The Golden Calf
Cordelia Achen
Once the Israelites leave Egypt in chapter twelve of Exodus, we see many twists and turns in their relationship with God. However, among the more notable actions of the Israelites is the construction of the golden calf, which occurs while Moses sits on the mountain and communes with the Lord. The story is presented in chapter thirty-two of Exodus, and would appear to explain the incident by an intrinsic evil within certain ranks of the Israelites (the Lord going so far as to call them a “stiffnecked people” in Exodus 32.9 ) and incompetence on the part of Aaron. Yet there are problems with this interpretation. Why do the Israelites even elect to build a golden calf? Why use gold, a highly valuable metal, and why …show more content…
He cannot be seen, nor touched, and he only speaks to a select few. At times he physically manifests himself, but the only way to truly experience him is through his actions, which is part of God’s stated reason for inflicting the various plagues upon the Egyptians: “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand over Egypt and bring out the Israelites from their midst” (Ex. 7.5). This sentiment is echoed in the Israelites own epithet for God as he who brought the Israelites out of Egypt. God acts and he is known, but when he is not acting he may as well not exist to us. In fact, even when he is acting we may not recognize his influence and attribute it to other causes. As corporeal beings, we cannot understand God as he truly is; we can only fear him, love him, or simply stand in awe of him. The first is another cause of us being unable to experience God physically. When God speaks to Moses, for instance, he comes with thunder, lightning, and fire (Ex. 15). This frightens the Israelites and further removes them from any knowledge of God in a corporeal way. Being thus unable to understand God, as soon as we deviate from his laws we must raise ourselves above him or lower him to our level. Something must become physical. This is what causes the Israelites’ impiety. In creating the golden calf the Israelites have lowered God to something seen and touched so they can feel that they have a …show more content…
We know that the Israelites are the closest people to God due to the convent between God and Abraham. They are God’s chosen people and will be numerous and prosperous. However, this alone leads to a distance in their relationship with God, which is why they mistakenly think they can represent God as a golden calf. This relationship between the increase in population of a town and the distance from God fist appears in Genesis. In Genesis 4.17, Cain has many children and founds a city. The end of the chapter reads “It was then that men began to invoke the name of the Lord” which seems to imply that before man was close enough to God not to need to invoke him by name. Furthermore, in Genesis 6 it states “When men began to increase on earth and daughters were born to them…the Lord said ‘My breath shall not abide in man forever, since he too is flesh; let the days allowed him be one hundred and twenty years” (6.3). Thus, by fulfilling his promise to Abraham and making the Israelites a great and abundant people, he has created a space between him and his people. This is part of the reason Moses is required, and perhaps partially why the relationship between Moses and God is so close that it is never attained by another prophet. Moses is said to speak to God face to face, which though not literal as no one can look God in the face, supplies a
Cordelia Achen
Once the Israelites leave Egypt in chapter twelve of Exodus, we see many twists and turns in their relationship with God. However, among the more notable actions of the Israelites is the construction of the golden calf, which occurs while Moses sits on the mountain and communes with the Lord. The story is presented in chapter thirty-two of Exodus, and would appear to explain the incident by an intrinsic evil within certain ranks of the Israelites (the Lord going so far as to call them a “stiffnecked people” in Exodus 32.9 ) and incompetence on the part of Aaron. Yet there are problems with this interpretation. Why do the Israelites even elect to build a golden calf? Why use gold, a highly valuable metal, and why …show more content…
He cannot be seen, nor touched, and he only speaks to a select few. At times he physically manifests himself, but the only way to truly experience him is through his actions, which is part of God’s stated reason for inflicting the various plagues upon the Egyptians: “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand over Egypt and bring out the Israelites from their midst” (Ex. 7.5). This sentiment is echoed in the Israelites own epithet for God as he who brought the Israelites out of Egypt. God acts and he is known, but when he is not acting he may as well not exist to us. In fact, even when he is acting we may not recognize his influence and attribute it to other causes. As corporeal beings, we cannot understand God as he truly is; we can only fear him, love him, or simply stand in awe of him. The first is another cause of us being unable to experience God physically. When God speaks to Moses, for instance, he comes with thunder, lightning, and fire (Ex. 15). This frightens the Israelites and further removes them from any knowledge of God in a corporeal way. Being thus unable to understand God, as soon as we deviate from his laws we must raise ourselves above him or lower him to our level. Something must become physical. This is what causes the Israelites’ impiety. In creating the golden calf the Israelites have lowered God to something seen and touched so they can feel that they have a …show more content…
We know that the Israelites are the closest people to God due to the convent between God and Abraham. They are God’s chosen people and will be numerous and prosperous. However, this alone leads to a distance in their relationship with God, which is why they mistakenly think they can represent God as a golden calf. This relationship between the increase in population of a town and the distance from God fist appears in Genesis. In Genesis 4.17, Cain has many children and founds a city. The end of the chapter reads “It was then that men began to invoke the name of the Lord” which seems to imply that before man was close enough to God not to need to invoke him by name. Furthermore, in Genesis 6 it states “When men began to increase on earth and daughters were born to them…the Lord said ‘My breath shall not abide in man forever, since he too is flesh; let the days allowed him be one hundred and twenty years” (6.3). Thus, by fulfilling his promise to Abraham and making the Israelites a great and abundant people, he has created a space between him and his people. This is part of the reason Moses is required, and perhaps partially why the relationship between Moses and God is so close that it is never attained by another prophet. Moses is said to speak to God face to face, which though not literal as no one can look God in the face, supplies a