“Out Came This Calf” – Signed, Aaron

Sometimes sin takes us by surprise. We may get slammed out of no where with a temptation and we just fall right into Satan’s snare. But on other occasions – many occasions – we walk right into sin knowing the whole time it is wrong. The story of Aaron in Exodus 32 is an example of the latter type of “fall” into sin. 


The true story of Aaron fashioning a golden calf as an idol truly bum-fuzzles me. Think of everything Aaron had seen God do to this point: the 10 plagues in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the manna and quail falling from heaven, and the list could go on. However, when Moses was called up onto Mt. Sinai to receive the Law, Aaron let the “obstinate” children of Israel persuade him into making a god who would go before them. That statement is so incredibly ironic because Yahweh (I AM) was VISIBLY going before them with a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night! The people were tired of “waiting” on Moses to come down from the mountain and were ready for some full-on idol worship. 


Aaron gave into the peer pressure and told everyone to rip off their jewelry and give it to him so he could fashion a golden image. Exodus 32:4 says that Aaron actually took a tool and intentionally carved the golden calf and told the people that it was now their god. He even built an altar before it and proclaimed a feast. 


Notice that Aaron was intentional about this sin – he fashioned it (literally molded it) and he engraved it with a tool. Now folks, that is willful sin if I have ever seen it. God told Moses to get down off the mountain because the people had “corrupted” themselves and he needed to go get a handle on the situation. Now get the picture – down the mountain comes Moses, stone tablets in hand. He had just witnessed the very finger of God write “You shall have no other gods before me” and “You shall not make for yourself an idol”. They had broken the first two commandments! Here is the thing – they knew it was wrong based on principle and on their past experiences with God. God had called out their fore-father, Abraham, from an idol infested culture. 


I just love imagining Moses’ face as he gets closer and closer to Aaron. I am sure he looked like a locomotive heading straight for him. Then Moses comes upon the scene – dancing, worshiping the golden calf, singing – and boom – down come the stone tablets! Aaron’s eyes must have been as big as saucers. He quickly whipped up a story, telling Moses that the people were so prone to evil that he had to appease them by making something for them to worship. But Aaron tells a big ole lie at this point. Exodus 32:24 says, “So they gave it [the gold] to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” Bologna! We know that Aaron intentionally molded and carved the thing. He didn’t fall into that sin on accident as his response to Moses seems to indicate. 


So how does this Old Testament story relate to us. Many times our so called “fall” into sin is as intentional as Aaron’s engraving the golden calf. We know when we are doing wrong and still choose to do it. The Devil gets blamed a lot for the bad decisions we make on our very own! Here is the good news though. Just as Moses was interceding with God the whole time he was coming down the mountain, begging God to spare the lives of the children of Israel, we have an intercessor at the right hand of God. Romans 5:8 tells us that “while we were yet sinners”, Christ died for us. 


Now Moses had a big “Come to Jesus” meeting with everyone that very day. He forced them to choose whom they would serve. The first tribe that came to his side was the tribe of Levi – Aaron’s very own people. Because Aaron and his people were quick to repent, God used them in tremendous ways. They became the chosen priesthood who would conduct the Day of Atonement each year and maintain the tabernacle (and later the temple). Just because you have “fallen” into sin does not mean that God can never use you again. You do have to have a tender heart and repent immediately when you are convicted by the Holy Spirit. God can use every experience in your life for His glory, but you have to make a choice to serve Him completely.