The People Make a Golden Calf to Worship
June 29, 2022
Commentary
Even though the Israelites had seen the invisible God in action, they still wanted the familiar gods they could see and shape into whatever image they desired (vv. 1-10). It was not long after the Israelites had agreed to be the Lord’s covenant people that they asked Aaron to make them a false image and he agreed by melting the wife’s earrings into an idol in the shape of a young bull (vv. 1-4). No doubt the Israelites, fresh from Egypt found it quite natural to make a golden calf to represent the God that has just delivered them from their oppressors. They were not interested in a god without a face. Aaron built an altar in front of the idol, the people sacrificed animals there and they got drunk and acted like wild animals (vv. 5-6). We tend to be just like them. Our great temptation is to make God someone convenient to obey or ignore.
God told Moses to hurry back down the mountain and check on the people because they were acting like fools (v. 7), by building themselves an idol and making sacrifices to it (v. 8). He went on to tell Moses that these are a stubborn people and that He is angry enough to destroy them so don’t try to destroy them (vv. 9-10). God had made it very plain; “You shall not make for yourself a carved image… any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Ex. 20:4).
Application
Even if I do not make idols, I am often guilty of trying to make God fit my image, molding him to fit my expectations, desires, and circumstances. When I do this I end up worshiping myself rather than the God who created me. When I am tempted to do this I need to change my thinking in order to worship the powerful God who delivered me from the bondage of sin?
Exodus 32:1– 10 (NET)
1 When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Get up, make us gods that will go before us. As for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!”
2 So Aaron said to them, “Break off the gold earrings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people broke off the gold earrings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He accepted the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molten calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow will be a feast to the Lord.” 6 So they got up early on the next day and offered up burnt offerings and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.
7 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Go quickly, descend, because your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have acted corruptly. 8 They have quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them—they have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.’”
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people. Look what a stiff-necked people they are! 10 So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.”
Illustration: Two Robbers Seal Their Fate in Court
The scene was San Diego Superior Court. Two men were on trial for armed robbery. An eyewitness took the stand, and the prosecutor moved carefully: “So, you say you were at the scene when the robbery took place?” “Yes.” “And you saw a vehicle leave at a high rate of speed?” “Yes.” “And did you observe the occupants?” “Yes, two men.” “And,” the prosecutor boomed, “are those two men present in court today?” At this point the two defendants sealed their fate. They raised their hands. (Tom Blair in San Diego Union, quoted in Reader’s Digest).