Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.”
~Exodus 32:1
The events of the Israeli Exodus are amazing. The Lord rescues them out of slavery in Egypt through inflicting plague after plague on their captors. Then, after completely pillaging their neighbors’ gold, clothes, etc., these millions of men, women, and children get to waltz right out of the country toward the Promised Land. Then, there’s the whole walking-through-the-sea-on-dry-land thing. And the miraculous daily bread and water from a rock. Did I mention the very presence of God leading them? But then…Moses goes up the mountain to meet with God. The Israelites even saw the glory of Lord on the mountain top as Moses went up.
Oh, those silly Israelites. It didn’t take them very long at all to forget and freak out. Despite everything they’d seen and experienced, they decided to turn to a worldly “god” to take over their trek. In fact, Moses’ brother, Aaron, (who he’d left in charge) took the lead in the idol-making, idol worship, and plain old debauchery. He had all the people bring their gold, he melted it, then he made a calf for them to sacrifice to and worship. Like little kids whose parents leave the room for a few minutes, they figured they knew best…they’d do things their way. It’s a fascinating read, chapter 24, with all the features of a Netflix drama. My favorite part is when Aaron claims innocence by saying that after the people gave him their gold, he simply threw it in the fire—“The calf just kinda popped out, Moses, I swear!” (Insert eye roll here.)
And honestly, much of the desert journey is like this. God’s people—again, despite being led by a pillar of smoke by day and fire by night, as well as having never-ending food from heaven and clothes that don’t wear out—gripe and complain. They look back with longing for the “delicious food” in Egypt…while putting on blinders to, I don’t know, that whole slavery thing. They literally are walking miracles, yet they pine for the used-to-be. The golden calf is a vivid example of their panic-turned-doubt. Instead of standing firm on God’s faithfulness, they turned to what the world had to offer.
Feeling the ouch yet? If you are a Christian, the scenario above can seem all too familiar. Upon surrendering to Jesus as Lord and Savior, we are freed from the slavery to sin. We are given the Bread of Life (and the daily bread of God’s Word), as well as Living Water. We have the very presence of God in us. We are literally walking miracles: we once were dead, and now we’re alive in Christ. Oh, but we get so silly…
We’ve experienced the miracle of new life in ourselves and others, we witness the glory of the Lord through answered prayers, healed bodies, changed lives. But then, like Moses’ absence from the people, we suddenly feel abandoned and alone. We ask ourselves, “Where’s God?” The doubts and questions flood in—and we panic. So, we build a proverbial golden calf…we “go back” to our old way of living, our familiar sin that feels so good (at least, we tell ourselves that when viewing them through rose-colored shades). We don’t recall that those things (our idols, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life—1 John 2:15-17) only lead to destruction and death.
Friend, your very life and mine are a miracle. We must stand firm on God’s faithfulness—He is ever-faithful. Nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:31-37). Even if we “feel” otherwise, know that the Lord is always with us and will never leave or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). Let’s take a lesson from the Israelites and not follow their lead. Let’s trust in God…and stop making calves.
Father God, You are faithful—even when I’m faithless. Help me stand firm on the Truth of who You are…and who I am in You.
encouraged by grace 