After having Moses read the Book of the Covenant to Israel, Exodus 20:22-23:19, 24:1-8, God invited Aaron, his sons Nadab and Abihu and the elders of Israel to accompany Moses on one of his several trips up Mt. Sinai. God let them enjoy the Glory of his Presence without destroying them Exodus 24:9-11. Moses left Aaron and Hur in charge of Israel while he and Joshua regained the summit Exodus 24:12.
However, 40 days later, when the rabble tired of waiting for Moses to re-appear from the mountain, they demanded a change of leaders and deities. Aaron, with Hur's compliance, immediately collapsed before their depravity. Where Moses had boldly encouraged a terrified Israel at the Red Sea, "Don't be afraid," Aaron supinely said to rebellious Israel at Sinai, "You scare me." Where Moses earlier told a fearful Israel to "go forward," Aaron cravenly promised, "I'll build you a deity." God obviously chose the right man in Moses to serve in crisis. He exercised his leadership by moving Israel forward into the Sea. Aaron abandoned his leadership by letting apostates carry him into apostasy WITH THEM. Then, having second thoughts, wanted to combine the worship of an obscene calf with submission to Almighty God! A spiritual lesson lurks in their respective experiences. We may take strength from a stronger Christian and think that makes us strong. But we won't KNOW until we STAND ALONE! We can always borrow confidence from others and think theirs includes us. But no...only personally- gained-faith generates personally-strong discipleship when we're challenged to produce the fruit of the Spirit. Then discipleship isn't, "what I've seen in my brothers or sisters," but, "what I've personally learned from and experienced with Jesus." We're not alone as Christians. But we often serve alone. We often face crises alone. We make decisions alone. And when alone we decide how to respond when hearing comments for or against Jesus. We can always be sure God calls the right person to lead—a church, a family, a relationship. As Moses' decision proved when choosing Aaron and Hur to lead in his absence, WE can always, and often do, choose the wrong people. How many times have church leaders hired the "right person" as a minister, only to discover he was "WRONG" for them? Fini
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