Exodus 32:1-6 "And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play."
Moses had been up on the mount with God for over a month. He had disappeared from the sight of the people. They had heard nothing new, nor had they seen anything miraculous going on. Surely, they needed to do something.
This is one of mankind’s failings. We are not by nature patient creatures. We find waiting to be tedious. It often moves us to try and take matters into our own hands. When it comes to the purpose of God, that is never a wise decision.
It would appear that even Aaron had begun to have his doubts, even though he had been involved in the many miracles that God had worked through Moses. The people came to Aaron and said, “You need to make us a god to go before us.” They had either already forgotten or else were willfully ignoring the command of God in Exodus 20:3-4 that they should have no other gods nor make any graven image.
It is interesting to me that Aaron had the people to break off the earrings from their ears. It would have been much simpler to ask for bracelets or necklaces. Paul told Timothy that the time would come when God’s people would “ not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (2 Timothy 4:3-4)”. This malady is apparent in God’s people throughout the scripture.
Beloved, let us be diligent to wait on the LORD. Because things do not seem to be happening at the pace we expect does not mean that God has abandoned us. When we seek to take matters into our own hands, idolatry will be the outcome. Let us take heed to the Word of God and remember our promise to do all the words that the LORD has said (Exodus 24:3).