Sin takes various forms, but its roots are always the same – putting something else in the place of God. When Moses went up on Mt. Sinai, into a cloud like looked like a devouring fire, and when he had been gone for 40 days (Exodus 24:17), the people simply gave up on him (Exodus 32:23). And so they turned back to the kind of worship they had seen in Egypt.

They asked Aaron to make an image of a calf, a symbol of youth and strength. They plated the calf with gold, indicating how much they valued material wealth (Exodus 32:4). And they proceeded to have a party, eating and drinking and dancing and singing, and called it a worship service (Exodus 32:6, 18-19). And, although they do it in different ways, people still tend to worship the same kinds of things, putting various parts of God’s creation in the place of the Creator, focusing on the gifts, rather than the Giver.

So, how should we deal with such sin once we have identified it? Well, when Moses returned to the people’s campsite, he broke the tablets on which God had written the words of His Law (Exodus 31:18). He thus demonstrates for us just how serious our sin is – apart from the work of Christ, sin destroys our relationship with God, earning His wrath and curse (Exodus 32:10). We dare not minimize or casually dismiss any sinful thought, word, or deed, anything that caused the Father to send His Son to the cross.

Next, Moses burned the gold-plated wooden calf, put its ashes in water and made the people drink it (Exodus 32:20). He thus forced them to internalize what they had done, owning it. We do the same sort of thing when we stop making excuses like Aaron did (Exodus 32:24), and instead admit our sin, confessing it without reservation.

The next thing Moses did was to make the people choose sides. When the faithful Levites said they wanted to stick with the Lord, Moses told them to go and kill those who were the closest to them who had not turned back to God (Exodus 32:26-27). In the same way, if our friends or even our family members keep pulling us back into sin, we have to turn away from them. We can’t let any of our relationships take precedence over our loyalty to God.

So while we rest in the saving work of Christ, let’s not neglect the hard work of confession and repentance today. May God be gracious to show us our sin, to convict us of it, and to draw us closer to Himself. And at the same time, may we turn away from anything and anyone that might stand between us and God. Grateful as we are for His grace, may we turn to Him alone in trust and love.

Exodus 32:1-10, 19-28 (NASB)

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
2 And Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
4 And he took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
5 Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.”
6 So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
7 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
8 “They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'”
9 And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.
10 “Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them, and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

19 And it came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.
20 And he took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water, and made the sons of Israel drink it.
21 Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?”
22 And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil.
23 “For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
24 “And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
25 Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control– for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies–
26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him.
27 And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.'”
28 So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day.