The People's Rebellion and the Molten Calf (Exodus 32:1-6).
While Moses was in the Mount for forty days and forty nights receiving his instructions from Yahweh, the people waiting in the plain below became disquieted. They had somewhat fearfully seen him ascend and disappear into the cloud and then they had waited and waited and he had not returned. After that a whole moon period had passed and he had still not returned. And they knew the fearful nature of this God Who was in the Mountain (Exodus 19:18-19; Exodus 20:18) and the warning of what would happen to any who approached the Mountain (Exodus 19:21). Thus they began to be certain that they would see Moses no more.
And by now they were not sure whether they wanted to have any more to do with this terrible God Who revealed Himself in the way that He had, and made such terrible threats. They had agreed a covenant with Him out of a combination of gratitude and fear, but now they were not so sure that that was what they wanted. They preferred gods with whom they could be more familiar, like the gods they had known in Egypt whom others worshipped. They wanted a compromise.
a The people see that Moses delays in his descent from the Mountain and call on Aaron to make them gods to go before them (Exodus 32:1).
b Aaron tells them all to break off their multiplicity of earrings (Exodus 32:2).
c All the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron (Exodus 32:3).
d Aaron received them and fashioned the gold with a graving tool and made it a molten calf (Exodus 32:4 a).
d And they said, “These are your gods, Oh Israel' who brought you up out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 32:4 b).
c And when Aaron saw it he built an altar before it, and made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh” (Exodus 32:5).
b They rose up early in the morning and offered whole burnt offerings and brought peace offerings (Exodus 32:6 a).
a And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play (Exodus 32:6 b).
Note the parallels which are deliberately cynical. In ‘a' the people call on Aaron to make them gods to go before them and in the parallel reveal what kind of gods they have received by their feasting and dancing. In ‘b' Aaron calls for their earrings and in the parallel the people offer whole burnt offerings before them. In ‘c' the people break off their earrings and bring them to Aaron, and in the parallel he builds an altar before them and declares a feast to Yahweh (the writer is viewing it ironically). In ‘d' Aaron fashions from the earrings a molten calf, and in the parallel they declare them to be the gods who delivered them from Egypt. The stress all through is on the folly of their actions.
‘And when the people saw that Moses delayed from coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Up, make us gods (or ‘a god' or ‘God') who will go before us, for as for this man Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what is become of him.” '
It is understandable that the people would become alarmed. Their nerves had reached breaking point at some of the revelations from the mountain. And Moses had now been gone for over a moon period. But how are to understand their request? They surely knew that Aaron was Yahweh's man, and would be faithful to Moses as his brother. It is probable therefore that by ‘gods' they meant images of Yahweh that they could worship and appeal to and with whom they could feel at ease (for an image of Yahweh compare Judges 17:3-6; Judges 18:12; Judges 18:20; Judges 18:30-31). Yes, Yahweh had delivered them. But they wanted nothing to do with this God of the mountains Who had almost certainly consumed Moses, as He had almost consumed them (Exodus 20:18), and had certainly threatened to (Exodus 19:21; Exodus 19:24). Rather would they like to approach Yahweh through the kind of images they were familiar with in Egypt, awe inspiring but without causing trouble. They wanted a god made to their own requirements.
“ Up, make us a god/gods who will go before us.” Up to this point it was Yahweh Who had gone before them in the pillar of cloud and fire (Exodus 13:21). But that pillar had disappeared onto the mountain along with Moses. Now they wanted visible representations of Yahweh instead, so that He could go before them in a way that was controllable. They wanted Yahweh's power on their behalf, but they wanted to feel comfortable with Him. They had had enough of this fierce God of the mountains, Who fortunately seemed to remain in the Mountain. They wanted to be on their way, and quickly, so that they could get away from Him. Thus they wanted Aaron to make God (or ‘a god' or ‘gods'). (Whichever way we translate it this is the basic point. They wanted a man-made God, a contradiction in terms which is the basis of idolatry). And if Aaron could give Yahweh a bit of a back up, even better.
Note the peremptory command. They were in an ugly mood (compare Exodus 16:2; Exodus 17:3; Numbers 14:2; Numbers 14:4; Numbers 16:41). They were putting great pressure on him. There was strong feeling about, and Aaron felt threatened.
“ For as for this man Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what is become of him.” The narrator wants us to see the attitude that lay behind this statement and its double edged nature. It was a mixture of contempt and anger, and yet of grudging recognition of what he had done for them. But their resentment is loud and clear. No sympathy with Moses, only enmity. Yes, he had delivered them from Egypt, but what had happened to him now? He had trusted this mountain God, Who surely was not the Yahweh Who had delivered them out of Egypt. And look what good it had done him. Where was he? He had disappeared and they did not know where he was. Indeed he was probably dead. And he deserved it.
This attitude is in distinct contrast with Yahweh's estimate of Moses in Exodus 32:32-33. They may dismiss Moses but Yahweh would not.
But Aaron also had delivered them from Egypt, and they knew both where he was and that they could trust him. And what was more they knew that he was more pliable. That suited them. Would he not now make them images of Yahweh so as to lead them? Would he not bring back to them the great Deliverer? There is a sense in which this was not open rebellion against Yahweh. They were not rejecting Him altogether. What they wanted was help and assurance from someone they relied on, and to return to the old compromising ways (about which we know very little, but can surmise much from this narrative).
Aaron no doubt felt trapped. It was true that Moses appeared to have disappeared, and that there was sense in what they said. And he perhaps had visions of himself as priest and leader to these people. Why else did he do what he did? Pride and vanity make us do strange things.
The temptation for images and like things to intrude into the worship of Yahweh is familiar from the past. They had had to put such things aside at Bethel (Genesis 35:2; Genesis 35:4). And we can only assume from this incident that they had had similar problems in Egypt. It is doubtful if many of them had then been pure Yahwists, even if they had in general believed in the God of their fathers, and of their tribes. And there were among them the mixed multitude (Exodus 12:38) who probably had not worshipped Yahweh at all until He provided a good means of escape from slavery. Furthermore Aaron's response suggests that he was at least familiar with their ideas. None of this just arrived out of the blue.
‘And Aaron said to them, “Pull off the golden rings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons and of your daughters, and bring them to me.” '
It is clear from this that both men (‘your sons') and women in Israel wore earrings, and Genesis 35:4, where their earrings are closely connected to their false gods and have to be disposed of, makes clear that these had strong religious significance. They were thus very suitable for the making of ‘gods' and would automatically give credence to the gods which were made. The fact that these leaders themselves are not told to pull off their own earrings may suggest that Aaron knew that they would be unwilling to sacrifice their own which may well have been important status symbols. Some suggest that by demanding these sacred objects Aaron was hoping to receive a denial. But in that case he would have asked for theirs too.
“ Your wives -- sons -- daughters.” Everyone apart from the elders, which makes it unlikely that the elders did not also wear them.
‘And all the people pulled off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.'
The people responded willingly. This demonstrates how concerned they were and how urgently they felt the need to escape. After the extraordinary events of a month previously they felt a religious need, and that they had been deserted, and so they were willing to offer their talismans if it meant that they could have a god whom they could see.
‘And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf. And they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who delivered you out of the land of Egypt.” '
Aaron received the earrings from them, melted them down and fashioned a golden calf. Notice how specific this is. Later he will make the excuse that it just somehow happened.
“ A molten calf.” Note that it is never described as ‘the golden calf'. It is a ‘molten calf'. One fashioned and shaped. The use of ‘calf' rather than ‘bull' is probably deliberate in order to put it in proper perspective. Before God this great bull was but an infant.
The significance of this raises complicated questions which are linked. Why did Aaron make a molten calf? What did the people see it to mean?
The golden calf. Bull worship was common in Egypt in many forms. Quite apart from the Apis-bull of Memphis and the Mnevis bull of Heliopolis, there was combined bull worship and worship of Horus in lower Egypt, which was near Goshen, and other traces are known of it. The bull was prominent in Egypt as a symbol of the fertility of nature and as a symbol of raw physical power.
But the Canaanite Baal was also worshipped in the form of a bull, again symbolising fertility and strength, and Baal worship was also well known in parts of lower Egypt (e.g. at Baal-zephon). It is true that the people knew that the bull-gods of Egypt had been defeated by Yahweh, but how more likely than by one who was Himself like a strong bull-calf? And ‘baal' meant ‘lord'. So Aaron knew already of divine bulls called ‘lord'. Thus he might well have seen a bull-calf as a suitable way of representing the strong and powerful Yahweh, the Lord. (Later in Canaan confusion would arise between Baal and the Lord Yahweh because Yahweh could be called ‘baali' (my Lord)).
Alternately bulls could elsewhere, like cherubim, be seen as bearers of the gods, and the idea of the bull-calf may therefore have been as a throne-bearer of the invisible Yahweh, an insidious equivalent of the Ark of the Covenant. And this must certainly have been the significance of the calves set up at Dan and Bethel by Jeroboam I later, for they raised no protest from pronounced Yahwists, which would have been unlikely had they been seen as similar to Baal images. So why not the same here?
So whatever the source the image was intended to represent Yahweh worship in one way or another, the worship of the great deliverer from Egypt (Exodus 32:4).
“ And they said, “ This is your god, O Israel, who delivered you out of the land of Egypt.” ” The molten calf was made of many earrings which had all had occult significance. There was only one calf and therefore we are probably to see here a plural of intensity, ‘This is your God'. But we are also probably intended to see in it a sarcastic reference by the writer to the fact that this is no Yahweh, it is a conglomerate of all their earrings. The mockery extends to the ridiculous idea that this molten image could have delivered them from Egypt.
“ They said.” This was expressing their view, but put in such a way as to mock them. They were so deceived, it is being suggested, that they intended it seriously. They rather foolishly saw the molten calf as the One Who had delivered them from Egypt, so ridiculous can men be. The writer saw that they had made the great Yahweh into a lump of metal made up of precisely the religious amulets that had been unable to deliver them before. How then could it be seen as the deliverer from Egypt?
‘And when Aaron saw it he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.” '
Having produced the image Aaron, in spite of the fact that he had fashioned it, was impressed by it, and raised up an altar before it so that they could offer sacrifices to it. He recognised that it had been made of sacred gold, and saw it as a suitable way to represent Yahweh. And no doubt he persuaded himself that they would be able to see Yahweh in His invisible power behind the bull-calf. So does sinful man always reason before sliding into full blown idolatry.
We may feel that there is no way in which we could have been as deceived as these people were. But idol worship is insidious, and it is surprising how easy it is to begin to sense something other worldly when facing a great image in a religious setting, being worshipped and chanted to by adherents. Such an atmosphere can make people think great folly. And there is evil behind the idol (Deuteronomy 32:17; 1 Corinthians 10:20).
Or we may feel like Aaron that a physical representation can do no harm. The bull-calf will make men recognise the strength and power of God. They will see God through the bull. But, alas, in the end the bull becomes all. And God is diminished. And men's ideas of God become earthbound.
And then he proclaimed a feast to Yahweh on the morrow. This demonstrates again that the image was intended to represent Yahweh in some way. But he had by his action, probably unintentionally (he had probably not thought his ideas through), reduced Yahweh to a nature god, a fertility god, a divine being who was merely a part of natural forces, a beast, with all that that would entail for forms of worship, and not the great Lord of heaven and earth. He had dragged Him down, and that is how the people would worship Him, as a nature god and no longer the Lord Yahweh.
“ Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.” He was making his best effort to ensure the continued worship of Yahweh, Whom he and the elders had seen in the Mount. He informed them that they would on the morrow celebrate Yahweh in His new form. It would appear that he, as well as the children of Israel, was not knowledgeable enough to strictly distinguish Yahweh from other gods, in spite of His great deliverance from Egypt. So while Yahweh was proposing him as ‘the Priest' in the Mount, Aaron was demonstrating how much he still had to learn about God.
‘And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered whole burnt offerings and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.'
The people were eager to commence their new relationship with this god. With no thought of deliberately diminishing Yahweh they quickly reduced Him to their own level. This god could be treated with awe, but there was no danger of fearful repercussions, and then he could be manipulated by their activities. He would not thunder from the mountains. He was a cosy god.
So they rose early to meet the new day and celebrated a great feast, and then, necessarily affected by how he had been fashioned, and by overmuch wine, they began to worship him as a nature god. ‘The people sat down to eat and drink'. There is a deliberate contrast here with the elders who ‘Beheld God and did eat and drink' (Exodus 24:11). So far had they fallen. ‘They rose to play.' That is to sing, and dance, and engage in sexual and immoral activity, loosening up their clothes and stripping them off as they would have done had they been Baal worshippers. The idea was to stir this god into action by their behaviour before him. How Yahweh had been diminished in their eyes.
“ Offered whole burnt offerings and brought peace offerings.” Both whole burnt offerings and peace offerings had been known for many years past (Exodus 20:24), and are known of elsewhere, and were now offered to the molten calf as they had previously been offered to Yahweh.