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Testimonies for the Church Volume 3
eternal things. Aaron did not see, any more than many Christian par-
ents now see, that his misplaced love and the indulgence of his children
in wrong was preparing them for the certain displeasure of God and for
His wrath to break forth upon them to their destruction. While Aaron
neglected to exercise his authority, the justice of God awakened against
them. Aaron had to learn that his gentle remonstrance, without a firm
exercise of parental restraint, and his imprudent tenderness toward his
sons were cruelty in the extreme. God took the work of justice into
His own hands and destroyed the sons of Aaron.
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When God called for Moses to come up into the mount, it was
six days before he was received into the cloud, into the immediate
presence of God. The top of the mountain was all aglow with the
glory of God. And yet even while the children of Israel had this glory
in their very sight, unbelief was so natural to them that they began
to murmur with discontent because Moses was absent. While the
glory of God signified His sacred presence upon the mountain, and
their leader was in close converse with God, they should have been
sanctifying themselves by close searching of heart, humiliation, and
godly fear. God had left Aaron and Hur to take the place of Moses. In
his absence the people were to consult and advise with these men of
God’s appointment.
Here Aaron’s deficiency as a leader or governor of Israel is seen.
The people beset him to make them gods to go before them into
Egypt. Here was an opportunity for Aaron to show his faith and
unwavering confidence in God, and with firmness and decision to
meet the proposition of the people. But his natural desire to please
and to yield to the people led him to sacrifice the honor of God. He
requested them to bring their ornaments to him, and he wrought out
for them a golden calf and proclaimed before the people: “These be
thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”
And to this senseless God he made an altar and proclaimed on the
morrow a feast to the Lord. All restraint seemed to be removed from
the people. They offered burnt offerings to the golden calf, and a spirit
of levity took possession of them. They indulged in shameful rioting
and drunkenness; they ate, they drank, and rose up to play.
A few weeks only had passed since they had made a solemn
covenant with God to obey His voice. They had listened to the words
of God’s law, spoken in awful grandeur from Sinai’s mount, amid