Help us to obey you, to think of you at all times. Help us to overcome temptation.
No sooner had the Children of Israel been given the laws then they started to break them. As soon as Moses went up Mount Sinai then they forgot God and started to sin.
Knowing someone is watching can be a big deterrent. No one would steal if they thought they would get caught. No one would sin if they thought God would see them. But the truth of the matter is that God does see. All the time.
(No one is perfect, but God sent Jesus to be a way for us to have our sins forgiven.)
Moses had been called up Mount Sinai where God had engraved the 2 tablets with the 10 commandments. The Children of Israel had been commanded not to come up the mountain. Joshua, Moses' assistant, had come with him as far as he was allowed. Aaron had stayed in the camp with the people.
We know a little about Aaron. He tried to get along with people, to let them do what they wanted. He had his own ambitions. He wanted people to like him, and so wanted to fit in with them. In other words, he was a typical person.
Unfortunately letting everyone do what pleases them quickly leads to immorality, and eventually anarchy. Look at today's leaders, or even the church. All they are interested in is getting votes, and keeping themselves in a comfortable lifestyle. Letting people do their own thing is easy, but not how a ruler should act.
Moses was of a very different sort. The Bible records that he was the humblest man who ever lived (prior to Jesus). But he still had the strength of character to do what he did.
He was so furious with the people that he broken the stone tablets, he broke up the calf that Aaron had made and ground it to dust. He dumped the dust into the water and made (approx 600,000) people drink it. I wonder what sort of leader today could have that sort of strength of character to do that.
It's interesting to note that God didn't condemn Moses for breaking what God had just made. God just told him to come back up the mountain to collect a second one. It may be that this was to test the Children of Israel, just to see how they reacted the second time.
This does highlight an important lesson; that God must be obeyed, and that just because everyone else is doing something, it is not an excuse to join in if we know God thinks it is wrong.
Why was God not angry with Moses for breaking his 2 tablets of stone?
How do you think Moses persuaded the Children of Israel to drink the bitter water?
How do you think you would have reacted if you were among the Children of Israel at the time?