The Golden Calf

Earrings drop into a fire. Gold melts and runs. And out of the mould comes a shining calf. A crowd gathers around it and shouts, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt!”

Only weeks earlier, the people heard God speak from Mount Sinai. They heard, you shall have no other gods before me. They heard, do not make idols. And they promised, all that the Lord has said, we will do. Then Moses climbed back up into the cloud to receive the stone tablets of the covenant. One day passed. Then another. Days became weeks. Forty days and forty nights, and still Moses has not come down.

The people lose patience. They gather around Aaron, Moses' brother. “Come on. Make us gods to go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him.” And Aaron gives in. “Take off your gold earrings and bring them to me.” They do. He melts the gold and shapes it into a calf. Then Aaron builds an altar in front of it and announces, “Tomorrow there will be a feast to the Lord.” Next morning the people bring offerings, sit down to eat and drink, and then get up to party. They have not forgotten God's name. They have simply decided to worship him their own way, in the very way he told them not to.

Up on the mountain, God tells Moses. “Go down. Your people have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly from the way I commanded them.” God's anger burns. He speaks of judgment, and of starting again with Moses alone. But Moses pleads for them. “Lord, why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power? Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, your servants, and the promise you swore to them.” And the Lord relents. He does not bring the disaster he spoke of.

Moses starts down the mountain with the two tablets in his hands, written by the finger of God. Joshua, waiting partway down, hears the noise. “It sounds like war in the camp.” Moses listens. “It's not the sound of victory, or of defeat. It's singing.” Then they come close enough to see. The calf. The dancing. And Moses' anger flares. He throws the tablets down, and they shatter at the foot of the mountain. He takes the calf, burns it, grinds it to powder, scatters it on the water, and makes the people drink it.

Moses turns to his brother. “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such a great sin?” Aaron's excuse is almost unbelievable. “You know how these people are. They gave me the gold, I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” It is a dark and painful day. There is judgment in the camp, and many die. The next morning, Moses tells the people, “You have sinned a great sin. But I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for you.” And he goes back up, and prays one of the bravest prayers in the Bible. “Please forgive their sin. And if not, blot me out of the book you have written.” God answers that each person is responsible for their own sin. But he does not abandon his people. He tells Moses, go, lead them on.

The calf was not a random choice. In the ancient Near East, bulls and young bulls stood for strength, and were often linked with gods. Centuries after Sinai, King Jeroboam of Israel set up two golden calves, at Bethel and at Dan, and used almost the same words: here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt. Scholars still discuss whether the calf was meant as a rival god, or as an image of the Lord himself. Either way, God had said: no images.

The Golden Calf. You'll find it in Exodus chapter 32. The people grew impatient and made a god they could see and control. But Moses stood in the gap, and God did not give up on them. So here's the question to carry with you. When God feels slow, what golden calves are you tempted to build?