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Israel Worships a Golden Calf
201
It was Aaron, “the saint of the Lord” (
Psalm 106:16
), who had
made the idol and announced the feast. He had failed to stop the
idolaters in their heaven-defying plan. He was not stirred to action
by the proclamation before the molten image, “This is your god, O
Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt.” He had been with
Moses on the mountain and had seen the glory of the Lord there.
He was the one who had changed that glory into the image of an
ox. God had committed to him the government of the people in
Moses’ absence, but he had permitted rebellion. “The Lord was very
angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him” (
Deuteronomy
9:20
). But in answer to Moses’ intercession, his life was spared; he
repented for his great sin and was restored to the favor of God.
How Aaron Encouraged Rebellion
If Aaron had had courage to stand for the right, he could have
prevented the apostasy. If he had firmly maintained his own loyalty
to God and had reminded the people of their solemn covenant with
God, the evil would have been stopped. But his willingness to
cooperate with them emboldened the people to go to greater lengths
in sin than they had ever thought of before.
To justify himself, Aaron tried to make the people responsible
for his weakness in yielding to their demand; but despite this, they
were filled with admiration of his gentleness and patience. But
Aaron’s yielding spirit and desire to please had blinded his eyes to
the enormity of the crime he was permitting. His actions cost the life
of thousands. In contrast was the course of Moses. While faithfully
carrying out God’s judgments, he showed that the welfare of Israel
was more precious to him than prosperity, honor, or life.
God wants His servants to prove their loyalty by faithfully re-
buking transgression, however painful that act may be. Those who
are honored with a divine commission are not to exalt themselves or
shun disagreeable duties, but to perform God’s work with unswerv-
ing faithfulness.
If not quickly crushed, the rebellion that Aaron had permitted
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would escalate in wickedness and bring the nation to ruin. The evil
must be put away by terrible severity . Moses called to the people,
“Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come to me!” Those who had not