Exodus 32 - Golden Calf in Exodus Community
Golden Calf represents Apis and Baal:
The worship of the golden calf is seen as a supreme act of apostasy of the Exodus Community. The Calf is a representation of the Egyptian bull god Apis, and of the Canaanite fertility god Baal during the period of Kings (Exodus 32, 1 King 12). This was a molten image of a calf that the idolatrous Israelites formed at Sinai. After a while, the Israelites feared that their leader would never return. Israelites grew impatient with Moses tarried on Mount Sinai. They started to grow restless and fearful. Many of them, it would seem, were uncomfortable with the idea of an invisible god anyway, preferring a god that could be represented in a more solid, tangible, visible form.
Some decided to make a new god to "go up before them" or worship. They took their gold jewels and melted them down to form a Golden Calf. The Israelites did a very foolish and irrational thing. They proclaimed that this Egyptian deity was the person that delivered them from slavery. They replaced Moses, replaced God, and rewrote their history with lies and misconceptions. Aaron made the calf and told the Israelites that it is Yahweh. So, he told them that tomorrow shall be a festival of YHWH (Exodus 32:5). So, the Israelites brought sacrifices before the calf thinking that, they were sacrificing to YHWH. An absolute violation of the Law of the Lord
Role of Aaron:
Aaron’s response to Moses seems an outright lie. we know that according to Exodus 32:4, Aaron had “made” the gold into a molten calf; he didn’t hurl it into the fire, only to see it magically transformed into a calf. Not only is Aaron telling an outright lie, but the incredible event he claims occurred is also quite incomprehensible. Jewish Rabbis created legends to safeguard Aaron as innocent saying that the calf came forth alive, and the calf came forth by itself.
The reaction of Moses:
Moses broke the tablets (symbolic of breaking the covenant relationship with God) and had the idol melted down, pulverized, and mixed with water. The chapter ends with a plague being cursed upon the Israelites for the Golden Calf as they embark toward Canaan. Moses confronted Aaron and asked him why he committed such a great sin. Aaron said that the people forced him to make the idol. Moses executed 3,000 men for their sins (Exodus 32:20-28). Then Moses confronted the entire nation with their great sin and told them that he had asked God to forgive them. However, the Lord told Moses that in the future He would punish whoever sinned against Him (Exodus 32:30-35).
YHWH’s fury:
Yahweh became indignant at the golden calf of Aaron and the Israelites. God went to the point of destroying the Israelites altogether. Their sin was multiple: They violated the first words of YHWH’s law, not to make any silver or gold representations of YHWH. They rejected the theophany, the experience of hearing the Decalogue, the establishment of Moses as a prophet, the thrice-repeated agreement to follow whatever laws Moses might transmit to them from YHWH, the law-giving proper, and the covenant ceremony. In one act, they have undermined the whole of YHWH’s covenantal arrangement with them.
LESSONS:
1. The golden calf is a direct rebellion to the first words of the Decalogue in Exodus 20:2-4.
2. Idolatry is a very serious sin against God. Idolatry is committed when a person attempts to either replace the true God with a false deity or gives priority to a person, thing, or desire than God. Flee from Idiolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14).
3. There was a conflict between the revelation of God and the rebellion of the worshippers. God would like to reveal himself at the same time Satan diverts the followers of God. He blinds the minds of the People (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Discussion:
What great Sin have we been caught as Christians or church?
(Exodus 32:1-35, Biblical Archaeological Society, Encyclopaedia of Britannica, Prof. Joel Baden, Professor of Hebrew Bible at Yale University).
(Please refer this cite for further studies on Exodus Events)
