Title: God and the Golden Calf
God and the Golden Calf
Exodus 32:25-35, 7th Sunday of Creation, October 16, 2011
calf award
The background of this case has to do with the creation of the calf statue. When Moses was being given the Law on Mount Sinai, Satan broke out at the bottom of the mountain. The problem was that Moses showed no sign of coming down from the mountain. It's just that. It was a time when the fear of the Exodus had not gone away. Anxiety about the future has reached its peak. I wasn't even sure I could get into Canaan, wet and flowing with honey, across the wilderness, as Moses had said. What should I do? The situation they were in was too difficult to wait for Moses, the driver of Hamhung. In this case, there must have been a divided opinion that it would be better to go back to Egypt, or that it would be better to leave Moses alone and leave as soon as possible. The Bible doesn't say it in detail, but there must have been a lot of arguing among the people.
They made an unusual decision. It was decided to make a golden calf statue. According to Exodus 32:1, the people asked Moses' brother Aaron, "Make us a god who will lead us." That was the opinion at the time. Aaron also seems to be attracted to the opinions of the people. If he had known that making a calf statue was unbelief, he would have persecuted the people. Once consensus was reached, the work proceeded swiftly. The people gathered ornaments made of gold, such as earrings. It is similar to the gold-raising movement of Korea, which was controlled by the IMF in the wake of national bankruptcy in 1997. Aaron made a statue of a calf by melting the gold pieces that the people had gathered. “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” (Ex 32:4) He built an altar in front of the golden calf and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings with the people. It was a festival everyone enjoyed.
way to life
Do you remember the <God who commands> (Exodus 20:1-11), the last Sunday sermon on September 25th? This sermon is based on the four items of the Ten Commandments. The second commandment is not to make ‘carved idols’ or ‘any image. In explaining that passage, I said that image making is bringing God down as a sensual object, that is, bringing God into the realm of human experience. The golden calf is just that. It is not a question of whether they believe in God or not, it is a question of whether or not they believe in God but bring God into their sensory experience. It was a warning against the longing to identify the invisible God as the visible God.
It is not easy to get rid of this longing. If it were easy, the Israelites would not have made the golden calf at all. Because it involves human existence. Man cannot live like an angel. You live by eating, excreting, loving, making friends, or fighting. That's how you confirm yourself. The path to self-identification is ultimately possession of material, recognition from people, and security of old age. Conversely, if these conditions are not met, they feel alienated and experience loss of identity. So we invest everything in securing it. A country well equipped with these things is called a developed country, and a country that is not well equipped is called a developing country or a developing country. Developed countries are recognized as countries with abundant life and thus blessed by God, and underdeveloped countries are treated as countries with poor lives and thus cursed by God. I personally feel that way. Israel in the wilderness that made the image of the golden calf and the northern Israel of Jeroboam thought and acted the same as we do. It's a very natural idea and an attractive way of life. This is the destiny of mankind.
There is only one way to gain life. It is unity with God. Unity with God is achieved by completely surrendering ourselves to God's saving action. The saving work of God was given to us through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians are those who risk their existence and destiny on that fact. Do you feel that this fact is vague? Don't you come close to reality? Then we are still the Israelites in the wilderness who made a golden calf and held a festival when they sacrificed it.
Dear brothers and sisters, do not forget that the cross of Jesus of Nazareth, the symbol of curse, not the golden calf, the symbol of abundance that people dream of, is God's saving event in human history. From there, the resurrection life that will be revealed as bright as light in the end began. Resurrection life is God's unique and exclusive act of salvation that cannot be limited by any man's ambition, any aspiration or admiration, or any knowledge or hope. It is the same ultimate life event that created the world from nothing. Focus your whole soul on that very fact. You will receive the wonderful life of God. No, you already have that life.