I have been reflecting on last night's devotional passage, quoted below. I must set the stage for you, though. To understand the depth of depravity in Israel, you must know the context. The passage of the golden calf happens 40 days after Israel has entered into a covenant with the Most Holy God, to be His people. When this happens, Mt. Sinai is roaring with fire and quaking, shaking and smoking with the Glory of God.
And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said "Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words." Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under His feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And He did not lay His hand on the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.--Exodus 24:8-11 (emphasis added)
To clarify, humans don’t get to see God. Elsewhere in scripture, seeing God causes great fear and despair. But these men, including Aaron, dined while beholding God. Peak experience there.
After this, Moses and Joshua went up the mountain to receive the law from the Lord, written by His very Fingers. It is after a period of 40 days when the people decide they want different gods. This is just the beginning for the stiff-necked and rebellious people, who over thousands of years will repeat this same mistake.
[1] 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.--Exodus 32:1-7 (emphasis added)
It's shocking and surprising, since this Holy God is still causing Mt. Sinai to tremble with His Presence. Does it scare you or prick you to see Aaron, whom God chose specifically to carry on the high priestly bloodline--a high calling to be sure--easily cave to pressure and practically volunteer to make this new god, this golden calf, from all the people's jewelry? It scares me as I read it, especially when I read about him making a proclamation and feast to the Lord the next day, right after hammering and fashioning the gold calf for them. In the law that Moses was bringing down, feast days were very sacred and had to be observed within very specific times designated by God. But declaring a feast day after making an idol, that’s pretty gutsy. And that probably took quite a while, those actions were so deliberate, melting and hammering. I wonder if he trembled when he uttered the proclamation. He should have. But I see myself in him and his easy compromise with sin, either out of public pressure or even for personal enjoyment. The proclamation makes me believe it's more of the latter.
And Moses comes down, thousands die for their idolatry, and all Aaron has to say is, "These people made me do it. I threw in the gold and the calf came out!"
Don't we do that? When covering sin, we say "This person made me angry, so I didn't even think. It just happened." Or, "I took one drink, and then I don't remember what else I did. That really wasn't me." Or, “Just one more cookies or five, it’s really not a big deal right?” Except it was and is. It was a choice made to sin, many times a choice I made my very self. And just like Aaron, I too have seen great wonders, and even so, I am quick to go back to sin. And in doing so, I lead others into sin that may lead to their death.
Aaron didn't die. God was gracious to him. But thousands of others DID die because he refused to stand up against evil. Do I want to lead people to their death? Or do I want to be holy, maybe at the cost of my life, but surely at the cost of my comfort? Most days, I pretend as if my sin is like spilled milk, but it's much more than that. Sin leads to death. My sin leads to pain and hurt in others, and maybe even their death. It's very sobering.
What golden calves are we putting before God? In what ways are we leading others into death? Politics? Entertainment? Addiction? Wrath and anger? Gossip? Comfort? Sex? Greed? Gluttony? What are we running back to instead of running forward to God? What do we minimize to placate ourselves? On this Palm Sunday, I remember my sin is serious. My sin put my King to death. It hurts to say, doesn't it?
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