S114P1 – Golden images: God’s standard

Exo. 25:10-16

Have them make an ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you.

When I was a child, I used to love the chocolate medallions covered in gold foil.  They were rather plain candy, but the chocolate is not the only thing that drew me.  I had a pretty wild imagination as a child, and I often wondered whether any of those candies would turn out to be real gold.  I had seen enough pirate movies to know that gold is a treasure.  So, I would go through my chocolate medallions and inspect them before eating them, hoping that even one of them would turn out to be real.  That hope would never be realized, and I would be left with my chocolates worth only a few cents.  I was happy to have my candy but disappointed to never have found that treasure.

There is a reason why many of the enemy’s false representations of divinity come in the form of gold.  God made gold to be a very precious and valuable commodity.  Many components of the ark were made of gold, and that was where his Spirit resided.  The tabernacle was fitted with gold, and a number of its furnishings were made of nothing but the precious metal.  The scriptures that relate to us the value of the things of the Spirit often compare them to gold.  These pictures give us images of purity, strength, and endurance.  Gold does not rust or corrode, it holds its value, and it is recognized as a universal currency.  God gave this metal a special treatment in its creation to illustrate his standard of value and purity to us.

Before exploring the many golden images which have been and will be created as false idols, we must understand why they would be made of gold at all.  This is the enemy’s classic counterfeit impersonation of God’s divinity.  From static golden calves to beasts that appear to live and breathe, there is enchantment in the devil’s designs of gold, a shimmer and a shine to them.  The lost and foolish will be seduced by their luster.  The wise and discerning will see these abominations for what they are and seek God for what is truly precious.  Father, thank You for the precious spiritual gold You give us, and help us to discern the counterfeit from the authentic.