In the debacle that followed the Mt. Sinai rebellion, many of those who had vowed to obey the God Who had freed them from Egypt (sin) suddenly did an about-face, rejected their ancestral God and turned back to the idol that had ruled them for several hundred years. In a matter of days they had rejected the living, liberating God and had returned to a man-made, enslaving idol. Solomon noted that there is nothing new under the sun. This study will prove that he was right, especially in the spiritual realm.

It was at this point–the time of rebellion–that those who claimed to be God’s children established a pattern of worship and service that would dominate their religion until the present day. They would bow before and obey the commands of a man-made entity while calling on the name of “THE LORD.” As this series will reveal, those who today call themselves “God’s people” (Catholics and Protestants) proudly and openly carry on the tradition established by their ancestors at Mt. Sinai by worshiping and serving a man-made god/idol while calling on the name of the Biblical God. Through ignorance of and disobedience to the Words of the true God they fail to realize that the god they are serving is in fact Satan in the form of an institution of their own creation built under the direction of the same spirit who orchestrated Egypt’s calf-god worship–Satan. Those who will hear and believe the voice of God spoken through the Scriptures will realize that the Institutional Church is Christianity’s Golden Calf.

The children of Israel had found themselves in the presence of Almighty God, listening to His audible voice and hearing what they did not want to hear–COMMANDS. He had offered neither suggestions nor opinions. Nor had He asked for their opinion. HE HAD ISSUED COMMANDS THAT HAD TO BE OBEYED WITHOUT QUESTION OR HESITATION.  He had told them that they must “OBEY MY VOICE AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS. PERIOD.

That the Israelites did not want to hear orders soon became evident. When Moses failed to return from the top of the mountain after a few days some of the former slaves rose up and orchestrated a rebellion against the Lord. In short order they broke the 7th and 10th commandments, which caused them to automatically break the 1st commandment. Because of their rebellion against Him, God ordered the Levites to kill over 3000 of them with the sword. This shows us His attitude toward those who have His written instructions but refuse to obey them. The Word used most often to describe His attitude toward those so-called “sinners saved by grace” is “wrath.”

Over the  centuries following Israel’s rejection of God His chosen people failed Him time and time again. Because, and only because, of His covenant with Abraham, He repeatedly bailed them out of the holes they repeatedly dug for themselves. Each new generation rebelled against Him, were defeated and enslaved, then found themselves crying out to Him for deliverance. Due to Abraham’s obedience, God would then send them a savior who would lead them to freedom where they would flourish for a few years, then turn their backs on Him yet again. Foreseeing this many years earlier, He had prophesied that one day He would scatter them throughout the world. Following the prophesied scattering of the ten northern tribes called “Israel” and “Ephraim,” He caused them to settle by tribe throughout Western Europe. One tribe–Manasseh–after spending a number of years in Europe, was sent to settle in a wilderness area on the opposite side of the world. That wilderness would later come to be known as the United States of America. See Who and Where is Israel Today? L.J.