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Israel Worships a Golden Calf
This chapter is based on Exodus 32 to 34.
While Moses was away on the mountain, it was a time of waiting
and suspense for Israel. The people waited eagerly for his return. In
Egypt they had become accustomed to material objects representing
deity, and it had been hard for them to trust in an invisible being.
They had come to rely on Moses to sustain their faith, but now he
was taken from them. Week after week passed, and he still did not
return. It seemed to many in the camp that their leader had deserted
them or that he had been consumed by the devouring fire.
During this period of waiting, there was time to meditate on
the law of God which they had heard and to prepare their hearts to
receive any further revelations that He might make to them. If they
had been seeking a clearer understanding of God’s requirements and
humbling their hearts before Him, they would have been shielded
from temptation. But soon they became careless, inattentive, and
lawless—especially the “mixed multitude.” They were impatient to
be on their way to the land flowing with milk and honey. That good
land was promised to them only on condition of obedience, but they
had forgotten this. Some suggested they return to Egypt, but whether
forward to Canaan or backward to Egypt, most of the people were
determined to not wait any longer for Moses.
The “mixed multitude” had been the first to indulge in complain-
ing and impatience, and they were the leaders in apostasy. Among
the objects the Egyptians regarded as symbols of deity was the ox or
calf. At the suggestion of those who had practiced idolatry in Egypt,
a calf was now made and worshiped. The people wanted some image
to represent God and to go ahead of them in the place of Moses.
The mighty miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea were intended to
establish faith in God as the invisible, all-powerful Helper of Israel.
The people’s desire for some visible display of His presence had
been granted in the pillar of cloud and of fire, and in the revealing of
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