Exodus 31 & 32
The Lord told Moses to bring Aaron and his sons the door of the Tabernacle and bathe them there. Then he put on them the special robes made for them and poured them the special robes made for them and poured olive oil on Aarons head, anointing him as God’s High Priest. Afterwards Moses gave sacrifices to God on their behalf. That is the way Aaron and his sons became priests.
They sacrificed two lambs every day for the sins of the people. These lambs were killed and then burned before God on the great bronze altar, one in the morning and the other in the evening.
God told Moses to make another altar, too, of wood covered with gold. It was smaller than the bronze altar, and stood inside the tabernacle in the room with the gold table and the gold lampstand.
This altar was not to sacrifice animals on, but for burning incense. When incense burns, it sends up a smoke that is sweet to smell.
The animals sacrificed on the bronze altar represented the Savior being offered up for our sins. The incense sending up its sweet smoke from the gold altar represented the prayers of God’s people. Aaron was commanding to burn incense on the gold altar every morning and every evening when he came into the tabernacle to trim and light the lamps on the gold lampstand. It is a good idea for us to have a special time of prayer each morning and evening just as Aaron did.
God also told Moses to make a huge bronze water tank to stand in the court outside the Tabernacle, near the great bronze altar.
The Lord told a man named Bezaleel to make all these things, for God had given him special ability to make beautiful things out of silver and gold, bronze and jewels. Other men would help him, but God told Bezaleel to be in charge.
When the Lord had finished talking with Moses, He gave him the two tablets of stone on which God had written the Ten Commandments. Moses had been with God on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights learning about all the things God wanted made.
Meanwhile the people of Israel were in their camp at the foot of the mountain. They became impatient when Moses’ stayed so long. They went to Aaron and said, “We don’t know what has become of Moses. We want to worship idols, like all the other nations do.”
“All right,” Aaron said, “bring me your wives’ and children’s gold ear rings.” Aaron melted the earrings in a fire and poured out the gold into a lump, which he then made into the shape of a beautiful gold calf.
The people bowed to the calf and said it was their god who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. Aaron built an altar in front of it and told the people to come back the next day for a big celebration. Early the next morning, they sacrificed a burnt offerings to the calf instead of to the Lord. They had a great party, feasting and getting drunk and dancing around the calf.
All this time Moses was still on the mountain. He couldn’t see what the people was doing, but God could. “Quick! Go down, “God told him, “For the people have done a very wicked thing. They have made a calf and worshipped it and sacrificed to it and called it there god.
Moses hurried down the mountain with the two tablets of stone in his hand. Joshua, his helper, was with him; and as they came near the camp, they heard the noise of the people shouting.
Joshua, said to Moses, “It sounds as if they are getting ready for war.”
No, “Moses said, “It isn’t the noise of war; they are singing.”
When they came nearer Moses looked down and saw the gold calf and the people dancing before it. He could hardly believe it; in great anger he hurled the two tables of stone down the mountain and they broke in pieces as they smashed against the ground.
Questions:
What are sacrifices?
Why did God want them?
Does He want us to sacrifice to Him?
How was the gold calf made?
Why was it wrong to worship it?
What happened to the two stone tablets?
"Only Life Changes" 