Burke County, NC

If you grew up in church as a child, you undoubtedly heard the account of the miraculous and powerful deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians by God under the leadership of Moses. I cannot imagine what it must have been like crossing the sea on dry ground as God Himself led them out of Egypt. They then traveled south to the region of Mt. Sinai, where God gave them the Law. Once again, the Bible explains a powerful and dramatic scene as Mt. Sinai shook and smoke ascended as God Himself descended on that mountain. To ensure no loss of life, the Israelites had been instructed to erect a boundary along the base of the mountain; for if someone were to touch it, he would immediately be killed. When the children of Israel saw that awesome sight, they were terrified at what they saw and pleaded that Moses would enter the cloud and then repeat to them what God had said. It is against this terrifying backdrop that we read of the events contained in Exodus 32.

Inasmuch as Moses had delayed coming down from the mountain, the people asked Aaron to make for them a golden calf that they could worship as the one who delivered them from Israel. Many details are staggering about this account. It is staggering to think that they would attribute this miraculous deliverance to something they had just created. It is even more staggering to realize the background against which all this took place. Nothing had changed about Mt. Sinai; it was still smoking as it had weeks before. However, the very thing they had once feared was the very thing to which they had become accustomed. It was no longer a terrifying display of the power and presence of God; rather, it was something of the distant past.

To form this golden calf, Aaron instructed them to hand over their jewelry to be melted and then fashion this idol. Have you ever wondered where they got their jewelry? They had been slaves in the land of Egypt and had no wealth. However, before God announced the punishment whereby the firstborn would be killed, He instructed them to borrow jewelry from their neighbors (Exodus 11:2–3). God granted them favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they were given an abundance of silver and gold jewels (Exodus 12:35–36). After the judgment of the death of the firstborn, the Egyptians forced them out of Egypt, gladly willing to sacrifice their jewelry to get them out of their land. The very thing with which God blessed them became the very thing by which they made an idol.

Perhaps this is shocking to you; however, I would argue that we do this far more than we realize. Consider how a job that God provides suddenly takes the place of God and the church. Talents that were given by God and for the glory of God become means for self-advancement, often at the exclusion of God. Families and friends with whom God blesses us become more important than our relationship with God. The possessions we have may soon be regarded as insufficient rather than being seen as the means by which we can bless others and please God.

Is it possible that your priorities have become skewed? Is God truly first in your life, or is God a mere component of your life? Have you taken the very things with which God has blessed you and formed an idol with them? Have you developed spiritual insensitivity towards the things of God as the children of Israel did regarding Mt. Sinai? Determine to keep God first in your life and use all that you have to bring glory to God. Do not let God’s blessings and provision become God’s replacement.

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Dan Qurollo is the pastor of Morganton Baptist Church. You can visit them online at www.morgantonbaptist.net, on Facebook, or on Youtube.

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