As many of you know, I am reading through the Bible in chronological order. As I go along, I write about things that stick-out at me and I call it, “With Your Latte.” And when my reading plan took me to Exodus 32:24 I literally laughed out loud.

Meet Aaron – the brother of Moses. Here’s a guy who’s about to be anointed High Priest of Israel. Aaron was God’s choice to be the highest ranking spiritual official. The story is found in Exodus 32 and would take why too long to elaborate here. But you don’t need to know the story to realize that what Aaron said to Moses in verse 24 was a lie. It reads:

(Aaron speaking) “So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire—and out came this calf!”

OF COURSE that’s not what happened. Aaron caved under the pressure and built the thing (Exodus 32:2-5). Worse, he attempted to cover it up with a lie. Ironically, the account actually makes me feel pretty good about my ministry. Of course I am NOT comparing myself to the likes of Moses’ brother. It does, however, give me hope in that although Aaron fashioned a god for the people to worship, the REAL God saw past that transgression and anointed Him as high priest. Aaron was in direct violation to the very first of the Ten Commandments. Granted, Moses had not yet emailed his brother of these new laws of God. Non-the-less, the words from God to Moses, (Exodus 32:7), and from Moses to Aaron, (Exodus 32:19-21), make it clear that Aaron knew what he had done was wrong. Still, after it was all said and done, Aaron was in fact anointed as High Priest.

God always sees what we are becoming and not what we have done. We must come to the realization that every sin that we ever committed and will commit was paid for by Jesus. Therefore, God already knew every stupid thing we would do, planned for our forgiveness, redeemed us regardless, and planned for us a future (Jeremiah 29:11). Our “What was I thinking” decisions did not throw God’s plan of course. Romans 8:28 promises us that God will work ALL things out to His good. We can’t alarm God nor can we cause Him to be angry with us. Philippians 1:6 says that, “…God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

These promises and others certainly don’t excuse Aaron’s behavior nor does it excuse others. Let me also remind you that there are often negative consequences for our actions. But never think you’ve gone so far that God won’t complete what he began in you. May I also recommend Jeremiah 18:1-4 .