The Golden Curse (Exodus 32) - Part 2

I thank God for allowing us to come together and read his word and study it in depth. I am not sure why God has placed this in my heart to share but I know it is for at least one person. I pray that whoever this message is for you are able to eat it, digest it, and use it for your spiritual nutrition as a balanced diet. Pray...eat...and be blessed!


Continuing with Exodus 32 there was so much more the Lord shared with me to share with you. As we continue on through the passage we get to verse 5-7 in which we find the people celebrating after the golden calf was created.


5 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!”



6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.


7 The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”




What is interesting about this passage of scripture was the response of Aaron after he noticed the people were excited about his creation. It seemed as if he finally was recognized as a life saver, a leader, an answered help to the children of Israel. He was so excited about how the people responded, he announced a festival and then had the nerve to say it was for the Lord, as if God himself gave Aaron the anointing to create a false god on his behalf. The next morning the people got up to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings only to turn around and have a huge celebration doing almost everything that was offensive to God. How ironic is it that we too sometimes celebrate in our own mess. We have the nerve to take matters into our own hands and just when it looks like everything is working out according to OUR plan, we throw a party...we post it on facebook...we celebrate "getting over". We thank God for something we ourselves have done when God is simply shaking his head saying "these fools are tripping!" We lack faith in God to show us how to handle certain situations in our lives and we eventually end up doing something stupid in which we regret later.


In verse 7, God transitions from the being being "His people" to being "Moses' people". My question to God was, why did you not claim your people in verse 7? You went through all of this stuff with  Moses and them only to turn your back on them the moment they offend you? I mean are you really that one sided? At the drop of a dime you can change your perception of your people in the instant we doing something not pleasing to you?


His answer to my question made so much sense to me. His answer was this...God cannot accept sin. He cannot take ownership to something or someone that is not holy. Sin cannot enter heaven because it is not allowed. It does not reflect who God is, nor who his son is. 1 John 3:4-6 reads 4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is. When the children of Israel started worshiping the calf; they operated in a method foreign and unacceptable by God. Sin rejects us from God's presence; however, it is acceptable and pleasing to man [Aaron]. This was Aaron's opportunity to get a title/position among the people...to win their favor away from Moses while Moses was away.


Be careful of the people you surround yourself with who are only seeking an opportunity to stab you in the back and throw you under the bus. Be mindful of friends and especially family members who are jealous of your anointing and the favor you have with God. Be aware of people who only ride with you because they have a chance to be on a platform to be seen and appreciated by others. One lesson I know I learned from this was to watch my inner circle because there will always be a Judas closer to me than I ever realized.


The scripture goes on and talks about the people's stubborn and rebellious ways. 9 Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. 10 Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”


Our impatience with God's timing causes us to become stubborn. We forget that we serve God, he does not serve us. When we don't get the things/answers we want; we tend to rebel. Think of it this way. Teenagers rebel against their parents because they feel as if their parents don't understand what they are dealing with. Sometime they rebel because their needs and wants are not being met according to their standards. Teens are very impatient and when their demands are not met within a reasonable amount of time they go and do things on their own. [I know I was once a teen myself and I work with them daily]. The trouble with this mindset is the kids have never experienced what their parents have. They are not aware of the world we live in and the trouble that energizes evil. Teens are not equipped or prepared to handle a lot of the situations they find themselves in (drugs, alcohol, sex, etc). They find themselves involved in certain things because they feel resulting to these extreme situations will fulfill their desire to be appreciated and understood; when in reality it only draws them closer to death both spiritually and naturally. It also creates a wedge between their relationship with their parents.


This is how God is with us. We are the teens and he is the parent. We get tired and frustrated with waiting on God that we take matters into our own hands. We do things because we feel as if we know how to handle our own lives better than God can; when in actuality we don't. We are ready to find that husband, so we go on dating sites, we club, we do all of these outrageous things to go find that husband we long for. When we meet a dude he seems like everything we want on the outside but he really is Satan himself. (You do know that Satan is gorgeous right? Read your Bible) The guy we meet has a credit score of a -720, he has 6 kids by 5 different women, he is in between jobs because he is trying to start his own business for the 7th time, he never has money because he owes banks in overdraft fees, church to him means watching TBN or donating money to the SPCA or the Feed the Children specials, etc. But because he is fine and has "potential" for us to change him...we go with what we think is best for our lives and end up looking dumb in the end. Had we just waited on God a little while longer he would have placed us in the right place for the right man to find us.  That man has to find you ladies! You should be so deep within the heart of God that the only way that man can access you is to have a connection with God  in order to get the access code to find out WHERE you are




OK back to the scripture. We do things in our own will and out of the will of God. God takes his time to set provisions for us so that we don't ever have to play the "wonder game". I wonder if he is the one, I wonder if this is the job, I wonder if that is the house, I wonder if this is the church, I wonder this...I wonder that. When you have a relationship with God and you are submissive to his timing and his word...you never have to wonder about another thing EVER in your life. Trust me this is a testimony not a lecture!  We end up killing ourselves and stressing ourselves out trying to do God's job. That is foolishness and a dangerous game to play. We become rebellious due to our stubborn hearts.






In verse 10 we see God's anger. Can you understand God's anger? It is like you helping someone whom you love (spouse/significant other) out of a tough situation. You love them so much that you made a huge sacrifice for them and you end up giving them almost everything because you love them so much and it pains you to see them in that situation. During the entire course, they know you are the one who provided for them and supported them through their hurt and pain and even a previous relationship [Egypt and the Pharaoh] yet they turn to the arms of their former lover [pagan gods/golden calf] because they "look" better or have a history with them.  However, you are the one that did all the work, you are the one that made the sacrifices, you are the one that helped them out financially, you are the one that was there for them when everyone else turned their backs; yet you cannot get even a simple THANK YOU!  This is what happened to God. The people he loved and set free ran to the arms of a tangible metal calf made by a man...a man that God created...metal that God created...fire that God created. They worshiped the things God created yet failed to worship the God whom created them. This was a slap in the face to God. Have you ever been slapped in the face? If so your initial reaction is not just pain but anger and even revenge. (Be honest you don't initially have that "turn the other cheek mentality" don't lie). 


How many times has God gotten us out of situations and out of trouble, yet we thank everyone around us. We recognize the job who hired us so we could pay our bills, but we don't recognize the God who created the job and the position. We get awards and thank everyone who helped us to get to the level we are at, yet we don't thank the God who set the path of our lives before we were ever created in the uterus of our mothers. We thank Big Mama for taking care of us and being the backbone of our family, yet we don't thank the God who gave her life and strength to cover 4 generations. We thank everyone but God! We do this all the time, even I have done it. Yet we cannot seem to understand why God sometimes gets angry with us.


I am grateful that I serve a forgiving God. I serve a God who understands that when he created me there would be some issues I would be faced with. There was some pride that would come along and introduce itself to me and I would eat it. There would be an attitude that would date me and I would be married to it. There would be some insecurities I could not out run and I took them in. I serve a God who is a healer and a restorer. He saw my foolish ways and he got me out of so much trouble that I knew it was no one but God. I was more focused on me and my issues that I felt God could not have possibly cared enough or else he would not have allowed all of the bad things to happen. When in reality the bad things happened because of me. He loved me enough to say, yes she got herself in this mess but when I look at her I see my baby and I cannot leave her in there like that. I know she does not appreciate me now but when I am done with her I will be the only name she can utter. I know she is upset because of how she grew up but when I am done with her she will understand why I gave her the grace to survive. She cannot see it now, but she will one day. And because of that one day, that God had planned for me I am no longer the same. Because of that one day that Christ saw my face as he was nailed to the cross...I am free. Because of the love that God has for me and the fact that I belong to him is the only reason I can sit here and write this devotional.


Let it go and Let God. Get out of your own way. I promise you the moment you let go of your life and give it ALL to God you will be blown away at the things he has in store for you.