Text:

32 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods 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.” (Exodus 32:1-2)

Context, Context, Context: Moses, the shepherd/intercessor/leader of Israel, had just come down from meeting with God atop Sinai: “And he [God] gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18). Moses had received the Decalogue from the Lord. They were ‘the ten words,’ if you will, from God. (They are, by the way, the basis of what’s left of civilization. Deny transcendence, deny human responsibility, deny individual property rights, deny law and order, and see what happens. You get chaos. But if folks cannot see that unfolding in front of their very eyes, I do not know how they will ever admit truth and reality until they stand before the Lord. You can deny both, but you don’t break them; they break you.)

Teaching: When Moses had been away from his people for a while, the people grew restless, unbelieving, and selfish. They demanded Aaron’s brother take charge and “make us gods who shall go before us” (Exodus 32:1b). In other words, all people everywhere are religious. It is only a matter of whether they worship the true God or an idol/false god.

Encouragement: In 2026, folks might scoff at this historical event of the golden calf and think, “What? Really? A bovine creature crafted with a gold patina?” Yes, folks. If you don’t worship the true God, you will worship necessarily at the altar of an idol–be it cows, self, power, popularity, or Satan; but you will worship.

This Sunday my family and I are praying that this weather will spare us and others, so that we can gather with the saints in worship of the true and living God, because he alone is worthy.