, we know not what has become of him. Verse 24, And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me. Now listen, boy, this is shocking. So I took the gold, cast it into the fire, and out came this calf. Now if it would have happened that way, then I could see where Israel thought there was something supernatural going on. But that's not the way it was. He melted the gold down, and crafted it with a graving tool, and made it. But he tells Moses this story. Unreal, isn't it? Now, you know, a lot of times people will look at the Scripture, and they'll look at this, and they'll think, Well now, why does God see fit to put something so ridiculous in His Word? Well, I'll tell you why. To show us the bare human nature. All of these things that we think are so awful in the Old Testament, the instances of adultery and drunkenness, and all the horrible things that make up human experience. Why? To show us what man is really made of. Because whether it was 4,000 years ago, or 3,000, or whether it's 10 years ago, man has not changed one iota, nor has God. OK? Now then, you come down to verse 25. Now, it wasn't just a casual worshiping with dancing, native folk dancing, and so forth. But how were they? Naked. Immoral. So what had they done? They had taken that golden calf worship, and they had put it down to the same level of all other idolatry. And you know, I've taught that as long as I've been teaching. And if you don't believe me, you go to your encyclopedia, or you go to foreign missionaries that know what it's like. And whenever you go in to abject pagan idolatry, or the mythologies, the Greek gods, and so forth, you always have rank immorality. It's just part and parcel of it, because of course it's satanically controlled. And here's the evidence. So when Moses looks a little bit further, what does he see? That the people were naked, for Aaron had made them naked to their shame among their enemies. Well, anyway, then you know what happened. There were, what, 23,000 put to death through the plague because of this very event. Now then, come all the way back to Corinthians and see how Paul uses this, not only to shake the Corinthians up and bring them out of their temptations to go into these things, but for us as well. We're no different. We're not one iota different from the Corinthian believers. And unless we come away from a babe -in-Christ situation and begin to mature through Bible study, we're not going to be any different. All right? Now back to I Corinthians chapter 10, verse 8. Neither Paul says, neither let us commit fornication or sexual immorality, as some of them committed. But now look, why did they commit sexual immorality? It was part of that worship of the golden calf. It was part and parcel of going back into idolatrous worship. And this was a real temptation to these Corinthians. They lived in the midst of it. They bumped up against these immoral priestesses every day. And it was a constant warning to flee from those things, see? Now he goes on in verse 9. Neither he said, let us tempt, and I think the word should be test. Don't test Christ, as some of them also tested him. And what did God have to do? He destroyed them with the serpents. Now there again, we won't take time to go back and look that up. You remember the setting? As a result of Israel's sin, God sent poisoned serpents out amongst the camp. And the little rascals were poisonous, and they would bite the Israelites, and they would swell up, and it was enough. So they would kill them, and boy, it got their attention. So now they had to go to run an errand and say, or Moses, do something about these serpents. They're killing people. All right, Moses has to go to God. And what does God say? Well, you put up a brazen serpent. You all know the story. Put a brazen serpent up there on a pole and tell the children of Israel that when they get bit by one of these little snakes, they can look at that brazen serpent and they'll be healed. Well, that, of course, was another foreview of the work of Christ, that he too. And remember, brass always speaks of judgment in the Bible. That's why it was a serpent, to be made of brass, because it was a subject of judgment. And so when they would look at that brazen serpent, then God would judge their sin and they would be healed. And it's the same way now for us when we look to Christ, who took our sin, on whom God's judgment fell. Then, of course, we are healed of our sin problem in what we call forgiveness and salvation and justification and all the rest. All right, now then, verse 10. Neither, he said, murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. And again, it's a reference to their wilderness experience, see. They were constantly getting in trouble. Verse 11, a repetition. And whenever you see repetition, remember it's there for a distinct purpose. Now he repeats almost for the second time here, plus the one we saw in Romans. Now all these things happened to them, to the Israelites in the wilderness. Four examples, and they are written for our admonition. We're supposed to learn from it. Upon whom the ends of the age are come. Now then, verse 12. Here is the verse, I think, that is so apropos for every one of us. Wherefore, he says, let him that thinketh he stands, take heed, lest he fall. Every one of us are candidates for falling as Israel did. None of us can get puffed up and say, well, that would never happen to me. Oh, yes, it can. Let me show you another verse, Galatians, Galatians chapter 6. As Paul is writing to those churches up there in Asia Minor, in the area of what was called Galatia. And oh, if this isn't so appropriate for us today. Galatians chapter 6, verse 1. And he says, brethren, if, see, it's conditional. No guaranteeing that it has to happen, but it can. If a man be overtaken in a fault, in other words, he fails. You who are spiritual, especially the leaders of the church. You who are spiritual, restore, see, restore such a one in the spirit of, what, meekness. Not in the spirit of arrogance and pride, as if to say, how in the world could you do this? That could never happen to me. Oh, no, we can never do that. But Paul says, in the spirit of meekness, you approach that individual who has fallen. And he says, considering thyself, lest you also be, what, tempted or tested. So it can happen to anybody. And we have to be on guard constantly. All right, now if you'll come back with me again for a moment to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Now verse 13. What a promise. What a promise. My, if you don't keep anything else from this afternoon's of four programs, get this one. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. In other words, we're not the only ones that are going to experience this. Everybody does, by virtue of our living in this world. So there is nothing that comes our way except that it's common to man. But even though we're not faithful, who is? God is. God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tempted or tested. I still like the word test better. He will not permit you to be tested above that you are able, that is, to withstand. But will, with the testing, also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. I was reading a Greek author and his definition in the Greek here, a way of escape, was really the picture of an army entrapped in a canyon of sorts. And when it just looked as though there was no escape, the commander finds another little canyon off to the side that he can let his army escape. And that's the picture here. We can find ourselves seemingly entrapped in a temptation and we think, oh no, what am I going to do? There's no escape. But there is. And God will reveal it to us at the appropriate time. Now I haven't got time anymore, this only has a few seconds left. But when we start the next program, we're going to show what are the temptations that are common to every man, woman, boy, and girl living on this old planet Earth. They're the same for every individual. And of course the Lord Jesus Himself faced them all, so that we can look in another face that He knows because He has been there. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick. A weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 716, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 716, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.