Most of us know the story of how Moses went up onto the mountain and God gave him the ten commandments. We even remember how he returned to camp to find the Israelites had been celebrating before a golden calf that they had created. (Exodus 32) Now, here's the part that I hadn't seen before....

"And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it"...(Ex32:20)

I wondered why he made them drink it? In the rest of the chapter, the faithful Levites killed about 3,000 men in an effort to purge the camp. Then Moses told them to purify themselves and he would try to make atonement to God. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book....And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf,...(v33,35)

I didn't understand about drinking the gold until I remembered that God equates worshipping idols with adultery. (Jesus is coming back for a glorious church, his bride.) In Numbers Chapter 5, The Lord gave Moses a test for a wife suspected of adultery. She was to be taken to the priest along with a jealousy offering. The priest would give her a mixture of holy water and the dust from the tabernacle floor to drink. If she had sinned, she would be cursed, her belly would swell and her thigh would rot. If she was innocent, she would be free and would conceive seed. Do you think it possible that the gold the Israelites drank could have led to the plague that separated the faithful from the unfaithful?

I was excited when I first saw this but, I had to look further than this because unless we can relate it to our own lives, it is useless information. I know we live under the Dispensation of Grace but I also know God doesn't change. He still sees our unfaithfulness as adultery and it is serious when anything comes before our relationship with Him. So I looked for something in the New Testament that related to all of this.

I do not believe that it's a coincidence that many communion cups are made of gold. I was raised in the Roman Catholic church. Unfortunately, I have been to many masses where communion has been served so routinely that it's simply the next "order of service." (Before the rest of you get smug, I've seen it in other denominations as well.) But, this is one sacrament we can't afford to get complacent about. God is serious.

"Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." (1 Cor.11:27)

"For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many
sleep." (v.29,30)

Thank God we are under grace because if we have missed it in this area, we still have hope. Verse 28 says to "let a man examine himself and so let him eat"...also, 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Let's get serious and be careful how we "drink the gold".

 

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