So
Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know
the people, that they are set on evil. 23
For
they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this
Moses, the man who brought us out of 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 break it off.’ So
they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came
out.”
25
Now
when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not
restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), 26
then
Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on
the Lord’s
side—come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves
together to him. 27
And
he said to them, “Thus says the Lord
God
of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and
out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man
kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his
neighbor.’” 28
So
the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three
thousand men of the people fell that day. 29
Then
Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord,
that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has
opposed his son and his brother.”
Exodus 32:22-29
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In this section from the Bible, the Israelites disobeyed God while Moses was absent, so they were punished. Aaron tried to explain to Moses that he had not concocted to idol himself, but that the calf just popped out of the fire. I think it is humorous that way he says this because instead of confessing and admitting his fault, he tries so hard to conceal it. Moses, fuming with anger at his cynical people, asked for those that were on God's side to separate themselves from the evil. Then, the ones that went to Moses were told to slaughter their own family and friends as the Lord had told them to. I feel so sorry for those who had to do that. It must have been a very gory, traumatic scene. I cannot even imagine having to only listen to all the screams of the people, nevertheless, kill any of those children. I do understand, however, that after what all those people had done -worshiping idols, sacrificing, being immoral- they had to be punished by death, for they were acting just like the Egyptians had. Since God's people had done wrong and acted shamefully, they had to be disciplined.
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