Exodus 32:1 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 question “What is taking so long?” swirls all around Aaron and the Israelites in today’s verses. I get it. Moses has been gone for 40 days. There’s smoke enveloping the top of the mountain. For all they know, Moses has been consumed by a raging fire.
Exodus 32:2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.”
But their response, “make us gods who will go before us” (v1), is a little baffling, at least at first blush. But when I think about it, I have a hard time waiting, too. And often, when I have been waiting a long time, my mind turns to “What can *I* do to hurry things along?” Sadly, I guess I understand the Israelites better than I’d like to admit.
Exodus 32:3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.
Precious Savior, Waiting is hard, but sometimes that is what You call us to do. Forgive me when I go astray while waiting. Help me to focus on You–Your love, Your sovereignty–and to trust as I wait in joyful hope (Rom 12:12) for You to act. Help me, Jesus. Amen.
Exodus 32:4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
Have a blessed day.