I’ll be real honest with you: I’ve been waiting for Exodus 32 since I started this book. As horrific as this story is—complete with all its idolatry, impatience, anger—I just find it so fascinating. It’s a perfect case study on people’s relationship with God.
For that reason, it’s also incredibly relating.
Let’s start at the beginning. By the time Exodus 32 opens up, Moses has been on the mountain for forty days. That’s a long time—even longer when you consider that entire journey from Egypt to Mt. Sinai has only taken 47 days. Moses has been on the mountain almost as long as he’s been their direct leader, in other words.
Apparently forty days is just way too long for the people, because by this point, they’ve already assumed Moses had died. The golden calf is the new mediator between God and the people.
Lots of people have speculated as to why the people chose a calf. There are lots of examples in ancient history of gods represented as bulls or oxen—including Canaanite reliefs that depict a bull as a form of storm god—but the immediate Text in Exodus 32 doesn’t give us an easy answer.
Instead, what we’re left with is the abject shock of a people who’s attention has turned almost 180 degrees from where it was in Exodus 19. While Moses is busy at the top of Mt. Sinai receiving the Law from God, the people are at the base of the mountain planning his idolatrous replacement.
Perhaps most stunning in this scene is the fact that Aaron goes along with the people’s plan so easily. Not only is there zero evidence of any resistance on his part, but it seems as if the manufacturing of the calf is his idea to begin with.
In Exodus 32:2, he’s the one that tells the people to gather their gold rings so that he can melt them and fashion the calf by his own hand. Of course, when Moses later asks Aaron what happened to create the calf, he humorously (and tragically) replies with “I threw it in the fire and out popped this calf!” (Exodus 32:24).
Why did Aaron create the calf? The easiest answer is that he needed a way to pacify the people. Two million impatient souls clamoring for a solution has to be exhausting after a while.
But to claim Aaron’s weakness in this regard is overly simplistic in my opinion. After all, Aaron doesn’t want to replace Jehovah, he only wants to provide a physical manifestation of what Jehovah is. This fact is seen when he announces to the people that “this is your god that led you out of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4).
That’s not a huge deal in the minds of many people. After all, they’re still worshipping God, right?
It’s a huge deal—both to Moses and God. Moses is so furious that he destroys the stone tablets, and God wants to annihilate all of them and start all over. It’s only by the intervention of Moses that God allows them to live.
Like I said at the beginning, the whole scene in Exodus 32 is such a relatable incident. We may not create golden calves in our lives every day, but the truth is, we rationalize disobedience all the time. We claim that a direct command from God isn’t necessary, or excuse Paul’s writings because “the world has changed” since then.
Excuses are still excuses. Aaron wasn’t innocent and neither will we be if we willingly choose to disregard God’s simple Word based on our own fanciful ideas.
