Hello everyone.
Two weeks ago I wrote a lesson that I learned form the story of the Israelites and the golden calf in Exodus 32. Today I will share the other lesson that I took away from the story. It was a lesson about leadership. There are two leaders in the story and both are tested. One fails miserably and the other succeeds in a big way. I'm sure you see right away that the leaders I am talking about are Aaron and Moses.
Let's look at Aaron first. When the people came to Aaron to complain that Moses had been gone for so long, and suggest that they make gods to go before them, Aaron could have encouraged them to remain faithful to the Lord. He could have reminded them of all that God had done them in leading them out of bondage to the Egyptians, all the miracles that He had done, including the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. He could have reminded them of the manna from heaven. Maybe he did try to do this. If he did, the Bible doesn't mention it. What ever effort Aaron may have made to keep the people from this terrible path, they eventually wore him down. Aaron stopped leading, and allowed the people destructive and sin desires to lead. He actually helped them in their sin. Taking their jewelry, melting it all down and fashioning a calf out of gold for them. So the golden calf, prompted by the impatience of the people while Moses was on the mountain with the Lord, was facilitated by a collapse of leadership. Aaron was left in charge, and he should have been saying "We will not sin against God like this." Unfortunately, the guy who should have been leading, was following. It's hard to know why Aaron was so willing to give up his leadership to the crowd. Maybe he was afraid. His failure to lead could have just seemed like self-preservation. We can't know for sure what Aaron's motives were. Whatever the reason, it was bad leadership.
Meanwhile, on the top of the mountain, Moses was receiving the law from the Lord, when God informed him of what was going on below. (Ex. 32:7-14) God was so angry that He told Moses that He would wipe out the Israelites and make a nation from just Moses. God would still be keeping his promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob if He did this. Moses pleaded with God not to wipe out the nation. Later, Moses talks to God (Ex. 32:31) again and asks God to forgive the nation or blot his name out of God's book as well. Moses recounts the golden calf story in Deut. 9. In verses 18--20 and 25-29, Moses tells about his prayers for the nation and specifically Aaron. How God was going to kill them. God spared the nation and He spared Aaron, because Moses loved them enough to put his own well-being on the line for them. That's good leadership.
Two leaders are tested. One fails his test because he stopped leading and started following the crowd. The other passed his test because because he put those he was leading ahead of himself.
Tom
