I Found It Hard To Forgive Him

I was out walking the other day and listening to Exodus 32:1-29 

I found myself pausing after this passage as I often do, realizing that I had a feeling of disgust around Aaron, the high priest’s blatant sinful acts of idol worship, and cowardly lies. I voiced my thoughts out loud to the Lord. “Lord, how come Aaron got away with doing these sinful acts? I really do not like this guy.” This is when I decided to dig a little deeper. But first, let’s read this passage. 

                                                             The Gold Calf Exodus 32:1-29

When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”

So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”

All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the LORD!”

The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.

The LORD told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people, whom you brought from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

Then the LORD said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”

But Moses tried to pacify the LORD his God. “O LORD!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people! Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’”

So the LORD changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.

Then Moses turned and went down the mountain. He held in his hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. These tablets were God’s work; the words on them were written by God himself.

When Joshua heard the boisterous noise of the people shouting below them, he exclaimed to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp!”

But Moses replied, “No, it’s not a shout of victory nor the wailing of defeat. I hear the sound of a celebration.”

When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it.

Finally, he turned to Aaron and demanded, “What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?”

“Don’t get so upset, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know how evil these people are. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire—and out came this calf!”

Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “All of you who are on the LORD’s side, come here and join me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.

Moses told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone—even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.” The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.

Then Moses told the Levites, “Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the LORD, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers. Today, you have earned a blessing.”

Wow, Does this affect you like it does me? Do you, too, feel disgruntled that Aaron seemed to walk away from these sinful acts? How did he seemingly come out of this un-scaved?

Aaron, because of his fear of man, asks the men and women to go get the gold they had been given in Egypt when they fled. The very gold that God had orchestrated for them to have for the future building of the Ark of the Covenant, the Priest’s ephods, and the rest of the Tabernacle pieces.

I mean, this man led the Israelites to worship a golden calf, and not only that, but he also allowed them to have a wild party. Then, when confronted by Moses, he denies it all with lies. All of this brought severe judgment upon the people, and thousands of people died. Yet Aaron went on to serve as High Priest with Moses for years to come. This hardly seemed fair to me. I found it hard to forgive him. But because I found it so hard to understand this story, I knew I needed to dig a little deeper. For our God is a just God, yesterday, today, and forever. 

So, when I googled some of my questions, “Did Aaron really get away with this?” I found some valuable information that changed my entire point of view. 

One point was that Aaron was punished for making the golden calf. Though he was not punished at that exact time, Aaron would later die in the wilderness and never enter the Promised Land. Aaron also endured the loss of two of his adult sons in a judgment from God. After Aaron made the golden calf, his life included many difficulties that could be seen as a punishment.

A second very important point was that Aaron was very probably among those who repented of sin when Moses asked this at the gate of the camp.

“Who is on the LORD’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.

So, as a son of Levi, Aaron could have been one of those who repented and received God’s forgiveness. Moses stood before the Lord and interceded for the people: 

“You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 

This now becomes a picture of repentance and redemption, as Moses became their mediator.

A third point I found very interesting was that maybe God did not punish Aaron for making the golden calf because of His sovereignty! By His sovereignty, God had already chosen Aaron as His High Priest, so God remained faithful despite Aaron’s disturbing lack of faithfulness. Wow! Isn’t this like the mighty God we serve? Despite Aaron’s sin, his role in leading worship in the Tabernacle remained vital. The important role Aaron and his sons would play in Israel’s worship rituals would be preserved.

This fourth point was my very favorite, as it helped me to shift out of my frustration and judgments around Aaron’s sins and into the mighty wonder of our Lord’s great mercy to forgive and redeem His people.

It is safe to say that God used an unlikely person to serve in an important role. Aaron, the man who led the Israelites astray to worship a golden calf, was the very man God chose to lead Israel in worship of the Lord. This pattern is often observed in Scripture. Many times, God uses the least likely to accomplish tasks for His Glory.

Some of these other examples include David, a shepherd boy turned King; Paul, a church persecutor who became a martyr and missionary leader; Peter, a fisherman turned evangelist; and Mary, a demon-possessed woman who became the first to see the resurrected Jesus; and many others.

 “Wow!” Again, I say, “Wow!”   

From here on out, whenever I read about Aaron’s sin in Exodus 32:1-29, I will read it as an Old Testament redemption story. I must be honest; I found it easy to understand the forgiveness in David’s story, Peter’s story, Mary Magdalen’s story, and now Aaron’s story and why the Lord could forgive him.      

I can see myself in this story, too, as I have also sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I, too, need mercy and forgiveness. I, too, needed a Redeemer. That by His cleansing blood, my Redeemer Jesus gave me right standing. And because of this, I have now become an example of this New Testament scripture.

“God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” 1 Corinthians 1:27

This is a beautiful end to this story, that the example of Aaron and his sin to worship the golden calf is still relevant to us today. It means that when you or I sin, the Lord will call us to repent and receive His forgiveness. That we can run to our Intercessor and our Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit helped me shift my perspective of Aaron’s story. To come unto the truth of the following Scripture in Luke 6:37

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

We must all take hold of the power of Jesus’ Blood, which restores us. To see the gift of repentance, so we can stay in our positions and be used by the Lord for His service. It is the Lord’s will to use us and the stories of our lives to reveal the beautiful love story of Cross.

By His Mighty Name, 

Love Melissa Norris