Two Steps Forward; One Step Back (Exodus 32)
Sermon Summary
Pastor David Yan
27 April 2025
“Two steps forward; one step back” is a well-known saying. Israel had been delivered from Egypt but instead of progressing they took a step back. They were hindered. Christians also can be hindered from making progress.
Consider some hindrances.
Impatience
Influence of world
Idolatry
Weak leadership
Israel was impatient. Moses had not returned from the mountain where he received the Ten Commandments. They beseeched Aaron to make them an idol. In the last days people shall be impatient and mock the church over the delay in Jesus’ return (2 Peter 3:4).
Israel was influenced by the world. In Egypt they saw Egyptians worship ping a calf. They now wanted Aaron to make them a similar idol. In times of trouble believers can follow the world and not the Word.
They were determined to commit idolatry. They said “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:8). The unrestrained heart is a wandering heart. It is prone to idolatry. Divine grace restrains it and sets it in the pure way.
Weak leadership prevailed. Aaron succumbed to the sinful desires of the people. He moulded a calf and built an altar. He failed to restrain the peo ple. But Moses confronted the people. Aaron had the mouth; but Moses had the spine. In troubled times the church needs men with steel in their spines.
In the midst of Israel’s idolatry they forgot that the Lord God was aware of matters.
God sees.
God acts.
God sees everything. His eyes are in every place. Israel could hide from an absent Moses but not from an ever-present God.
God will act. He must judge sin but after judgment there is a new start. Believers are shown a new way when old ways are dealt with.
In the midst of Israel’s idolatry there was an intercessor—Moses. Moses points us to Jesus who is our Mediator. Jesus mediates for us. His merits blot out our misdemeanours.
Moses asks why would the Lord’s wrath burn against Israel the nation he brought out of Egypt. Does God act capriciously? Certainly not! What he begins he completes. Jesus said “It is finished.”
He argues that the Egyptians will falsely conclude that God brought Israel out of Egypt and was then powerless to sustain Israel. Is God’s power temporary? Is it not from everlasting to everlasting?
Moses pleads the Lord to turn from his fierce wrath and relent from the harm to his people. In the same way Jesus our great High Priest pleads the heavenly Father to relent and turn away his wrath from his people.
The Lord relents from harming Israel. See the power of intercessory prayer. The prayer of a righteous man avails much. Moses was righteous. His prayer for Israel prevailed. God relents when saints repent. When interces sors plea, divine wrath recedes. No one was more righteous than Jesus. His intercessory prayers ensure the church’s survival. Be forever grateful for Jesus our interceding High Priest.
Israel was now able to continue its journey. By God’s mercy it takes another step forward to the promised land.