A Sudden Turning

The Israelites were delivered from bondage in Egypt by the mighty power of God. Then the Lord led them to the foot of Mount Sinai, where Moses ascended to receive the Law of God. But after he had been absent from the camp for days, the people got tired of waiting. They not only rejected Moses’ leadership, but rebelled against the God who had been so gracious to them, saying to Aaron, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us” (Exod. 32:1).

Sadly, Aaron went along with this folly. He collected gold earrings from the people, melted and molded them into the image of a calf–which was further enhanced by engraving (vs. 2-4). Then he built an altar before it and proclaimed a day of feasting–which became unrestrained drunken and immoral revelry (vs. 5-6, 18-19, 25).

Meanwhile, up on Sinai, the Lord told Moses to return to the camp, saying the people had “corrupted themselves” and, “They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it, and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt’” (vs. 8).

Consider the multiple sins in this.

1. They turned aside from (transgressed) God’s law. Since idolatry is clearly condemned throughout the Word of God, any form of idolatry is a departure from Him and His righteous standard.
2. They did so quickly, seemingly without careful thought (cf. their recent vow, 24:3, 7). The devil wants to hurry us into sin. And we see where impatience can lead us!
3. Rejecting Jehovah God, they demanded new gods. They felt the need to fill the “worship vacuum” with something–as we all must.
4. Under Aaron’s leadership, they made themselves a golden calf, a self-made god which was likely a remnant of Egyptian idolatry (cf. Apis, the bull god of Egypt).
5. They worshiped the golden calf, violating the first and second commandments (Exod. 20:1-6).
6. They offered sacrifices to the idol and “played” before it. W. C. Kaiser says that word refers to “drunken immoral orgies and sexual play,” with music and dancing to suit the mood (vs. 18, 19). The NKJV says the people were “unrestrained” (vs. 25). The old KJV uses the word “naked.” The Hebrew literally means a casting off, either of clothing or of self-discipline.
7. They blasphemously identified the idol as the god that had delivered them from Egyptian bondage (cf. 20:2). How could this be? Note that Aaron proclaimed, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord” (vs. 5). Either that he realized things were getting out of hand, and he wanted to include Jehovah in their worship; or he wanted them to see the idol as a physical representation of the true God!

An idol is anything in our lives which is so admired and desired that it begins to dominate the use of our resources, our priorities and our decision making. And no compromise with idolatry is possible. When Moses arrived on the scene, he did not…

1. Redefine the idol as a “worship aid”
2. Refashion it into something more attractive and benign.
3. Relocate it where it would be less of a temptation

Moses destroyed the idol, reducing it to powder (vs. 20). The act of mixing the powder with water and having the Israelites drink it was a way of forcing them to face their responsibility, graphically illustrating that their inner attitudes were the source of the problem,. With the hymn writer we say, “The dearest idol I have known, / Whate’er that idol be, / Help me to tear it from Thy throne / And worship only Thee.”