God gives moses the ten commandments, but moses smashes the tablets when he sees that the israelites have been worshipping a golden calf on aaron s permission while moses was chatting with god. I dont think the people were dumb enough to think that yaweh didnt exist and that a golden calf led them out of egypt. Even its position in the scripture record adds to the sense of disbelief as the narrative could be entirely removed without disturbing the flow, with exodus 31 merging almost seamlessly into exodus chapter 35. The five books of the nepotistic should not be studied by billions of people. All kjv books old testament only new testament only. Aaron did not set a good example for his sons and did not instruct them in absolute obedience to the lord. When the people do so, aaron melts them down and makes a golden calf. The worship of the golden calf is not presented as the worship of another deity but rather of yhwh himself, and the theological assertion seems to be that since god is heard, not seen, he is not to be worshipped in any physical, visual form see deut 4. David guzik commentary on exodus 32, where the israelites sin against god by. But then a new pharaoh comes to power, and he starts enslaving the israelites. Irene is married to krister who is a chef in a high end restaurant. With the golden calf narrative, preachers have an opportunity to explore with their. Pink arthur gleanings from exodus theword commentaries. The golden calf story is an alternate tradition, and the material in exodus chapter 24 is contradictory.
Why did aaron tell moses he threw the gold in the fire and a calf jumped out. Aaron produced the shape of an ox or calf, giving it some finish with a graving tool. What did the books of exodus do for the israelites. And aaron said to them, break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of. Hur is also mentioned as the grandfather of bezaleel, designated by god to be the principal creator of the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. This makes it very evident why the commandments were needed as people. It is ironic that while moses was on mount sinai, receiving the ten commandments from god, the israelites were breaking the very first commandment thou shall not have any gods before me.
Oct 09, 2011 aaron s blunders are a bit more subtle. In egypt, people made molten idols to worship, so the israelites asked aaron to make one. But much more famous than these living calves are two biblical examples of statues of calves made of gold. This giddy multitude were weary of waiting for the return of moses. In the books of chronicles hur is either the son or the father of caleb. This is a contrast of leaders the hopelessness of aarons statement, the calf came out and the magnificence of moses intercession on behalf of the people. Aaron built a golden calf that became their new god. What is going on with the golden calf in exodus 32. Helene turstens the golden calf is the fifth book in this swedish series of crime novels, inspector irene huss. In fact, partly because of what aaron says after melting down the peoples jewelry and coins to make the calf tomorrow will be a feast to yahweh 32. You may use this text as a part of your work provided that you give credits to its author petar neychev.
The israelites are right where we left them in genesis, hanging out in egypt and multiplying. The golden calf of israel and the true and false worship today. The incidents related in this chapter disclose a state of popular sentiment and feeling. Aaron says after melting down the peoples jewelry and coins to make the calf. He still should not have made the idol, but the responsibility was much more with the people than with him. The sin of israel, and of aaron particularly, in making the golden calf for a god, and worshipping it v. So aaron does, he fashions an idol of gold made from the earrings of the people and in the image a calf, like one of the egyptian gods. For example, deuteronomy describes god as angry at aaron for his involvement in fashioning the calf 9. Two major stories in the old testament deal with golden calves and gods. The sin of israel, and of aaron particularly, in making the golden calf for a god v. Why was only miriam punished with leprosy when she and.
The golden calf sunday school lesson exodus 32 ministry. The golden calf and moses intercession exodus 3234. In the mind of israel aaron didnt take away the lord god, he simply added the golden calf. A lot goes down in exodus, so lets break it down into five sections.
Rolf jacobson, kathryn schifferdecker, and craig koester for i love to tell the story, a weekly conversation on the narrative lectionary. Complying, aaron collected the golden ornaments of the people and fashioned the gold into the shape of a calf the image was immediately hailed by the people as a representation of the god who had brought israel out of egypt. Commentary on exodus 32 golden calf tough questions. Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and aaron s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. The bible story of the golden calf is very revealing of human nature and the tendency of people to stray away from devotion to god. On the contrary, stephen says that when they made a calf, and offered sacrifice to the idol, god turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven acts. However, only aaron is mentioned in the later account of events during moses absence and the creation of the golden calf. The aftermath of the golden calf faithlife sermons.
Look what aaron says in verse 5, tomorrow shall be a festival to the lord. Mount sinai, the people gathered themselves together to aaron, and said to him, up, make us gods, who shall go before us. Having set up an image before them, and so changed the truth of god into a lie, their sacrifices were abomination. What should we learn from the golden calf incident in. May 03, 2019 why mosess brother worshipped a golden calf 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. Nevertheless, the rabbis of the talmudic period never really solved. Aaron first high priest of israel profile of aaron, spokesman and older brother of moses. Moses went to the root of the problem aaron, before he. Aaron and the golden calf in the rhetoric of the pentateuch jstor. In addition, aaron builds an altar in front of the golden calf and then announces a festival will be held to make offerings to the calf. Explain that were going to start learning the books of the bible. And aaron said unto them, break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. If thou wilt forgive their sin if not if the decree be gone forth, and there is no remedy but they must be ruined. When moses returned to find them worshiping the calf, he got angry. If not, i pray, blot me out of your book which you have written. Plus, the golden calf was a pedestal to the lord, not to a different. He aaron took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf. When aaron and miriam rebelled against moses, why was only miriam punished with leprosy. Nov 05, 2014 incredibly, aaron not only didnt stand up for the true god but he even asked for donations to make them a golden image. Exodus 32 niv the golden calf when the people saw bible.
Index cards with the books of the bible written on them. Paul may also have been thinking of the time when aaron made the golden calf at israels request when they rebelled against god. The tradition in chapter twenty four presents an alternative to the so familiar golden calfaccount of moses and the mountain. Aarons calf was a god the people could identify with, a god that reminded them of themselves, a vulnerable, comfortable, available god, rather than moses difficult, remote, normally.
Aaron and the golden calf the firstcontinue reading. Then the israelites have a big party, and worship the golden calf. Jan 02, 2020 aaron called the people together and told them that the golden calf was the god who delivered them from egypt. Several homiletical interpretations of the red heifer are given, one being that it was to atone for the sin of the golden calf, so that the mother the red heifer should purify the defilement caused by her offspring, the golden calf pr 14. Many scholars, traditional and academic, believe the sin of the golden calf was the worship of another god, the first commandment in the decalogue, but what aaron actually claims about the calf points to a different collection of laws. Why aaron, mosess brother, worshiped a canaanite god.
The former contains references to animal sacrifices, levites, priestly rites of purification and ablution, concerns about seeing god and dying, and most notably, a reference to a golden calf, all of. Exodus 32 new international version niv the golden calf. In addition, in exodus the people are punished for the golden calf, but in deuteronomy they suffer no punishment at all. Why wasnt aaron punished for making the golden calf. Aaron helped the israelites craft a golden calf and worshiped it with them. He may even have feared for his own safety and life if he refused. Book of exodus, session 8 the golden calf exodus 3234 with moses on top of the mountain for forty days and forty nights to receive the inscribed tablets of the ten commandments and the instructions for the building of the tabernacle, the israelites get restless.
Aaron also endured the loss of two of his adult sons in a judgment from god. God helps them solve basic food and water problems, and they set about coming up with rules for the new nation. How aaron made a golden calf and what became of it from hurlbuts bible stories for children the bible story of golden calf this golden calf bible story was written in simple words by jesse lyman hurlbut and taken from hurlbuts bible stories for children which was published in 1904. As for this fellow moses who brought us up out of egypt, we dont know what has happened to him. Instead, god refuses to remove moses from the book of life, but.
Images of bulls and calves were common in near eastern religions. Aaron, jeroboam, and the golden calves moses aberbach and leivy smolar baltimore hebrew college t he connection between the golden calf episode in the wilderness exod 32 and jeroboams erection of two golden calves at bethel. At the foot of mount sinai the israelites lose faith in moses and ask aaron to fashion a golden calf. Do aaron s actions seem to be a natural byproduct of a tense situation. While moses was in the mount, receiving the law from god, the people made a tumultuous address to aaron. Aaron fails to exert decisive leadership to prohibit this blatant act of idolatry. First, one could make a strong case that aaron was punished. The responses of aaron and moses to the incident of the golden calf are strikingly different. It seems the people who worshiped the idol did not repent, while others did not worship like them, including aaron. Aaron called the people together and told them that the golden calf was the god who delivered them from egypt. Finally, some artists interested in validating later priesthoods have painted the ordination of aaron and his sons leviticus 8.
After aaron made the golden calf, his life included many. In addition, aaron builds an altar in front of the golden calf and then. His identity remains unclear in the torah itself, but it is elaborated in rabbinical commentary other individuals named hur are also mentioned in the bible. Aaron, the traditional founder and head of the israelite priesthood, who, with his brother moses, led the israelites out of egypt. The following photos may help the modern reader of the text to see these stories the way that the ancients saw them.
The story of aaron and the golden calf idols is told in a manner that is intended to make idol worship appear ridiculous. When moses saw the people worshipping the golden calf he threw down the tablets and they broke, symbolizing that the people had broken their covenant with god. Exodus 32 commentary commentary critical and explanatory on. The meaning of the golden calf israel institute of. In response to your second concern, i would suggest that aaron was not punished for making the golden calf because he did this only when he was pressured by the people. Aaron crafted a golden calf, which the israelites then claimed had delivered them from egypt. Exodus 32 bible commentary matthew henry concise christianity. Aaron was not crass enough to say, lets do away with the lord god. He aaron took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Moses breaks the tables of the law, he destroys the golden calf. What should we learn from the golden calf incident in exodus. The people offered sacrifices and then engaged in pagan rituals, including orgies exodus 32.
We know he fashioned it with tools, and there must have been witnesses, so he wasnt exactly lying. The chapters 3234 form, in a sense, the lowest and the highest points of the whole book of exodus. Nachmanides explains that aaron let the people loose, and left them without any counsel or instruction, so that they became like sheep scattered among the mountains. The figure of aaron as it is now found in the pentateuch, the first five books of the bible, is built up from several sources of traditions. It hardly seems fair that he should escape punishmenthe was the one who made the idol, after allwhile others were judged. Exodus 32 relates that the israelites, anxious about moses prolonged absence, demanded that provide a god to lead them. Guilt, shame and blaming others are three results of sin that came to us from the garden of eden by whom.
Commentary on exodus 32 golden calf tough questions answered. Aaron perhaps was put upon in filling their wishes to furnish a visible god for them to follow. When aaron built a golden calf for the israelites to worship in exodus 32, severe judgment came upon the people. Read exodus 32 commentary using matthew henry commentary on the whole bible complete. Aaron took their gold belongings and fashioned them into a molten calf, and the. It shows how even the righteous could felt but find forgiveness.
An enigmatic rabbi told a story of the golden calf. The golden calf by wayne blank when the people saw that moses delayed to come down from the mountain i. The episode concerning aaron and the golden calf see exodus 3234 comes as quite a shock. Because moses is not permitted to enter into the land of canaan, joshua is chosen to be the leader in moses place.
This weeks reading is on the golden calf, exodus 32. Jul 24, 2019 aaron obliged them and made a golden calf out of the golden earrings they worewhich likely were the very same treasures the egyptians gave them after god rescued them out of egypt exodus 12. Discuss how silly it is for us to worship something we made with our own hands. Sep 12, 2007 theology papers the golden calf of israel and the true and false worship today. Jan 02, 2020 first, one could make a strong case that aaron was punished for making the golden calf. Oct 29, 2019 when moses saw the people worshipping the golden calf he threw down the tablets and they broke, symbolizing that the people had broken their covenant with god. Exodus 32 commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. Focusing on this latter difference, why doesnt deuteronomy portray god punishing israel. The lord must be waited for till he comes, and waited for though he tarry. Do you think aaron intended for us to believe that god or some other deity created this golden calf. Illustrations of the golden calf story usually include him as wellmost notably in nicolas poussins the adoration of the golden calf ca. Even worse, he is the one who actually cast the idol of gold into a calf.
Once it was formed, aaron called for a feast and the people offered burnt offerings, feasted, and then rose up to play. This paper has been written by me in the course of my theological studies at european nazarene college nc. Study the bible online using commentary on exodus 32 and more. The story of the golden calf, the greatest scandal of the wilderness period, is recalled in deuteronomy 9. Moses then turns to aaron, whom he left in command before he went up on the mountain. Jan 12, 2015 aaron, instead of refusing the request of the people, makes an idol, in the shape of a calf, out of the gold earrings that they had received from the egyptians. What is the archetype of the golden calf in the bible. The main explanation seems to be that miriam was held more responsible because she instigated the challenge in the first place and then enlisted aaron to support her. Why did the people demand aaron make them a golden calf. He was speaking of a complex symbolic process in simple metaphoric terms. By the time moses descended mount sinai, the israelites had sacrificed to this idol and indulged in revelries.
60 969 1063 1349 728 930 905 807 428 1339 1501 755 962 81 1386 20 1426 326 1426 1367 1072 416 519 354 55 648 1211 1000 118 190 1366 1381 788 928 275 782 1029