punishment

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Moses is angry with the people about their idolatry and he's also angry with Aaron. We read earlier how it was Aaron who made the calf, but today he wants Moses to belief that it just came out of the fire. He puts the blame on the people, rather than taking responsibility as a leader. The bloodshed in this passage is disturbing, and is certainly not a good model for solving religious disputes. What we can learn from it is the danger of putting other commitments before God. When we go astray from God, the idol isn't as obvious as a golden calf, but idolatry is still a constant threat.

God bless,
Sam

Exodus 32:21-29

21Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” 22And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are bent on evil. 23They said to me, ‘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.’ 24So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off’; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”


25When Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them run wild, to the derision of their enemies), 26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.’“ 28The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day. 29Moses said, “Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day.”

when at first you don't succeed...

Good morning sisters and brothers,
We skip forward in the story a little bit. Moses protests that he's not the right guy for the job, but God promises to be with him and to send Moses' brother Aaron to help him. Moses and Aaron go to the elders of Israel with God's message and then go to Pharaoh. Their first meeting, as we see, goes disastrously wrong, but that is not the end of the story. Sometimes what looks like a dead end or worse can be the beginning of something good.
God bless,
Sam

Exodus 5:1-9

Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.’“ 2But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”



3Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us; let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, or he will fall upon us with pestilence or sword.” 4But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labors!” 5Pharaoh continued, “Now they are more numerous than the people of the land and yet you want them to stop working!”



6That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, 7“You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labor at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.”