The Failure Of Israel And The Victory Of The Lord

by J. Bowman, Cowdenbeath | Category: Worship | May 1964

The privilege to worship God collectively was first given unto the Israel nation, but as the record of God's dealings with them shows, they failed to appreciate the greatness of such a privilege during most of their history. Their early failure in turning aside quickly out of the way which the Lord commanded them (Exodus 32.8) must have been a great disappointment to their God, as indeed we know it was. It seems almost incredible that they should have so sinned, when we consider all that God had done for them.

When He found them in Egypt they were idol worshippers (Joshua 24. 14). As a nation of bondmen who were held in abomination by the Egyptians, they acquired a taste for the things of Egypt and learned and copied their ways. Before He redeemed them out of Egypt God appealed unto the Israelites to give up their idols, but they refused. But for the fact that God had lifted up His hand to bring them out He would have poured out His fury upon them. This was not revealed until hundreds of years later when the nation of Israel was again in captivity, and that because of their rebellion against the commandment of their God in worshipping idols (see Ezekiel 20).

In spite of Israel's refusal to obey God, He delivered them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness, where He showed them His power and glory and greatness. He opened up the Red Sea before them. He gave them manna from heaven and water out of the flinty rock, and then He led them to Mount Sinai where He gave them such a revelation of His majesty that they feared and trembled. God's purpose was that His fear should be before them that they should not sin (Exodus 20.20), and that, under the terms of the covenant which He made with them, they should, through their obedience to His voice, become a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, and that to them should be extended the privilege of rendering collective worship unto God in the manner in which He desired this to be done. Such worship was in keeping with the pattern of a heavenly order of worship, and in order that they might be able to render such acceptably and with reverence and awe God desired to come down to dwell in their midst in a sanctuary which they should make for Him.

It was during the absence of Moses their leader who had been invited by God up to the mount to receive the two tables of the covenant and the pattern of the sanctuary that they made and worshipped the golden calf and attributed to it the honour of having brought them up out of the land of Egypt. What an. affront to the God of heaven! And what outrageous disobedience to His commandment so recently given: "Thou shalt have none other gods before Me" (Exodus 20.3)!

How soon the effects of their wonderful experience before the mount wore away and were forgotten! What they had learned and practised in Egypt remained with them, not only as a memory but as a desire. To those Egyptian idols their hearts turned back. That is how Stephen describes their failure in Acts 7. 39, "Our fathers would not be obedient ...and turned back in their hearts unto Egypt". They did not become completely weaned from the things they learned there.

Israel's failure is brought before us as a warning. "Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them" (1 Corinthians 10.7), and again, "Wherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry" (10. 14). In spite of being saved, baptized and added to a church of God, it is sadly possible for us again to find our interests in the things which once captivated us. The world has its idols which are worshipped by the masses. They are not in the form of wood or stone or even gold or silver, but are in covetousness and all kinds of sport and entertainment and in other public spheres. Outstanding personalities are idolized. Apart from such matters, anything which takes first place in a person's life, the place which rightly belongs to God, can become an idol whether it be money, career, business, home or such like things.

As we consider Israel's later history we learn that in the days of David they were led into a fuller appreciation of the privilege of worshipping God collectively. Although a warrior king, David succeeded in re-establishing the collective worship of God in the land. He was not allowed to realize his great ambition to build the house of God, but he prepared material in great abundance, and this he gave to Solomon his son along with the pattern of the house which he received in writing from God. Solomon proved himself faithful to the charge given him, and on the day of the dedication of the house he was filled with wonder at the thought that God should condescend to dwell with men on the earth, and yet he who built the house of God also built high places in the same city for the worship of idols. Solomon loved many strange women and when he was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods (see 1 Kings 11.1, 4). Valiant and devoted in the strength of his youth, but in the weakness of old age he relaxed his hold on truths he once held dear. Because he was such a great man, his downfall is the more sad, for when the great men fall others are made to stumble. So it was in Israel. The people followed his example and forsook God and worshipped the idols to which Solomon was led away to worship by his foreign wives (1 Kings 11. 5-8, 33). Such disobedience brought God's judgement upon Solomon, and many years later upon the people who were taken as captives out of the land because of their idolatry. As we consider these things we do well to give heed to the words of warning, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10. 12).

From these failures on the part of Israel we now turn to consider the One who never failed. In the wilderness He was tempted by the devil at a time when He fasted forty days. In the third and final temptation the devil sought to get the Lord to do what he had so successfully got Israel to do. The reward for so doing was surely a very tempting one, but it failed to turn aside the perfect Man to disobey the commandment of His God.

"All these things (the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them) will I give Thee, if Thou will fall down and worship me" (Matthew 4.8, 9).

From the written Word the Lord gave His answer,

"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4.10).

The words He quoted meant everything to Him and under no circumstances would He disobey God's commandment. In this modern age the devil places tempting offers before the believer and especially one who is young in order to turn him aside from the true worship of God. By His example the Lord has shown us how we may resist the devil. We shall succeed only if, like Him, the commandment of the Lord is paramount with us.

The order of collective worship as observed in the churches of God today is according to the same pattern as was observed in the early churches of God in apostolic times. What they did was exactly as the Lord taught during His ministry and especially during the forty days between His resurrection and ascension.

"He was received up, after that He had given commandment through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles whom He had chosen" (Acts 1.2).

Let us be assured that what we are doing is in obedience to His commandment and so shall the temptations of the adversary be unavailing to turn us aside.

J. Bowman, Cowdenbeath | May 1964
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