WEDNESDAY 01 December 2021 “Golden Calf” Exodus 32:1-8

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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends on this first day of December, 2021.

Is it hard for you to believe this tumultuous year of ’21 is nearing its end? In such a fast paced world do you find PATIENCE to be elusive for you? We’ve sure seen ample evidence this year that patience is something in short supply almost everywhere in our world, haven’t we?

For the past several days we’ve been with Moses on Mount Sinai where he spent 40 days and nights with God in the cloud of God’s Presence! Moses had been hearing the voice of God speak to him. It wasn’t the first time for this experience with Moses and God, in fact this was Moses’ sixth trip up that mountain for a conversation with God!! But this time it had been a very long and detailed conversation. Moses’ record of these 40 days fills 7 chapters in the Bible. You’ll find it in Exodus 25-31. You’ll recall there were about 1 million people camped at the base of Mount Sinai. These were the Hebrew slaves God had miraculously rescued from Egypt, and Moses had led them here to this mountain, following a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.

Despite the fact that each day they were fed by God as He dropped from heaven something they called Manna, and often God had supplied them with water to drink in this desert… these 1 million people were very much like almost all of the 7.7 Billion people alive today on earth… IMPATIENT!! Moses recorded it like this in Exodus 32: “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around 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 has happened to him.” (Ex. 32:1) Now to help us, think back 40 days to October 20th or so of this year. That seems like a long time ago doesn’t it, and oh my so much has happened in our world in the past 40 days!!

For the 1 million people at the mountain, 40 days was apparently too long to wait. They had been through a lot with Moses… the miraculous 10 plagues which delivered them from Egypt / the ‘water tunnel’ escape through the Red Sea / bitter water turned sweet at Marah when they were thirsty / quail enough to feed 1 million people / a daily bread delivery with the Manna / and now at Mount Sinai, the people had actually heard the voice of God speak His 10 Commandments to them. God had assured them that He loved them, and He would protect them and provide for them, and He would lead them to the Promised Land He had prepared for them. BUT. . .for almost 40 days Moses had been up on that mountain in the cloud. When Moses had begun this, his sixth hike, up that mountain, he had told the people he didn’t know how long he’d be gone, but he had left Aaron, his brother, and others in charge. So now 40 days, with no sign of Moses, resulted in IMPATIENCE. So, I have a question… can we blame these impatient people?

When was the last time you grew impatient? What do you do when things don’t move as fast as you want them to move? Now here’s the big question… have you grown impatient with GOD? What do you do when GOD doesn’t move as quickly as you’d like Him to? That’s exactly what was happening here in Exodus 32. The people were frustrated that Moses had been gone so long. How much longer should they wait for his return? Perhaps he died up there on that mountain, after all 40 days is a long time!! So the people went to Aaron, Moses’ brother, and asked for action. I notice they did not ASK Aaron what he thought they should do, nor did they ask for an explanation of what Aaron thought Moses was doing up there. No, it appears they had discussed this at length and the people had a plan. They simply asked Aaron to get to work and make them some gods which they could see, they could touch with their hands, and gods who would lead them. I invite you to look around your city, your country. Do you hear the same cry from nearly desperate people? Are people crying out for leaders they can trust, leaders who will lead them to prosperity and safety and a good life in the face of a relentless COVID global pandemic, economic inflation, climate change threats, and rampant civil lawlessness?

Now look closely at what Aaron did in this unique opportunity. Rather than giving the leadership the people NEEDED and pointing them to Almighty God and reminding them of all God had done for them and the covenant promise they had made with God only 40 days before. . . Aaron failed miserably by giving the people what they WANTED! The people NEEDED God honoring leadership to help them be the unique people God was calling them to be. But the people WANTED to be like the Egyptians! Aaron failed by being a people pleaser and giving the people what they asked for, and in so doing he led them AWAY from the God who was meeting with Moses on top of the mountain! The God who had provided breakfast for them that morning with the Manna delivery. The God who had spoken His commandments to them only 40 days before. Aaron led the people in doing exactly what God had forbidden them to do, exactly what they had promised they would never do. . . turn away from God by fabricating an idol! Now if you are a parent or grandparent, I ask us, how often do we fail in leadership by giving our kids and grandkids what they WANT rather than what they NEED? And how about the leadership of your city or country, are they failing miserably by giving people what they say they want, rather than what the people really need from their leaders?

The Exodus record explains it this way: “Aaron answered them, ‘Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing and bring them to me.’… Aaron took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf… Then they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:2-4) Now may I ask, what happens inside your heart when you hear this? Are you repulsed, are you angry, are you shaking your head in disbelief? 40 days! Look how quickly these impatient people rejected all God had done for them, turned away from trusting Him and appealed for a new leader to lead them away from God!! Sadly, it’s happening all around us in every city, every country.

Aaron had failed the people badly, but believe it or not he made it even worse! The record says: “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… Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and indulge in every kind of revelry.” (Exodus 32:5,6) It’s really more than I can imagine, how about you, my friends? Only once before had an altar been built and sacrifices made to the LORD, and that was 40 days before when Moses had done it. It’s recorded for us in Exodus 24 and on that occasion Almighty, Holy God and these people had entered into a covenant relationship!

But now, 40 days later, another altar is built but this time directly in front of this golden calf. And Aaron calls the people to worship, and Aaron even says they’ll worship the LORD, but they did so in honor of a man made golden calf… just as they had seen done in Egypt many times! And then they did what Egyptian worship invited them to do… have a party with much ‘revelry’. We don’t have to stretch our minds too far to imagine what that was like, we are surrounded by it all the time, especially as we draw near to New Years Eve!

I have to admit to you, I’ve often wondered why God didn’t simply strike Aaron down, stone cold dead, right there on the spot! Maybe the answer is in what Moses records that God said to him right at this time on the top of Mount Sinai: “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go down, because your people, whom you 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, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” (Ex. 32:7,8) Look at Moses. He is stunned. His eyes are wide open, his mouth has even dropped open. He cannot fathom what God has just said to him. How could it possibly be true? How could these people who have experienced so many great miracles with God even think for a moment about doing such a thing? Do you notice something important here? God is meeting with Moses in the cloud on Mount Sinai, but at the same time God is TOTALLY aware of ALL that is going on at the base of the mountain, even to the greatest detail! That’s important for us to remember! That’s called God’s Omniscience, He is fully aware of all things, at all times, in all places!

So let’s pause right here watching two antithetical things happening simultaneously. People dancing in revelry around a golden calf and worshiping it as their god; while Moses is meeting with Holy, Almighty God in the cloud of His Presence. That dramatic contrast is happening right now in your city and mine! But here’s the deeper question… is it happening in your HEART and mine today? Are we claiming to be God worshipers, God followers, but in reality following and worshiping other things which are drawing us away from God? Honestly now…what do you see in your heart, your family, your city, your country, my friends? Let’s just pause in quietness right now and reflect on that!!

Today’s Scripture is Exodus 32:1-8.

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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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