This week, I am excited to share bible verses you probably never noticed. It excites me to see verses like these and the Holy Spirit sheds some light on them. You know, I had used the audio bible the night before to go through the chapters of the bible I had to go through. But for some reason, the next morning – the Holy Spirit had me go back to those chapters I had listened to the night before. As I read through the verses of Psalms 106, I came across these verses that left me astonished!
They made a calf in Horeb And worshiped the molded image. Thus they changed their glory Into the image of an ox that eats grass. Psalms 106:19-20
I stopped in my tracks in astonishment! I was astonished at the depth captured in these two verses. First off; in awe of the depth of intimacy the Psalmist had with the Father in Heaven. So deep an intimacy that God revealed this depth of information with Him. God shared with the Psalmist details and consequences of an event that happened years ago before he was even born. Details that He probably didn’t share with anyone in that generation. This only goes on to reinforce God’s testimony about David, “a man after His heart” – God said. David did a thing by seeking God’s heart so much that God was willing to share this depth of knowledge with Him. Glory to God that the Psalmist was a man who journaled, lest all of these details and revelation from heaven may have died with David.
On second thought, perhaps this chapter was written by Moses. In recent times, I have learned that Moses wrote some of the chapters of the Psalms. Nonetheless, both men were men of depths with the Lord and it still amazes me how a mortal man like you and I can have such access to knowledge from the Lord.
Furthermore in the chapter, I was astonished to see the potency and the consequences of worshipping anything or anyone other than the Almighty – who made us in His image.
Before, I start to share my insights from these verses -I would give a little back story for the benefit of you who may not know the story. “Who are these people talked about in these verses“,- you may ask. These people were God’s chosen people who were created and called out to reflect Him on earth. These people were men and women who had lived in bondage and oppression for years until the good Lord delivered them by His mighty arm. Mount Horeb was a transition place for them until the good Lord brought them to the land overflowing with God’s blessings. They were at Mount Horeb for about 40 days waiting for their dear leader – Moses who had been extremely instrumental in their deliverance.
Sadly, they were a people with stiff necks without the patience or wisdom to wait on their leader who staked his life to bring them so far. In their “wisdom” and consumption with their fleshly desire to worship anything – they made for themselves a calf. A “friggin” calf that could not save itself! Unknown to them as they worshipped this graven image, things happened in the spirit realm that transcended to the physical – they exchanged their eternal glory, their royal regalia for the regalia of mere Oxes that ate grasses. I find it somewhat hilarious that the Psalmist stretches the extent to how God’s children condescended; they stooped so low to become animals whose feed is grass.
Now come with me as I share some insights from these verses
Made in the Image of God and covered in His Glory:
Genesis 1:27 tells us, “God created man in His image”. A good thing to do here is pause, picture, and imagine what God looks like then we can come close to phantom the kind of image God’s children reflect. The Bible helps us paint this image of God in our minds. God dwells in eternal light – I Timothy 6:16, John 1:5. God’s beauty is perfect and shines forth – Psalms 50:2. Now imagine what beauty God’s children reflect here on earth! I doubt that you and I can fully grasp the beauty God has draped us with.
Furthermore, I Corinthians 15:41 tells us, “There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory”. If our good Lord assigned distinct kinds of glory for the elements He created, how much more the glory He ascribed to His children, to men and women made in His image?
Fully established that we were made to reflect God’s glory – this means we need to stay connected to the source of the reflection. Regular science shows us that for a surface to reflect light, that surface has to be in contact with some form of light. This theory somewhat applies to every human on earth – for us to reflect God’s beaming light, we need to stay in contact with Him. Any form of disconnect from Him dims the light that we should carry and reflect. This exactly was what God; ‘s children did! They disconnected from the eternal light, only to be connected to a dead God with no light.
Made to Worship the “I am”:
Clearly from these verses, we can see that the only form of worship that benefits mankind and helps Him or Her to live a fulfilled life is the worship of God. II Corinthians 3:18 puts it to us that as we behold the Glory of God in worship and living transformation happens- transformation into the same image of God from glory to glory. Sadly, God’s children in transit at Horeb knew not that as they. worshipped the calf image they were being transformed into the image of the calf as well. This goes without saying how powerful worship is! It is probably safe to say that for every second, minute, and day we worship God in Spirit and truth – we are being transformed from divine glory to even more glory as purposed by God. It is more or less like intentionally exposing oneself to the sun every morning to trap a good dose of vitamin D. I write this blog post to you today with the hopes of causing a shift in you who may have veered off the worship of the Almighty God, you who may have begun to worship other gods other than the one true god. At this point, it is noteworthy that whatever you put before Jehovah has become a god.
Therefore, let us with unveiled faces continue to behold our maker, His glory, allowing ourselves to be transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.- II Corinthians 3:18