Psalm 106:19-20

Psalm 106:19-20

Events at Horeb

Horeb means “desert or desolation” and it is a mountain situated in the south-east corner of the Sinai Peninsula, or what the Scriptures call, “the far side of the desert.” I think that its significance is that it is as far away from the Promised Land as the Israelites would ever be! Today, the area is in Egyptian hands, and it is bordered by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez to the south and west, by the Mediterranean Sea to the north and by Israel and the Gaza strip to the east. Many scholars have debated the significance of Mount Horeb, and many believe that this mountain and Mount Sinai are one and the same, they are certainly located in the same area. The landscape is desert-like, broken only by rocky outcrops and rugged mountains, it has never been highly populated and could not have been the most comfortable place for the Israelites to have stayed. 

It was here, in this wild and desolate landscape that Moses was called up Mount Sinai and where he spent many days with the Lord God who gave him the content and instructions to carry out the Law. Meanwhile, the camp of people below grew impatient with the absence of their leader, some even doubted that he would ever return! So, they gathered around Aaron, the High Priest, and asked him to help in the construction of other gods to lead them. Aaron assisted in the making of a golden calf such as had been a familiar sight in Egypt. Strangely, although the calf was pagan and idolatrous, the altar that Aaron built before it was to the Lord (YAHWEH)! The following day, after offering sacrifices on the altar the people sat down to eat and drink and indulge themselves in hedonistic revelry. Later, Moses emerged from the cloud over Sinai and saw what was going on, no wonder he smashed to the ground the Tablets of Stone that contained the commandments.

Our God is a God of glory, nothing has changed, there can never be any representation of Him that promotes worship or adulation, no man-made or created objects should ever be allowed to act as substitutes or depictions of Him. They are all worthless, impotent, inadequate objects and we should have nothing to do with them. (I’m beginning to sound like Oliver Cromwell!) 

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