04/07/2025 – The Worst Kind of Idolatry
Scripture: Exodus 32: 2 And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” 5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” 6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
Reflection: The first time the people of Israel experienced the wrath of God; it was because of their idolatry. They had made an image of God and the shape they chose to represent God was a calf. They prayed to God, they worshiped God; but when they decided to represent God, the image they chose was a domesticated animal- a created being that was powerful, but over which they had dominion. They would place a yoke on young bulls and use them to work the soil.
The worst and the most common form of idolatry is that which pretends to shape God into a domesticated idol, whose purpose is to serve us. God expressed that He should consume them; but He used Moses as an intercessor to have mercy on them, but not before three thousand were killed.
Sadly, idolatry is alive and well today. Even among the people of God, the temptation is always there to select the divine attributes we like and to deny or ignore those we do not like. The God who created the heavens and the earth cannot be turned into an idol of our liking. We must love and worship our God for who He is: the great I am.