Exodus 32:21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”
Way back in Exodus 4, God was trying to convince Moses of His plan, but Moses, respectfully, kept saying, “Please send someone else.” In the end, Aaron became Moses’s emotional support human for God’s mission. Every time I get to Exodus 32 and see the mess that Aaron helped create, I think, “You know, Moses, if you had just done what God asked originally, you wouldn’t be in this mess. Aaron is here because of you.”
Exodus 32:22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil.
Of course, blame doesn’t get us anywhere. Aaron’s deflection (“Moses, you know how sinful these people are. Oh, and all I did was throw gold in the fire and “poof.” No clue how the idol got here.”) didn’t help the situation at all, either. Now we have a livid Moses, a sniveling Aaron, an angry God, and sinful, rebellious Israelites.
Exodus 32:23 They said to me, ‘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.’
Lord, Sometimes we just make a mess of things, just all the way around. Help us, when we find ourselves in that situation, to deal with the issues, to own up to our missteps, to make amends if possible. Help us to keep You at our center. Draw us closer. Amen.
Exodus 32:24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Have a blessed day.
If I’m completely honest, I make a mess often. Like Paul I do what I do not want to do (or at least wish I didn’t do) and I don’t do what I should do. I am so thankful for a forgiving, gracious and merciful God. I long for our children to rely on God, more fully -more completely – than I have been. I also think of Aron, Moses’ support human, and am reminded that I, too, want to journey this road with company. And I often complain when it’s a solo journey. I do so wish I could be content (actually – overjoyed)to journey in the company of the greatest travel companion I could ever have – Jesus. We are all a work in progress.