Exodus 32:1  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.
2  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.
3  And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
4  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.
5  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.
6  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.
7  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:
8  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.
9  And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
10  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.

The word translated as “delayed” means “be ashamed, or to be put to shame”. Moses was the God-appointed leader of the nation of Israel. The children of Israel did not grasp that fact. The children of Israel had already decided they did not particularly like him. They blamed him for making life more difficult for them in Egypt. They accused him of wanting to kill them at the Red Sea. They appreciated his leadership in getting them across the Red Sea. However soon after that, they complained about not having water and bread. Now he had been up in the mount for forty days and nights and they did not know what had happened to him. What kind of a leader is it that leaves the people he is supposed to lead, alone for forty days and nights?
While Moses was called up into that mount by God, Aaron was in charge of the people, but he really did not know how to take charge. He did not rely on God to guide him. The people came to him and they demanded that he take action. They were not convinced that they should be true to the LORD. They had lived with idols for quite some time in Egypt. They had witnessed how those false gods were worthless against the true God. However, they wanted to go back to false gods, rather than wait on the true God. They could see the false gods. They could not see the true God.
What they were willfully ignoring is that they could see the mighty power of the true God. He never failed them. The false gods could not protect the Egyptians from anything. They had seen Pharaoh and his armies floating on the waters of the Red Sea. They had extremely short memories. Lost people are rather spoiled and self-centred. They want everything to go their way immediately. If they do not get their way, they look elsewhere.
We read from verse 1 that there was no love lost between Moses and the people. They were quick to try to turn Aaron against his own flesh and blood. In verse 2 we read that Aaron lacked a backbone. He would fit well into any New Evangelical church. He was a wet noodle who “needed” the approval of the people. He had stood right beside Moses and he saw the power of God first hand. He saw that, not once, but ten times. He saw how Pharaoh had responded to the plagues and he witnessed the hatred that Pharaoh developed for Moses. Yet, Pharaoh could not touch Moses.
In our text, Aaron stooped to the level of the ungodly. He told them to give him the golden earrings that they had. We see how the people had adopted the pagan ways of the Egyptians. I have never heard of a baby born with earrings in its ears or nose or anywhere else. I have seen bulls with a ring in their nose. That ring is used to control the bull. Maybe that is why people are putting rings in their noses? They prove they are controlled by the devil.
In our text we read that the women, and the sons and daughters had earrings. What a sight these people were. They were to be the children of God, but they certainly looked like the children of the world.
God certainly exercised great patience with them. They were supposed to glorify Him. They were to be a holy people. They were to be a testimony of His greatness and His holiness. He created man. He wanted to bless the children of Israel, but they were not interested in His blessings.
In verse 3 we read that the people were quick to break off their golden earrings and give them to Aaron. Aaron was ready to receive them. He was not going to hold them for some important need. He turned that gold into a molten calf. Then he presented this wicked thing before the people and told them these were their gods. He even went so far as to claim these false gods were responsible for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. What blasphemy! This was coming from the man that God chose to be the first high priest of the nation of Israel. This was the man that was supposed to have access to the holiest place to bring an offering of atonement for his own sins and the sins of the people. This man was worthy to be stoned, but God would be merciful to him.
In verse 5 we see the power that false gods have over man. Aaron saw what he had made and he built an altar before this false god. He also immediately established a day of celebration before this false god. No delay. He even went so far as to claim the feast would be to the LORD. What wicked teaching!
Aaron at this time in his life, would fit in well with the New Evangelical crowd and the Emergent church crowd. They blaspheme the true God with their trashy music and their false teachings. They are so proud of the noise they can make. They should be ashamed, but as we see in our text, the only thing they are ashamed of is God’s leadership.
In verse 6 we read that the people rose up early the next morning. They could not wait to indulge in their wickedness. They offered burnt offerings, and peace offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink and they rose up to play. This was a great day in their minds.
In verse 7 we see what God said about what was going on. Notice that no one needed to report to God what was happening. He knows everything. The LORD declared that the people that Moses had brought out of Egypt had corrupted themselves. There was nothing good about what they were doing. Moses had some responsibility to these people. God knew that He had ordered Moses to be up in the mount for the past forty days and nights. God was not trying to get away from what was happening. Moses needed to understand that he had a responsibility to the people. Leaders do not forsake their people even when they do wicked things. There need to be consequences but those consequences need to be designed to try to help the people get back to the truth. Moses was not guilty here. He needed to take responsibility for helping the people to see their wickedness.
In verse 8 God even knew the details of what the people had done. They turned aside quickly. Forty days is quite a short time, in the scheme of things. They made themselves a molten calf and they were worshipping that calf. They knew better. They were sacrificing to this molten calf. They pronounced these gods to be their gods. God also knew that the people were crediting these false gods for bringing them out of Egypt. What a mockery to His holy name!
In verse 9 God told Moses exactly what He thought of the people. He knew they were a stiffnecked people before He ever took them out of Egypt. He heard their complaints in Egypt. He knew what they were like. God is very longsuffering. He does not condone sin. He does not ignore sin. He has a high standard and He works to make sure that people know that He is holy. He expects His children to reflect that holiness. He judges sin very severely, but completely justified.
In verse 10, the LORD was ready to destroy this people. He had every right to destroy them. They were behaving just as badly as the pagans in Egypt or the Hittites and Hivites and the others in the land of Canaan. They were supposed to take over that land and they were to destroy the pagans there. Yet here they were, acting just as pagan as anyone else.
God was ready to wipe them all out and start over with Moses. Time is not a problem for God. It had taken a number of years to build up the nation of Israel to its current size. God could work things out rather quickly over the next forty years with Moses and his family. God’s intent was to have a great nation. A nation can only be great God if in charge.
Too often I have heard people talk of the U.S. as the greatest nation there ever was. The U.S. has never been a great nation. They have been a privileged nation. They have had exposure to the truth for over two hundred years. They have prospered greatly in worldly ways. There have been some good churches established in that land. Their dollar bill says “in God we trust”. Yet in reality, they do not trust in God. There are some people in that land that trust in God, but the nation certainly does not trust in God.
God has used the U.S. to keep a measure of peace in other lands. They have been the world police for some time. However, over the years they have become more and more pagan. Mr. Trump even stated that he did not think he would make it to heaven. That was a statement of false humility. He boasts of his greatness far too often. There are many others who also hold him up far too high. Mr. Trump has been used of God for some good things. As we have mentioned, the “peace deal” he is trying to get through in the Middle East is not good for Israel. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner was a big influence in getting that deal on paper. He is only interested in having the conditions for economic prosperity. He is a Jew but he is a lost Jew.
Greatness comes from knowing the true God. He is great.

I Chronicles 16:25  For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.

Psalm 48:1  A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

Psalm 145:3  Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

It is important that we, those who are truly saved, exalt the true God. We need to be reminded of His greatness and we need to help others to see there is no hope outside of knowing the true God.
Pastor Bartel