THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #132 | THE LIFE OF MOSES #113
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3817
THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #132
THE LIFE OF MOSES #113
MOSES AT MT. SINAI #12
Aaron and The Golden Calf #1
Although Aaron induced plagues against Pharaoh, his weak faith led to the death of 3,000 men and the destruction of the original Ten Commandments.
According to Exodus, they “gathered around Aaron and said to him: 'Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us'” (Exodus 32:1).
Rather than remaining steadfast in his faith, Aaron gave in. He ordered the people to collect all the gold in their possession, and used it to create a golden calf for worship.
He then ordered a great feast, and all the Israelites “rose up to play” (Exodus 32:6).
For he feared his people more than God and devised the building of the Golden Calf to appease them.
"And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 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 32:3,4
When Moses descended from Mount Sinai, he was so incensed by this pagan image that he smashed the stone Tablets of the Law and ordered 3,000 males to be put to death.
Moses had to ascend Mount Sinai again so that the stone tablets could be written once more (Exodus 34:2).
Why did Aaron choose to build a golden calf and not any other figurine?
Some scholars believe that Aaron’s golden calf was not meant to displace God, but to make Him more tangible to the Israelites, using Canaanite iconography that would become known throughout Israel.
Other scholars maintain he had the Egyptian bull god Apis in mind.
Many animals play a part in the religious life of ancient Egypt.
The sacred bull of Apis is one of the best known and highly regarded deity in ancient Egypt.
The Apis bull had a cult centre at Memphis and was seen by the Egyptians as one of the manifestations on earth of the god Ptah. When an Apis bull died, it was embalmed. The large tables used for embalming the bulls have survived near the modern centre of Memphis.
The mummified bull was buried at Saqqara.
Thus the choice of this idol was no accident. It was a symbol of virility, strength and fertility associated with the Canaanite god El or the Egyptian God Apis.
Such idolatry would persist into the period of the divided monarchy. King Jeroboam I of the Northern Kingdom of Israel commissioned two golden calves for the sanctuaries of Yahweh in Bethel and Dan, to serve as the Lord’s attendants.
Aaron's fear of man was a snare. It led his people to forget God's commandments against idolatry.
Leviticus 26:1 - Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up [any] image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I [am] the LORD your God.
N.B. Tomorrow we shall discuss why God did not punish Aaron for his hand in creating the Golden Calf.
