Impact Week Four

Review

Last week we looked into the lives of Jesus, Lazarus, and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. Lazarus was extremely sick and on the verge of death when word reached Jesus of his situation. But Jesus waited a few more days before going to Bethel, where Lazarus lived. It wasn’t until after his death that Jesus arrived to a town full of mourners and a couple of distraught sisters. It didn’t make sense to them why Jesus waited, because they knew he could have healed Lazarus if he had come sooner. But Jesus brought many to believe in himself by raising Lazarus from the dead. The trials we go through in life often times don’t make sense, but remember that God has a greater purpose than what you can see with your physical eyes.

Background

Let’s go back to a time when the Law is being established for the first time, the time of Moses and Aaron. Now God has long since appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and freed the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. He’s provided manna and quail for the people to eat, and water from a rock to drink in the wilderness. God has clearly shown His love and provision for His people.

God has called Moses to be up on the mountain to be with Him for forty (40) days. There’s a cloud of what appears to be fire surrounding the mountain so that Moses can be there in God’s presence. God is pretty particular about who can see him, and so far, Moses is the only one who lived after seeing him for scant seconds.

While Moses is on the mountain with God, he’s left Aaron to look after the people of Israel. At this point, Moses has been gone for quite some time, and the people have grown tired of waiting and assume he’s gone off the deep end and wasn’t coming up for air.

Reading: Exodus 32:1-25

End

Verse seven (7) makes me laugh. “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.” I can remember my dad referring to me as my mother’s son when I had done something wrong. “Marie, your son has broken the window again.” My mom did the same thing. Do something wrong, and you’re automatically the other parent’s offspring, not theirs. It’s like Moses is the parent of the receiving end of that sort of conversation. Amusing to me, probably not to Moses, and certainly not to God at the time.

The seriousness of the sin committed here however, is not amusing in the least. God had and has made it clear that he is a jealous God, and will not allow anything to take His place, including a god made in His image. It’s not okay to bow down before a cross, a statue or a picture, representing Him or any other god. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong to have those things around to admire, just don’t worship them.

In our lives, anything that takes priority over God is an idol. That could be a girlfriend, a computer, a TV, video games or any number of things. You’ve essentially said, “This is more important to me right now, and I love it more than God, so I am going to spend my time with her or doing this activity.” Again, it’s not wrong to have those things around, but if they consume your heart and time, and you find yourself prioritizing your day around them, something’s wrong.

Now the people of Israel have approached Aaron and asked for an idol to worship. And in a way, I feel for the people. Moses has been gone for weeks to talk to a God they can’t really connect with on a personal basis. And all the other tribes of people are poking fun at them because Israel’s God isn’t even in physical form. They’re looking for something tangible just like the pagans. On the other hand, they’ve seen God’s provision and protection, and they’ve been miraculously delivered out of the hands of Pharaoh and the land of the suffering. And they know full well what God commanded of them through Moses. One, “You shall have no other gods before me”, and two “You shall not make for yourself an idol…”

Aaron was left in charge of the people, and he doesn’t refuse, doesn’t even suggest it would be wrong. He goes right along with people, either because of pressure or because he wanted what they wanted just as much as they did. Regardless, he’s just as much to blame for the sin as the rest of them. Yet he had no problem placing the blame on the people. “You know how prone these people are to evil,” he had said.

It’s bad enough that Israel sinned as a people. But it’s even worse that Aaron tried to make it look like he was innocent. If you and your sibling are caught doing something that’s obviously wrong, don’t blame the idea on them. Take your punishment like a man. When you’re exposed for your sin, own up to it, don’t pass the blame.