| 15th CENTURY B.C. ISRAEL | CONTEMPORARY EVANGELICAL | |
| 1. Instantly gratifying: The people were impatient with Moses’ delay. | Can’t wait for the Praise and Worship party, fun and revelry to begin. | |
| 2. Idolatrous: The people worshiped another god alongside the true God. | Worshiping the worship team or other church celebrities. | |
| 3. Sincere: The people sincerely believed that they were worshiping the true God. | Very few know who God is or who Jesus is, and most other Biblical doctrines. If they’re not worshiping the God of the Bible, then it’s idolatry. | |
| 4. Worldly: From where did they get the idea of worshiping a golden calf and indulging in sexual revelry? From the Egyptians and Canaanites. | From where did they get “contemporary” worship music and practices? From the celebrity and entertainment world. | |
| 5. Creative: New idol, new leader, new “celebration.” | Always on the lookout for new songs, new innovations, even new teachings. | |
| 6. Disorderly: Like the noise of war. | Worship where everyone does what is right in his own eyes. | |
| 7. Pagan and sensual: “Rose up to play” (KJV, NASB, ESV) has sexual overtones. The Hebrew verb “play” variously means “to sport, play, make sport, toy with, make a toy of.” Genesis 26:8-9 says that Abimelech “saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife” (ESV). Various translations say Isaac was “caressing” (Holman, NASB, NIV), and even “fondling” (NLT, NRSV) Rebekah. This is why other translations use “indulge in revelry” (NIV), “pagan revelry” (NLT), “revel” (NRSV, Holman), and “orgy” (God’s WORD) for Israel’s pagan worship. A Bible commentary interpretsthis worship as “with lascivious dancing, singing, and drumming round the calf.” Paul makes clear that the Israelites’ golden calf worship involved pagan sexual revelry FROM DoctrineUnites!    
Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.
1 Corinthians 10:6-8
| See this for yourself in most evangelical churches. |