Who is First?

Today we are going to tackle one of the most infamous stories in the Old Testament. We have come to Exodus 32, where the people of Israel build their golden calf. To understand all that is going on in this chapter, we must remember all that has gone on previously. The nation of Israel has come to Mt. Sinai. We learned in Exodus 20:19 that the people did not want to hear from God directly, they only wanted to hear from Moses. They have put Moses in a position that God never intended, as the sole messenger for God.

Moses has gone up the mountain for a second time to receive more detailed instructions from God. In his 40 day absence, the people became concerned that their leader would not return. Read Exodus 32:1:

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gather 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.”

I can’t help but wonder if the people’s fickle response was because they did not know how to approach God directly themselves. You see, if the people had learned to hear from God and had come to know His voice, they wouldn’t have so quickly gone astray. But when their leader, their own personal representative of God, disappeared from their lives they did not know where to turn.

We all face the danger of going astray when we put any person in the place of God in our lives. Hopefully, you have had spiritual mentors along your path that have guided you along the way; people that have come along side you and taught you the ways of God; people who have been wonderful examples of God working in and through their lives. Other people can make a powerful impact on our spiritual journey. However, we should never let a relationship with a person take the place of hearing from and speaking directly to God.

As we read on in Exodus 32, we see that Aaron, Moses’ brother, instructs the people to provide jewelry to make a golden calf. He made the calf, set up an altar to it, and they held a festival to worship their newly fashioned god.

Meanwhile, on the top of the mountain, God interrupts his conversation with Moses and says the following in Exodus 32:7-8:

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 cost in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down and sacrificed to it and have said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

Can you imagine Moses’ reaction to this? God continues to tell Moses that he will wipe these people from the face of the earth, and that he will start all over again with Moses and his family. Somehow, Moses has the wherewithal to plead with God to stay his wrath and to turn from his anger. Moses starts down the mountain with the stone tablets inscribed by the very hand of God. Verse 19 explains Moses reaction when he first saw the people:

When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tables out of his hands, breaking them in pieces at the foot of the mountain.

Reading on, we see that Moses asks Aaron how he could have led the people into such sin. Aaron gives a dishonest explanation in verses 22 – 24:

“Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, ‘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.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

These verses should remind us to never underestimate the power of a leader. Leaders have the power to move people in the right direction or to move them in the wrong direction. We see here that as a weak leader, Aaron gave way to the people’s fears, to their desires, and to their pleadings. He allowed them to sin against God; he provided the pathway for people to do wrong. He paved the low road. Had Aaron stood firm, this story could have ended very differently. If you are in a position of leadership, never forgot that your decisions have both positive and negative impacts that you may not be able to see in the moment.

Moses instructs the priests to kill three thousand men in their camp that day. Why 3,000? Why that way? I do not have the answer, other than sin has disastrous consequences. Moses pleaded to the Lord to forgive the people for all that they had done. The people had broken the very commandment that was most dear to the heart God:

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (Exodus 20:4)

Thought Questions

1. Have you ever put someone else in your life in the place that should belong to God? What happened when you realized that person was not all you thought them to be?
2. Have there been mentors, teachers, or leaders in your life who have helped you along the way? Make it a point to acknowledge those people in your life.
3. Has there ever been a time when you, like Aaron, gave in to the desires of those around you even though you knew it was wrong? What can you do to prevent this from happening again?
4. Do you have a position of leadership in your life? What changes do you need to make to be a better leader? What positive things do you contribute to the environment around you?

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