The egyptians revered cattle, and did not eat or sacrifice them. Was there a pagan religion that worshiped a golden calf that the jews were imitating. As many of us have heard, the eskimos have dozens of words for snow because this is so crucial to their daily lives. Therefore the men who worshiped the calf was very very few. I have always thought that the israelites worshiped the golden calf alone and that it. Most, however, do not understand that the calf was a symbol of a system of worship that was to penetrate israel and destroy the religious system of judah. Golden calf, idol worshipped by the hebrews during the period of the exodus from egypt in the th century bc. Would this have included everyone who worshiped the golden calf.
And the lesson of the golden calf is not just one for our state or our people or our religion, but a lesson for each and everyone of us. Golden calf idol golden calf, bible crafts, bible for kids. The golden calf article about the golden calf by the. The former contains references to animal sacrifices, levites, priestly rites of purification andablution, concerns about seeing god and dying, and most notably, a reference to. Sin of the golden calf and abortion most holy place. Aaron aaron, in the bible, the brother of moses and his spokesman in egypt, and the first high priest of the hebrews. Aaron and the golden calf in the rhetoric of the pentateuch. The worship of the golden calf is not presented as the worship of another deity but rather of yhwh himself, and the theological assertion seems to be that since god is heard, not seen, he is not to be worshipped in any physical, visual form see deut 4. The craftsmen that came out of egypt were used to working with gold and therefore copper was added to give the calf strength. Most likely, the people saw idols like this in egypt and wanted to give them a try. View whole chapter see verse in context and i answered again, and said unto him, what be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty.
The hebrews did eat cattle, and probably made the golden calf to repudiate the beliefs of the egyptians. The story of the golden calf is widely regarded as one of the most disgraceful moments in jewish history. Where did the golden calf to worship concept come from and why. Kenneth emerson sauer, pastor of parkview united methodist church, newport news, va.
Exodus to nehemiah as an evolution in the use of language over the approximate millennium separating the two books. They made a calf in horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Here is, the sin of israel, and aaron particularly in making the golden calf, ver. Levi stood with moses to clean house after the golden calf ex 32. This article is brought to you for free and open access by the college of arts and sciences at surface. The golden calf story is an alternate tradition, and thematerial in exodus chapter 24 is contradictory. As for this fellow moses, the man who brought us up from. The people get impatient, and think that perhaps moses will not return, and they ask his. This analysis does not purport to deal exhaustively with the manifold exegetical. There is much evidence of the worship of cattle in the near east, certainly from the 6th millennium bce, in anatolia, but the classical account of this apostasy in the ot is when moses was so long absent, engaged in conversation with the lord on mount sinai, that the israelites.
Exodus chapter 34 verse 3 the golden calf as polemical allegory. Carol ochs is director of graduate studies and adjunct professor of jewish religious thought at hebrew union collegejewish institute of religion in new york. To be notified about future articles, stories, and bible studies,why dont you. Book of exodus, session 8 the golden calf exodus 3234 with moses on top of the mountain for forty days and forty nights to receive the inscribed tablets of the ten commandments and the instructions for the building of the tabernacle, the israelites get restless. What should we learn from the golden calf incident in. Book of exodus, session 8 the golden calf exodus 32 34. Meanwhile, back on the mountain, god gives moses instructions for aarons priestly garments. Now this familiar chapter stands out for two lessons, one of them practical and one typical. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, the times does not alter. In exodus, chapters 32, the a mere 40 days after receiving the torah, the jewish people created an idol torah tells how three months after leaving egypt, and a mere 40 days after receiving the torah at mount sinai, the jewish people. Mooshe took the calf, burned it, and scattered the ashes on a stream flowing from the mountain in sinai. In soviet russia, the only place where a normal person can live is in an insane asylum.
They would have been familiar with their superstitions and religious practices. More insights about the golden calf incident a people. View whole chapter see verse in context a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of. A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. Moses, the golden calf, and the false images of the true god. The episode concerning aaron and the golden calf see exodus 3234 comes as quite a shock. When moses goes to mount sinai to receive the ten commandments, the israelites create a golden calf to worship from their impatience of his absence. As all is god, and god is the oneness of the universe in the past, present and future, we realize that god knew the people would commit the sin of the golden calf. It has been accepted for inclusion in religion by an authorized administrator of surface. The story of the golden calf is found in exodus 32.
Moses, the golden calf, and the false images of the true god rolf a. Hendrix institute of archaeology berrien springs, michigan 49104 the following is a literary structural analysis of the golden calf episode as found in the mt of exod 32. Golden earrings both men and women wore these ornaments, and we may suppose that these were a part of the spoils which they brought out of egypt. Good colostrum management means feeding plenty of high quality, clean colostrum to calves soon after birth. Out of all the possible images, why did aaron choose a golden calf. The golden calf israelite samaritan information institute. Does this imply that all israel was blotted out from gods book. The golden calf if 600,000men left egypt only 3000 were punished. The bible contains hundreds of statements about gods anger at sin. The entire tribe of levi gathered about him, and moses ordered them to slay every one guilty of worshipping the golden calf, regardless of his position and relationship to them.
In the story, while an absent moses lingers for forty days and forty nights with god on mount sinai, the deliverers brother. What should we learn from the golden calf incident in exodus 32. The children of israel had lived for four hundred years among the egyptians. Sometimes we are too busy looking for the enemy from. As we will see later, the golden calf incident plays a far more important role in first corinthians and the nt as a whole than the fact that there is only one explicit verse recorded about it in the book. What was the golden calf spoken of in the scriptures.
Then, many years later jeroboam made not only one, but two golden calves to be worshipped. Although this claim has been discounted by modern linguists, it is nonetheless a wellknown linguistic fact that each language specializes in the. The golden calf and moses intercession exodus 3234. That day, the seventeenth day of tammuz, three thousand men of the children of israel lost their lives, in punishment for their idolatry. The notice which god gave of this to moses, who was now in the mount with him, ver. I know that aaron made one when moses was on the mountain. A relief from asia minor shows two individuals worshiping at an altar before a bull. Exodus 32 new international version niv the golden calf.
Second, who did god promise to blot out from his book. The golden calf bible story, verses and meaning bible study tools. Ministry ideas youth ministry golden calf bible crafts for kids ten commandments sunday school crafts bible stories mustard seed church ideas. The meaning of the golden calf israel institute of. The incident of the golden calf is truly goldenand valuable in that it has shaped us as a people who look more deeply and find god in and through the values we enact in this world. A literary structural analysis of the goldencalf episode. The lord replied to moses, whoever has sinned against me i will blot out of my book. The jews showed all through their history a tendency toward the babylonian and canaanitish idolatry rather than toward that of egypt. The golden calf by new christian bible study staff. Although some of this law of moses was made to teach them more perfectly the ways of yahweh, some was intended to simply slow or prevent their further backsliding jer 7. How strange, that the very things which were granted them by an especial influence and providence of god, should be now abused to the basest idolatrous purposes. These interpreters connect the golden calf to the first words of the decalogue. The levitical priesthood did not exist until after the golden calf episode. Its main character, ostap bender, also appeared in a previous novel by the authors called the twelve chairs.
The children of israel had been in bondage in egypt for over two hundred years. If we dont know the true god, we will make our own deities. Golden calf old testament britannica encyclopedia britannica. This digest of the narrative in the first verses of the chapter boils it down to its essence.
The mysterious way in which aaron described the origin of the golden calf gave rise to superstitious beliefs. Verse 2 they shall cry unto god, we israel know thee. In the bible, a golden image of a calf fashioned by aaron and worshiped by the israelites while moses was on mount sinai. We read in the scriptures that aaron made a golden calf. As for this fellow moses who brought us up out of egypt, we dont know what has happened to him. But tonight we are looking at exodus 32 and this is the chapter in which aaron and the children of israel built their golden calf because moses has been on the mount with the lord for so long. Golden calf definition of golden calf by the free dictionary. The people asked aaron to melt their jewelry down and mold it into an idol. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass psalm 106. Moses, their leader, as climbed up the mountain, and is receiving the ten commandments from jehovah. Even after millennia of analysis, commentary and sagacious insights, the story of the jewish people creating and worshiping the golden calf as recorded for us in this weeks torah reading remains.
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