The people also abused what God had given them and used it for their amusement and entertainment. The worship of the golden calf was a kind of amusement and entertainment. The children of Israel amused themselves with this idol. Exodus 32:6 says, “The people sat down to eat and to drink, and they rose up to play.” When Moses and Joshua came down from the mountain, they heard the sound of singing, and they “saw the calf and the dancing” (vv. 18-19). This is a picture of amusement and entertainment. We should be warned by this not to have meetings for the purpose of our amusement and entertainment. Yes, we have the enjoyment of the Lord, but this is not a form of entertainment.
I would ask you to consider the situation among Christians today regarding the desire for entertainment. It is difficult to find a so-called church service where there is not any entertainment. Various forms of entertainment are used to attract a crowd. If there is no entertainment in a certain place, people will not want to go there. They want to go where they will be entertained. Many today worship some kind of golden calf for the sake of their entertainment.
We need to be careful not to abuse God’s material gifts or His spiritual gifts. None of the material things given to us by God should be used for our amusement and entertainment. If we use material things in this way, we shall have a golden calf. Likewise, spiritual gifts, such as the gifts of teaching and preaching, should not be abused or usurped for our amusement and entertainment. There is the danger that those who have received spiritual gifts may abuse these gifts to build up something for their own purpose, for their own amusement and entertainment. This is to make a golden calf.
If we truly see this principle, we shall realize how pitiful and even tragic is the situation among Christians today. There are golden calves almost everywhere. People sing to a golden calf, praise it, and rejoice before it. In the presence of a golden calf, people eat, drink, sport, even dance. They may claim to be praising God, singing to God, and rejoicing before God. But we must ask who is being worshipped—Jehovah God, or the god of the golden calf?
Concerning this situation and concerning my speaking about it, I have prayed desperately to the Lord. It is necessary for me to point out the principle to the Lord’s people. However, I do not want to go to an extreme. I do not believe that in this message I have gone too far regarding this matter. I must testify that deep in my spirit I have a view of the scene of Exodus 32 as it applies today. I can also testify that through the years I have been on the alert not to build something for my own purpose or for my amusement or entertainment. In the sight of God, anything we build for our purpose or entertainment is a golden calf. Such a calf will always cause division. Again and again, golden calves have been fashioned, and the result of the worship of these golden calves has been division. There is a real possibility that this situation will be repeated among Christians today.
We all need to see the difference between the pure worship of the Lord and worship that is a mixture. Worship that is a mixture is worship of a golden calf in the name of the Lord. In this kind of worship people worship a calf in the way they should worship the Lord. We have seen that this is different from pagan worship, for worship that is a mixture is a matter of worshipping an idol in the name of the Lord and in the way the Lord should be worshipped.
Exodus 32:21 says, “And Moses said to Aaron, What has this people done to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” Aaron tried to excuse himself by saying, “And they said to me, make for us a god who shall go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what has become of him. And I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let him tear it off; and they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out” (vv. 23-24). In Genesis Jacob commanded his household to take off their earrings and bury them under an oak so that they may be pure to go up to Bethel to build an altar to the true God (Gen. 35:2-4). Aaron also told the people to take off their earrings, but he did so for a very different purpose. Aaron told Moses that he threw the gold into the fire and a calf came out. Perhaps Aaron was trying to say that it was through some kind of miracle that the calf was made. Maybe Aaron was saying, “I threw the gold into the fire, and this calf came out miraculously. Wasn’t that something of God? How could I do something like this? It was a miracle.” This “miracle” was wrought by Aaron’s hands, not by God.
Today it is common for Christians to have man-made miracles. For example, certain preachers may claim that there are many cases of healings in their meetings. However, these healings may not come from God’s hand, but from the hand of those preachers themselves. Years ago, I attended such a meeting and observed many cases of man-made healings. In some instances people are healed temporarily. After a short while, their illness returns. Nevertheless, those who conduct these meetings may boast that these healings are genuine. Actually what they have in their meetings is a golden calf. The claim may be made that certain things are done by God when they are actually accomplished by human effort, promotion, and advertisement. I do not believe that the crowds that gather around certain preachers today are the result of miracles done by God. No, the golden calf did not come out of the fire miraculously; it was fashioned by the hands of man.
If we are clear concerning the principle of the golden-calf idol, we shall be careful not to “throw gold into the fire” and not to shape gold with our engraving tools. We shall be fearful lest we use our ability to make a golden calf. This is the reason I have often fellowshipped with the leading ones and the co-workers that we should not do too much. If something is truly of the Lord, He will accomplish it. There is no need for us to do so much. If we try to do too much on our own, we may end up making a golden calf. We all need to be careful, for even in the local churches it is possible for us to make golden calves. We all need to see the principle of the golden-calf idol and be warned by it.