Idolatry at Sinai
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the people and brought to him, hoping that pride would lead them to
refuse such a sacrifice. But they willingly yielded up their ornaments;
and from these he made a molten calf, in imitation of the gods of
Egypt. The people proclaimed, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” And Aaron basely permitted
this insult to Jehovah. He did more. Seeing with what satisfaction
the golden god was received, he built an altar before it, and made
proclamation, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” The announcement
was heralded by trumpeters from company to company throughout
the camp. “And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt
offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat
and to drink and rose up to play.” Under the pretense of holding “a
feast to the Lord,” they gave themselves up to gluttony and licentious
reveling.
How often, in our own day, is the love of pleasure disguised by a
“form of godliness”! A religion that permits men, while observing the
rites of worship, to devote themselves to selfish or sensual gratification,
is as pleasing to the multitudes now as in the days of Israel. And there
are still pliant Aarons, who, while holding positions of authority in
the church, will yield to the desires of the unconsecrated, and thus
encourage them in sin.
Only a few days had passed since the Hebrews had made a solemn
covenant with God to obey His voice. They had stood trembling with
terror before the mount, listening to the words of the Lord, “Thou shalt
have no other gods before Me.” The glory of God still hovered above
Sinai in the sight of the congregation; but they turned away, and asked
for other gods. “They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molten
image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox.”
Psalm 106:19, 20
. How could greater ingratitude have been shown, or
more daring insult offered, to Him who had revealed Himself to them
as a tender father and an all-powerful king!
Moses in the mount was warned of the apostasy in the camp and
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was directed to return without delay. “Go, get thee down,” were the
words of God; “thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of
Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out
of the way which I commanded them. They have made them a molten
calf, and have worshiped it.” God might have checked the movement