Are We Worshiping A Golden God?

In Exodus Chapters 7-12, we see that God seized the attention of Pharaoh and the Egyptians with a series of plagues. Now they were dying to be rid of their Hebrew slaves. But God did not want the Israelites to leave Egypt empty-handed. After all, they had 400 years of wages due them. So they asked their former masters for articles of silver, gold, and clothing, and they got them. Exodus 12:36 says that the Israelites “plundered the Egyptians.”

It was not long, however, until God’s people fell into idolatry. They used their gold to make a golden calf, which they worshiped while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving God’s law (Exodus 32:1-4).

This tragic experience highlights the tension that Christians are required to maintain regarding their possessions. There is much in our society that we enjoy, but material things also pose grave dangers when we use them thoughtlessly.

As Christians, we need to be reminded that we are “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13), and must not become so enamored with “the riches of Egypt” (Hebrews 11:26), that we grow complacent and forget our true “calling” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 1:23-24).

Beloved, are we using our material blessings to serve the Lord? (Acts 2:45; Acts 4:34-37); Or have we become slaves to them?

Are we worshiping a golden god?

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets