Golden Calf
There was a catastrophic period in Israel's history following their rescue from Egypt (Exodus 32:1–20).
Over the course of a few weeks
- God had rescued the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt
- The people had witnessed the plagues in Egypt
- They had experienced the Passover
- They had also seen God's judgment on Egypt
- They had seen God’s deliverance at the Red Sea.
- They had experienced the protection and guidance of God in the pillar of cloud and fire.
- They experienced his daily provision in the Manna
- They witnessed the miracle of the water from the Rock
And when they arrived at Sinai,
God came to them
They saw the fire on the mountain, they saw the cloud, the smoke, they heard the thunder and lightning. The ground beneath their feet trembled.
At Sinai God showed them his glory and his holiness and He made a covenant with them.
‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession." (Ex 19:4)
God reminded them of all that He had done. The only thing He required of them was obedience.
Exodus 19:8 records their response,
“We will do everything the Lord has said.”
The people sin
So, why was it that less that 6 weeks later Israel fell into idolatry and worshipped a golden calf?
Question: How could they so quickly forget God after everything they had witnessed?
Clue: Look at what they said about Moses.
Moses had been up Mount Sinai a long time – The people were bewildered by his absence and had lost confidence in him. So they said:
“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.” (Exodus 32:1)
Did you spot the error?
Who brought them out of Egypt?
Back in Exodus 19 when they promised so fervently to obey, they knew that it was God who had brought them out of Egypt and "carried them on eagles' wings".
Now they weren’t so sure!
Their trust was in the wrong place.
They were not looking at God as their deliverer but at Moses.
When they lost confidence in Moses who stayed away so long it began to undermine their trust. With Moses out of the way – they needed something else to trust. So they said:
“Come make us gods who will go before us”
... and the golden calf was made. It was the golden calf they now attributed with their deliverance from Egypt.
“These are your gods O Israel who brought you up out of Egypt” (Ex 32:4)
The focus of their respect and worship was not in God but in a golden calf.
God’s rule in Israel had been usurped and replaced by something of their own invention.
A definition of idolatry
Anything, whatever it is, that you put in the place of God is idolatry.
It could be a person, a respected Christian friend, it could be the comfortable familiarity of church, material possessions or success.
God is a jealous God. He demands that we have no other gods before him.
Where is your trust?
So the question for you is: Where is your trust? What are your eyes fixed on?
The people of Israel forgot who had delivered them from Egypt.
We should never forget our deliverance from the slavery of sin. We should be never far from the cross where our deliverance was purchased.
Remember your deliverance ...
"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves." (Col 1:13)
