Many (perhaps all) participated in the sin, but God limited the penalty to those who possibly instigated it. Perhaps trying to steer them away from worshiping the calf, and directing them in the proper service of God. At this time, he contributed regularly to local scholarly journals authoring dozens of original expositions and ruminations in Hebrew. Involved, as always is true with departure from the true God, were other sins: B. He then takes the golden calf and melts it down. The calf first appears in the time of Moses (Ex 32), but golden calves were also worshipped in Northern Israel during the monarchy. It has been the subject of countless sermons and interpretation. God accepts. Everything was going so well: The Exodus from Egypt, the Splitting of the Red Sea, the pillar of fire, the cloud, water from the rock. You mention such an interesting point. 10:5; 11:2). I think that he was trying to work out the situation in the best way that he could with the resources he had at hand. By Ahuva Balofsky (Moderator), This section begins with God giving Moses the two tablets of stone upon which He has written with His own hand. It is, however, impossible to deny his involvement. And so the men strike dead 3,000 people! In Hebrew, the incident is known as ḥēṭ’ ha‘ēggel (חֵטְא הַעֵגֶּל) or the Sin of the Calf. Also, the people were not substituting the golden calf for the worship of the one true God, but using artificial means of man’s design and making to worship Him. [4] Although it is true that the calves are presented as their own sin (see e.g., 2 Kings 17:16), it would seem that the biblical authors, having decided that the only proper worship of YHWH was that which took place in Jerusalem, polemicized against non-centralized worship by describing it as idolatrous, at least rhetorically. As well, as Diana mentioned, when he sees the calf, and the reaction of the people, he declares the next day as a holiday for God. Perhaps it was Building off of the previous entry where we learned that the Golden Calf episode is really a polemic against Jeroboam’s bull altars at Dan and Bethel , and both writers refer to it as “the great sin,” it is only reasonable to see the day of reckoning for this sin as the historical destruction of Israel by the Assyrians in 722 BC. The Sin of the Golden Calf and the Sin of the Spies. Born in 1971 in Norfolk, Virginia, Rabbi Kaplan attended Ivy League Yeshiva Schools in New York City during his adolescence. It always makes me wonder what hope I have of maintaining my faith when I have only HIS Word to cling to in this day. Therefore, perhaps his deeds are mitigated somehow. Why do you think Aaron did what he did? It shows man’s inherent weakness and God’s justice and compassion and also portrays Moses as both slayer and mediator and a means of atonement. He therefore pleads with God to be merciful and spare the people. Because Aharon had put his hope in the Lord to be the God of His Salvation, God did allow for reconciliation. Then would he melt the gold and produce a calf from it. Mentioned in Exodus 32 and I Kings 12 in the Old Testament, worship of the golden calf is seen as a supreme act of I also think his explanation to Moshe of how he’d thrown the gold in the fire and a calf came out is quite plausible. 32 When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Get up, make us gods that will go before us. We have, perhaps, gotten used to the idea that women are absent from many of the pivotal stories of the Torah. The sages discuss Aaron’s role in the sin at great length. Read More, Copyright © 2021 The Israel Bible All Rights Reserved. 1. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard and an M.A. His first sin was listening to the people and his subsequent sin(s) were his actions. Learn more about our classes here. For this author—known as the Elohist—the Covenant Collection is not one part of the law, or one law collection among others, but is the law collection, the only laws that YHWH ever gave to Israel. The two fundamental sins noted in the Torah are the sin of the Golden Calf on the 17th of Tammuz, and the sin of the Spies on Tisha B’Av. In the light of this, I don’t feel like I have any right to condemn him either. Images of bulls and calves were common in Near Eastern religions. Moses was still on the mountain with God when the golden calf happened. Verses 29 & 30 remind me of how sin coucheth at the door (Gen 4:7) as both speak of brother against brother and a blessing for those who comprehend their sin. 6). I have no trouble seeing this happening. He was assuming that the woman would be less likely to part with their gold, and that would give enough time for Moses to descend the mountain. 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