Remember the story of the golden calf in Exodus 32?

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, 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.” So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32.1 – 4, ESV)

I saw something shocking this week from Exodus 24. What is the last thing Aaron did before he made the golden calf? Note how the story starts in Exodus 32: “Moses delayed to come down from the mountain…” What mountain? Who else had been on the mountain with Moses?

Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar…Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. (Exodus 24.1, 9 – 11, ESV, emphasis mine)

The last thing that Aaron did before making the golden calf as recorded in Exodus 32 was have dinner with God, recorded in Exodus 24! Chapters 25 – 31 of Exodus record instructions that Moses was receiving from God on the mountain. The last thing Moses did before going up to receive those instructions was to leave Aaron in charge:

So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.” (Exodus 24.13 – 14, ESV)

Just let that sink in…

What are the ramifications? Two things come to mind:

• Aaron let himself be dominated by fear of men rather than fear of God (whom he had seen!). Moses diagnosed it:

And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they 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.’ So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” (Exodus 32.21 – 24, ESV, emphasis mine)

• Finally, mountaintop experiences just aren’t all they’re cracked up to be! This had to be one of the best, literal, mountaintop experiences ever. Dinner with God! And the first crisis Aaron faces, he caves. If you’re a church leader, you would do well to have less emphasis on big events and more on teaching people to walk with God by faith on a daily basis.

And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. (1 Kings 19.11, 12, ESV) By the way, this conversation happened just after Elijah experienced profound discouragement after…a big event!