And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.
Confronted over the golden calf, Aaron pleaded for Moses not to burn with anger and shifted fault to the people as bent on wrongdoing who had demanded new leaders because Moses had vanished. This happened while Moses was forty days on Mount Sinai with the cloud of the Presence still in view as God wrote down His law, yet Israel denied loyalty to Jehovah and in open defiance bowed before a golden image. To lessen his guilt Aaron pretended he had only thrown their gold into the fire and the calf came out by itself, concealing that he and workmen had fashioned it. His plea was evasion and not confession that did nothing to lessen his guilt, and he stands as chief offender because as the leader entrusted as guardian of the people in close converse with God his yielding to please them was especially heinous. He should have stood courageously for the right irrespective of consequences and warned the people of their covenant, which could have checked the apostasy instead of emboldening them to greater sin, and his life was spared from death only because Moses interceded for him.
Setting and Aaron's Excuse
The words were spoken in Israel's worship of the golden calf while Moses was forty days on Mount Sinai with the cloud of the Presence still in view and God writing down His law to commit it to His covenant people. The people had been given time to meditate on the law already heard and to prepare their hearts for further revelation, but instead they became careless, inattentive and lawless. They were led by the impatient mixed multitude who wanted to move on to the land flowing with milk and honey without regard to obedience.
Feeling helpless without Moses, they wanted an image to represent God and to go before them in his place, at the suggestion of those accustomed to the Egyptian worship of the ox or calf. This was done although God had given no similitude of Himself and had forbidden material representations. It was done although the miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea were meant to establish faith in Him as the invisible all-powerful Helper, and although the desire for a visible manifestation had already been met by the pillar of cloud and of fire and by the revelation of His glory on Sinai. In turning back in their hearts to the idolatry of Egypt they represented the glory of the invisible God by the similitude of an ox.
While God was writing down His law, the Israelites denied their loyalty to Jehovah, demanded gods of gold, and in open defiance of the commands they had pledged to obey bowed in adoration before a golden image. This daring insult and blasphemy was Satan's plan to overthrow the law of God, the same work he had begun in heaven, to cause Israel's ruin by making God divorce them from Himself and devote them to destruction. His aim was thus to secure the extinction of the seed of Abraham, the seed of promise that was to preserve the knowledge of the living God and through whom He was to come, the true seed that was to conquer Satan. Sinful as they were, Israel was not destroyed and Satan was defeated; those who stubbornly ranged themselves on the side of Satan were cut off, while the people humbled and repentant were mercifully pardoned. The history of this sin stands as a perpetual testimony to the guilt and punishment of idolatry and to the justice and long-suffering mercy of God.
The rebellion was treason against a King whose authority the people had pledged to obey. God maintained His law while giving the people freedom to repent, and only those who persisted in rebellion were cut off. Swift punishment was an act of justice and mercy: it restrained wider corruption, protected Israel from its enemies, and stopped the rebels from spreading evil or destroying one another.
Confronted by Moses, Aaron begged him not to let his anger wax hot. He blamed the people as set on mischief and prone to wrongdoing. He recounted that they had demanded gods to lead them because Moses had disappeared and they did not know what had happened to him. He claimed their clamor and threats forced him to comply or be put to death, even to save his life.
He misrepresented what happened by saying he only took their gold, threw it into the fire, and the calf came out. He concealed that he and other workmen had fashioned it, misleading Moses as though it had appeared by a wonder. He implied a miracle by supernatural power had changed the gold, wanting it to look like a miracle in order to lessen his guilt. He did this to give himself a plausible excuse for permitting the people to sacrifice to the calf and proclaim it as the gods that brought Israel out of Egypt.
Guilt, Failure and Warning
Aaron's plea was evasion and prevarication, not confession. He deflected blame onto the people as bent on evil and prone to mischief, made them responsible for his own weakness, and claimed their clamor and threats forced him to comply or be put to death even to save his life. With a mild, conciliatory manner he minimized their grave sin rather than acknowledging his own responsibility. His excuses were of no avail and did not lessen his guilt.
His course was highly censurable and blameworthy, and he was justly dealt with as the chief offender. He had been blessed above the people, admitted into close converse with God, entrusted as leader and left as guardian of the church while Moses communed with God in the mount, so yielding to please the people and sanction rebellion was especially heinous. It was astonishing that he would commit so great a sin even to save his life. His explanation does not excuse his failure as guardian, for he yielded to their demands and helped lead them into idolatry by making the golden calf.
Left in charge, he was unfaithful to his sacred trust and betrayed it, revealing weakness in time of trial. Instead of leading the people through temptation, he joined in carrying out their plans. This stood in contrast to Moses, who felt his weakness under a work committed to him as to no other man and whose counselor was God. His weakness as a leader was desire to please the people even at sacrifice of principle, fear of offending, and failure to speak plainly the whole truth about their evil. Had he spoken plainly the calf would not have been made, and his failure in the camp was the same defective administration he showed in his home with his children.
At the very first permission allowing the people to go contrary to God's commands in the least particular he lost power of command, weakened his authority, and permitted a spirit of reveling and commonness to come into the camp. That concession helped set idolatry in motion, and the current set in motion could not be stayed until stern and decisive measures were taken. His duty was to stand courageously for the right irrespective of consequences, unswervingly maintain his own allegiance to God, warn of the perils of Sinai, and remind the people of their solemn covenant to obey God's law. Doing so could have prevented the apostasy and checked the evil, but by yielding to their desires and calmly carrying out their plans he emboldened them to go to greater lengths in sin than had before entered their minds.
His penalty would have been death by the Lord had Moses not interceded for him. Moses bore the people's burden after their transgression, pleading with God for them while fearing the consequences of continued perversity and impenitence. No dependence can be placed on any man whatever his experience unless his experience harmonizes with the Word of the living God. The episode exposes the two parties of those serving apostasy and those serving God and keeping distinct from apostasy, and God does not arbitrarily destroy the guilty but gives every opportunity to return and calls all to place themselves without excuse decidedly on the Lord's side. Aaron's effort to save himself cost thousands of Israelites their lives under God's displeasure, yet the people soon returned to discontent, and the experience that should have taught a lasting lesson was failed to be learned when they again yielded to temptation.
Confronted over the golden calf, Aaron pleaded for Moses not to burn with anger and shifted fault to the people as bent on wrongdoing who had demanded new leaders because Moses had vanished. This happened while Moses was forty days on Mount Sinai with the cloud of the Presence still in view as God wrote down His law, yet Israel denied loyalty to Jehovah and in open defiance bowed before a golden image. To lessen his guilt Aaron pretended he had only thrown their gold into the fire and the calf came out by itself, concealing that he and workmen had fashioned it. His plea was evasion and not confession that did nothing to lessen his guilt, and he stands as chief offender because as the leader entrusted as guardian of the people in close converse with God his yielding to please them was especially heinous. He should have stood courageously for the right irrespective of consequences and warned the people of their covenant, which could have checked the apostasy instead of emboldening them to greater sin, and his life was spared from death only because Moses interceded for him.
Setting and Aaron's Excuse
The words were spoken in Israel's worship of the golden calf while Moses was forty days on Mount Sinai with the cloud of the Presence still in view and God writing down His law to commit it to His covenant people. The people had been given time to meditate on the law already heard and to prepare their hearts for further revelation, but instead they became careless, inattentive and lawless. They were led by the impatient mixed multitude who wanted to move on to the land flowing with milk and honey without regard to obedience.
Feeling helpless without Moses, they wanted an image to represent God and to go before them in his place, at the suggestion of those accustomed to the Egyptian worship of the ox or calf. This was done although God had given no similitude of Himself and had forbidden material representations. It was done although the miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea were meant to establish faith in Him as the invisible all-powerful Helper, and although the desire for a visible manifestation had already been met by the pillar of cloud and of fire and by the revelation of His glory on Sinai. In turning back in their hearts to the idolatry of Egypt they represented the glory of the invisible God by the similitude of an ox.
While God was writing down His law, the Israelites denied their loyalty to Jehovah, demanded gods of gold, and in open defiance of the commands they had pledged to obey bowed in adoration before a golden image. This daring insult and blasphemy was Satan's plan to overthrow the law of God, the same work he had begun in heaven, to cause Israel's ruin by making God divorce them from Himself and devote them to destruction. His aim was thus to secure the extinction of the seed of Abraham, the seed of promise that was to preserve the knowledge of the living God and through whom He was to come, the true seed that was to conquer Satan. Sinful as they were, Israel was not destroyed and Satan was defeated; those who stubbornly ranged themselves on the side of Satan were cut off, while the people humbled and repentant were mercifully pardoned. The history of this sin stands as a perpetual testimony to the guilt and punishment of idolatry and to the justice and long-suffering mercy of God.
The rebellion was treason against a King whose authority the people had pledged to obey. God maintained His law while giving the people freedom to repent, and only those who persisted in rebellion were cut off. Swift punishment was an act of justice and mercy: it restrained wider corruption, protected Israel from its enemies, and stopped the rebels from spreading evil or destroying one another.
Confronted by Moses, Aaron begged him not to let his anger wax hot. He blamed the people as set on mischief and prone to wrongdoing. He recounted that they had demanded gods to lead them because Moses had disappeared and they did not know what had happened to him. He claimed their clamor and threats forced him to comply or be put to death, even to save his life.
He misrepresented what happened by saying he only took their gold, threw it into the fire, and the calf came out. He concealed that he and other workmen had fashioned it, misleading Moses as though it had appeared by a wonder. He implied a miracle by supernatural power had changed the gold, wanting it to look like a miracle in order to lessen his guilt. He did this to give himself a plausible excuse for permitting the people to sacrifice to the calf and proclaim it as the gods that brought Israel out of Egypt.
Guilt, Failure and Warning
Aaron's plea was evasion and prevarication, not confession. He deflected blame onto the people as bent on evil and prone to mischief, made them responsible for his own weakness, and claimed their clamor and threats forced him to comply or be put to death even to save his life. With a mild, conciliatory manner he minimized their grave sin rather than acknowledging his own responsibility. His excuses were of no avail and did not lessen his guilt.
His course was highly censurable and blameworthy, and he was justly dealt with as the chief offender. He had been blessed above the people, admitted into close converse with God, entrusted as leader and left as guardian of the church while Moses communed with God in the mount, so yielding to please the people and sanction rebellion was especially heinous. It was astonishing that he would commit so great a sin even to save his life. His explanation does not excuse his failure as guardian, for he yielded to their demands and helped lead them into idolatry by making the golden calf.
Left in charge, he was unfaithful to his sacred trust and betrayed it, revealing weakness in time of trial. Instead of leading the people through temptation, he joined in carrying out their plans. This stood in contrast to Moses, who felt his weakness under a work committed to him as to no other man and whose counselor was God. His weakness as a leader was desire to please the people even at sacrifice of principle, fear of offending, and failure to speak plainly the whole truth about their evil. Had he spoken plainly the calf would not have been made, and his failure in the camp was the same defective administration he showed in his home with his children.
At the very first permission allowing the people to go contrary to God's commands in the least particular he lost power of command, weakened his authority, and permitted a spirit of reveling and commonness to come into the camp. That concession helped set idolatry in motion, and the current set in motion could not be stayed until stern and decisive measures were taken. His duty was to stand courageously for the right irrespective of consequences, unswervingly maintain his own allegiance to God, warn of the perils of Sinai, and remind the people of their solemn covenant to obey God's law. Doing so could have prevented the apostasy and checked the evil, but by yielding to their desires and calmly carrying out their plans he emboldened them to go to greater lengths in sin than had before entered their minds.
His penalty would have been death by the Lord had Moses not interceded for him. Moses bore the people's burden after their transgression, pleading with God for them while fearing the consequences of continued perversity and impenitence. No dependence can be placed on any man whatever his experience unless his experience harmonizes with the Word of the living God. The episode exposes the two parties of those serving apostasy and those serving God and keeping distinct from apostasy, and God does not arbitrarily destroy the guilty but gives every opportunity to return and calls all to place themselves without excuse decidedly on the Lord's side. Aaron's effort to save himself cost thousands of Israelites their lives under God's displeasure, yet the people soon returned to discontent, and the experience that should have taught a lasting lesson was failed to be learned when they again yielded to temptation.