Creator, Father, King #88

How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it.

HOLY COW!

The Israelites had a big problem: they, uh, thought a cow was holy.

Moses had been on Mount Sinai for many days with God, receiving the law. But the Israelites grew impatient. They wanted to worship a god they could see, so they told Aaron, Moses’ brother, to “make us some gods who can lead us” (Exodus 32:1). Sadly, Aaron complied and built the infamous golden calf idol. This was a direct violation of the first two commandments.

The Israelites had experienced an incredible amount of God’s love and power since leaving Egypt:

• He delivered them from slavery with ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea.
• He led them through the desert with a pillar of cloud and fire.
• He provided water from a rock to drink and manna and quail to eat.
• He descended in smoke, fire, and thunder on Mount Sinai.
• He expressed a desire to live among them through the Tabernacle.

Why would they reject God and do something so foolish?

What’s It Mean?

Most likely, the Israelites were mimicking what they saw in Egypt. The Egyptians worshiped many deities, including two called Hathor and Apis that were represented with a cow’s and bull’s head, respectively. The Israelites seemed to be mixing pagan worship with the worship of the Lord, perhaps even making the golden calf to represent God (Exodus 32:4-5).

This was both wicked and ridiculous. Remember, God had destroyed many of Egypt’s cows with a plague on livestock and then further wiped them out with a plague of hail. If God was a mighty cow or bull, why would he kill his own kind with plagues? And for that matter, why would he later command Israel to sacrifice bulls to him?

Do you see how deceptive sin is? It deludes us into believing bold-faced lies about God and causes us to behave irrationally, far outside the boundaries of our calling as God’s image-bearers.

Today, your biggest struggle likely isn’t worshiping a golden calf. However, we all struggle with idols of the heart—things we desire instead of God. Guard your heart against sin’s deceitfulness and the idols that can creep in and take the place of rightful worship of our Creator!

Now What?

Pray and meditate on Psalm 51:10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.”

Did You Know?

Centuries later, Israel was still struggling with golden calf worship. Check out 1 Kings 12:28.