And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. (Exodus 32:1-10)
Today's Morsel: Commentator Matthew Henry stated that the Jews have a tradition that Aaron's colleague, Hur, opposed the construction of this image of a calf by Aaron, and the people fell upon him and stoned him (and therefore, we never read of him afterwards) and that this frightened Aaron into compliance to make the image. Who's the crowd you have the hardest time standing up to? Is it the folks you work with? Is it your friends? What about your family? What about saints of God? This was Aaron's crowd that he had the hardest time standing up to, God's people. He didn't have a problem with Pharaoh and his folks. But when it came to the people of God, he caved in. Why are some folks afraid to tell saints of God they are wrong? Why do we just let them keep going and doing wrong, building their own little empires and kingdoms, crushing and micromanaging people, and we say nothing? The apostle Paul wasn't afraid to tell the crowd or anyone else when they were wrong. He asked the Galatians' church, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:1-3). He said that he told Peter (the one that God had given the keys of the kingdom to), "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?" (Galatians 2:11-14). Solomon said, "Open rebuke is better than secret love" (Proverbs 27:5). You don't have to be afraid of the crowd or anyone else. The only crowd you need to worry about and please is God. The last time I checked, you and God make a majority in any situation or crowd.
Sing: Would you be free from your passion and pride, there's power in the blood, power in the blood; come for a cleansing to Calvary tide; there's wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder working power in the blood, of the lamb; there is power, power, wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb.
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