Contemplative Bible Reading

Exodus 32:5 (New Living Translation)

Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!”

We are an odd lot.

Moses was up on the mountain with God getting the ten commandments and all the other laws. The people grew restless and impatient. They had quickly forgotten the miracles in Egypt and crossing the sea on dry ground. They made an idol. Aaron built an altar in front of the idol.

Aaron stood in front of an idol and a place of sacrifice to the idol and said, “Let us never worship any such man made object. Let’s destroy it and every such idol of folly we ever see!”

No, wait, that wasn’t it.

Aaron stood in front of an idol and a place of sacrifice to the idol and said, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!”

Uh, huh, wait, er… We will use this idol to celebrate to Jehovah the Creator of all? Again, uh, huh? Aaron wasn’t a stupid fellow. Yet he uttered these stupid words.

Behold the patience of God. Behold heartless and brainless folks like me. Like we hear on Sesame Street, “One of these things is not like the other.”

Okay, Mount Sinai to Sesame Street. We’ve covered all that territory. Lesson learned? God tolerates us because God loves us. Oh that I may never forget that and never stop adoring God.