Exodus 32:1 Now when the people saw that
Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to
Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for 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.”
We enter the journey thru the wilderness at
the point where Moses has gone up the mountain at the command of the Lord to
receive Divine Instruction to deliver to the Children of Israel. It seemed that Moses had been gone for a
length of time and their faith began to wane.
It had been just a short time before that they had witnessed the miracle
of deliverance from Egypt. God had
parted the Red Sea, drowned the enemy, given them a Pillar of Cloud by day and
a Pillar of Fire by night to lead them, gave them sweet water at Marah, and
rained Manna from Heaven to feed them.
What had brought them from victory to doubt in such a short time?
Why would they so willingly trade the Glory on the Mountain for a Golden Calf?
The first clue may be the last line of verse 1, “for 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.” Mistake #1, the Children of Israel forgot WHO brought them out of Egypt; they had put their faith in the MAN, God had anointed to lead them instead of the GOD who had delivered them.
What led them to put their faith in Moses rather than God? To find the answer, we will backtrack to Exodus 20. Through Moses, God had commanded all the Children of Israel, to wash their clothes and consecrate themselves to prepare for the presence of the Lord. They drew near the mountain as Moses ascended to commune with God but fear consumed them and we read this...
Exodus
20:18-19 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes,
the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.
19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear;
but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”
FEAR consumed them and they willingly traded the GLORY ON THE MOUNTAIN!
What were they afraid of? What had occurred in their minds and heart from Exodus 24:7, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient” to Exodus 32:1, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us.”
Surely it wasn’t fear of the God who had delivered them, the God who had made provision in their time of need, the God who had fought for them and destroyed their enemy; what were they afraid of?
Perhaps, it was a fear of the Holiness of God and not measuring up to His standard. Maybe it was the fear of a loss of their own will that would result from total commitment? Or, could it have been a “fear of the unknown?”
Whatever personal fears consumed the Children of Israel, it brought them to Exodus 32 and pleading with Aaron to give them a GOLDEN CALF instead of the GLORY ON THE MOUNTAIN.
The story continues in "TRADING THE GLORY ON THE MOUNTAIN FOR A GOLDEN CALF-PART 2"
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