The Worship of the Calf #1

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

“And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4 KJV).

Why is calf-worship so prevalent in Holy Scripture?

Once JEHOVAH God redeemed the nation Israel from Egypt, and Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law, the Jewish people were left in the care of Aaron, Moses’ brother. Today’s Scripture in context: “[1] And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. [2] And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. [3] And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. [4] And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”

As far as the Bible record is concerned, here is the first of several instances of calf-worship. The Jews had grown tired of waiting around for Moses to return with the words of the one true God, so they turned their attention to pagan deities or idols. In fact, Aaron, Israel’s second-in-command religious leader after Moses, was more than eager to pacify them! Using the gold they had acquired from the Egyptians (Exodus 12:35,36), Aaron made them a “golden calf,” and they declared, most ridiculously: “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” How stupid it was to think gods they fashioned had any power to deliver them from mighty Egypt….

Our latest Bible Q&As: “Can you explain prophetic ‘burdens?’” and “Did Jesus ride two animals on Palm Sunday?”