recently i received a new bible in the mail, to replace a bible that had fallen apart. (long story in and of itself) but i started transferring notes from the older bible to the new one. i found myself rehashing stories that were very familiar and remembering things that i had learned from them. then on tuesday i came to exodus 28 and God’s instructions to moses on mount sinai. the particular instructions that i focused on were those focused on aaron.
“Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests. Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron, to give him dignity and honor…” ex. 28:1-2 (NIV)
at first glance this doesn’t look so surprising. God wanted aaron and his sons to be the priests for the people of israel. aaron had been a huge part of what moses had been able to do as the leader. so what’s the big deal???
well, God is God and that means He is fully aware everything in the past, present, and future. see if you keep reading in exodus you will see that in four short chapters aaron messes up big time…
“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, ‘Come, make us gods who will go before us…’” ex. 32:1 (NIV)
aaron did just that. he had the people go out and gather gold…he created the golden calf for them to worship…how ironic is this? God, knowing what aaron was going to do ahead of time, wanted him set apart to be a priest. God wanted him to lead the worship and spiritual health of the nation of israel, the chosen people of God. not only that, God wanted “to give him dignity and honor“. so before he can even take office, aaron decides to make other gods for the people to worship?
so why would God choose to use aaron? with the entire nation of israel to choose from, wasn’t there someone else that hadn’t messed up this big? how could aaron do something this stupid?
well, God knew what kind of a leader aaron would be. the people of israel did what he told them to do and trusted him as a leader. it also gave God one more chance to show His grace and unconditional love for His children. there may have been several other people with less mess ups or more experience, but would God have gotten as much glory out of the situation had He chosen them? and as for how he could do something this stupid…he’s human just like you and me and he is going to make mistakes.
through aaron i have hope that God can use me, despite all of the mistakes that i’ve made in the past and i’m going to make in the future. i can see what God’s grace can look like and how unconditional love works. i can see one more way that God is great and beyond my comprehension.
in the next day or two i hope to leave another post about this same story and what happens in the following verses…God’s response to the situation and what moses does.
don’t forget to check back.
