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Wise-Hearted One: Idols and Altars
195 Plays9 months ago
The construction of golden calf is one of the most commonly known Exodus stories.
Though God had delivered them Egypt, hunger, and thirst, the Israelites chose to place their trust in an idol of their own haphazard making. It’s no accident that this story is told between the calling of the Wise-Hearted Ones and the execution of their work.
How does art rooted in idolatry differ from God’s design? How does our heart going into the work, and our manner of execution, impact the art we end up making? Host Lisa Smith compares and contrasts these two commissions in this new episode of Be. Make. Do.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Wise Heart at One' and new content
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey Lisa. Hey Dan. This Wise Heart at One series is awesome. It is. Having such a good time with it. I want to spend a little bit more time with it. Maybe we should create something.
00:00:12
Speaker
That's a great idea. Maybe something like a study guide. A study guide? Yes. That sounds awesome. Where would I get that at? Well, actually, if you go over to soulmakers.org backslash BMakeDo, you can download a free Wise Hearted One study guide right now. It's got lots of great questions, some word studies and a little bit of commentary for you and maybe a group of people to go through together.
00:00:37
Speaker
That's awesome. That's what I'm going to do right now. What are you going to do? I'm going to go to soul makers dot org backslash be make do and download your free study guide.
Living your calling in arts with spiritual wholeness
00:00:58
Speaker
Hello, welcome to Be Make Do, a Soul Makers podcast where we explore what it takes to live out your call in the arts with spiritual wholeness and creative freedom. I'm your host, Lisa Smith, here with my producer, Danny BH. Hello, everyone. And it is our passion to encourage you to become who you were created to be, make what you were created to make and do what you were created to do.
00:01:25
Speaker
I am just loving the season of the Be Make Do podcast because we're talking about the wise hearted ones, which is very close to my heart. I just think it's an incredible gift to start to see art making as a person of faith within these categories of developing a wise and willing heart.
00:01:46
Speaker
And today we're taking a little bit of a detour and I love this really interesting detour. We're going to talk about idolatry.
What is idolatry and its impact on artists?
00:01:55
Speaker
Now, you didn't grow up in Christian culture, Dan. So when I say idol or idolatry, what comes to mind for you?
00:02:03
Speaker
posers. Well, you are right. I did not grow up in the Christian background, and I know this story pretty well. Because you've listened to it a million times. Because you won't stop talking about it. No. And I never really heard of that term before, and I can barely say it.
00:02:24
Speaker
I think what it means to me is making idols, you know? And I think that right now in our culture is so prevalent. It is very prevalent. I see a lot of it and I don't want to call anything out, but I think it's rampant almost. Yeah.
00:02:48
Speaker
Tell me more about that. You see idolatry, idol making in a lot of culture. I'm seeing it a lot, but I'm also seeing it within people of them making themselves idols. What do you mean by that?
00:03:04
Speaker
I mean like in the band worlds, I'm seeing people that are really truly great musicians and artists and I don't think that they're making great work. I think that they're making, they're basically chasing something to be something that they saw on TikTok or they saw on a reel.
00:03:24
Speaker
And I think being influenced is one thing, but I think when you are changing your identity and you're trying to become popular or how many likes you can get and how many comments and how many shares, it's nobody's fault. It's just the culture that we live in. It's this dopamine thing. It's this. And so I'm seeing people that I know that are truly great artists. And what I'm seeing is that I'm not seeing great work.
00:03:55
Speaker
I'm seeing a lack of artistic endeavor. So like trading the artistry for the likes and... Yeah, for the being popular, you know? Interesting. Yeah, so that's what I think. Yeah, that is so interesting to take it to that level. That adds a whole other nuance to this conversation.
00:04:17
Speaker
Was I wrong? No, no, that's good. That's really good. Yeah, I mean, idolatry is something the Bible actually talks quite a bit about. God's very clear that we are not to have idols, which basically just means not to worship anything but God.
Lessons from the Golden Calf story
00:04:33
Speaker
And with this conversation, we're talking about worship on a whole other level. And we are worshiping things that just don't mean anything. Yeah, right. That's idolatry. Things that have no power aren't real.
00:04:47
Speaker
And then you flip it on the other side of it of these, again, people that I know personally that are incredible artists or could be incredible artists, but they are doing things, making things. They're so involved with their identity and their identity is not even true. So there's this false self.
00:05:08
Speaker
right? And then at the end of it, if they do get to where they want to be, they've made themselves into an idol because they themselves want to be idolized. So it's just this vicious circle. I'm not trying to take it to a deep dark place, but culturally, it is really prevalent.
00:05:27
Speaker
Yeah, that is such an important point. And I think it's, you know, it's complicated for artists in general, because when you're talking even classically, like in the Bible talking about making idols, you're actually talking about sculpting or drawing something. So from the very outset, there's this creative element to it. And yet there's been this long conversation which goes into what you're talking about, about the dangers inherent in that perhaps.
00:05:56
Speaker
And so that's ultimately why I think it's really worth digging into this story, because it's one of the ways we get to the root of answering what is and isn't appropriate or okay for us to make as artists of faith, or more to your point, and I think this is where the story leads us, the way in which we make and our motivations for making.
00:06:21
Speaker
So I think it's just so interesting when you see this story in Exodus 32 of the Golden Calf right between these two descriptions of the tabernacle, when you juxtapose those against each other, you see completely different kinds of making, and it almost becomes not so much about what's being created, but how and what the motivations are.
Golden Calf vs Tabernacle construction
00:06:46
Speaker
All right, let's get started. Let's do it.
00:06:59
Speaker
Okay, I'm going to start off this portion of the episode by actually reading some of the text so that it can set the stage for what we want to talk about today in Idols and Altars. So this is Exodus 32, 1 to 8, and then 19 to 24.
00:07:14
Speaker
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered round Aaron and said, Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what's happened to him.
00:07:31
Speaker
Aaron answered them, take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing and bring them to me. So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they had handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, these are your gods, Israel, who you brought up out of Egypt.
00:07:56
Speaker
And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord. So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. And afterwards they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
00:08:16
Speaker
Then the Lord said to Moses, Go down, because your people whom you have brought up out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them, and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it, and have said, These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.
00:08:42
Speaker
Okay, you have to ask, what happened there? Through the whole wilderness narrative, we see this back and forth between God and his people. They worry about how their immediate needs will be met and then about the future and about who will lead them. And each time they voice a concern, God shows that he already had a plan for them. And he tries to teach them over and over again that they need more than just the basics.
00:09:12
Speaker
they really need to totally rely on Him. An extremely difficult lesson to learn, it turns out. They grumble about water, they grumble about food, and every time they grumble, God's answer to that need is dramatic.
00:09:29
Speaker
Water turns from bitter to sweet. Mana arrives from heaven. God is present in fire and cloud and smoke, the sound of a trumpet and the sound of thunder and lightning. God knows His people need more than food, more than shelter and a plan. They need the eyes and hearts to see His presence, to rest their hope in Him. And He's never once failed them.
00:10:00
Speaker
Before Moses goes up to the mountain to talk with God alone, he assures the people, do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning. And then he asks them, will you keep the Sabbath and not make idols?
00:10:19
Speaker
God asks the Israelites again and again, will you keep the Sabbath and not make idols? And again and again the Israelites agree, we will do everything the Lord has said. And with that, God gives Moses instructions for the people for his immediate plan to be present with them.
00:10:41
Speaker
He says, you have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. Do not make any gods to be alongside me. Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.
00:11:08
Speaker
If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. That's Exodus 20, 22-25. God has always forbidden idol worship, but here, notice He explicitly forbids them from making anything fancy.
00:11:29
Speaker
They can't use tools or silver or gold. They can't even cut the stones. It just all has to be natural, just as they found it. He wants to keep them from sinning by keeping it simple.
00:11:43
Speaker
Okay, so that does seem a little strange considering the elaborate nature of what he's just planned for the tabernacle, right? Why forbid images and gold and tools here and then later commission things like cherubim of gold and jewel-encrusted breastplates to be constructed by the most skilled artisans?
00:12:06
Speaker
So it's no accident that this story of the Golden Calf comes in between the descriptions of design and the execution of the Tabernacle Project. These stories sit in stark contrast to each other and they illustrate just how powerful creative work is in shaping our souls and our culture.
00:12:29
Speaker
So far from artistic craft being something benign or frivolous, it's actually a gift that comes with the responsibility, as we've said before, to become wise hearted. So this story gives both freedom and a caution, not only to artists of faith, but actually to the church as a whole. Aesthetics is serious business.
00:12:52
Speaker
In Exodus 20, God already has the designs for the tabernacle ready to go. In typical dramatic fashion, it'll be an impressive place with aesthetic impact like no other, not just because of what is created but how it's created, the process that takes deliberate intentionality and wise hearts,
00:13:14
Speaker
So he's got this great, beautiful art project planned for them that's going to result in this beautiful and amazing place for God to meet with his people. So in the meantime, he asks the Israelites to wait.
00:13:28
Speaker
and he prescribes natural, untouched beauty of earth and stone for the temporary altar, materials which God Himself has created and hewn. Nothing is to be added or taken away, no tools, no gold, no silver, nothing to indicate that what they have created might somehow be responsible for conjuring up God or containing Him by their skill or generosity.
00:13:58
Speaker
In Exodus 20, God is making clear that He alone indicates where an altar should be located. God initiates the interaction by making His presence and His name known when and where He chooses.
Intent and preparation in artistic creation
00:14:15
Speaker
God receives the sacrifice, and God gives blessing of His own volition and in His own time.
00:14:23
Speaker
Unlike idols of the day who were thought to be contained in the image of an animal or other statuary, God rested in the presence of His people on His own terms. The God of Israelite was not to be seen as a totem to be called on for good luck.
00:14:42
Speaker
fertility, provision, all of these things whenever the people felt the need. The God of Israel was to be worshipped in recognition that He had already been faithful, would always be faithful, and was and is the center of all of life. But instead of going with God's plan, the people let their fear get the better of them.
00:15:10
Speaker
A note in the Exodus section of the New Oxford Annotated Bible says, even as God is giving Moses the instructions for establishing covenant worship, the Israelites impatiently begin worshipping in their own unacceptable way. During Moses' absence, the people becoming anxious speak disrespectfully of Moses, choose Aaron as their new leader, and demand a tangible sign of God's presence immediately.
00:15:37
Speaker
Moses has stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights and now they demand gods who shall go before us. Ironically, they want visible symbols of the divine presence, which are exactly what God is even now telling Moses how to create.
00:15:53
Speaker
While God intends Aaron's leadership, the gold altar, festival offerings, eating and drinking, all of that to be a part of worship for the tabernacle, the people in their impatience use all of these to dedicate a calf, a worship symbol with which God will have nothing to do.
00:16:14
Speaker
So the golden calf was not initiated by God, obviously. It was made sloppily with human hands and leftover materials. Aaron's just like, Hammy, whatever you got, just take off your earrings. Yeah, give it to me. And he throws it in the fire. So it's haphazard and not a whole lot of, no thought really behind it. And was made by people who were concerned more with their own spiritual experience and relieving their anxiety than truly worshiping and relying on God.
00:16:45
Speaker
So we start to see that the problem with the golden calf is as much about how it was created as it is about what was created.
00:16:56
Speaker
So artistic and created elements were used in the tabernacle, but they were dictated and designed by God, and they were executed by the skilled artisans God had chosen and prepared with wise hearts. That's a huge difference in how those two things were constructed. For God, the heart and manner of creating is directly tied to the outcome.
00:17:22
Speaker
So let's just pause there for a second. That's a lot of what we've been talking about, about both in the becoming who you're created to be, making what you're created to make, and doing what you're created to do, and in the series on the wise hearted one. The idea that what a big part of our focus as Christians in the arts is that how we make is as important as what we make. And the place that we are coming from as human beings
00:17:50
Speaker
is a very, needs to be a very centered in Christ and spiritually deep place because the, like I said, the heart and manner of creating is directly tied to the outcome. It's the what goes into it that informs so much what comes out.
00:18:13
Speaker
So a lack of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and craftsmanship led to the creation of an idol rather than an acceptable altar.
00:18:22
Speaker
So let's break this down into a couple of different sections to look at some of the places where things went wrong. So first is the preparation, the preparation to create. So let's look at what happens in these two stories of idol and altar making to see just how stark the contrast is. It all begins with the preparation. In one story, we see wisdom reflected. In the other, nothing but panic and chaos.
00:18:49
Speaker
As God prepares for the tabernacle, we find Moses up on the mountain in the cloud 40 days and 40 nights. He spends time there in prayer, listening for God's voice and receiving the detailed plans and instructions, the vision,
00:19:07
Speaker
And then later, when Moses asks for all who have willing hearts to come and give the materials for the altar, the people withdraw back to their own tents to consider and pray. And it's only then, the Scripture says, only then those whose hearts were moved who responded in Exodus 35.
00:19:29
Speaker
And then all the skilled artisans who were chosen to execute God's design recalled these wise-hearted ones. They were blessed and prepared and capable for the task. Whereas the preparation for the golden calf was marked by impatience and urgency.
00:19:49
Speaker
Exodus 32 says they grew impatient when Moses took so long to get back and said to Aaron, come make us gods who will go before us. And so there's this real sense of hurry and worry to the story. At no point do we read that anyone stops to think or pray or listen. It's just all emotion and reaction.
00:20:08
Speaker
It's a panicked response to fears and concerns and an emotional outburst from pent-up frustration rather than that wisdom. They demonstrate an inability to wait on the Lord. So that's the kind of difference in the preparation piece.
Creating with wisdom and understanding
00:20:25
Speaker
And then we see a huge difference in what's offered for the creation of these spaces of worship.
00:20:32
Speaker
So we see it in this collection of materials and the offerings. In both stories, offerings of gold are received from the people. Remember, the Israelites had taken a considerable amount of treasure with them from Egypt. The women had been instructed to ask their mistresses for jewelry and gold, which they gladly gave them, hoping that they would be gone and released from the plagues. So all of this, the Israelites had with them. They had a treasure trove.
00:21:00
Speaker
So for the tabernacle, the people who had gone away, thought about what, you know, prayed about this offering, then came back and brought the very best they had to offer. And then they went home and they got more and they brought that and they kept bringing the best, the best, the best, giving more, more, more sacrificing, eventually more and more
00:21:24
Speaker
to the point where the people who were working on the tabernacle had to send out word and say, enough, please don't give us any more resources, no more materials, we have too much, we don't even know what to do with all of this. But then there's the golden calf.
00:21:42
Speaker
They gathered round Aaron and said, come make us gods who will go before us. Ask for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt. We don't know what's happened to him. And Aaron answered, take off the gold earrings that your wives and your sons and your daughters are wearing and bring them to me. So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. And he took what they handed them and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning with a tool. And then they said, these are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.
00:22:11
Speaker
Exodus 32.1-4. Aaron displays a blatant lack of understanding, of taste and discernment. Recognize those words from the gifts of the artist.
00:22:25
Speaker
He obviously does not spend a whole lot of time considering what he's doing as he haphazardly just asks for whatever the people happen to have on them, which wasn't the good stuff they had stored away, right? They just frantically pulled off whatever every day where they happened to have on without any real thought or consideration of what they were giving. And it even says the men were simply instructed to take whatever they could find from the women and children.
00:22:54
Speaker
So the women and children weren't even invited to contribute. The men were just told to take it, whatever they could find. So these were not wise hearts that were even offering the construction materials for the idol. It started way before what was created.
00:23:13
Speaker
So then we move, we went from preparation to what was offered and now we're going to talk about design. And I think is not least the difference is evident in the artistic design between the tabernacle and the golden calf. The tabernacle and all its pieces were designed by God himself and crafted by well-trained craftspeople lending multiple sets of expertise.
00:23:38
Speaker
The tabernacle, the tent, the ark, the altar, the garments, the table, the oil, the ephod, the courtyard, the breastplate, the lampstand, God instructs Moses, see that you make them according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain. The number of gold rings to hold the tabernacle and exactly where they were to be placed.
00:24:01
Speaker
the amount and type of oil to be used in the lampstands, the size, materials, decoration, and colors of the curtains, skillfully woven waistbands, underwear, jeweled breast pieces, and head pieces, all intricately selected and dictated by God.
00:24:24
Speaker
and woven throughout the narrative, God again and again instructs that each piece be made by skillful craftsmen and women, wise-hearted ones, skilled artisans. These are the words that you find sprinkled throughout that narrative.
00:24:48
Speaker
And finally, at the center of it all, God commands Moses to put in the ark the testimony which I will give you, which are the Ten Commandments. The tabernacle holds the testimony of God. The project is initiated by God, spoken by God, blessed by God.
00:25:12
Speaker
Whereas the scripture says Aaron just took what they handed him, seemingly without thinking. Aaron just grabs what they give him, melts down the cheap jewelry, crudely makes something that turns out to look roughly like a calf. No thought, nothing set apart, no skill, no craftsmanship, just a makeshift seat for an altar that would hopefully buy them time until Moses returned.
00:25:37
Speaker
The dedication of the tabernacle was conducted by committed and prayerful priests in choreographed rituals. At God's invitation, the people participated in worship in the tabernacle with beautiful feasts and singing and stories that uplifted and nourished the whole community, body and soul. But in the dedication of the calf, it was haphazard and perfunctory.
00:26:05
Speaker
The people participated with the idol in drunken revelry and orgiastic indulgence that far from providing security the people had longed for actually put them in danger of being attacked by their enemies.
00:26:22
Speaker
So while God had a plan for the formation of His people through beauty and wonder, a tabernacle that provided vision, stirring hearts to generosity and devotion, the golden calf led to formation in indulgence and recklessness that served their immediate base needs but did nothing for their souls.
00:26:43
Speaker
These stories, side by side, outline that idolatry starts way before an image is created. It begins in the soul of the person. Anything can become idolatry. Our work, our preferences, our self-image, money, even worship. Artists have no more need to be concerned about idol-making than anyone else.
00:27:15
Speaker
I'm just going to let that sit there for a second. Artists have no more need to be concerned about idol making than anyone else. In fact, in the Exodus story, we see that it's actually those that don't have artistic gifts and skill that are the actual idol makers.
00:27:35
Speaker
The artists are instead gifted and instructed by God in how to make with a wise heart. And from that place, they are set free from previous restrictions. They are now free to create with tools, to use gold, to make images, and all kinds of beauty in order to honor God.
00:27:57
Speaker
Because they are gifted and disciplined in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and craftsmanship, they are set free to create. And what they create becomes the altar for God's presence, reflecting the desire of God's heart. It was the artistry and the lack thereof, the aesthetics and the lack thereof, the design,
00:28:24
Speaker
and the lack thereof, the thoughtful, prayerful participation and the lack thereof that led one construction project to produce an idol and the other a house of God. It is as we train our hearts to love the right things, as we become wise-hearted ones, that we artists find the freedom to create.
00:28:55
Speaker
So here's my question for you. Are there any religious concerns that hold you back from creating or creating something in particular or hold you back from making certain decisions in your work or in your career?
00:29:11
Speaker
identify and name them, and then take some time to research what the Bible really has to say about it. Just like we've explored today about this idea of idolatry, which has often been levied against artists as a caution,
00:29:27
Speaker
We've just dispelled that. So if there's anything that's holding you back from a religious standpoint, I invite you to name that and then to do some research on your own to really look in the Bible to see what it really has to say about that so that you can experience the full freedom as creating as a wise hearted one.
Exploring past episodes and resources
00:30:04
Speaker
Our next episode is the final one in the Wise Hearted Ones series. And then we've got some great bonus stuff all lined up for you before we launch into our next season, which we'll tell you more about later. But if you started listening somewhere in the middle of the Wise Hearted Ones, I invite you to go back and listen to earlier episodes, maybe even go all the way back to the Be Make Do series and see what you can find there.
00:30:28
Speaker
But don't forget to go download the free study guide for the wise-hearted ones on our website. And if you want to connect with me and Dan and other creatives in the Soul Makers Convergence Network, please visit us on Instagram.
00:30:43
Speaker
Thanks for listening to Be Make Do, a Soulmakers podcast. If you want to go deeper, be sure to visit soulmakers.org and download our free Wise Heart at One study guide with questions for personal reflection or discussion with a group, plus word studies and more.