In our last episode, at the same time God is telling Moses to build a place for Him to dwell with His people and outlining holy uses for the gold they fled with from Egypt; at the same time God is outlining the commandments to not have any other gods or make any idols….and at the same time He is calling out a holy priesthood and outlining festivals to honor Him…the people ran amuck.
The people wanted a god they could see…they wanted something to worship. So Aaron, the man God just earmarked to be the first in the lineage of priests created an golden calf. The gold to use the very things God wanted to use to create holy things was used to create something unholy. When the people saw it, they did what they said they would never do, and worshipped a god other than Yahweh, and then their own festival to commemorate the occasion.
God saw the whole thing and burned with anger, but Moses interceded for them and argued for God to remember His faithfulness. Then, Moses went down to confront the people and gets so mad he throws down the stone tables! The consequence of Israel’s sin was 3,000 people dead by the sword and a plague. Let’s see what happens next in Exodus 33.
Reflection Questions:
- Recap the story in your own words
- What stood out to you today? Did anything surprise you?
- How does this story point us to Jesus?