Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons
There is no doubt, according to the stories that we find in Exodus, that the unfaithfulness of Israel in substituting worship of the golden calf for worship of the Lord caused a deep rift between God and his chosen people. Up to this time God had always accompanied his people personally in their trek through the wilderness. But God had experienced the fickleness of his people. As a result, the Lord introduces several means of mediating between himself and Israel. "I will not go up among you, lest I consume you in the way, for you are a stiff-necked people" (Exodus 33:3).