The Golden Calf of Distraction

Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Exodus 32 is one of the most cringe-worthy moments in the Bible. While Moses is up on the mountain receiving the blueprints for heaven on earth, the people are at the bottom making a god they can handle. The golden calf is the ultimate low-resolution deity. It’s shiny, it’s expensive, and most importantly, it’s silent. It doesn’t ask anything of them. This is the perennial human temptation: we get bored with the invisible God and settle for a visible substitute.

In the grand narrative, this is the first major breach of the covenant. It shows that even after the Red Sea, even after the manna, the human heart is an idol factory. Reformed theology calls this “total depravity”, which is the idea that every part of us is bent away from God. We see Aaron, the high priest (!!), spinelessly giving in to the crowd, which is a stark warning for any leader today. Psalm 37:1-20 tells us not to “fret because of evildoers” but to “trust in the Lord.” The Israelites failed because they couldn’t wait; they wanted a god now. Israel will later do the same when it comes to a king.

Our idols today aren’t usually made of gold; they are made of social media ‘likes,’ career success, investment account balances, and political ideologies. They are the “golden calves” we build because the real God is taking too long to show up in the way we want. Can you handle a little more pie in the face? Let’s be honest: our golden calf is likely the thing we turn to when we feel most anxious about God’s absence.

Devotional Prompts:

What silent gods are you tempted to create when you feel God is being too slow or too distant?
How did Aaron’s leadership failure contribute to the crisis, and what does that teach us about communal responsibility?
The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. How does mindless consumption often signal a deeper spiritual drift?
Moses intercedes for the people, asking God to remember His promise to Abraham. How does this intercession point us toward Christ?

Prayer: Merciful Father, whose patience exceeds our wildest imagination: forgive us for the idols we craft in the silence of Your waiting. Tear down the golden calves of our comfort and our control. Turn our hearts back to the only God who can actually save us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.