Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Exodus 32 before reading the devotional below.
God has finished giving Moses his laws and instructions at the top of Mount Sinai. Moses climbs down the mountain, stone tablets in hand, ready to share God’s message with the people. (If you have ever seen The Prince of Egypt, this is the moment the movie ends. If you know what happens next you realize that is a very misleading ending…) Keep in mind Moses was up on the mountain for 40 days. In just a little over a month, God’s people have completely abandoned everything and are making a golden calf idol. Even worse, Aaron is leading the show.
Remember all those instructions God just gave for his priests to be set apart? Aaron could not be doing anything more opposite of what God wanted. Moses becomes angry and smashes the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments on the ground. Those were supposed to be the centerpiece of God’s new tabernacle. Instead of experiencing triumph and a new direction, God’s people are in chaos, dysfunction, and disorder. Moses climbs back up the mountain and prays for forgiveness on behalf of the people. God does not destroy his people but they do suffer a plague for their rebellion.
Here’s your freedom for today: you can always trust God’s timing. If the Israelites had just waited for Moses to come down, if they had just trusted in the faithfulness of God, they would not have worshiped a false god and brought trouble on themselves. How often do we wait for God a whopping 8 seconds before we take matters into our own hands? What blessings do we miss in our lives as a result? Moses was only gone 40 days. Honestly that is one of the shorter waiting periods in the Bible. Sometimes we wait years or decades for God to deliver what he has promised. Sometimes while we wait it is pretty quiet and we don’t hear a whole lot from God. Can you trust that even if you do not hear God’s voice right now he is bringing about something good for you? Can you wait long enough for him to deliver it?