Blaming Fire — Don Wilkerson

This message is one of the Times Square pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge, PO Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771 or calling 214 -963 -8626.

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Aaron and the Golden Calf

Forty days, about six weeks, and there he was receiving the law. And while the cat's away, the mice will play. And while Moses is gone, the people get restless. They're anxious for something to happen and so they decide to try and make it happen and convince Aaron to make a substitute idolatrous god.

A substitute for the presence of God. The presence of God was with Moses on the mountain. And they said, we don't know what's become of him. And so they had Aaron make this god. And Aaron, instead of standing up to the people, he gave in to them.

He could have, he should have stood in Moses' stead and instructed the people to wait patiently and in faith. But he lacked the moral courage. And he leads them in their rebellion. Now at first, I believe that Aaron tried to divert the people from their request by appealing to their pocketbooks.

He thought, I'll get them to give up their gold. Surely when they hear what it's going to cost them, they'll give up their silly notion. He thought, I know these people, they'll not deny themselves their rich jewels.

So I'll find a way of getting out of this dilemma. But to his surprise, the people took off their jewelry. They raised the necessary cash. And they told Aaron, yes, make us gods which will go before us.

Another interesting thing here is that Aaron was chosen. It's amazing to me that Aaron, who was chosen as Moses' spokesperson because of his oratory abilities, his speaking abilities, yet when Israel needs a strong voice to rise up and warn them of their sin, this silver-tongued orator is silent.

He is as weak and as evil as any other man. And I guess we can all identify with that. I know there are times when I say things that I shouldn't and there are times when I should speak up and don't. And this was a time for Aaron.

And while Moses is still on the mount, the Lord tells him about this New Age religious movement going on back at camp. And he comes down off of the mountain. In fact, the Scripture says,. And it's interesting here that the Lord says to Moses, He wouldn't even identify with them.

It was, of course, the Lord who brought them out. But now, because of their actions, he doesn't even want to be identified with them. He said, Look what they're doing. And so Moses ascends, goes down the mountain, and upon hearing the noise and the singing and the sensuous dancing going around the camp, he casts the tables out of his hands and he breaks them beneath the mount.

And then he took this ill-conceived god, which perhaps probably was made of wood overlaid with gold. He took it, he burned it in the fire, he ground it to powder, and he strewed it out upon the water and he made the children of Israel drink of it.

Aaron's Excuse and the “Blaming Fire” Defense

And then, next, Moses' anger was directed to Aaron. How could you do this? Moses says to him, Moses wants to know, Why would you not only be a party to this, but you would actually lead the people in worshiping a useless, worthless image that you call a god?

Verse 21, What did this people unto thee that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? Now, Aaron's answer is right out of a defense lawyer's book of how to defend a guilty client. He says, well, Moses, something very remarkable happened.

He said, I don't know how it happened. It must have been a miracle. They gave me all this jewelry and we made a fire and I put all of the jewels, all of the gold in the fire. And the next thing I know, up came this calf.

That's what he said, there came out this calf. And therefore, this is the basis of my message, blaming fire. Now, Aaron's remarkable excuse is a very familiar one, isn't it? How often the same defense is used to cop a plea regarding our own personal responsibilities in getting ourselves into the messes that we get in and the sins that we commit.

Blaming fire, you see, avoids personal responsibility. And it lays the sin to the charge of events and persons and conditions and actions and behavior outside of ourselves. This is called the fire did it defense.

Aaron was afraid of what he had done. He was afraid to face the truth and to admit the truth. And like any guilty soul, he trembles before the spark that he is ignited, that has turned into a forest fire.

And he fears the wrath of God and Moses. And so he tries to persuade Moses and even maybe convince himself that it was really events beyond him, outside of his control. And not he that had done this thing.

He says the fire did it, the fire did it. And so he cops a plea. Aaron is trying to get Moses' sympathy by saying, Moses, you understand these people. You know they're a stiff necked people. You've had to put up with them all these years.

They gave me the gold. Yeah, I put it in the fire. I'll admit I did that. But I really didn't make the calf. It was the furnace that did it. Pity me, Moses. I just happened to be caught in the middle of this thing.

I'm the unlucky victim of circumstances. Now how often I hear the voice of Aaron in my counseling. Blaming fire is a typical defense to justify the gold and calves that we erect. Now Aaron first blamed the people and then he blamed the fire.

Verse 22, chapter 32. And Aaron said, let not the anger of the Lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people that they are set on mischief. In other words, don't blame me. Aaron says, Moses, don't get hot under the collar about to me.

Get mad at the people. And note where Aaron tries to throw the emphasis and the responsibility. He says in this verse, and Aaron said, let not the anger of the Lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people. The people that they are set on mischief.

And Aaron falls back on the oldest excuse, as old as Eden. That the blame of his sin rested upon someone else other than himself. And doesn't that sound familiar? How often we blame the environment, the people, the people, the people.

It's others that cause me to go wrong. Somebody said, I'm surrounded by ungodly people. You don't know the situation that I'm in. I'm surrounded by ungodly voices. I'm surrounded by an ungodly crowd at work.

They're the furnace that causes me always to give in and to sin. Or I hear a young student say, I go to a school where everybody is bent on mischief. My school is a furnace of iniquity and it causes me to backslide.

Someone says, it's my neighborhood. My neighborhood is hot. Oh, is it hot. And I keep running into the old crowd and that's the furnace that makes me sin. Or other people say, the furnace is this city.

And I'll tell you, this city is a furnace. And this city is a hot place to be. There are many pressures, but some people say, but it's the city. There are too many pressures, too many temptations, too much evil environment.

This city makes me sin. Psalms 57 and 4 says, my soul is among lions. I must lie among those who breathe fire. Even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword. Now if Aaron's first excuse was bad, listen to the second one.

Personal Responsibility for Sin

It was worse. Aaron treats the furnace and the fire as objects or forces outside of his control. As this separated from him, thus absolving himself of any personal guilt. And what he avoided saying to Moses is that he started the fire.

He lit the first match. He built the furnace. He took tool in hand and he formed the graven image and he built the altar around it. And yet when he's questioned about the idol, Aaron tries to separate himself from the deed as if it was outside of his control.

And how often I hear the same reasoning. Somebody talks about their lust or their sexual immorality or their homosexuality or whatever. Or they will blame it on somebody else or something else. They talk about it as if it's a force or condition outside of themselves that they have no control over.

And they say this fire overtook me and I could not help myself. You know that's a popular line of defense case in many trials now. Right now in Long Island there's a young teenage boy who is being tried for murdering his parents.

And you know what his lawyer's defense is going to be? Is that he was playing Dungeons and Dragons and as a result of that game it caused him and motivated him to murder his parents. And so they're going to blame Dungeons and Dragons as the fire that did it.

That's the fire they're going to blame. And you know the famous Chambers murder yuppie trial that went on here for many, many months. They came up with a brand new one. A brand new line of defense. Rough sex was the fire.

Rough sex was the furnace that caused it all. And did you know that since then there has been another case in this city? The young man pleaded guilty went back and pleaded not guilty and this time the lawyer used the same line of defense and it worked.

Well they say it's alcohol. Not the alcoholic that is responsible for alcoholism. You know one of the states down in the south has the highway patrolman award given award every year. I don't know if it's Tennessee or Georgia.

They give an award every year for the most unusual excuses when they arrest somebody for speeding. And one fellow got it one year it was called the bee award. Because he would get stopped and said he had a bumblebee in his car and he was trying to kill it.

And he just automatically unconsciously started to speed and in fact he would carry a dead bumblebee in his pocket. And when the different highway patrolman would compare notes they would say oh no you got the same guy.

He carried it around with a bumblebee. But you see whenever anyone treats their sin as a power a force or a fire out of their control like Aaron did. That fire will continue to burn and you'll continue to be consumed by it until you begin to take personal responsibility for it.

We need to see that blaming fire defense is unacceptable before God. Now blaming fire can also be another person who is held responsible for our troubles and problems. Go to Genesis chapter 27. Genesis chapter 27.

Esau, Jacob, and the Sale of the Birthright

After Isaac was deceived by Jacob and gave the blessing of the birthright to Jacob instead of Esau. Listen to Esau's bitter cry. Genesis 27 in verse 36. And he said this is Esau talking verse 36. Is not he rightly named Jacob for he hath supplanted me these two times.

He took away my birthright and behold now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said hast thou not reserved a blessing for me. Now please follow this. Esau lost loses his birthright and he lays the blame squarely on the shoulders of his twin brother Jacob.

You see blaming fire for Esau was to blame Jacob. But listen to the rest of the story. That was only half the truth. Go back you that are familiar with the story know what happened. Go back to Genesis 25.

Genesis 25 in verse 29. And it says and Jacob sawed pottage and Esau came from the field and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob feed me I pray thee with that same red pottage for I am faint. Therefore his name called Edom.

His name was called Edom. And Jacob said sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said behold I am at the point to die and what profit shall this birthright do to me now at this moment. And Jacob said swear to me this day and he swore unto him and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils and he did eat and drink and he rose up and he went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. You see that it was sold before it was stolen. Now there was a reason that Esau threw away the sacred privilege of the birthright.

The birthright represented the spiritual headship of the family. It contained material blessings but also it contained moral and spiritual responsibilities. And Jacob knew this and he anticipated it and he accepted the purposes of God contained in the birthright.

But Esau also knew this and he attached no value to it. He said behold I'm going to die which was a gross exaggeration. He said and what good is this birthright to me. And the only thing of value to him at that moment was fulfilling his own sensual desires.

The spiritual blessings of the future were beyond his carnal mind to appreciate. And in his actions he is described to be in Hebrews you don't need to turn to. But in Hebrews 12 16 it describes Esau and it uses the word that he is profane.

A profane person who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. Now please follow me you see the seeds of trouble. The seeds of Esau's trouble were planted and produced by his own actions and what was in his own heart.

He had a profane heart. Jacob only stole what had already been sold. And my friend beware lest you blame the fire on a Jacob. Which in reality was a fire that you yourself started because there was something profane in your own heart.

Are you tonight blaming somebody else for your downfall. You see Esau's problem was not Jacob it was himself. And if you sell your birthright if you are profane. Profane means to have a cheap regard for the sacred things of God.

It means to put little value on spiritual and moral things. And not treat the holiness of God as it ought to be treated. It means that you will not hide the word of God in your heart. And when that happens my friend some temptation.

Often in the presence of some Jacob may come along and influence you. Or tempt you or trip you up. But it is not Jacob's fault it is because of a profanity. The profaneness within your own heart. You see if another person causes you to fall it is because that person found you.

They met you with something missing in your heart. They found you with a profane heart. You see a Jacob cannot steal from an Esau who cherishes his birthright and walks in righteousness. Listen nobody can touch you.

Nothing can touch you when you cherish your birthright. But when you don't be sure that something will come along and will attach itself to you. And often it may be in the form of another person. I've watched a carnal or an evil person come into a church.

And attach themselves to a certain person already in the church. The relationship ends up in something that is not right. It may be immorality. It may be some other kind of situation. And you have to ask yourself who is to blame?

Was it the outsider who came in? Yes. But that outsider or that person who had a carnal spirit attached himself or herself to an Esau. And two kindred spirits found each other. It takes two to tango as they say.

You see a sensuous spirit is open to attack and attachment to another sensuous spirit. A gossip is open to find feathership with another gossip. They always find each other. Always amazes me. It amazes me.

A racially prejudiced heart will always link up with a person with like mindedness. A grumbler will always be drawn to other grumblers and complainers. They are magnets that draw themselves to each other.

The Bible says deep calleth unto deep but also shallow calleth unto shallow. And profane calleth unto profane. Proverbs 27 and 19 says as in water face answereth to face. So the heart of man to man. In other words one man's heart answers to another.

You see an Ananias will always find a Sapphira. A Judas will always find somebody with 30 pieces of silver. An Achan will always find an accursed thing. An Aaron is always a willing participant in golden caffery.

And an Esau will always find a Jacob who steals away his blessing. It all began in the garden. Adam blamed the woman and he blamed the devil. We are going to take a look at that a little bit later and see what happened.

Blaming an Ungodly Heritage

But then let me talk about something else. Let me talk about the blaming fire of an ungodly heritage. Another popular way that often we avoid personal responsibility is to blame it on our family. To blame it on our upbringing.

To blame it on our parental influence. David I think alluded to it Sunday night when he talked about sometimes culturally. We say well that's my upbringing. That's my culture. Well that's true your culture.

But once you come to the Lord then my friend you can't blame it on culture anymore. Because the Lord says all those things are supposed to pass away. But we blame it on our nationality. Now it is true.

Listen to me carefully. It is true that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation. The Bible warns fathers to not provoke their children to wrath. And family influence and delinquency is a major cause for juvenile delinquency.

Bad parents produce bad children. And we cannot but weep for the children who have been neglected or abused or abandoned. By mother or father or both. Children are the victims of an evil environment. They do grow up in the furnace of fire of ungodly parental influence.

And as a result they end up drug addicts and prostitutes or into other problems. There's no doubt whatsoever about that. But as tragic a reality as it is that evil parents sow the seeds producing evil children.

The scripture also makes it very clear that each one of us must give an account of himself before God. The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel in denouncing Israel for their sin and their backsliding. Had to go up against the psychologist of the day.

The philosophers of the day. And the people had picked up a proverb and said don't blame me. It's not my fault it's my upbringing it's my parents. Here's what they said. Ezekiel 18 2 he said what mean ye that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel.

And saying the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge. Now the meaning of the parable was simple. This is what you call blaming fire. They were blaming fire. They excused their sins by saying our fathers sinned and therefore we have sinned.

In other words don't blame us. Blame the generation before us. Our teeth are set on edge and we're hurting because our fathers ate those wicked sour grapes. But listen to what Ezekiel said. Chapter 18 and verse 3 he said as I live saith the Lord ye shall have no more occasion.

Ye shall have no occasion anymore to use the proverb in Israel. In other words no more excuses. No more justification for your sin. No more blaming fire. He said the righteous lives or is judged by his own deeds.

This is what he said if a man be just and do what is right. Do what is lawful and right he shall surely live saith the Lord God. And so once again it's established the whole point of Jeremiah and Ezekiel's teaching.

Is that everyone anyone who endeavors to transfer guilt from himself to others. Thinking that he can thereby avoid punishment. And has a justification for the hardness of his heart against God. The prophet said you are deceived.

This is not a line of defense that you can use. Okay so we blame conditions. We blame another person. We may blame our family background. We may blame any number of things that I haven't even dared touch on tonight.

Freedom from Blaming Fire

Or have no time to touch on. But how can a flaming fire. I want you to know and I tell you I prayed tonight. And I've been praying this week. I said Lord I want you to extinguish blaming fires here tonight.

And I prayed that God would send the right people to this service tonight. That are caring. Some of you are carrying torches. Some of you may be just a little spark. But nevertheless there's a blaming fire down in you.

And I want to tell you how you can distinguish that blaming fire. The Lord wants to free us from every blaming fire. Hallelujah. Do you need freedom from a blaming fire? Is there a fire of lust? Burning in the furnace of your mind and heart.

A fire which you cop up and say I can't help it. I can't stop it. It rages. I have no control over it. There are homosexuals that say God made me this way. God put the fire in me. God did this to me. And they're angry at God.

Is there a fire of anger that burns in you. And you say I can't help it. I inherited it. It's the conditions that I live in or work in. It's these conditions that are cast into the fire. And my anger comes out like a calf.

I can't help it. Or maybe your tongue's on fire. And yet you're justified and say I just can't help it. If you knew. If you just knew my situation. If you just knew the people that I had to live with.

And then the Lord wants to free us from the blaming fire of an Esau pointing the finger at a Jacob. And tonight if you're carrying around a blaming fire of bitterness towards another Christian brother or sister.

Maybe it's a blaming fire towards a husband or a wife. Maybe it's a blaming fire towards a mother or a father. Maybe it's a blaming fire towards an ex-wife or an ex-husband. Maybe it's a blaming fire towards a pastor or an ex-pastor or a certain leader or denomination or a company that you work for.

I don't know. And that person may have done you wrong and caused you hurt. Listen there was no justification for what Jacob did. He had no right to steal Esau's birthright and blessing and God judged him for it.

And neither did that person who may have done you wrong have a right to do so. And God will bring them unto judgment in his own time and in his own way. But in the meantime if you're still living with a blaming fire of bitterness or anger or vengeance and hurt.

The Lord wants to pull you up out of that fire. Hallelujah. And he wants to free you from it once and for all. Well what about the blaming fire of an ungodly heritage? Do you need to be freed from a fire that somebody else set off in your past?

Your parents may have set off a fire in your childhood that has damaged you emotionally and psychologically and spiritually. You may be here a young lady here tonight that's been a victim in your past or in your present of incest.

And oh what a fire that is and my heart can only go out to you tonight. You may have been in a flaming fire a furnace of child abuse or wife abuse or some other kind of neglect in your childhood. And once again my heart of compassion can only go out to you for that or because of that.

But Jeremiah and Ezekiel do not deny that the fathers eat sour grapes and yes the children's teeth are set on edge. But again God will not permit you to use that as a line of defense to justify living in sin.

And let me tell you here's how you can be free. Here's how you can be free from a blaming fire. First of all it says in Romans chapter 2 in verse 1. Let me read it to you. Romans chapter 2 in verse 1.

It says, Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest or blamest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest dost the same things. In other words what was in their heart the Lord says also is in our own hearts.

But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and thou doest the same, that thou should escape the judgment of God.

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Moses when he came down off the mountain the very first thing that he had to establish he said, ye have sinned, ye have sinned.

Adam, Eve, and the Order of Accountability

Go with me if you will to Genesis chapter 3. I want you to see the age old account of blaming fire. Genesis chapter 3. I want you to see something here. The order in which the serpent appears. It says now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

And he said unto the woman, yea hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent we may eat and so forth. And then verse 6 and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and the tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave it also to her husband with her and he did eat.

Now note the order of the appearance of the fall of man. First the serpent and then he beguiled Eve and then in turn Adam partakes and he falls. Alright, verse 9. God now comes to call into account what they have done and notice the order in which he appears and how he comes.

And verse 9 and the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him where art thou? And he said I heard thy voice in the garden I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And he said who told thee that thou was naked hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat.

And the man said as always the woman. The woman whom thou gavest to be with me she gave me of the tree and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman what is this that thou has done and the woman said the serpent beguiled me and I did eat.

And verse 14 and the Lord said unto the serpent. Notice how the order is reversed. The serpent appears first and then Eve is beguiled and then Adam. But now when he comes back to call to account what does he do?

He starts with Adam. Adam who is the head and then to the woman and then to the serpent. And what did God say? What is this that thou has done? You see God always starts with us first. First we have to quit blaming fire and judge ourselves.

Then God can deal with the devil and with sin. I heard the story one time about somebody saw the devil on the side of the road and he was crying. And somebody asked him he said devil why are you crying?

And just down the block was a Pentecostal church. He said well they are blaming me for a lot of things down there that I never did. And the Lord came to the devil but he started. God always starts. The people had to be first judged and then consecrated to the Lord.

Confession, Atonement, and Forgiveness

And then Moses said back in Exodus 32 after he established he said you are inexcusable old man. Ye have sinned. And then he said I will go up to the Lord preadventure. I will make an atonement for your sin.

And my friend if you've got a flaming fire, a blaming fire burning in your soul tonight and in your mind. I want you to know that there is always atonement and forgiveness for confessed sin. Proverbs 28 and 13 says he that covereth his sins shall not prosper.

But whosoever confesses and forsaketh them shall have mercy. And back in Jeremiah when he quoted that proverb and he said no, no, no you cannot blame your parents anymore. You can't use a blaming fire anymore.

Don't use that proverb anymore. He said behold this is Jeremiah 31 and 31. This is the reason why he did it. He said you take responsibility for your own actions. And when you do that then this promise will be fulfilled.

Behold the day comes saith the Lord that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Jacob. And that new covenant was Christ. And the meaning was very simple. Every one of us is responsible for his own sins.

And God would judge us for our own actions. But he said there's good news when you do that you can be changed. You can be forgiven. And he said I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. When you're forgiven and you're freed from your sin you don't need to look for an alibi anymore. Hallelujah. He takes upon himself the iniquity of his all glory to God.

The Debt Wiped Away at the Cross

Now let me close with a few scriptures. Go with me to Revelation chapter 21. I want you to turn to it. I want you to see this. About two or three scriptures and I'm closing. Revelation 21 for it says and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

And there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away. Now note where it says God shall wipe away all tears. Now that's talking about heaven.

And it's talking about a time when finally every tear is going to be wiped away. Now he wipes away our tears now but they still come back because we're not there yet. And there's still death and there's still sorrow but there's coming a day when it's going to be all wiped away.

Now go to Acts chapter 3 and during the second sermon that was preached by Peter. First one on the day of Pentecost and this one was the second one was preached after the layman that was healed at the gate beautiful.

In Acts 3 in verse 19 he says repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out. New American Standard says wiped away. When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

So there again is the word wiped away. Now the Greek word for wiped away is very interesting. It occurs only five times in the New Testament. But when I saw this word it blessed my soul. Now the word is exophene and it's used in reference to wiping out a memory of a past experience.

A memory or an experience from one's remembrance or one's mind. Also it means canceling a charge or a debt or the striking of a man's name off of a roll or a list. Now you see a man might say to a friend he said I could not read your letter because it has been wiped away.

It has been exophened, it's been obliterated. And as if somebody had a sponge and just wiped it away and so it's gone. Now go to Colossians 2 and 14 if you will. Because the word appears again. I won't take you to all the five words but I'll take you to the three of them.

Wiped away. Colossians. Where's Colossians I can't find it. I got it. Colossians 2, Colossians 2, 14. It says blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. Which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to the cross.

Okay there's the word blotted out or wiped out again. And then there's the word handwriting of ordinances. Now Paul used a word here for handwriting meaning holograph. And it means a signature or a written agreement.

And it eventually came to mean a written agreement acknowledging a debt or certificate of debt. Now putting these two thoughts together we see that what Jesus did for us. This is the meaning of the atonement.

This is the meaning of what Christ has done for us. Is that he has wiped out our debt. There was a handwritten ordinance the law which we broke. A sentence of guilt was upon us but Christ came along and he wiped it out.

Now what's also interesting about this word is that in the New Testament times documents were written on papyrus. The ink was made of soot mixed with gum and diluted with water. And the characteristic of that ink was that it had no acid in it.

Therefore it would not bite into the paper. And it would last a long time and retain its color. But soon after it was written if a wet sponge was taken and passed over the surface of the papyrus. The writing would be sponged off as completely as writing would be wiped off of a chalkboard.

Now what is the interesting thing is that the most common word in those days for canceling a certificate. Or a debt was another Greek word that began with the word CHI. Now CHI in Greek is an X. If you make an X that means CHI.