Tag: Worship Singing Can Be Deceptive - Exodus 30-32

Exodus 32:15-18 (ESV Strong's)

Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.”

Tag:  Worship Singing Can Be Deceptive

Moses and Joshua had gone up into the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law.  God had given it to them in two large stones.   While they were in the mountain, the people of Israel became bored and, along with Aaron, decided to start their own worship service.   

Exodus 32:1 (ESV Strong's)

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods 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.”

Aaron gathers all the gold they had (which they would have used later to build the Ark of the Covenant ... and, it is now wasted).  This is what happen as they worshiped the golden calf they made, as a result:

Exodus 32:6 (ESV Strong's)

And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

When Moses and Joshua come down from the mountain, they heard the “worship” and had two different understandings of what they heard.  Joshua thought it sounded like war and Moses thought it sounded like singing.   They both were right.  It was a war against God, with false singing to a false god.   They sounds of our worship, today, are worshipped all by themselves.  Our music worship leaders are making sure we have rhythm and rhyme.   The “meter” of the music trumps the “message” of the music.  The “lyrics” can be compromised to fit the word picture, over the “truth” they are supposed to convey.   Perhaps the world would have seen Aaron’s worship service and thought, “Wow!!”   But, God did not think much of it.  Nor did Moses and Joshua.  Worship sounds must have a proper focus (God) and the sounds and sights must reflect Him (not our man made gods).