Confession

is good

Scripture Reading: Exodus 32:35

Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

Ever since God confronted Adam in the Garden and Adam responded by saying, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I ate,” people have been figuring out ways to blame others for their own sin. Adam, with the ease of a confidence man, can cast aspersions on God and Eve in one breath. It was God’s fault because He gave Eve to be with Adam, and it is Eve’s fault for giving Adam the fruit. Do you see how that works?

In the case of the Golden Calf, God anticipates the incoming human obfuscation and cuts it off at the knees. The people could blame Aaron. After all, he was the one who came up with the idea and told the people to donate the gold jewelry. Aaron crafted the calf. Surely they could blame him for the whole mess. Aaron, on the other hand, could blame the people. They were the ones complaining about Moses’ absence. It looked like he was going to have a mutiny on his hands if he didn’t act. He was just trying to hold things together under great stress and difficult circumstances. Aaron could blame the people for their rebellious spirit.

God doesn’t allow either Aaron or the people to excuse themselves. This last sentence of Exodus chapter 32 is brilliantly crafted. The people made the calf that Aaron made. Aaron was guilty. He physically made the idol. The people are guilty, they made the idol in their hearts before it was made in the fire. They provided the material necessary for it to be formed and they agreed with Aaron’s solution to Moses’ absence.

It is the most natural thing in this sinful world for us to shirk our own culpability for sin and to cast aspersions on others. Before you succumb to that instinct, do what John advises: Confess your sin because, “If we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10). And “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).