For your religious appetite -- A cereal sculpture of the Children of Israel worshipping the golden calf. It's crafted with Smacks, Cheerios, Cocoa Puffs, Cinnamon Chex, Rice Krispies and Shredded Wheat. Hmmmmm, yum.
"So Aaron came to the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself." [Leviticus 9:8]
I wonder what Aaron thought as the calf was slaughtered for his ordination and to purify his sin -- his chief sin, of course, the making of the golden calf and then denying his part. I'm sure it was a poignant moment. Did he wonder, was he amazed and humbled that even after such a terrible public sin that he could be and was forgiven? What grace.
Why does Aaron escape, even when he tried to lie about it? And when so many others were punished with death for the idol incident? Why?
And then two of his sons sin in the Tabernacle and die a horrible death, publicly consumed by far from heaven. Could their be any worse punishment for a father than this? Yes, they sin and so died. But their father had sinned and lived.
This is a hard reading for me as a father. I pray often that the sins of the father don't visit the children. I'm sure it left Aaron wondering why them and not him. Wishing he could trade his fate for theirs. Did he say and pray, "I would have gladly given my life for theirs, Lord!"
Another Father will sacrifice His Son but not for the sins of the Father or the Son. He will die for ours. As tragic and unfathomable as Aaron's and his sons' fates are...far more is what God subjects Himself and His Son to for us.
Lord knows.
My post from last year on this date.
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