Old Testament: Exo 32.21–24

To read the Bible in a year, read Exodus 31–33 on February 3, In the year of our Lord Christ 2022

By Don Ruhl 

While Moses met with God at the top of Mount Sinai for 40 days straight, the people of Israel became impatient and decided that they wanted something. They wanted Aaron to make them gods to lead them to their new home. 

After Moses discovered the golden calf that Aaron had made, and destroyed it, listen to the brief conversation that Moses and Aaron had: 

And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”

– Exodus 32.21–24 

Moses had a great question for his older brother, but Aaron had a terrible answer for his younger brother. 

What was Aaron thinking? Did he truly believe that his brother would accept the story that a calf just came out of the fire automatically? Perhaps he thought that since they had witnessed amazing things by the hand of God in Egypt that Moses would believe such a story. 

Aaron had the whole nation urging him to do this, and he gave in. If we are in the right, we should not be arrogant about it, but stay with it and we will do better in the end. 

Questions: 

• Have you given in to pressure before? 
• What did you learn from the incident? 

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