Browse Bible Study Resources

Daily Devotions

Exodus

Exodus 
Day 
Day 300

"They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat." Psalm 115:7

Text: Exodus 32 : 5

AN ATTEMPT TO SALVAGE A BAD SCENARIO?

The situation seemed to be getting out of hand more swiftly than Aaron anticipated. First, came the suggestion to “make gods” for Israel. Then came the declaration that the golden calf was the god who led Israel out of the Egypt! How could Aaron turn it around?

“So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it.
And Aaron made a proclamation and said,
‘Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.'”
EXODUS 32:5

1. “So when Aaron saw it”

It would appear that Aaron seemed to be a man who sought to read situations and then attempt to make appropriate responses. He saw the golden calf he made. He noted the ground swell reaction of the people and made an attempt to salvage the situation!

2. “He built an altar before it”

Would this have helped turn things around? Would anything help a situation that had gone out of control totally? Wouldn’t the setting up of an altar make things even more complicated?

3. “Proclamation- ‘Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD'”

What was Aaron seeking to do here? The situation had become very complex!

a) Reference to “The LORD”
Aaron had not totally set aside his faith in “the LORD”.
b) “A Feast to the LORD”
He desperately wanted the children of Israel to remember and worship the LORD. Thus he declared a special “feast” to be celebrated.
c) Mixing Calf-worship with the Worship of the LORD
Aaron knew that he could not stop the people from their idolatrous tendencies. But could he perhaps suggest to them that when they came to offer worship at the altar of the calf, they could remember the LORD?

A HOPELESS DESPERATE ATTEMPT

Aaron had totally misread the situation. He had allowed things to get out of hand! Whatever solutions he attempted were absolutely hopeless! He had failed to remember what God had expressly declared as the first two commandments.

“You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself a carved image…”
EXODUS 20:3-4