The people of Israel faced a dilemma; Moses had disappeared on the mountain. The manna came six mornings then was absent on the seventh, the boiling storm of the LORD presence covered the mountain day and night, babies were born, old people died, life was proceeding as normal as could be expected for this nation of fugitive slaves. But they hadn’t seen Moses for over a month; 40 days to be exact. The good news is that that there doesn’t appear to be an uproar among the people the go back to Egypt. The bad news is that they demanded some physical evidence of God’s presence; if not his “lost” leader then something on which to focus their attention. “Make us gods….” they demanded. The people couldn’t contain their selfish desire to depend upon something tangible that pointed to God. They struggled with faith being sufficient. Their children would one day follow in their steps by rejecting a ruler who required the people to see with eyes of faith and demand a human king. I wonder; how many more days Moses may have stayed on the mountain with the LORD almighty if they people hadn’t pushed Aaron to carve that calf?
It took me 17 minutes to read this passage.
Stuart
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