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Old Covenant Grace
Jesus said it about as clearly as human language could express it: “ ‘From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked’ ” (Luke 12:48, NIV). It’s a powerful principle, one that we as Adventists, with all that we have been given (and we have been given so much!), would do well to take seriously. Just compare the truths we have been given with some of the other doctrines out there (eternal torment in hell, Sabbath changed to Sunday, 144,000 Jewish virgins preaching the gospel when the church is secretly raptured during the reign of the antichrist) in order to understand all that we have been entrusted with.
Hence it is this principle that makes the sin of Aaron and the golden calf that much worse.
Read Exodus 32:1–6. What possible excuse could Aaron have had for partaking in this flagrant apostasy?
The apostasy itself was bad enough, but that Aaron acquiesced in it seems even more incredible. Think about all that Aaron had been privileged with. Aaron was right there with Moses from the start (Exod. 4:27–30); Aaron was Moses’ spokesman before Pharaoh (Exod. 7:1); Aaron cast the rod that became a serpent (vs. 10); Aaron smote the waters that turned to blood (vs. 20); and Aaron was part of a select few who were able to approach the Lord in a very special way (Exod. 24:9, 10). In short, the man had been given privileges that few in history ever had, and yet, when a great test came, he failed miserably.
However, and here’s the amazing thing: God not only forgave Aaron his sin, the Lord eventually allowed Aaron to wear the sacred garments as the covenant nation’s first high priest, a type for the high priestly ministry of Jesus Himself (Heb. 8:1). In other words, though Aaron was guilty of a terrible sin himself, he was also the recipient of God’s redeeming grace, grace so great that it not only forgave him but allowed Aaron to assume a sacred office that, at its core, is all about God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness. Thus, Aaron’s life is a special example of mercy and redemption available to all in Christ.
Have you ever failed, even miserably, to live up to what you have been given? How can you get from Aaron’s example hope for yourself that all is not lost, even despite your mistakes?
| SUNDAY | April 24 |
Jesus said it about as clearly as human language could express it: “ ‘From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked’ ” (Luke 12:48, NIV). It’s a powerful principle, one that we as Adventists, with all that we have been given (and we have been given so much!), would do well to take seriously. Just compare the truths we have been given with some of the other doctrines out there (eternal torment in hell, Sabbath changed to Sunday, 144,000 Jewish virgins preaching the gospel when the church is secretly raptured during the reign of the antichrist) in order to understand all that we have been entrusted with.
Hence it is this principle that makes the sin of Aaron and the golden calf that much worse.
Read Exodus 32:1–6. What possible excuse could Aaron have had for partaking in this flagrant apostasy?
The apostasy itself was bad enough, but that Aaron acquiesced in it seems even more incredible. Think about all that Aaron had been privileged with. Aaron was right there with Moses from the start (Exod. 4:27–30); Aaron was Moses’ spokesman before Pharaoh (Exod. 7:1); Aaron cast the rod that became a serpent (vs. 10); Aaron smote the waters that turned to blood (vs. 20); and Aaron was part of a select few who were able to approach the Lord in a very special way (Exod. 24:9, 10). In short, the man had been given privileges that few in history ever had, and yet, when a great test came, he failed miserably.
However, and here’s the amazing thing: God not only forgave Aaron his sin, the Lord eventually allowed Aaron to wear the sacred garments as the covenant nation’s first high priest, a type for the high priestly ministry of Jesus Himself (Heb. 8:1). In other words, though Aaron was guilty of a terrible sin himself, he was also the recipient of God’s redeeming grace, grace so great that it not only forgave him but allowed Aaron to assume a sacred office that, at its core, is all about God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness. Thus, Aaron’s life is a special example of mercy and redemption available to all in Christ.
Have you ever failed, even miserably, to live up to what you have been given? How can you get from Aaron’s example hope for yourself that all is not lost, even despite your mistakes?
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