Last time, we saw how the Israelites disastrous decisions were truly their “great sin” as they took God’s goodness for granted. We may wonder how after all they had seen God do for them, they decided to build and worship a golden calf and engage in debauchery to celebrate their decision. We may even think, we would never do the same, but haven’t we, too, taken God’s goodness for granted at some point in our lives? Let’s take a minute to explore how they got there and avoid the same disastrous decision making in our own lives.
In Exodus 32:1, we read, “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.” The Israelites were impatient. Moses was on Mt. Sinai getting instructions from God on how to lead the Nation of Israel into blessing and they thought it was taking too long. God wasn’t moving as fast as they wanted as we all know impatience always leads to impulsive actions which get us into trouble. God wanted them to trust Him until He moved – the same way He wants us to trust Him until He moves.
Next in Exodus 32:2, we read, “Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” What? Instead of shutting down the Israelites foolishness, Aaron signs off on it! Aaron had been with Moses every step of the way. He and his sons had been consecrated as high priests, and they were supposed to help the people keep their eyes on God. He should have said no, after all his job as leader was to hold the Israelites accountable to the will of God. It was an example of ignorant leadership that we do not want to follow. As leaders, whether at home, church, school, work, or anywhere else, we are to stan up for what is right and not worry about what people will think of us if we do. Leadership is about standing up and doing the right thing no matter what!
The disastrous decision they made that day was idolatry pure and simple. They made an idol to worship the things God had blessed them with, not God. Make no mistake making an idol out of things God has blessed us with is always a disastrous decision which insults God. They even declared it was their golden possessions which brought them out of Egypt conveniently forgetting all God had done to free them and failing to give Him the glory and honor He deserved. May we throw off our own impatience and not make disastrous decisions as we trust God and wait for God to act on our behalf and bring glory to His Name.