Chapter 28: The Golden Calf
Q1 - A characteristic of God is that He cannot lie. Discuss Titus 1:1–3, Hebrews 6:13–20, and other scriptures which speak to the nature of God.
A1 - The scripture in Titus states that God does not lie. The scripture in Hebrews expounds further. It explains that God made a promise to Abraham and then swore by Himself as there was no one greater to swear by. A promise from God is more than sufficient all by itself, but God wanted to make doubly sure that Abraham’s heirs understood His purpose remained unchanged, and hence the oath (see Genesis 15 for God’s promise to Abraham and the ensuing covenant He made with him). Even though it took many years and several generations before God’s promise was completely fulfilled, He wanted them to know He would neither forget nor fail to do what He said He would do.
This very generation of Israelites served as living proof that God keeps His promises. They were the ones God had foretold would be delivered from slavery and come out with great possessions (see Genesis 15:13–16). In so doing, they had actually participated in an integral portion of the fulfillment of God’s promise! They had witnessed the awesome power of God’s miracles in the plagues against the Egyptians. Just a few days earlier they had stood trembling before Mount Sinai amid another awesome display of God’s power and solemnly pledged to do all that God had commanded. Of all people, they should have trusted God. Yet, Moses’s forty days on the mountain proved to be too long for them. They gave up both on God and on Moses.
Another scripture reference that speaks to God’s unchanging nature can be found in the second oracle of Balaam, the soothsayer. He had been summoned by King Balak of Moab to curse the Israelites shortly before they entered the Promised Land. Balaam told Balak he could only say what God had told him to say. In Numbers 23:19–20 (NIV) he said this in the second oracle which God delivered through him to Balak: “‘God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.’”
Q2 - Which of the Ten Commandments were broken during the incident with the golden calf?
A2 - Definitely the first two commands were broken. By abandoning God and then demanding Aaron physically make them a god, they broke the first command not to have other gods before Him. In so doing, it follows that the second command was also broken. The second command stated they were not to make idols in the form of anything God had created (not in the heavens above, earth beneath, or waters below) or bow down or worship them. Not only did they bow down to the golden calf and sacrifice to it, but they also gave it credit for what God had done with His mighty hand—bring them up out of Egypt.
It’s likely the Israelites also broke the third command to not misuse the name of the Lord. Certainly, they made a mockery of all that God had done for them.
Q3 - Why was it such an abomination for Aaron to build an altar before the golden calf and then declare a festival to the Lord?
A3 - More than anyone else that Moses left down below in the camp, Aaron knew God’s commands. He had been with Moses many of the times they had spoken to the people and confronted Pharaoh. He knew the right thing to do was to stand against the people and that building an idol was absolutely not the right thing to do. Even if the mob had killed him, Aaron would have died doing the right thing. Yet, he did not have the strength to speak against them, and worse, he fulfilled their sinful demands.
Then, Aaron took this occasion of sin and somehow thought he could whitewash it. He built an altar before the golden calf and declared that a festival to the Lord should take place. What then occurred was just as bad as the creation of the calf itself, and possibly worse, because the people began to engage in base revelry. Perhaps they would have done this anyway, but Aaron declaring the festival seemingly gave them the go-ahead. Associating the name of God with an idol and this sinful event amounted to blasphemy.
Aaron compounded his wrongdoing by lying to Moses. He told him when he threw the jewelry into the fire, out came this calf. Aaron’s one original sin of caving to the people snowballed into many more sins being committed by both him as well as a multitude of people. It’s no wonder God was so angry with him over this incident.