QT 5/6/2026 Exo 33:1-6, The result of idolatry

Exodus 33:1–6 (ESV) —

1 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.’ 2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

4 When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’ ” 6 Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

 

NOTE: Things are not the same. I think we ignore how big a deal the golden calf incident was. Constable highlights two passages (as well as others) to show the before and after difference.

 

Exodus 19:5–6 (ESV) — 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

Exodus 32:29 (ESV) — And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”

 

There were all supposed to be priests, but now God selects a special group of men, Levites, to serve in the tabernacle. In the new covenant, as a result of Jesus' death, that original idea is restored.

 

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV) — But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Revelation 1:6 (ESV) — … and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

The sin in the desert had changed everything. In the passage in Exodus 33, God says his presence can't travel with them because he would destroy them. That is a confusing thought. God is spirit and he is everywhere. And yet in some unusual way, something about who God is, would be absent from their camp. It was a distance that God created, much like when we sin and our relationship with the Lord is affected until we repent. For the believer, God never leaves us, his Holy Spirit is in us, but the relationship is affected by sin. He seems far away and we can feel it. We know we need to deal with our sin.

 

PONDER:

1. Is there a sin that I need to confess and repent?
2. Does God feel far away at times? Who moved? If you don't meet with God regularly (daily in the word), God will feel far away.

 

PRAYER: Father, I never saw the change that came over Israel as a result of that sin. It is no wonder that Jeroboam son of Nebat's sin was such a stumbling block to the entire nation. Protect us from such stupidity and deception. I pray we would not make gods in our mind and worship them.