SPB Sermons | Sunday 13 September 2026
Who Shall Intercede?
Faithful in Egypt · Exodus 32
Moses is still on the mountain. The people are restless. And Aaron, the man who will become the first high priest of Israel, melts under the pressure of the crowd and leads the nation into one of the darkest moments in their history. But one man stands between the people and the righteous anger of God — and in him, we see a shadow of the one still to come.
Two Brothers, Two Responses
Exodus 32 is not a story about a saint and a sinner. Aaron is not a fool. He loves the Lord and has been faithful. He has stood alongside Moses through the ten plagues. He will become the first high priest of Israel. And yet, in this chapter, he collapses entirely under the pressure of the crowd. Moses, who was not there when it happened, hears of his people's sin on the mountain — and stands firm. The difference between them is not their background or their calling. It is where they look when the pressure comes.
The Power of the Idol
"Make us gods who will go before us."
Some thirty days earlier, these same people had stood at the foot of this same mountain and watched as the glory of God descended upon it in fire and smoke and thunder. Their memory is not short because they are foolish. It is short because this is what idolatry does. The golden calf is not built from nowhere — it is shaped from the gold God had given them as they left Egypt, and fashioned into something they could see, something they could control, something that would go where they wanted to go. The idol promises what only God can give, and it is always made from what God has already provided.
Aaron performs the opposite of his priestly role: instead of leading the people toward God, he leads them away. He had the opportunity to hold firm. He melted under the pressure.
The golden calf was made of gold God had given: that is how idolatry always works — it takes the gifts of God and redirects worship from the giver to the gift.
On the Mountain
Moses Intercedes
God tells Moses that his people have sinned and that his righteous anger will consume them. Moses does not flinch. He stands before God and pleads — not on the basis of anything the people have done, but on the basis of who God is: his covenant, his name, his promises to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob. And God, who is good and merciful and already inclined toward grace, relents. Moses is a shadow of the one still to come.
At the Foot
Aaron Makes Excuses
When Moses returns and confronts Aaron, the contrast is total. Aaron refuses to own his part in the catastrophe. "I just threw the gold in and out came this calf." The same gold he had carefully gathered, deliberately melted, and skilfully fashioned with his own tools. Leadership without courage is not leadership at all. And the people suffered for it.
The Heart of the Sermon
We Are to Be Moses in a World Full of Aarons
After sin has been dealt with, Moses does something extraordinary. He goes back up the mountain — not for himself, but for his people. He stands before God and says: please forgive their sin. But if not, then blot me out of the book you have written. He identifies with the sins of people he was not even present for. He places himself alongside them. He asks to bear what they deserve.
This is not just a moral example. This is a picture of the one who was to come — the one who stepped off the mountain of God's glory and walked among us, who identified himself with our sin, who at the cross bore what we deserved so that we might not bear it ourselves. The intercession of Moses at Sinai points forward to the intercession of Christ at Calvary. And because of that cross, Christ now stands before God and speaks our name. He knows us. He calls us. He intercedes for us still.
What Does This Mean for Us?
Exodus 32 holds a dual challenge. It shows us the comfort of the gospel — that we have an intercessor who stands between us and the righteous anger of God, who has borne the price of our sin upon the cross and who now speaks on our behalf before the Father. And it holds before us a call — that we are to be Moses in a world full of Aarons. Not to be people who buckle under the pressure of the crowd, who give the crowd what it wants, who lead toward what is comfortable rather than what is true. But to be people who know who they worship, who are comfortable in the presence of God, and who go back out into the world because of it.
The golden calves of our world are many and varied. They promise what only God can give and they are always fashioned from what God has already provided. The question is not whether the pressure will come. It is what we will do when it does. Will we stand firm, looking to the one who has already paid the price? Or will we melt?
Listen to the Sermon
The full sermon is available to listen to now. We hope it leaves you both comforted by the one who intercedes for you, and called to be a people who stand firm in a world of golden calves.
Join Us
You Would Be Very Welcome
St Paul's & St Barnabas is an Anglican evangelical parish in the heart of North Belfast. We are working through the book of Exodus this autumn and would love you to join us, whether in person or online.
Join us in person on Sundays at 208 York Street, Belfast.
He Knows Your Name
There is one who stands between us and God as our mediator. One who speaks on our behalf. One who knows us by name and calls us into his kingdom. One who has borne the price of our sin upon the cross so that we need not bear it. Moses interceded for Israel at Sinai. Christ intercedes for us before the Father — and his intercession will never fail.
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