A LESSON FROM MOSES AND AARON

• A LESSON FROM MOSES AND AARON Not long ago I awoke at about 4:00 a.m. with a troubling question on my mind. How come Aaron was not killed with the others who worshipped before the golden calf? Here is a brief summary of what happened: (See Ex. 32)
• Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments.
• The people came to Aaron and asked him to make them gods to go before them.
• Aaron asked the people for their golden ear rings.
• Aaron fashioned a molten calf with a graving tool and announced that “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (vs. 4)
• Aaron built an altar for the calf and proclaimed a feast to the lord.
• The people had an orgy before the golden calf.
• When Moses realized what was done he threw down the Ten Commands and broke them.
• Moses ground the golden calf to powder, mixed it with water, and made the people drink.
• Aaron said that he merely cast the gold into the fire and the calf just came out (vs. 24).
• The Levites were summoned to kill all involved. They were instructed to slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour (vs. 27)
• About 3,000 men died (vs. 28).
• The Lord plagued the people because of the calf which Aaron made (vs. 35).
• Aaron was obviously guilty . . . how come he didn’t die?

The answer to this question is found in Deut. 9:20. Moses said: “And the Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time”.

Aaron was guilty, but God did not destroy him because Moses prayed for him. The people were also guilty and God also pardoned them because Moses prayed for them. Moses fell on his face before God and made prayers of intercession. He ate no bread and drank no water for forty days. He was willing to be blotted out of the book of life if only God would spare Israel. The Lord answered his prayers for Israel and also for Aaron. Moses was the intercessor who saved them from destruction. How beautiful. How utterly beautiful! This happened, as you know, over 3,000 years ago, yet it is exceedingly relevant for the Christian. We also have an Intercessor Who saves us from destruction. Our “Advocate” with the Father is “Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John2:1-2). Aaron was guilty, and we are guilty. Aaron was spared because Moses interceded for him, and we are spared because Jesus Christ intercedes for us. One reason the ministry of Jesus is superior to that of Moses, is that Moses died but Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us (Heb. 7:25). God not only called Aaron to be the High Priest but ordained that all the priests of Israel come from his family. Perhaps one reason for this choice, is that Aaron, more than any other, should have understood the importance of intercession. Without the intercession of Moses he would have been put to death. Intercession was a primary function of the High Priest. On the Day of Atonement, for example, he was to enter into the Holy of Holies and ask God to forgive the nation. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross was essential to our salvation, but so is His ministry of intercession. The Scriptures remind us that if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life? (Rom. 5:10) We were not only sinners before we received Jesus Christ as Lord, but we still continue to commit sins and make mistakes. If we deny this, we make God a liar and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8-10). We are not condemned, however, because Christ Jesus died for our sins, was raised from the dead, and is now at the right hand of God interceding for us (Rom. 8:34). What Moses did for Aaron is recorded for a reason. It was written for our learning (Rom. 15:4). It emboldens us with the promise that we are “more than conquerors”, and that “nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This is a lesson we can learn from Moses and Aaron!