As Moses and the people recover from the golden calf incident, God begins to distance Himself from the Israelites. God uses the language of distancing as Exodus chapter 33 opens. Did God mean what He said, or was He testing the people? How did they react? We also learn what happened to all of that gold which the Israelites received when they left Egypt. And we find out more about another person who will become very important later, a man named Joshua.

Moses is upset. God has informed him that He can no longer lead the people to the Promised Land because of their stubborn hearts. God says He will lose His patience and strike them with His wrath. Moses appeals to the Lord, making it clear that they want God and no other "substitute guide" will do. Moses asks God to reconsider and, in essence, wants God to prove that He loves Moses. How will God respond?

Bluegrass gospel about a cross on a hill that leads me back to my old home in West Virginia where the cold Coal River and hand-cranked ice cream awaits. Another cross on a different hill leads me like a lighthouse on a stormy sea.

Everyone knows that the Ten Commandments were written on two stone tablets. If nothing else, most of us have seen Charlton Heston as Moses descending Mt. Sinai with those stone tablets in his hands! The question is: "Why two tablets?" If you review some classical art and re-watch the movie, you might think that each stone tablet had five Commandments each. But that is not it. Both tablets had all ten. Why were there two exact copies? And what kind of punishment did Moses mete out to the people who were worshipping the gold calf? Yuck!

Moses had heard and seen what the people were doing as they worshipped the golden calf, and he made sure they suffered certain consequences. He also held Aaron responsible for his part in making the calf. In the midst of these things, the Levites were set apart as the priestly tribe. Eventually, Moses went back to the top of Mt. Sinai with a different perspective about how God might view these people because of their sinfulness!

Well, Aaron has made the golden calf. What was he thinking? He must have known it was wrong, but the social pressure applied by the people was too great for him to withstand. What was God's response? How did Moses feel about God's plan? Was it really a "plan," or was it a test that God was giving Moses to see how he would react?

Moses had been at the top of Mt. Sinai for forty days and the people had lost their patience. If Moses could not lead them to the Promised Land, they would make a god who would go before them, at least an image of that god. So they turned to Aaron to make the golden calf out of pure gold. What kind of god did they expect Aaron to make, a pagan god, a new god, or a God they already knew? Why Aaron? And where did all of that gold come from? Oh, and what did they think had happened to Moses?

There is still a lot happening at the base of Mt. Sinai after God gives the Ten Commandments. Moses continues to interact with both God and the people. The Israelites pressure Moses to fulfill a specific role on their behalf because they are afraid to do it themselves. God appoints Moses to build an altar, and it must be constructed without any tools. Why? Moses is still busy serving the Lord and His people!