For hundreds of years, God’s people lived as slaves in Egypt. They cried out to God, and He rescued them. God parted the waters of the Red Sea. He led them through to freedom in the wilderness. He showed His love and care by providing bread from heaven and water from solid rock. After three months, God led His people to Mount Sinai where they set up camp in the desert at the foot of the mountain. God calls to Moses. God called out to their leader, Moses, from the mountain.

Moses shared God’s words with the people, and they agreed to do everything God said. Later, God called Moses to meet with Him again on the mountaintop. Before he left, Moses told the elders that if anyone had a problem, they could talk to Aaron and Hur. Then Moses and his helper, Joshua, went up the mountain. The glory of God settled on the mountain like clouds and fire.


Moses stayed within the cloud on the mountain, talking with God for 40 days and 40 nights. The people went to Aaron and complained that Moses had left them. Aaron told them to give him their gold jewelry. Aaron melted the jewelry down and formed it into a statue in the shape of a golden calf. The people wanted to make a statue of God that they could see and worship

The next day, the people brought sacrifices to honor the golden calf. They ate and drank and danced wildly in front of it party foul. Up on the mountain, God spoke to Moses and Joshua began their trip down the mountain.

Moses carried two heavy stone tablets covered with the laws God had given
Joshua heard the people shouting, thought it sounded like they were at war
As Moses approached the camp, he saw the people dancing. He heard their cheers and chants as they worshipped the golden calf. Moses was so angry that he threw the tablets down and broke them. He burned the golden calf in the fire, ground it into powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.

Through the years, God had helped His people over and over. When they had to wait, they forgot His goodness. They chose their own way . . . and they had to face the consequences. God was faithful and trustworthy through it all, and He is faithful and trustworthy to us, too.

Bottom Line: When you have to wait, remember what’s true.
We can choose to be patient and remember how good God has been to us.