Bible Speaks
Rev. L. Althouse

Sept. 19, 2010
Background Scripture: Exodus 32
Devotional Reading: John 5:39-47

How could the Israelites have worshipped the image of a golden calf instead of the Lord who helped them escape Egypt and sustained them through the terrible Sinai desert? They probably regarded Yahweh as one god among others and had not yet realized that He wanted to be exclusively their God, as they were to be exclusively His people – and that they could not worship both God and a golden calf.

After all, idols of calves were frequent objects of worship in Egypt, from where the Israelites had come, as well as in the Philistine and Canaanite cities. A 1990 archaeological excavation in Israel discovered an exquisite silver calf associated with the worship of El or Baal in Canaan and later, with the Israelite god, Yahweh. It lay buried in the ancient land that had protected the city in the Middle Bronze Age (2,000 -1,550 B.C.).

The ease with which the Israelites defected from their God is told simply and effectively. When Moses seems delayed in his return, the people become restless. “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (32:1).

How surprising to find them bringing their complaint to Moses’ brother Aaron, and even more surprising that he gave in so quickly: “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters, and bring them to me” (32:2).

God or the calf
Apparently, they did not realize that to be in covenant with Yahweh meant that they could not serve both Him and the calf. But they should have known it, just as almost two millennia later Jesus should not have had to say: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Mt. 6:24; Lk. 16:13.).

Exodus 20:5 and 34:14 say much the same in different terms: “I the Lord your God am a jealous God.” So, it is loyalty to God alone, or no god at all.

This may seem an ancient issue, but it is something that we are just as likely to misunderstand: A little bit of Christianity mixed with a big batch of materialistic culture and, like the Israelites, we fail to realize that we too have violated his covenant.

An example: Increasingly, our society looks to an almighty, all-knowing, all-perfect power called “The Market,” based on a kind of religious faith that when we set out solely to enrich ourselves, society will benefit in the long run.

We are told that The Market can only operate beneficially if we refrain from placing moral expectations upon it.

Some speak of The Market’s “invisible hand” that governs economic affairs without human intrusion. In short, when God and The Market are in conflict, forget God!

Sin and The Market
Communism failed because it failed to acknowledge and account for human fallibility – the Christian concept of sin. The free enterprise system is probably the best-ever system of economics, but this good system is subject to actions and inactions of fallible, sinful human beings.

So, an unregulated “market” operated by these human beings dedicated to the conviction that personal selfishness will best produce public prosperity is both economically and theologically flawed. It also ignores the values of cooperation. Free enterprise works in the long run only if it acknowledges human sin and refuses to glorify selfishness. Without morality, it is just another god that failed.

So, on the basis of that economic idolatry based on institutionalized covetousness, we ship millions of jobs abroad for the sake of cheaper, often slave-level costs and prices. We are no longer a manufacturing nation providing jobs for an ever-growing population. We are witnessing the erosion of our middle class and the constant widening of the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

It is time for us to admit that this is not good economics and it is contrary to the explicit Ten Commandments and the teachings of the Christ so many of us claim to follow. When God and Mammon conflict, Christians owe their allegiance to God alone.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Rev. Althouse may write to him in care of this publication.