So after class on Sunday, I started realizing something that I hadn't really thought about before. Where did the golden calf come from? I mean it takes a lot of gold to make a golden calf, so where did the supplies actually come from?

Do you remember who the Israelites were before the Exodus? Maybe it is better asked, do you remember what the Israelites were before the Exodus?

Slaves. Their lot in life was minimal. They owned little. They were owned by many. I know there were a lot of them. Estimates vary from the 1.6 to 2.5 million Israelites, enslaved in Egypt.

On the night of the first Passover as recorded in Exodus 12, death came to the firstborn sons as a result of the Pharaoh's unwillingness to let God's people go. The people of Egypt were so sick of the inconveniences, plagues and now death that had resulted from all of this that they wanted to do anything they could to get the Israelites to leave their country and never return. So guess what happened, the masters turned to their slaves and said,"You can have whatever you want of my stuff." Exodus 12:36 say, "The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!"

So catch the circle of things that is happening? It is crazy that in Exodus chapter 12 God is causing the Egyptians to give the Israelites whatever they ask for and then in chapter 32 the Israelites are making a god out of the jewelry that God caused the Egyptians to give them.

POINT: How often do we take the things that God has given us and turn them into gods? In what ways do we take the things we have and turn them into gods, forgetting that they were from God. Like the Israelites, sometimes we are given blessings from God and instead of thanking God, the blessings become our gods.