The Worship Of The Golden Calf

by J.D. Terrell, Carlisle | Category: From Egypt To Canaan | Apr 1969

Less than three months separated Egypt and Sinai for the Israelites. Three eventful months they were, and a period which brought no credit to the people. Fresh from the deliverance of the passover night and the triumph of the Red Sea crossing, the men of Israel might well have been ready to face any difficulty in the name of the LORD. But they were not. They failed miserably, at Marah, in the Wilderness of Sin, and at Rephidim. A longsuffering God who had been proved so completely suffered their manners with infinite patience. God longed to dwell among a redeemed, covenanted, subject people. His vision was filled with the sanctuary; in great grace and love He cherished the thought of the Shekinah glory which would fill that holiest of places on earth.

And so they came to Sinai, the covenant-making place for Israel. Here was to be the beginning of their service as a holy nation. Here they pronounced that dramatic self-committal, "All that the LORD hath spoken we will do". The might and majesty of God are evidenced in thick cloud, thunders and lightnings, the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud, waxing louder and louder, and Mount Sinai "altogether on smoke" (Exodus 19.16-19). Strict ceremonial sanctification had preceded this tremendous event when "all the people that were in the camp trembled" (Exodus 19.16). It seems clear from the record in Exodus that the people then received the law through Moses who himself "wrote all the words of the LORD" (Exodus 24.4). They re-affirmed their pledge of obedience, the blood of the covenant was sprinkled, and God was ready for the final stage of His historic self-revelation. He was about to commit to Moses the ten commandments written directly "with the finger of God", and the specifications of the Tabernacle and its service. Moses and Joshua disappear from view "up into the mountain"; Aaron and Hur are left with the solemn responsibility of leadership in the interim. Surely the people, conditioned by the awe-inspiring experience of God's presence and power, well victualled and at peace as they obviously were, would enjoy a waiting time of spiritual uplift and upbuilding.

Then came the golden calf. With a devastating impact the story of Exodus 32 unfolds in all its horror. What had gone wrong? Let us examine some of the factors which Scripture would suggest as associated with this disaster, and seek their spiritual lessons. The indications are that the people at Sinai were experiencing peace and plenty. No sign of an attacking enemy obtrudes on the record at this point; no complaint of lack of food or water. The Israelites had just experienced resounding victory over Amalek (Exodus 17). But the people of God, in that day or this, are never more vulnerable than when tempted to complacency and ease. Such conditions are linked in a sinister way with neglect, and later, rejection of the divine word. How could Israel fall so heavily with the command of God ringing in their ears, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me"? (How could the spiritually gifted church in Corinth sink so low in condoning sin? - 1 Corinthians 5.6). The people were quite unprepared for the temptations of such a position and failed to apply the word of God to their case. "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." (Galatians 5.17). The suddenness and unexpectedness of some tragedies in spiritual lives and experience should keep God's people in all ages in a spirit of fear and trembling; in the spirit of Galatians 6.1, looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted".

But another deeply solemn and tragic feature of Israel's calamitous defection was weak and irresolute leadership. Aaron's part in the idolatry of the golden calf is infinitely sad, and the leniency of God's judgement on him astonishing, except as an evidence of divine forgiving grace. Along with Hur, with whom he now shared responsibility in Moses' absence, Aaron had seen the power of God in the victory over Amalek. He had witnessed as few can ever have done, the power of supplication against a strong foe; and he was destined for the leadership of the priestly service of the sanctuary of the LORD. Even putting the most generous construction on his attitude, Aaron was defensive and negative, and he lamely tried to contrive a compromise between idolatry and divine worship, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD". The grossly disparaging reference to their national leader and his own brother - 'this Moses' - should itself have stung Aaron into resistance to Israel. How much more the deep gravity of the sin against God, in which he was being invited to play a leading part. There can be no compromise with the record of Scripture that "the people were broken loose: for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies" (Exodus 32.25), and again, "they made the calf, which Aaron made" (Exodus 32. 35). The lesson for the leaders among God's people today should be arresting and solemn. Our thoughts turn to another leader who had known the bitterness of grievous failure and, after restoration and a life of devoted service to an absent Lord, wrote, "The elders therefore among you I exhort ... tend the flock of God ... making yourselves ensamples. " (1 Peter 5.1,2,3). Of Israel the Psalmist wrote, "Thou leddest Thy people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron" (Psalm 77.20), How brightly Aaron's name would have shone on the holy page had he stood out valiantly against a rebellious and sinning people, in loyalty to God and God's appointed, but absent, leader, "Take heed to thyself (1 Timothy 4.16).

The grim details of the sin of Israel we pass over for the most part. Although here there is no recorded threat of a return to Egypt, their hearts were there, and they reverted to the pattern of idol worship which was characteristically linked to orgies of immorality. Calf worship they were familiar with from Egypt, and in their abandoned flight from the newly received law of God, they used their golden jewellery to produce their idol; jewellery which they had acquired by spoiling the Egyptians (Exodus 12.36), and should have been used in the construction of the Tabernacle (see Exodus 35.22), the very pattern of which Moses was at that moment receiving from God. So, in a literal way, they "changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of ... fourfooted beasts" (Romans 1.23).

Behind all we can readily detect the malignant and vigorous operation of the adversary. This fearful episode in Israel's pilgrimage uncovers a convulsive effort by Satan to frustrate divine desire for a dwelling place for God amongst a redeemed and sanctified people. Ever since he had broken the communion of Eden the enemy had striven to prevent a sanctuary for God on this earth among men. This determination of the evil one is no less today, and God's house can expect to be under his constant and ever-renewed pressure. "Be sober, be watchful; your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5.8). To the Israel of God in his day, Paul wrote of the dark events we are now surveying (see 1 Corinthians 10.1-13). He underlines the responsibility of the saints of God of this dispensation which awaits the divine Leader's personal return: "Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come" (vii).

Swift and severe judgement was inevitable in the ranks of the Israelites. Not only must the erring people drink of the ash-strewn water with its symbolic bitterness, but 3,000 men died. Furthermore, one of the most solemn lessons for us today in the matter of judgement, is the fact that this had to be carried out on the guilty ones by their fellows. Although the general picture of the early part of Exodus 32 suggests an almost universal lapse in Israel, the selectivity of the judgement on 3,000 would perhaps indicate varying degrees of guilt, and the possibility that the Levites had not been so deeply implicated in the crime as others. At all events they immediately responded to the clarion call of Moses, "Whoso is on the LORD'S side, let him come unto me" (Exodus 32.26), and found their first task to be the execution of God's sentence on their brethren. No more distasteful task falls to the Israel of God today, yet no less clear is the responsibility when needs must. Here our thoughts inevitably turn to Corinth, and Paul's reminder to that church of, "Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?" After enumerating the sins of their infamous city, he goes on, "And such were some of you; but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified" (1 Corinthians 6.9,11). All of this he writes in the context of their solemn responsibility, "Do not ye judge them that are within?" (1 Corinthians 5.12).

Let us stay with the Corinthian church for our closing meditation on the sombre incident of the golden calf. It was to this same church that the apostle wrote of the restoration of an erring brother, "wherefore I beseech you to confirm your love toward him" (2 Corinthians 2.8); and in the very next chapter he carries the saints back to the events of Sinai which follow directly the sin of the golden calf. Back to the infinitely precious forgiving grace of God as seen in Exodus 33, and the opening verse of chapter 34, "Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first". It was when Moses came down from the mount with the second two tables of stone that we read that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with God. God graciously gave a limited but visible revelation of His glory on this second descent which is not recorded of the first. It was to this that Paul alluded in 2 Corinthians 3 which chapter we commend for reading at this point. When we remember how subdued must have been the people to whom Moses descended, we appreciate the more the loving consideration of God toward them. Nonetheless it was a passing splendour as far as Moses was concerned, and he veiled his face. "But", says the apostle to the Corinthians, "we all, with unveiled face, reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3.18). Such an experience of spiritual achievement was offered to the sanctified ones in Corinth, and including such as were restored after a serious lapse.

Finally, the character and conduct of Moses throughout this incident focus our attention on our great Leader and Lord. That great man of God stands out in his amazing intercessory power with God as a fine type of our Lord Jesus Christ the "merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrew 2.17). While Moses was prepared even to be blotted out of God's book, our matchless Intercessor shows in heaven the evidence of His atoning identification with us, when "Him who knew no sin, He made to be sin on our behalf" (2 Corinthians 5.21).

From the melancholy shadow of 3,000 wilderness graves under the slopes of Sinai, witness that it is indeed "a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God", we turn with solemn joy to the dedicated labour of the holy nation in the construction and raising up of the Tabernacle. We listen again to the refrain, "If ye will obey my voice indeed."

J.D. Terrell, Carlisle | Apr 1969
From Egypt To Canaan