Exodus 32:1-8, “When the people saw that
Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves
together to Aaron and said to him, "Up, make us gods who shall go before
us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we
do not know what has become of him."
(2) So Aaron said to them,
"Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons,
and your daughters, and bring them to me."
(3) So all the people took off
the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. (4)
And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving
tool and made a golden calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O
Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" (5)
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a
proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD." (6)
And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and
brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up
to play. (7) And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down,
for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted
themselves. (8) They have turned aside quickly out of the way
that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have
worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who
brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'”
Exodus 19-31 are some of the most incredible chapters in the Bible,
the people of Israel have seen the presence of the LORD upon Mount Sinai and
they have heard His voice. Aaron, his son’s and 70 of the elders had gone up
the mountain and sat at God’s feet, seeing a glimpse of God’s glory and
majesty. God has given His laws of love and life, He has promised to remain
faithful to the people and to bless them greatly. He has also given to them the
unique means of being able to worship Him through the tabernacle. It is a high
point in their history. But this high point is marred by their sinfulness.
Our minds cannot fathom how they could have sinned in such a blatant,
deliberate and shameless manner. They are encamped around Mount Sinai, and the
presence of God is still upon this mountain, and yet they turn away from God
and make an idol. The people come to Aaron and tell him to make them idols to
bow down to. Even after all that Aaron has seen and witnessed, he fails to
confront the people and refuse their request. Instead he instructs the gold to
be brought to him, he fashions the idol, he builds an altar to sacrifice to it,
he proclaims it to be God, to be the LORD and commands that the people hold a
feast and bring offerings to this idol.
But what makes this idolatry even more horrific, is the fact that they
not only proclaim this calf to be God, which would be to break the first three
commandments, they also state that this calf, this idol god, is the one that
delivered them from the Egyptians. How can they attribute to this golden calf all
the works of that God performed in redeeming them from Egypt, a calf that has
been made with their gold, and their own hands?
This tragic and horrific event serves to graphically illustrate the
absolute depravity, sinfulness of man, the foolishness of man and the
deceitfulness of sin. Our sinful condition is of such a great extent that even
after having seen God work in miraculous ways, having heard His voice and seen
His presence, we can turn away from God and go straight back into sin. In fact
they are building and worshipping this golden calf, in the presence in God, as
all they needed to do was to look up to the top of the mountain and see the
cloud of God’s glory upon it. Yet in our sinful state not even the presence,
the nearness of God is a deterrent, it doesn’t seem to bother us that God can
see every single sinful action. Such is the depths of our sinfulness and folly.
It is easy for us to point fingers at the people of Israel, but we
need to examine our own lives closely. We may not be guilty of such outwardly
obvious idolatry and sin, but we can still be guilty of harbouring idolatry and
sin in our hearts. Both are equally sinful and displeasing to God, and both are
fully seen and known by God. We need to daily examine our hearts, ensure that
God, that Christ is the central desire of our hearts, lives and actions. We
need to constantly pray for the help of the Spirit to keep up from falling into
idolatry, helping us to identify those desires and temptations so that we can
walk away. Let us not underestimate our own sinfulness, foolishness and the
deceitfulness of sin. God is gracious, gentle, patient and forgiving, but He
also wants us to honour Him with our lives and therefore calls us to obedience
and holiness.
Merciful God, we declare that You are the
one true God, apart from You there is no other, all the other gods are but
idols and are altogether worthless. We pray that You would assist us by Your
Spirit to keep this truth at the very centre of our lives, that we might live
for none other than You. Keep us from bowing down to the idols that surround us
or from engaging in deliberate and blatant sin. May we always be conscious of
Your presence, that You see all and know all, and that You will also supply us
with all that we need so that we can say no to sin and yes to godliness. Help
us in Your mercy we pray. Amen.
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