We continue with the series on the lessons to glean from the example of the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Today we deal with the issue of idolatry.

ii) Do not be an idolater (vs. 7).

A full understanding of Exodus 32:6 helps us see 1 Corinthians 10:14 clearly, and the warning of the Lord in Luke 21:34-36.

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. Exodus 32:6

Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. 1 Corinthians 10:14

Our text in 1 Corinthians 10:6-11 suggests a connection between idol worship and sexual immorality or orgies. Consider the following enlightening words from some bible commentaries on the source event from Exodus 32.

“The Israelites must have been familiar with the ox-worship of the Egyptians; perhaps many of them had witnessed the rites of Mnevis at Heliopolis, almost; on the borders of the land of Goshen, and they could not have been unacquainted with the more famous rites of Apis at Memphis. It is expressly said that they yielded to the idolatry of Egypt while they were in bondage (Joshua 24:14; Ezekiel 20:8; Ezekiel 23:3, Ezekiel 23:8); and this is in keeping with the earliest Jewish tradition (Philo). The Israelites did not, it should be noted, worship a living Mnevis, or Apis, having a proper name, but only the golden type of the animal. In the next verse, Aaron appears to speak of the calf as if it was a representative of Yahweh – “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.”—Taken from Bible Hub, commentary on Exodus 32:4

They rose up early: Impatient to begin the new worship, the people rose with the dawn, and brought offerings, and offered sacrifice. Burnt offerings, and peace offerings, sacrifices of both kinds were pre-Mosaical, not first originated by the Law, though deriving confirmation from it. Offerings of both kinds are noticed in Genesis 4:3-4; Exodus 18:12.

A feast always followed a sacrifice (see Exodus 18:12; Exodus 24:5; Exodus 24:11). In feasting therefore upon what they had offered, the Israelites did no wrong; but probably they indulged themselves in a license of feasting unsuited to a religious act, though common enough in the idol-festivals of the heathen. They “fed without fear” (Jude 1:12), transgressed the bounds of moderation, and turned what should have been just a religious rite into an orgy. Then, having gratified their appetites and stimulated their passions, they ceased to eat and drink, and “rose up to play.” The “play” included dancing of an indecent kind (Exodus 32:19; Exodus 32:25), and would probably have terminated, as the heathen orgies too often did, in the grossest sensualism, had not the descent of Moses from Sinai, and his appearance on the scene, put a stop to the unhallowed doings.

And rose up to play: This “play” was scarcely of a harmless kind. The sensualism of idol-worship constantly led on to sensuality; and the feasts upon idol-sacrifices terminated in profligate orgies of a nature which cannot be described.”—Taken from Bible Hub, commentary on Exodus 32:6

This detailed explanation has been given to reveal how a carryover of the things of old, witnessed or actually practiced, easily returns where there is no intentionality on the part of the believer to abandon such. Worse still is the fact that this is the same imagery we see today in the many worldly music-fests, where participants, lost to the lyrics and suggestive erotic dances, end up in gross indecency and sexual perversion!

This is what the Lord warned about in Luke 21:34-36 (MSG)

“But be on your guard. Don’t let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap, for it’s going to come on everyone, everywhere, at once. So, whatever you do, don’t fall asleep at the wheel. Pray constantly that you will have the strength and wits to make it through everything that’s coming and end up on your feet before the Son of Man.”

He that has ears, please listen and take heed. Shalom.

Pastor Afolabi Oladele