Israel Breaks God’s Covenant

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. 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. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 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. 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. 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.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: 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. Exodus 32:1-8

Steps: 4, 5, 10, 11, 12

Israel can not see Moses for 40 days for he is on Mount Sinai talking to God. The people get discouraged and believe that God, and Moses, have abandoned them even though they can see the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. They decide that they will have to go to plan B and take care of themselves. They do what they did best in Egypt and worship gods that they could see and their favorite was the sex god – the Egyptian Bull calf. They threatened Aaron into making a golden image of the calf and then worshipped it thus breaking their relationship with God.

Prayer for Today: God we can not literally see You yet, but we believe that You are there and that You want to help us. Help us not to doubt Your love and care, and help us to trust You in all things. Thank You for Your love.