Exodus 32 · The Lantern

The Golden Calf

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him.

And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.

And all the people broke off the golden earrings in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a cast metal calf: and they said, These be your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.

And they rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

But he who has engulfed and plunged himself in such wallowing places, falls also into the snare of unbelief; for the people sat down to eat and to drink, and required that gods should be made for them.

But it must be carefully noted what it means that the rich man placed in the fire asks for his tongue to be cooled. For it is the custom of sacred Scripture sometimes to say one thing, but to indicate another by that same saying. Now above the Lord had described this proud rich man not as given to talkativeness, but as feasting excessively.

And the LORD said to Moses, Go, get you down; for your people, who you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a cast metal calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be your gods, O Israel, which have brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

And the LORD said to Moses, I have seen this people, and indeed, it is a stiff-necked people:

Now therefore let me alone, so that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of you a great nation.

When he wished that [the fig tree] be uprooted, the event was similar to that earlier one, when the Father said to Moses, "Permit me to destroy the people." He [thus] gave him a reason to intercede with him. Here too he showed the vinedresser that he wished to uproot it.

On another occasion God said to Moses, "Let me alone … that I may consume this people," showing by the words "let me alone" that he can be withheld from doing what he threatens. The prayers of his servant hindered his power.

And in case you should suppose that he acted like this more from necessity than from charity, God actually offered him another people: "And I will make you," he said, "into a great nation," so leaving himself free to eliminate those others. But Moses wouldn't accept this: he sticks to the sinners; he prays for the sinners. And how does he pray?

And Moses begged the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why does your wrath wax hot against your people, who you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people.

And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand: the tablets were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, carved upon the tablets.

And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

And it happened, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger grew hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount.

And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

For Moses ground to powder the calf and caused them to drink it in the water of ordeal; that by drinking of the calf all those who were living for its worship might die. For the sons of Levi ran upon them, those who ran to help Moses and girded on their swords.

Moses ground the head of the golden calf to powder, and cast it into water, and made the people drink of it; for their heart was hardened by the greatness of their perfidy, and he did thus that it might be softened and made refined by faith. Lastly, that woman who grinds meal well and fine shall be taken, but she who grinds ill shall be left.

Therefore perhaps that calf, being ground to powder, was cast into the water and given to the children of Israel to drink, that so the body of ungodliness might be swallowed up by Israel.

And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people to you, that you have brought so great a sin upon them?

And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: you know the people, that they are set on mischief.

For they said to me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him.

And I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked to their shame among their enemies:)

Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’s side? let him come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

And he said to them, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.

For the sons of Levi ran upon them, those who ran to [help] Moses and girded on their swords. For the sons of Levi did not know whom they should slay, because those that worshipped were mingled with those that worshipped not.

Behold true and perfect charity: he ordered the death of a few people in order to save six hundred thousand, with the women and children excepted. If he had not been aroused with zeal for God to punish a few men, God's justice would have destroyed them all.

Let them hear how Moses, when he saw that God was angry with His people, and commanded swords to be taken for executing vengeance, declared those to be on God's side who should smite the crimes of the offenders without delay, saying, If any man is the Lord's, let him join himself to me; put every man his sword upon his thigh; go in and out from gate to gate through the midst of…

And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

And it happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, You have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I shall make an atonement for your sin.

And Moses returned to the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.

Yet now, if you will forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, please, out of your book which you have written.

The greater the sin, the more worthy must be the prayers that are sought. For it was not any one of the common people who prayed for the Jewish people, but Moses, when forgetful of their covenant they worshiped the head of a calf. Was Moses wrong? Certainly he was not wrong in praying, who both merited and obtained that for which he asked.

He sought to imitate the shepherd who would, he knew, carry on his shoulders even the wandering sheep. "The good shepherd"—these are the Lord's own words—"lays down his life for the sheep." One of his disciples can wish to be anathema from Christ for his brothers' sake, his kinsmen according to the flesh who were Israelites.

Scripture enlightens from outside through extrinsic examples, of which all of Scripture is full. If you seek an example of patience, behold Job and Tobias; of magnanimity, behold David fighting Goliath, and Judas Macchabee. As an example of faith, behold Abraham and the glorious Virgin, whose faith surpasses that of Abraham.

And the LORD said to Moses, Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

Therefore now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you: look, my Angel shall go before you: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.

And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

Exodus32

The Golden Calf