The proclivity of the children of Israel to idolatry manifested early enough during their journey in the wilderness. As Moses was receiving the law on the mountain, the people exhausted their patience. They asked Aaron to make them gods they could see. Over time, they began to subscribe to the gods of the nations which God drove from before them. This picture is well painted in the text. Today, the idea of idolatry may sound repugnant to the ears, but this does not mean that the sin is out of fashion. People have only found new ways of expressing old sins. In general, whatever is taking the place of God in our lives has already qualified as an idol. It could be money, position, or pleasure.

“The Bible shows two sides of God – His goodness and severity. If we choose one and leave the other, we have a false god on display.”

There is a more subtle danger than the conventional practice of idolatry – the tendency to misconstrue the God of the Bible. Yesterday, we made reference to a quote by John C. Ryle warning us not to fall for the allure of the Broadway. There is another warning from him today as well. “Beware of manufacturing a God of your own: a God who is all mercy, but not just; a God who is all love, but not holy; a God who has a heaven for everybody, but a hell for none; a God who can allow good and bad to be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and bad in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your own, as truly an idol as any snake or crocodile in an Egyptian temple. The hands of your own fancy and sentimentality have made him. He is not the God of the Bible, and beside the God of the Bible there is no God at all.” The Bible shows two sides of God – His goodness and severity. If we choose one and leave the other, we have a false god on display.