When Moses saw the people worshiping an idol, he smashed the tablets of the law, ground the idol into powder, and made the people drink it down. Then he confronted his older brother, the high priest. His reproach against Aaron started with a question that seemed at first to give Aaron the benefit of the doubt: “What did this people do to you…” But it also clearly laid the blame at Aaron’s feet. “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” On the one hand Moses seems to be conceding that the people must have abused Aaron in some way. “I mean, they must have made you do this, right Aaron? Was it a spear pointed at your head until you gave in to their demands? On the other hand, big brother no matter what the people did, you are guilty. You did this, Aaron.” It reminds me of the classic analogy of a ship’s captain whose vessel is run aground by a lieutenant in his charge. The lieutenant is guilty, but the captain is responsible. Aaron was the person in authority in Moses’ absence. The people were guilty, but Aaron was responsible. It works the same way in the home. A home without godly leadership will run aground quickly. As will a church.
Aaron’s response to Moses’ question is classic denial. First, he seems to blow it off. Hey, don’t be so angry about this, Moses. He seems to have no sense of the significance of his sin, and calling him “my lord” does not soften the charge. Second, Aaron shifts the blame. You know these people and how much they love evil. Ahh, the first priest of Israel sounds a lot like the first priest of the garden. Why did I eat the fruit? This woman, which by the way you gave to me, handed it to me! When confronted, Aaron made excuses. Philip Ryken writes, “There’s always somebody to blame: “My parents didn’t love me.” “My husband didn’t care for me.” “My wife wasn’t meeting my needs.” “My elders didn’t handle the situation right.” “My boss didn’t treat me fairly.” “They went behind my back.” “Everyone was doing it!”
Third, Aaron actually spoke the truth. “They told me to make gods for them because you were gone and they didn’t know when you were coming back.” That was true. Aaron then said he told them to give him any gold that they were wearing. That is also true. Good job, Aaron. But wait. Fourth, Aaron spoke a bald-faced lie while looking Moses straight in the eye. Calf? What calf? Oh, you mean that one? Pssh. I just threw all the gold they gave me into the fire and that’s what came out! Again we wonder why Aaron wasn’t a made a greasy spot right then, by the wrath of a just God. It is simply that by the mercy of God, because of the intercession of Moses, Aaron was spared. But the damage was done.
This story is a photograph of the sinfulness of sin and the consequences for it. Three thousand men died that day for their part in the idolatry. It is also a picture of the mercy of God. He did not destroy them all. He heard Moses’ offer to take their place: “take my name out of your book!” God had a plan for redemption, for someone who would stand in the place of sinners. There is only One who could.
It wasn’t Moses.
J. Mark Fox 