Six weeks is all it took

Just finished reading the book of Exodus.

It is truly an amazing story...
many parts of it have encouraged my heart over the years.

But my thoughts today focussed 
on the two million people that Moses was in charge of.

These people had the privilege of HEARING 
the very voice of GOD speak the 10 Commandments!! 

Exodus 19:9 and Exodus 20:1

The reaction of these people?  
"Now when all the people saw the thunder 

and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet 

and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled,

and they stood far off and said to Moses, 

You speak to us, and we will listen; 
but do not let God speak to us, lest we die. 

Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you,

that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.  

The people stood far off,
 while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was."

Exodus 20:18-20

So Moses went back up the mountain 
where he remained for 40 days.

Thats almost 6 weeks of waiting 
and the people got tired of it.

They took things into their own hands 
and made a CHOICE 
that directly contradicted 
one of God's instructions He had spoken 
to them just 6 weeks earlier.  
Remember those words just up above in bold?

Moses had just reminded them to fear God and  sin not.


But.......they whined to Aaron, who took advantage 
of his popularity at the moment.
He sunk to giving in to the whims of a selfish, impatient people.
Endeavoring to meet their 'felt need' of the moment.  
(Sounds like some churches in today's world)
Meanwhile, Moses had the uncomfortable task 
of coming down from the mountain
and breaking up the party. 


The Bible tells us, "Aaron shaped the gold into the form of an idol "with a tool".
But when asked about the image by Moses, 
Aaron said,
".....they gave me gold, I threw it into the fire 
and out came this calf!"


Really, Aaron....it just walked right out of the fire???
All by itself....with no help from you???


Quite a different story than what REALLY happened.


Now Aaron is on the slippery slope downward.
He lies to make himself look not quite so bad.


I keep thinking about how short a time 6 weeks is.
And how God had been so faithful to those two million people.
And they turned their back.....to serve other gods.


"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
God said this because He is the only God.  There is no One like Him.
He tells us that we must not make any images of Him because
when we try to shape physical representations of Him,
we only succeed in detracting from His greatness and His glory.


What are your choices??
Do I have any gods that I put before Him?
Do you have any gods that you put before Him?