Making False Gods
Exodus 32:1 — When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, ‘Up, make us gods who shall go before us. 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.”
When God granted the Israelites freedom from slavery in Egypt, it didn’t take long for them to put themselves back in bondage to their former worldly ways. When Moses made one of his many trips up to the top of Mount Sinai to receive instruction and guidance from God, the Israelites decided they didn’t want to do things on God’s timeline or do things His way.
It’s pretty breathtaking that just a short time (likely 3-4 months) after they’d been exposed to God’s mighty power through many miracles they were still unconvinced that they should fully buy into the path He was laying out before them. Nevertheless, they melted down all the gold jewelry that they had gotten from Egypt and crafted their very own god to worship.
By far the most appalling part of the entire story occurs in v.4, “And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” It’s not just that they were already breaking God’s command to “Have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3), it’s that they were giving the praise and glory for their newfound freedom to a worthless chunk of metal instead of the One who was truly responsible.
How often are we just like the Israelites? How often do we witness God’s awesome power and care for us only to quickly turn on Him and shower our praise, adoration, and attention onto lesser, worthless things. How often do we fashion false gods in our hearts, just like Aaron fashioned a false god with his hands and bow down at their altar, leaving our Father and Savior betrayed and scorned?
Chapter 32 ends with the Lord sending plagues on His own people and “visiting their sin upon them” (Exodus 32:35). Let this serve as a reminder that sin and idolatry always has a consequence. As the Israelites learned time and time again, you will never turn your back on God without paying a great cost.
