Aaron and the Golden Calf - Exodus 32
Moses had gone up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments from God. He was up there for a long time and the Israelites were impatient and assumed that Moses was not going to come back down. They decided at this time that they wanted to do something like the Egyptians had done. They wanted to worship a god that they could see. So, they had Aaron lead in this activity. They asked him to make a golden calf for them to go before them. They melted down gold and shaped it into a calf. After it was finished, they actually said that this golden calf that they made out of gold was the god that led them out of Egypt! The people had a big celebration then with the golden calf. They also became out of control.
Moses came down the mountain and was angry with what he was seeing. He actually threw the tablets that had the Ten Commandments written on them! This was to signify the meaning of a broken covenant. The people had already broken the second Commandment which said that they were not to make any graven images of God.
God was not pleased with the people. He wanted to destroy them, but Moses prayed for God to not destroy them. God had made promises already to Israel, and Moses reminded God of His promises to His people. 3,000 men died, and Moses destroyed the calf. Moses went back up the mountain and asked God to forgive the people. Moses stood in the place between the Israelites and God, trying to make peace between both of them. This is a foreshadow of what Jesus Christ, God's son, would do many years later. Jesus stood between God and His people, and turned God's wrath away so the people would not be destroyed. Jesus was the mediator between God and man.
Aaron and the golden calf took place around 1444 B.C.
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