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When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ Aaron said to them, ‘Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mould, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.’ They rose early the next day, and offered burnt-offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel. The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” ’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.’ But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, ‘O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, “It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth”? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, “I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it for ever.” ’ And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people. (Exodus 32:1-14)
As a child we would drive down to the Rio Grande Valley quite often to visit my mother's sister in Mission, Texas. The route would take us down to Edinburg, where we would turn off onto Hwy 107 which took us by Golden Jersey Creamery. Their symbol was a golden calf sitting above their front entrance on a ledge. I always thought it might possibly be the calf from this story. Now it sits in the museum near that same site. And it's a nice museum. But it's not the same calf as the one Moses had to put up with. And what a sad story. Impatient led to distrust and to abandonment of faith on the part of the people of God. Moses took too long, according to them, and so they chose to "make gods for us, who shall go before us." Sad. It tells a little about us even now. We pray and we want answers immediately. If God takes too long in answering, would we abandon our faith in Him? I would pray not. We know God's time is not our time. God knows just when to answer and when to answer with a different result than what we asked for. But, it should never lead us to abandon our faith; it should serve to strengthen us in knowing God is at work on our behalf and the results will be beyond what we expected once we have the faith to understand it.
The actions of Israel led God to tell Moses that He was through with them and would destroy all of them, except Moses. Moses pleads with God and asks God to change His mind about this decision, reminding God of His promise with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Notice the last verse in this passage: "And the Lord changed His mind about the disaster that He planned to bring on His people." It shows the power of prayer on those who trust God and advocate on their behalf before the Lord. It shows we should never stop praying nor asking for what we think might be best for us and others. Who knows? God may change His mind and show us mercy and grace (again).
PRAYER: Loving God, thank You for the faith of Moses. Increase our faith and our patience. Grant us faith that helps us understand Your presence and power in our midst. This we pray in Christ Jesus our Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. You might have to change YOUR mind today and show grace!
Eradio Valverde
