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Daily Devotions

Exodus

Exodus 
Day 
Day 310

"Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end." Psalm 119:33

Text: Exodus 32 : 21-24

HOLDING AARON ACCOUNTABLE

No one dared to stop Moses from destroying the golden calf. The revelers crept away fearing the wrath of this mighty servant of God! As the crowds slinked away, and an unearthly silence began to hang over the Israel, Moses turned to Aaron and demanded an explanation.

“What did this people do to you that you have brought
so great a sin upon them?”
EXODUS 32:21

A LAME EXCUSE

Confronted by Moses the man of God, and not Moses, his younger brother, Aaron bleated a sorry excuse to explain how the gold calf was created.

“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 32:22-24

1. “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot”

Aaron began well! He recognized Moses’ rank and authority! He acknowledged Moses as “lord”. He spoke with appropriate humility to Moses!

2. “You know the people, that they are set on evil”

Aaron began to shift the blame onto the children of Israel! It was their evilness that forced him to obey them! Blameshifting was totally unworthy of Aaron the high priest designate!

3. “I cast it into the fire and this calf came out”

This statement may be understood in two ways:-

a) A very literal meaning
At first reading it would appear that Aaron was suggesting that the golden calf appeared out of nowhere! Was Aaron so lost for words that he came up with such a lame excuse?
b) A form of colloquial speech
This way of speaking minimizes the effort put in by Aaron to make the golden calf. The focus is on the golden calf that was created! The idea was to suggest that it was inevitable that the golden calf would result! Aaron was not wholly responsible!