In verse 20 we see how Moses dealt with the golden-calf idol: “And he took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it until it was powder; and he scattered it upon the surface of the water, and made the sons of Israel drink it.” Aaron said that the calf came out of the fire (v. 24). Aaron had used fire to shape the golden calf. But Moses used fire to destroy the calf. After burning the calf with fire, Moses ground it until it was powder. Then he scattered it upon the surface of the water and forced the sons of Israel to drink it. What is the significance of this? This signifies that eventually those who worship an idol must drink the very idol they worship. This can be compared to the saying that we reap what we sow, or that we eat the result of what we do.
Certainly the water with gold powder sprinkled on it did not taste very good. Tea-water may be pleasant, but not gold-water. It is never pleasant for an idolater to drink the idol he worships. We can testify this from our experience. Whatever we worship as an idol eventually becomes the water we must drink. In the past, we all had idols, and eventually we drank of them. This drinking of our idols is not an enjoyment; it is a punishment. This is a principle. The idols we worship will always become the water that we must drink.
There is no record of God telling Moses to burn the golden calf, grind it to powder, scatter the powder on the water, and make the idolatrous people drink it. Nevertheless, Moses took this action according to God’s heart, and God was pleased with what Moses did.
In 32:21-24 Moses dealt with the idol-maker, Aaron. Then in verses 25-29 he dealt with the idol worshippers. Seeing that the people were broken loose “Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Whoever is for Jehovah, come to me! And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves to him” (vv. 25-26). Here Moses sounded a call for the overcomers. The worship of the golden calf caused division. Moses’ call did not cause a division; it produced a purification.
When the Levites gathered themselves to Moses, he said to them, “Thus says Jehovah, God of Israel, Every man put his sword upon his thigh; pass through and return from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor” (v. 27). Verse 28 says, “And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people on that day about three thousand men.” As a result, the sons of Levi were separated from their brethren to replace the nation of Israel for God’s priesthood (v. 29; Deut. 33:8-10). Deuteronomy 33:9 speaks concerning this: “Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.” In other words, the Levites denied even their closest relationships with those who were worshippers of the golden calf.
These close relatives signify ourselves. Within us we have many “relatives” who are worshippers of the golden calf, and we must “kill” these relatives. Otherwise, we shall be counted among those who have lost the priesthood.
According to Exodus 19, God intended that the entire nation of Israel would be a priestly nation, a kingdom of priests. This means that, in God’s estimation, every one among them was a priest. But due to the worship of the golden calf, the majority of the children of Israel lost the priesthood. The priesthood was then given to a single tribe, the tribe of Levi, because the Levites were willing to kill the worshippers of the golden calf. The killing of the idol worshippers separated the Levites from their brethren and qualified them to have the priesthood of God. From that time onward only one tribe, not the entire nation, continued to be God’s priests.
Today there are millions of Christians. Are all of these Christians God’s priests? No, most of them are worshippers of a golden calf; they are partners in the practice of impure worship. God’s intention is that every believer in Christ, every child of God, would be a priest. Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 indicate this. Christ’s redemption has the goal of making all the believers priests of God. But through the centuries impure worship, the worship of the golden calf, has disqualified a great many Christians from serving God as priests. Impure worship has caused the majority of the believers to lose their priesthood. But we thank the Lord that just as there was one tribe in the Old Testament that kept the priesthood, so there is a minority today who are faithful to the Lord to kill the impure worship and thus to keep the priesthood.
I can testify that we have been faithful to the Lord for more than half a century. We have suffered persecution, opposition, slander, and libel because we are not willing to lose our priesthood. Because we have the priesthood, the Urim and the Thummim are with us. This is the reason we receive light from the Bible. Whenever we open up the Word of God, we are enlightened. This is the experience of the Urim and the Thummim, which are a great blessing to those who keep God’s priesthood.
Deuteronomy 33:8 and 9 say, “And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.” Because the Levites were faithful to God and killed those who worshipped the golden calf, they received the right to have the priesthood with the Thummim and the Urim. God’s priesthood depends upon the Urim and the Thummim. Later, when the Levites became unfaithful, they also lost the Urim and the Thummim. When they lost the Urim and the Thummim, they lost God’s priesthood.
The crucial point here is that we need to be pure, and we need to kill the impure worship, the worship of the golden calf. For the sake of ourselves and for God, we need to kill the impure worship among today’s Christians. Then we shall be qualified to be God’s priests.
We should not read chapter thirty-two of Exodus merely as a story or as part of the history of Israel. We need to see the principles in this chapter. All these principles are applicable to our situation today. We need to eliminate self-beautification, and we need to kill the worship of the golden calf and that part of our being which participates in such worship. Then we shall preserve ourselves on the standing of God’s priesthood. If we do this, God will continue to have a minority of believers for the fulfillment of His purpose. May we all see these principles so that we may know the way that we must take.
Our way is not that of division; it is the way of purification. The Lord’s recovery is a purification, not a division. The recovery depends on a group of Levites who are faithful to God and who do not lose the qualifications to be God’s priests. Thank the Lord that we have God’s priesthood and that He gives us the Urim and the Thummim.