DAY 1
MOSES WAS THREE YEARS YOUNGER than his brother, Aaron, but starting with the day Pharaoh’s daughter fished him out of the bulrushes and adopted him, Moses was the one who always got the headlines while Aaron got the short end of the stick. Even when Moses had to clear out of Egypt for doing in an Egyptian Jew-baiter, he landed on his feet by marrying the daughter of a well-heeled sheep rancher across the border.
Aaron, in the meanwhile, went quietly off into the ministry, where in the long run he didn’t do so badly either, except that the only people who ever heard about him were the ones who turned to the religion section on the back pages. Moses, on the other hand, was forever making the cover. The payoff came around the time Moses hit eighty, and out of a burning bush God himself voted him Man of the Year. As usual, Aaron had to be content with playing second fiddle, which he did well enough until he got the break he’d been waiting for at last, and then he blew it.
With Moses lingering so long on Mt. Sinai that some thought he’d settled down and gone into real estate, the people turned to Aaron for leadership, and in no time flat–despite an expensive theological education and all those years in denominational headquarters–he had them dancing around the Golden Calf like a bunch of aborigines.
Nobody knows whether this was Aaron’s way of getting even with his kid brother for all those years of eating humble pie, or whether he actually believed with the rest of humankind that a God in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Exodus 32:1-4
my reflection Nobody knows more than me how easy it is to get one’s head turned from what’s important. Aaron spent all his life doing what was right, living life the right way, and here his little brother was, getting to bask in glory time after time. I think even the most humble person would struggle with that, at least internally. And then Aaron finally had his chance for his place in the sun, and in the dazzlement of the moment he forgot living life the right way. He went after the accolades instead. I see some echoes of the Prodigal Son parable in this devotional. It would certain be understandable, though not right, for Aaron to harbor some resentment and jealousy toward Moses. In the end, it really didn’t matter; as Mr. Buechner said, Aaron got his chance, and he blew it. At some point, I think, many of us will get our chances, perhaps when we least expect it. For my part, I plan to do everything I can to not blow mine. I’m hoping I’m successful.
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