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SERIES D --- YHVH’S TABERNACLE --- LESSON 08

REBELLION

THE GOLDEN CALF

From Exodus 32

Back in the camp of Israel, the people grew restless when Moses did not return from Mount Sinai. At last, they sent some people to talk with Aaron. They said: [Look, we don’t know what has happened to this fellow Moses, who led us from Egypt, so make us some gods to lead us.] [All right,] Aaron replied, [but you must bring me all the golden earrings which your wives and children are wearing.] The people took the golden earrings which their wives and children were wearing and brought them to Aaron. He melted the gold and fashioned it into a golden calf. [This is the god who brought us from Egypt!] the people cried out. Then Aaron built an altar before the golden calf and proclaimed: [Tomorrow we will have a feast to this lord.] Early the following morning the people arose and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Afterward they had a great feast with food and drink, and then they began to play. But Adonai spoke to Moses at this time. [Hurry, get back to the camp,] He said. [The people you have brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves and have turned away from the way I have Commanded them to follow. They have moulded a calf and are worshiping it and sacrificing to it, saying that it is the god who brought them out of Egypt.] Adonai also said to Moses, [I have watched these stubborn, rebellious people. Now let me consume them with My burning anger and build a great nation from you and your descendants.] But Moses pleaded with Adonai. [Why should You consume them with Your burning anger, Adonai?] he begged. [These are Your people whom You brought from Egypt with great power and a mighty hand. Can’t You hear what the Egyptians would say? ‘Look! YHVH brought them out of our land to destroy them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth.’ Turn from Your great anger and do not send this great destruction upon Your people. Remember how You swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that You would multiply their descendants as the stars of heaven and give them the land to inherit forever through their descendants.] Adonai turned away from His burning anger and did not completely destroy the people of Israel. Then Moses descended from the mountain with the two stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written on both sides, engraved by the hand of YHVH. When Joshua, who was with Moses, heard the noise in the camp below, he said, [It sounds like war in the camp.] [I hear the sound of singing,] Moses replied, [but not the sound of either victory or defeat in battle.] As Moses and Joshua approached the camp, Moses became very angry as he saw the people dancing around the golden calf. In his great anger Moses threw down the tablets of stone, breaking them into pieces at the foot of the mountain. Then Moses melted the golden calf, ground the gold into fine powder, mixed it with water and made the people of Israel drink it. [What have these people ever done to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?] Moses demanded of Aaron. [Don’t let my lord’s anger burn so hot against me,] Aaron answered. [You know how these people are inclined to be evil. They asked me to make a god for them, because you had not come back and they did not know what had happened to you. I told them to bring their golden earrings. When they did, I put them into the fire and out came this calf!] Moses realized now that Aaron had let the people get out of control, to the point that their enemies could scorn them. He stood at the gate of the camp and called out to the people, [Whoever is on Adonai’s side, come to me.] When the people heard him call, the Levites gathered with Moses. [Adonai Commands you to put on your swords and move back and forth across the camp, from gate to gate,] Moses said. [As you do, kill the evildoers, even though they may be your friends, your brothers or your neighbours.] The Levites obeyed Moses and as a result about three thousand men died that day. Then Moses told the Levites, [Today you have ordained yourselves to be YHVH’s priests, for you have done what He has Commanded, even going against your own sons and brothers to obey Him. Now Adonai will bless you because of this.] The next day Moses spoke to the people of Israel. [You have sinned greatly against Adonai,] he told them. [Now I will again go to Adonai on the mountain. Perhaps I can obtain from Him forgiveness for your sin.] Moses returned to Mount Sinai to talk with Adonai. [The people have sinned greatly, making a god of gold,] he said. [But please forgive their sin. If not, then blot me out of the book which You have written.] But Adonai answered Moses, [Whoever has sinned against Me will be blotted out of My book, not you. Now return to your people and lead them where I have told you and My Angel will go before you. However, at a time I shall choose, I will punish the people for their sin.] Adonai sent a plague among the people to punish them for worshiping the golden calf that Aaron had made.

COMMENTARY

BULL WORSHIP

The bull is a very powerful male animal. For thousands of years, many people throughout the world have seen it as a sign of strength and fertility. It has often been used as a symbol of the power of their gods. The ancient Egyptians had several cattle gods. The most powerful one was called Hapi. He was their god of the Nile River. Since Egyptian crops and much else, depended on the Nile, this bull god was a very important one. It was believed that Hapi sometimes took the form of an Apes bull. This bull was marked in a very clear way. It was black, had a square spot on its forehead and an eagle-shaped spot on its back, double hairs on its tail and a beetle-shaped mark on its tongue. Bulls with markings that particular weren’t very plentiful. When the Egyptians found one, they immediately declared a holiday. The ape’s bull was killed by drowning and most of it cooked and eaten at a feast. The rest was mummified and buried in its own grave. It was given a special burial ceremony and a tombstone was put up over its grave. The Israelites had left all this behind them in Egypt, but it was certainly familiar to them. Camped in the desert at Mount Sinai, they waited for Moses to return from the mountain. Time must have passed very slowly in the unfamiliar surroundings. They thought something had happened to Moses and that he was gone forever. Very frightened without their leader, they began to miss the familiar sights of the only home they had ever known; Egypt. For the sake of security and comfort, they urged Aaron to make them a gold bull calf to worship. But at this time YHVH was Commanding Moses: [You shall make no graven images.] Despite this, the Israelites often gave in to temptation. Their life was very hard and they comforted themselves by slipping into the familiar habits of their pagan neighbours. Throughout their stay in Palestine, they sometimes forgot YHVH’s Commandment and worshiped bulls and golden calves. They used bulls in their sacrifices to YHVH. A bull’s horn was to be placed on each of the four corners of their altars. Sometimes the blood of a sacrificed bull was sprinkled on these horns. Even the cherubim which YHVH instructed them to place over His mercy seat were winged, human-headed bulls. Even today, bull worship is practiced in some parts of the world. The cow is thought sacred in India and is never killed. The bullfights of Spain are a way to prove that humankind is master of nature

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