The golden calf - worshipped as if too God or as if it was a god?

[Iollain]

The calf was them trying to make the God who brought them out of Egypt into something they wanted. They wanted to make a calf and have the God who brought them out of Egypt, whom they knew existed for sure, follow their will and accept this calf as something they could worship Him by.

 

[KEPLER]

The calf was them trying to make the God who brought them out of Egypt into something they wanted. They wanted to make a calf and have the God who brought them out of Egypt, whom they knew existed for sure, follow their will and accept this calf as something they could worship Him by.

Perhaps...

But then, how many times did the people wandering in the desert start grumbling and say, "AH screw it, let's just go back!"...meaning that they were tired of following Moses aroundand just wanted to go back to Egypt where they at least got to eat everyday.... Right? (At least twice, that I can think of, but I'll have to figure out where).

I think this calf thing refelcted that same desire: they wanted to return to their old ways; they were tired of follwing Moses around, they wanted to go back to their nice comfortable enslavement....

 

[Iollain]

Yes they did, and i believe Aaron knew way better than to turn the glory of God into a golden calf. He should have been more responsible in leading the people in Moses' absence. These people did know of what God they were to worship, as they were carrying on with the hope of being lead out of the desert.

 

[Iollain]

......i guess he didn't exactly make a golden calf, but that is what the shape turned out to be after he put all the gold into the fire

 

[KEPLER]

......i guess he didn't exactly make a golden calf, but that is what the shape turned out to be after he put all the gold into the fire

...

He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.

 

[Iollain]

I think their main mistake here was trying to get the God who brought them out of Egypt, to lead them out with an image that has no power, in the end they were worshipping God through the calf

 

[Iollain]

Exd 32:24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath 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.

 

[DanielRB]

Shalom, all

" who accepted their offering, and fashioning this gold with a graving tool, made a molten calf. Then they cried out, “This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” On seeing this, Aaron built an altar before the calf and proclaimed, “Tomorrow is a feast of YHWH.”" (Exodus 32:4-5, NABWRNT)

If the golden calf was not supposed to be a symbol of YHWH, then why would Aaron proclaim a feast to him in the context of worshipping it?

In Messiah,

Daniel

 

[KEPLER]

Shalom, all



If the golden calf was not supposed to be a symbol of YHWH, then why would Aaron proclaim a feast to him in the context of worshipping it?

In Messiah,

Daniel

Hey Daniel....well, IMHO....

I think we know enough about Aaron's character from other parts of Scripture to know that Aaron was pretty much a wuss. He was trying to "save the day" as it were... make everybody happy....not ruffle any feathers....don't rock the boat...etc. And in doing so, I think there ends of being a double blasphemy...

The people have already blasphemed YHWH, by attributing His work (their escapoe from Egypt) to the Egyptian gods (blasphemy #1). Aaron then turns around, knowing full well that in their hearts they are turning back to the gods of Egypt, and tries to direct it to YHWH (blasphemy #2).

No wonder YHWH wanted to kill them all (Ex 32:10).

Cheers,

Kepler

 

[ScottBot]

It was udder cow worship.


God Bless

Udderly preposterous!!!

 

[KEPLER]

Udderly preposterous!!!

Using the same pun twice is milking it too much...

 

[holyorders]

No divine bovines!


It always funny when Moses comes down from the mountain and calls on Aaron to explain what was going on. And Aaron says "I was melting all the gold together and the calf came out!". What a lame excuse.

Its also cool how Moses gets so ****ed he throws the stone tablets on the calf (destroying it). And then he has to go up the mountain again to ask God to made the tablets again.

 

[Sophia7]

Exd 32:24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath 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.

This was just an excuse that Aaron gave Moses to minimize his guilt in the whole affair. Aaron didn't just throw the gold into the fire, and out came the calf, as he claimed. Exodus 32:4 says that he fashioned it with a tool. I agree with Kepler that Aaron was pretty much a wuss here. Whatever the golden calf represented or was modeled after, it clearly violated their relationship with the one true God--so much so that God declared that those who had sinned against Him would be blotted out of His book (v. 33).

My question is why was Aaron not punished? How could he still be ordained by God as the high priest after leading the people into idolatry and not taking responsibility for his own actions? Should he not have been held more at fault than the people themselves since he as their leader enabled their wickedness? He did not seem contrite at all but instead tried to place all the blame on the Israelites for being prone to evil (v. 22). David did some pretty bad things too, but he turned back to God and asked for forgiveness. Where was Aaron's repentance?

 

[ScottBot]

Using the same pun twice is milking it too much...

I was just trying to butter her up. She's the cream of the crop!!!

 

[KEPLER]

I was just trying to butter her up. She's the cream of the crop!!!

Oh, those are cheesy. That's the best you can do after I tried to steer you right?

 

[ScottBot]

Oh, those are cheesy. That's the best you can do after I tried to steer you right?

Don't think you can come in here and buffalo me. I do not cow so easily to that kind of intimidation.

 

[DanielRB]

Shalom, All

For what it's worth, here's a footnote from the "Catholic Study Bible" on Exodus 32:5:

The calf...a feast of the Lord: from this it is clear that the goldencalf was intended as an image, not of a false god, but of the Lord himself, his strength being symbolized by the strength of a young bull. The Israelites, however, had been forbidden to represent the Lord under any visible form. Cf Ex 20,4.

Also, the note under Judges 17:3:

Idol: an image, not of a pagan god, but of the Lord. The Mosaic law frbade the making of an image even of the true God.

In Messiah,

Daniel

 

[KEPLER]

Don't think you can come in here and buffalo me. I do not cow so easily to that kind of intimidation.

Look, all I'm oxing of you is to not repeat puns...that's just bull. Originality...that's what's at steak here.

 

[KEPLER]

Shalom, All

For what it's worth, here's a footnote from the "Catholic Study Bible" on Exodus 32:5:

Also, the note under Judges 17:3:

In Messiah,

Daniel

OK, that's a footnote...but what about the text?

 

[Caliban]

OK, that's a footnote...but what about the text?

I have stated the original text in hebrew where it states that it was in fact for yahweh (see my previous post on this on the first page)