Exodus 32:1-6 – Stay true to God no matter what

In the concluding verse of Exodus 31 we are told that when God had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him “two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.” He had been on the mountain for a while now receiving instruction on the building of the Tabernacle and the instruction on worship.  Meanwhile, the people back in the camp left to the charge of Aaron had grown impatient and out of hand. Soon they were entertaining needless thoughts and doubts. Then they began to murmur and complain. They came to Aaron and demanded that he made a new god. Foolishly and obediently Aaron did. He made them a god, one that he knew from his time in Egypt. He made them a calf from the gold he told them to take from their wives and children. He made for them a graven image that he had “fashioned “…with a graving tool.” When he brought the molten calf that he had fashioned to them, they even had the audacity to say, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” When Aron saw that he thoughtlessly built them an altar for their god and called for a celebration. By the next day, the whole camp went into a religious frenzy and degenerated into a wanton ravelling in the pagan depravity. How disgustingly stupid and disrespectful could they be! They had gone from honouring the Almighty God to venerating the image of a silly handmade unholy cow.    

 

Earlier in Exodus 20:1-17, God revealed his law to Moses and in Exodus 24:3 we are told that he came and told the people all the Lord’s words and law. So, it was not a case of ignorance. It was a case of willful disobedience. They not only broke the call not to worship any gods but also the second command not to make for themselves any graven image. Aaron had twisted the very word of God given in Exodus 20:2. God said, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Here in verse 4, as Aaron handed them the molten calf, they contorted God’s word and said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” They were subtly telling God that they would not obey Him. Sin always starts with disobedience. This was how it began with Adam and down through the corridor of time, disobedience had always been the first sign of sin.  

 

Not only is sin evident in disobedience, but it also demonstrates itself in distrust. This was clearly demonstrated in verse 1. “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” They were impatient and unwilling to wait for the instruction of God on worship. They wanted it now and they wanted it their own way. God had promised to take them into the promised land but they refused to wait for His leading. They wanted it straight away. Sin is distrust.

 

Sin is also seen in how we insist on doing things our own way. The key element of trust in God is always about waiting for things in His timing and His way. Not only are people often impatient with God, but they are also insistent on having it their own way. They want to pander to their own will.  Sin, like a spoilt child, makes us demand to have what we want and we want it instantly. It has no patience to wait on God’s timing. In these verses, we can see that sin is also abusing one’s resources and talents. They took the gold they were given, and Aaron abused the talent that he was endowed with and crafted a golden calf. These two fits of abuse show how sin can cause us to misuse our God-given gifts and talents.   

 

What we see in the mistake of the Israelites are lessons for us. We must never take God for granted. We must always choose to honour only Him. Let us live a life of obedience and a life of trust. He tells us that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts, our thoughts. Let us learn to wait for His timing and His ways. He only has the very best for us!