The Sin of the Golden Calf: The Whole Story Doesn't Make Sense - until now

the calf of gold after the israelites had fled egypt an unusual event occurred in exodus chapter 32 god split the red sea while the egyptians were on their tail allowing the israelites to pass through safely god drowned the egyptians in the red sea once they arrived safely at the other end the israelites then did something we often see in the old testament while moses was on mount sinai retrieving the ten commandments they became agitated people were impatient with moses's delay in returning to them so they asked darren to make an idol for them when moses was on the mountain with god the israelites began to wonder where their leader had gone it did not take long for them to look for a new leader if only for a season they broke the first of the ten commandments when they gathered around aaron to ask for his assistance in making a golden calf despite the fact that aaron's convictions lagged far behind those of moses the people begged him to take command why most likely due to the law of respect when moses vanished the people looked for the next strongest leader to take his place they did this because of people are like sheep in the absence of a shepherd they will always require a leader as jesus stated mark chapter 6 34 when jesus landed and saw a large crowd he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd so he began teaching them many things number two people are preoccupied with their immediate perceived needs they struggle with the concept of delayed gratification people suffer from memory failure they are always asking what has the leader done for me recently number four people are insecure they begin to worry without abundant signs of hope aaron meekly complied by transforming their golden earrings which were most likely part of the plunder brought from egypt into a golden molded calf an act that was explicitly forbidden exodus chapter 20 verse 4 you shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below then they reveled worshipping the idol while eating drinking and playing immorally they claimed to be worshipping the lord but only through the calf when the israelites left egypt god blessed them with gold but the blessing turned into a curse due to their sinful hearts [Music] then the lord said to moses go down because your people whom you brought up out of egypt have become corrupt they have been quick to turn away from what i commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf they have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said these are your gods israel who brought you up out of egypt i have seen these people the lord said to moses and they are a stiff-necked people now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that i may destroy them then i will make you into a great nation but moses sought the favor of the lord his god lord he said why should your anger burn against your people whom you brought out of egypt with great power and a mighty hand why should the egyptians say it was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth turn from your fierce anger relent and do not bring disaster on your people remember your servants abraham isaac and israel to whom you swore by your own self i will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and i will give your descendants all this land i promised them and it will be their inheritance forever in his response moses stands out as one of the bible's great intercessors take note of the strong arguments he employs first and foremost the people were the lord's people second god cared enough about them to deliver them from egypt third the egyptians would rejoice if god accomplished for his people what the egyptians had failed to accomplish fourth god must keep the promises he made to the patriarchs god's promises provide the foundation for powerful prayer when we base our prayers on what god has promised to do we are standing on solid ground instead of worshiping the eternal god of the universe the israelites created an idol devoid of majesty greatness holiness or power this was a blatant insult to god the lord created us for himself and we dishonor him when we choose a relationship with a lifeless object over him do not offend almighty god by turning to something that will be destroyed one day something that can neither care for nor help you choose everlasting god who loves you instead god is greater than any earthly comfort or security and he forbids all forms of idolatry exodus chapter 32 verse 14 then the lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened so the lord relented from the harm the word harm means punishment in this context in response to the intercession of moses the lord turned away from the punishment which he otherwise would have inflicted on his people moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands they were inscribed on both sides front and back the tablets were the work of god the writing was the writing of god engraved on the tablets when joshua heard the noise of the people shouting he said to moses there is the sound of war in the camp moses replied it is not the sound of victory it is not the sound of defeat it is the sound of singing that i hear when moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain and he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire then he ground it to powder scattered it on the water and made the israelites drink it exodus chapter 32 verse 15-20 [Music] moses descended the mountain met joshua on the way and arrived at the people during their sensual idolatrous feast as a witness to what the people had already done he broke the tablets of the law in righteous rage he then ground the golden calf to powder sprinkled it on the water and made the people drink it possibly implying that our sins returned to us in the form of a bitter potion [Music] exodus chapter 32 verse 21-24 he said to aaron what did these people do to you that you led them into such great sin do not be angry my lord aaron answered you know how prone these people are to evil they said to me make us gods who will go before us as for this fellow moses who brought us up out of egypt we don't know what has happened to him so i told them whoever has any gold jewelry take it off then they gave me the gold and i threw it into the fire and out came this calf when moses asked aaron what the people had done to deserve this treatment aaron explained what had happened implying that the golden calf had mysteriously emerged from the fire only because of moses's intercession did the lord spare aaron's life deuteronomy chapter 9 verse 19-20 i feared the anger and wrath of the lord for he was angry enough with you to destroy you but again the lord listened to me and the lord was angry enough with aaron to destroy him but at that time i prayed for aaron too exodus chapter 32 verse 25-29 moses saw that the people were running wild and that aaron had let them get out of control and so became a laughingstock to their enemies so he stood at the entrance to the camp and said whoever is for the lord come to me and all the levites rallied to him then he said to them this is what the lord the god of israel says each man strap a sword to his side go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other each killing his brother and friend and neighbor the levites did as moses commanded and that day about three thousand of the people died then moses said you have been set apart to the lord today for you were against your own sons and brothers and he has blessed you this day three thousand people were killed here as a result of a broken law in contrast to this tragic event pentecost brought salvation to 3 000 people through the gospel of grace the levites heroic loyalty may have contributed to their selection as the priestly tribe moses went back up the mountain to meet the lord hoping that he could atone for the people's sin the lord's response was two-fold first he would punish those who made the calf via a plague second he would send his angel to accompany moses as he led the people to the promised land in verse 32 moses's character shines through he was willing to die for his people blot me out of your book is a metaphor for put an end to my life god protected moses but he did not protect his beloved son how like our lord who died for the unjust the lord refused to accompany the rebellious israelites on their journey to canaan fearing that he would be forced to destroy them along the way he would instead send an angel as his representative when the people learned of the bad news they wept and stripped themselves of their ornaments such as those used to make the golden calf and never wore them again after mount horeb why was a calf chosen as the chosen symbol bulls and calves were a common animal sacrifice at the time representing strength and fertility many egyptian gods were modeled after bulls so the golden calf was an obvious choice for the israelites fleeing egypt by the time moses descended mount sinai the israelites had sacrificed to this idol and indulged in revelries the situation had gotten out of control the golden calf's consequences what made the israelites decide on a calf one could point to the gods of other nations as a possible source of inspiration for this the egyptian god hathor a bull goddess of joy celebration and love may have had some influence on the shape of this idol apis a calf another egyptian deity could have served as inspiration one could also point to the chief god of canaanite literature l a bull or bal an ox golden calves make an appearance once again when jeroboam a contender for the throne of israel makes two of them one kings chapter 12 verse 25 through 33 golden calves at bethel and dan then jeroboam fortified shechem in the hill country of ephraim and lived there from there he went out and built up penile jeroboam thought to himself the kingdom will now likely revert to the house of david if these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the lord in jerusalem they will again give their allegiance to their lord rehoboam king of judah they will kill me and return to king rehoboam after seeking advice the king made two golden calves he said to the people it is too much for you to go up to jerusalem here are your gods israel who brought you up out of egypt one he set up in bethel and the other in dan and this thing became a sin the people came to worship the one at bethel and went as far as dan to worship the other jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people even though they were not levites he instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the festival held in judah and offered sacrifices on the altar this he did in bethel sacrificing to the calves he had made and at bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made on the 15th day of the eighth month a month of his own choosing he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at bethel so he instituted the festival for the israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings in both cases idol worship of calves results in massive destruction the israelites lost 3 000 people when aaron made a calf jeroboam who led the northern kingdom led it in a direction of destruction and a very bad line of kings when the israelites ultimately were taken over by the assyrians in 722 bc although the inspiration for these idols may have come from other religions bull cow and calf idols appear throughout the old testament narrative it is no surprise that the first two commandments seem to speak out against gods and idols the deeper meaning of the golden calf number one the israelites took god's gifts and made them into an idol whether they intended to replace moses as a mediator or to create an outright idol they turned the gold that came as a gift from egypt a gift from god essentially into an abomination although this may seem distant from our time after all we do not worship golden calves on sundays how often do christians take god's gifts and worship them instead of the creator number two the israelites grew impatient they waited a long time for moses to return from mount sinai with the ten commandments because god refused to move on their timetable they decided to make their own and force his hand even though we have god's commandments written down in our bibles we can get frustrated when he does not seem to move according to our schedule so we try to force his hand through other means we may try to pursue certain opportunities or relationships when he has not yet given us permission to do so number three the israelites attempted to justify their reasons for erecting the golden calf when moses confronted aaron later in the passage about why he built the calf aaron only offered excuses when we worship idols in our lives we can often create our own logic for why we are justified in worshiping anything less than god bless [Music] you

Channel: Grace Digital Network

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Keywords: grace digital, golden calf, moses, exodus bible study, idol bible, The Ten Commandments and the Golden Calf

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Length: 15min 43sec (943 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 23 2022