05.01.31 Aaron and the Golden Calf Saga

Aaron and the ‘Golden Calf’ Saga

A Bible Story

One day, God instructed Moses to meet Him on Mount Sinai to receive the tablets of stone containing the law and commandments; such that he (Moses) could teach them to the children of Israel. Before his departure, Moses delegated the management of the camp to his elder brother Aaron and another man called Hur then left. However, when the people saw that Moses had taken too long to return, they gathered around Aaron and conveyed a rumour that must have swept the camp by storm. Exodus 32:1b discloses what they said to Aaron (NIV): … “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” That was when Aaron asked for the gold jewellery that their wives, sons and daughters were wearing, which he shaped into a golden calf; at which the excited crowd declared that animal as their god who had brought them out of Egypt. It was at that point that Aaron decided to build an altar where the crowd sacrificed offerings to the calf, then sat down to eat, drink and party. When God observed that the people had become corrupt, he instructed Moses to go back to the camp, vowing to destroy them and make a new nation for Moses. However he (Moses) pleaded with the Lord until He consented.

Just before arriving at the camp, Moses and his assistant Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting and singing; only to find that they were dancing around the golden calf. Moses was so angry that he threw the tablets, thereby breaking them into pieces. Then he burned the calf in the fire, ground it to powder which he scattered on the water then commanded the Israelites to drink it.

From there, Moses quizzed Aaron. See how Exodus 32:21-24 reports that conversation (NIV): ²¹He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” ²²“Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. ²³They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ ²⁴So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

When Moses observed that the people had become wild, he asked those who were still for Jehovah to join him; and amazingly, only the Levites did. Then, the angry Moses instructed the Levites to kill their brothers, friends and neighbours and almost three thousand people lost their lives to the sword.

The following day, Moses appealed to God to forgive the great sin that the children of Israel had committed. However, this was the Lord’s response: ³³ … “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. ³⁴Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.” ³⁵And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made (Exodus 32:33-35, NIV).

So, that was how Aaron’s entertainment of negative gossip caused a calamity for the children of Israel.