In the Meantime…

A careful reading of Exodus 32, wherein the story of the golden calf can be found, reveals several important truths impacting our personal lives in 21st century America.

• Wait on God’s timing. When Moses lingered on Mount Sinai for 40 days, the Israelites, encamped at the mountain’s base, grew restless. They wondered what would become of them if Moses never returned. Because of their impatience, fear, confusion, and lack of trust in God or Moses, they rashly acted on those doubts and almost sidetracked God’s plan for their lives. How many times have I earnestly prayed for something that did not materialize in the way and timeframe I preferred and allowed subtle doubts to dictate my actions? Beware of these thoughts because they can lead to our taking things into our own hands and moving away from God’s best. In this moment, pray with me for increased faith in God’s plan and timing. Trust the One who knows our hearts and our needs so much better than we. While the Israelites grumbled at the mountain’s base, God shared plans with Moses on the mountain’s peak for a tabernacle that would reassure them of God’s presence throughout their wilderness journey.

• Use your resources and gifts for the building up of God’s kingdom. When the people realized Moses wasn’t coming back right away, they requested that Aaron make idols for them. They gathered their gold jewelry and from these items, Aaron fashioned a golden calf for them to incorporate into their worship. Yet, God had other plans for those articles of gold jewelry. God intended that they be used in the building of a tabernacle. The Israelites wasted precious resources on something that could never help them and thereby risked missing out on God’s Presence in their midst. Pray with me that we spend our time, talents, and money on things that bring about God’s greater good and glory.

• Reach for God’s future. The Israelites’ rebellion to God and reversion to idolatry stemmed, in part, from a keen desire to return to the past. They remembered how good it had been in Egypt, a land of plentiful food and water where life seemed more predictable. Of course, you and I know that they had conveniently forgotten about the slavery and abuse they had suffered there as well as the victories God had provided since they left. Memories from the past can provide comfort but God does not want us to live there because He has brought us to this present situation and has in mind a wonderful future. When we long so for the past, sometimes we cannot grasp what God is doing in the here and now nor appreciate His gifts and kindnesses to us. I have sat in church leadership meetings where people gathered around a conference table and mourned about the glorious past with overflowing pews and countless children and youth. As followers of Jesus, we need to fully engage in the present for Him. We simply aren’t available for God’s use if our minds and our hearts are stuck somewhere else.

• Use your influence wisely. When Moses left to climb the mountain and converse with God, he placed Aaron and Hur in charge of the Israelites. Now, Aaron had accompanied Moses during his confrontations with Pharaoh. He had witnessed the plagues God had brought upon them, and God’s intervention at the Red Sea and the battle with the Amalekites. He, too, had experienced God’s timely provision of quail, manna, and water. So, how could this leader have given in to the people’s request for an idol and even helped them make this golden calf, especially after hearing God’s own voice speak the Ten Commandments in one of the most powerful displays of theophany ever recorded? Perhaps, he thought this would provide comfort and control the people, giving them something to do until Moses finally returned. Maybe so many people bent on a course of action frightened and overwhelmed him and he felt powerless to deny their request. I suspect that they had all fallen back into something they had done together in Egypt many times before Moses’ arrival and the familiar pattern felt comforting. Aaron’s faith in Yahweh may not have matured and he could have struggled with the pull of idols from his past just as did the Israelites. I have read that the average person influences 10,000 people during his or her life. Imagine that! You and I may be much more powerful than we think. Aaron could have intervened and led them away from this blatant disregard for the first three commandments God had just spoken, but, for whatever reason, he did not. Pray with me that each of us uses our influence wisely for the building up of God’s kingdom. May we consistently bring our lives before God, seeking a deeper relationship with Him so that our character and our actions draw others to Him.

• Worship God alone. The Israelites did not abandon the worship of God, but, rather, they chose to combine it with other elements. Their actions clearly broke the first three commandments that God had just revealed to them and they had agreed to obey—no other god, no idols, and not taking God’s name lightly. Why did they make a calf? In Egypt, cattle symbolized strength and fertility. Throughout ancient civilizations, people considered cattle a sign of prosperity because they served as work animals and provided food. For the Israelites, it may have reminded them of their shepherding days and Egyptian culture where a bull named Apis was sacred to god Ptah and often used to represent him. In addition, nearby Canaanites used bulls to represent various gods, particularly a storm god. They had created a god that they believed would give them what they most desired, a god they could control. How could they do this in light of their recent promise to Yahweh? Lest we mock these ancient people for worshipping an inanimate calf made of precious metal, let us consider our own sins. We may not literally own a carved statue, but we certainly do pin our hopes on lesser things—political parties, leaders, relationships, wealth, fame, power, work, church, material goods, health–to name a few. Anything or anyone we give first place in our hearts other than God can potentially evolve to idolatry. We become obsessed, we believe it will bring us fulfillment, and we are always disappointed because only God can truly satisfy us. In this moment, confess with me any idolatry in our own hearts. Ask God to help us truly desire and seek Him first with our whole hearts, to worship Jesus alone, His final word and revelation to us.

• Pray for others. In the midst of Moses’ conversation with God atop the mountain, God revealed that the Israelites partied and worshiped an idol at the mountain’s bottom. God angrily declared His desire to destroy these people and work through Moses and his family to achieve His plan. Yet, Moses had a close relationship with God and understood that God really loved these Israelites and desired to show them mercy. So, Moses interceded on behalf of the Israelites by thanking and praising God for His great works so far and suggesting that peoples in other countries particularly the Egyptians would question God’s love for His people if He wiped them out. In addition, God had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would make a great people of them and this ever-faithful God kept His promises. So, God decided to show mercy and continued to lead these wayward people. Moses, being human, had limited knowledge of God’s will and merely represented the Israelites before God and God to the Israelites for a limited time in history yet he foreshadowed our Savior and Lord. Today, you and I have Jesus Christ, the perfect mediator for all time and all people. Being one with God, He knows God’s will perfectly. Having lived here on earth as a human being, He intimately understands and relates to our pain. He forever and perfectly intercedes for you and for me before the throne of God. This leads me to the most vital thing we can ever do for others—pray to Jesus on their behalf. This involves more than simply asking Jesus to bless someone or even requesting help for their physical needs and healing. An examination of Moses’ role in this story and how Jesus Himself prayed for His followers reveals a deeper pattern for our prayers. We need to pray that they find Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and that this relationship deepens. We need to pray that they discover, develop, and use their spiritual gifts in God-led ministries. We need to pray for their spiritual growth, that they not give in to temptation, that they have discernment, wisdom, and unity with other believers. What a price Jesus paid so that we can have this opportunity to be in relationship with Him and to bring our own needs and those of others before Him. Pray with me that we do not waste or neglect so precious a gift!