The Red Cloud chief., 1913-09-18

guard yourself from idols"--I John 5:2L
II IL incredible that these Israclites
should turn aside after gods made
with mans hands in the very midst
of such a demonstration OF the holi.
ness. majesty and glory of jehovah.
Yet In life 1t is always but n step from
glory to degradation. and ono Of tho
easiest moments in which to trip up
tho saint is at the time Of his great.
est ccstacies. The human heart IL
absolutely unreliable, unstable. nay,
II is wicked and Is desperately dc.
ceitful. Jer. 1879. Following the Civ.
ing of the decalogue God gave Moses
series Of laws and ordinances which
are an application Of that fundamental
law and which form tho book of
the covenant" Then tho elders OF
Israel are called up into the mountain.
given a vision Of God. and given to
eat and drink In his presence, symbols.
i2ing communion (Ey. 2D. After this
Moses and his servant Joshua leave
Aaron and llur in charge of the peo.
pie and go up again into the mountain.
cloud and remained for a period Of 40
days during which time ho received
tho pattern of the tabernacle and tho
order of worship. II was during this
| period Of time that the people sinned.
The first part of this chapter tells
us the fact Of the casting of the calf.
w. 1.G. Gods righteous anger and
| Mnspa' pru or of tntorcoapion W. TIA
! lsrael's boast, 1873. 2i:3, z, IL now re-
vealed as being but utter weakness
and illustrates the worthlcssness and
unreliability Of human nature. The
drunkard's promised sobriety, the I'm.
clean mans promised purity, alike
melt In tho fierce heat OF temptation.
Their sin was a direct. positive vio-
lation of the first commandment, and
in II they also broke the second. They
did not want to substitute but rather
sought n slmilitude OF God. Aaron
here appears in a poor light; he did
not like their proposition wv. Z, 81,
but did not have strength of character
sufficient to stand against II. Aaron
is like those In the church and out OF
1t who prefer to control a movement
which Is bad rather than to combat
tho movement In its entirety.
Human Fickieness.
Notice Aaron's attempt to link olo
IDEAS with this new-fangled religion.
this modern expression" tomorrow
10 the feast of Jehovah" v. 6. Men
and women are today attempting to
| Ul ui
ass0ciating with It the name of Christ.
TO call such an association scientific
Is q travesty. The fact, however. that
Aaron gave the Israelites what they
asked for, shows that he had some
idea at least of Gods attitude towards
his people. We have here presented
also the fickleness of human gratitude
Moses Is with God on their behalf
Heb. 1880, yet they forget him and
God who had performed such mighty
signs on their behalf. and demand new
new leadership ". and Ps. 106:2I)
Art has q place In religious life. but
u spiritual worship alone Is acceptable
to God. John 4:24.
It was q sacrifice wv. 2. 81 Of gold
to make possible this calf which was
doubtless q representation of the
Egyptian god Apis and may or may
not have been llfe-size. and may have
been solid or only veneer. but neith
or such earnestness nor sacrifice
waved them.
Code Word lmmutable.
Moses prayer OF intercession. w
lila, is wonderful. 1t centers about
the idea that Israel IL THY people
". ~. and that Gods word IL i'm
mutable. Remember" etc. ". 13)
Moses was moved with pity and had ,
passion for the honor OF Gods name
As Moses and Joshua approached tn,
camp they heard music, v. II. Wha
a commentary upon the debasing us'
of one of Gods noblest gifts to man
the gift OF music. Reaching the camp
they beheld the fullness Of iniquity
and depravity which was tho develop
ment of this disobedience, v. 25. SCI
! also Rom. 1:2l.25, Rom. 1928, Jas. 1:15
Moses passion also manifested itsel
bles, grinding the calf to powder ant
compelled them to drink the watel
into which 1t was flung.
i, In order to complete this story w
should call attention wv. 30.35) how
Moses returned into Gods presence
made confession for the people. trul!
taking the place OF intercession wheI
he desired to be blotted out rathe
/ than have their sin go unforgiven. Gt
, on into the next chapter. w. 13, IA
and read his great heart cry and Cod
answer OF grace.
The Teaching. We have here stor.
, OF the frailty OF human nature an,
the feebleness of human resolutions
! We see In Aaron the weakness of
religious leader who attempts to com