Standing strong on the side of the Lord by Mike Bamiloye
Exodus 32:1-4
1. Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
2. And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
3. So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
4. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
Exodus 32:21
21And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”
Moses had gone up to the mountain to meet The Lord, he had been on the mountain close to 40 days now and the people had waited for him without seeing him. So, they had gathered to Aaron and had demanded him to do something. They demanded him to make them another god that would lead them forth, because, they did not know what has befallen Moses. And we never read that Aaron tried to persuade them against that idea. He never rebuked them. He never refused their request. He was easily intimidated by their gang-up and he gave in to their demand so easily.
He wanted to satisfy them. He wanted to please them. He didn’t want any trouble with the stubborn Israelites. So, he told them to donate all their golds. They gladly did. Then, with his hand, he calved out for them a Golden Calf and presented it to them. They were happy. At least this leader is better than Moses who chastised and rebuke them all the time. Aaron had bought his popularity from the whole people of Israel by the gift he gave to them. Then, they declared, “
“This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”, and they rose up to dance and play before it.
When Moses came down from the mountain and saw this, he said in Anger to Aaron:
“What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”
So, it was not the people’s fault, but Aaron’s. it was Aaron who brought that great evil upon the people of Israel. But it was the people of Israel who gathered up to Aaron and demanded that he make for them another god to lead them forth. Yes. But when Moses was going to the mountain, he put Aaron in charge of the people. He was their leader while Moses was away.
Exodus 24:14-15
14. And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you.
Indeed, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.”
15. Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain.
He did not only supervised the whole process, he was the one made the calf for them because they demanded for it. So he was the one who brought that evil upon the Lord’s people, even though they were the one who stubbornly pushed him to do it. His excuse was THE PEOPLE.
Exodus 32:22-24
22. So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
23. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
24. And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’
So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
He listened to the stubborn gang-up of the people.
Another similar case was the case of King Saul, whom The Lord had commanded to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites, not sparing anyone or anything. In the process of wiping out the land, he spared the fatted cows and some precious things including King Agag of Amalek. The Lord saw it and said to Samuel:
1 Samuel 15:11
“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from
following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel,
and he cried out to the Lord all night.
He went against the Amalekites and won the war, but it was not a complete obedience. Why did King Saul do this? When Samuel approached him to asked for why he disobeyed The Lord by not wiping out the land absolutely as commanded by God. He replied as Aaron:
1 Samuel 15:15
And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people
spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God;
and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
The people demanded to spare the fatted cows and he best of sheep, and he agreed with them, he never stood against it and he never gave them the commandment of a leader not to touch anything but to kill everything. He loves the people, he wanted to satisfy the demand of the people at the expense of disobeying the instructions of God.
And what did The Lord say to this through His Prophet? The judgement came immediately. It was that day his calling as king of Israel was aborted. His appointment was terminated as leader of the poeple. He ceased from being a king as far as Heaven is concerned. He became a deposed king-in-the-waiting. God began to prepare a substitute in his place. Because he feared his people he was to lead and listened to them to please them.
But Joshua did differently. When The Lord brought them to the walls of Jericho. God told them never to take anything out of Jericho but to utterly wipe the city out, man and animal.
Even the man who disobeyed and took a garment and a bar of gold in disobedience to the instructions of God, Joshua wiped that man out with all his family and herds. He never listened to the people to disobey The Lord. However, how did Aaron pay for arrant weakness in leadership? He lost his chance of crossing over to Canaan Land. How did King Saul pay for this action? He lost his kingship:
1 Samuel 15:23c
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.”
Are you a drama leader or Music leader? Are you a ministry leader or a Church leader? A you a group leader or President of a christian association? Must you listen to your members to walk against the will of God? In your desire to please your ministry members or group members, must you deliberately disobey the Lord’s instructions. Many of us leaders are so weak in making decisions. We would still want to dance to the drumming of our members even after we have known absolutely what The Lord has said. The Lord had said the money in ministry purse should be used to hold a film crusade or make another film, but the members are thinking differently, they agreed together that the money should be shared among members. The Lord had said the ministry should go on a three day retreat, but the members want the leader to honor that invitation to the ministration in Maitama, Abuja. The Lord wanted the ministry to use that fat offering for the missionaries, the members are insisting it should be added to the money for the building project.
Do you realize The Lord did not say anything to the people who followed Saul to battle? It was Saul The Lord dealt with. And by raising up another god in place of The Lord God for the people of Israel, Aaron had technically lost his priesthood that very day. Must you disobey The Lord to obey your ministry or group members? Must you displease The Lord to please your church members or association members. As a leader of the group or ministry, hasn’t The Lord placed you at the position to give order and instructions according to the will and plans of God?
Several men and women have flagrantly disobeyed the Lord’s express instructions just to please their children. As long as their children are happy and pleased, they are OK even when they know what they are doing is absolutely against The Lord.
Therefore, many could not excel in ministry because they have placed their revered ministry or group members above the Word of God; they have sought to please their respectable members and displease The Lord God who called them and placed them as leader of their people. Consequently, many are still physically in the leadership of their ministry, but they had been technically detached from the source of Anointing and power because they had disregarded The Lord in the process of pleasing their ministry/group members. While many mothers and fathers had placed the feet of their children in a wrong direction in life, because they have chosen to place them above the Word of God and dishonor God in the process of honoring God.
But how can you be a leader without steeping on your members’ toes once in a while? How can you be a Godly leader without having boldness to rebuke their errors and correct their mistakes? In order to lead well and finish well, we must continually be on the Lord’s side, even if we would be the only one on The Lord’s side. When Moses saw that everyone of the people had danced before the golden calf, he shouted aloud:
Exodus 32:26
then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said,
“Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come to me!” And all the sons of
Levi gathered themselves together to him.
At times, in our ministries, when everyone tends to be going in the wrong direction and we are beginning to feel we are alone in the centre of The Lord’s will, instead of following the crowd, we should learn to declare like Moses: “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me!”
Because, when the chips are down, and the day is dawn, when the verdict of The Lord would come on that disobedience, it is the leader who bowed to the pressure of the people, that will face the loudest music first. So, one of the secrets of experiencing Great Manifestations of the miracles of God is to stand strong on the Lord’s side.
MIKE BAMILOYE
#mikebamiloyedevotionals
