WHERE DID THEY GET THE GOLD?

So...here the Israelites are, on the run, in the middle of the desert. Moses goes up on the mountain of God, and the people get restless. Chapter 32 is the infamous 'golden calf' episode in the Exodus account. They pool their gold together (mainly earrings, 32:2) and Aaron melds it together into the shape of a calf that they worship.

But remember, they were slaves to the Egyptians for 430 years. Where did they get enough gold to make this calf, and why a calf? Remember Exodus 11... "Now the LORD had said to Moses... 2 Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold." 3 (The LORD made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people.)" Other passages God mentions to Moses that they will plunder the Egyptians on the way out.

Mmmm...so God blesses the Israelites through the giving of the Egyptians, and then they turn it around and worship a man-made god in the form of a calf, which harkens back to the Egyptian religious culture they were previously immersed within. But it's worse than that. Aaron in v. 5 says to the people, "When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, 'Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.'"

So not only did they worship another god, but they mixed their Egyptian theological influence with the true God, YHWH.

What's happening right now economically in the US is a reminder that for followers of Christ our blessings, if turned against God, hurt ourselves more than anything else. When you are financially blessed it is easy to mix faith in finances and also the Giver of all things.

Today is Ash Wednesday, a day of repentance and sorrow. Today I'm repenting for the sins of our nation financially, but most importantly my own sinfulness in this area of trusting in the gifts rather than the Giver.