Remember Aaron? The guy that was Moses’ mouthpiece, who spoke to God alongside Moses several times? The guy who held up Moses’ arms at the battle against the Amalekites? The guy who was God’s chosen priest alongside his sons for generations to come? Remember that guy?

Yea, that guy made an idol and called it god.

In Exodus 32, we read how Aaron gives instructions and fashions the golden calf at the request of the anxious Israelites with an graving tool, with his own two hands. Worse still, he confuses the worship of the bull with the LORD. As the people cry in verse 4 “These are our gods who brought us out of Egypt”, Aaron says that a feast will be dedicated to the LORD, in other words, he had blended the gods and God together!

The first two of the ten commandments in Exodus 20 (You shall have no gods before me; you shall not bow down to idols made in the likeness of worldly things), make it clear in no uncertain terms, the absolute zeal and passion with which the LORD, YHWH, guards His worship as unto Him alone. You would think that with such clear instructions of how God wants Himself to be worshipped, that Exodus 32 wouldn’t happen, and yet it did. And don’t let the Israelites off the hook for not knowing what they should have done – in Exodus 24, it is recorded: “When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”

Aaron is further revealed to be a coward, who refuses to face up to his mistakes as a leader and God’s priest. He pushes the blame to the people of Israel instead. When confronted by Moses, God’s chosen priest replies, “Moses, you know how prone these people (the Israelites) are to evil. So I just threw gold jewelry into the fire, and lo and behold! A golden bull came out of the fire!”

Do we hear how ridiculous Aaron sounds? Did he not just fashion the bull with his own hands? How could he possibly lie so blatantly to his brother and not own up to his mistakes? How could he turn his back to the God who has been so mighty and faithful to him?

We’re tempted to get angry, but does the below phrase sound familiar though?

“God, this week at work/school I too tired ah, devotions this week/prayer time/Bible reading/Sunday worship/Fellowship Group I think I cannot. You understand la hor? Not my fault, boss/teacher a bit xiao.” Or worse still – does the thought of speaking to God like this not cross our minds at all?

Friends, how often do we give excuses just like Aaron? How often do we willingly turn aside from what we know is the right path? How often do we push the blame off our own hearts and give excuses for why we don’t follow God rightly?

And yet, beloved brothers and sisters, don’t be ashamed of your failures. In this life, none of us, from the greatest leaders to the newest of Christians, have the capability to love God with all our hearts. But what matters is our response. Don’t back away and give excuses like Aaron, but come to the Lord confessing our inability to follow Him with all our hearts. And God is gracious, and kind. A bruised reed He will not break (Matthew 12:20) and He gently, kindly leads us back to Him. And in the end, we have this promise: that the Lord will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; He will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

Prayer:

Father Lord, help me to be humble and soft hearted towards you. Lord, I know I sometimes fail to keep you at the top of my minds. I ask for your forgiveness and your help to worship you rightly. Hallowed be your name, in my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.