Episode 39: Aaron's golden calf

(Exodus 32)

32 ¹ The people became impatient waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain, so they said to Aaron,

Make us some gods. Because Moses is gone, and we don't know what's become of him.

² Aaron said, "Bring me your gold earrings."

³ So everyone gave him their earrings.

⁴ And Aaron made a molten calf.

The people said, "These are the gods that brought us out of Egypt."

⁵ Aaron built an altar and said, "Tomorrow is a feast day to the Lord."

⁶ The next day, they got up early to make offerings. Then they ate, drank and played.

⁷ God said to Moses, "Go down the mountain because the people have made a golden calf."

Moses talks God out of killing everyone

⁹ God said to Moses,

I've seen these people. They are stiff-necked.

¹⁰ Let me alone, so I can get really angry and kill them all.

And I'll make a great nation from you.

¹¹ Moses said,

¹² If you kill all the people, the Egyptians will say that you brought them out of Egypt just to kill them.

¹³ Remember your promises to multiply the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

¹⁴ And God repented of the evil he planned to do.

Moses breaks the stone tablets

^15-16 After God repented, Moses went down the mountain with the two two-sided stone tablets that God had written.

^19-20 When Moses came into the camp and saw the people dancing, he broke the stone tablets, burned the golden calf, ground it into powder, and forced it down the throats of all the people.

Aaron's excuses

²¹ Moses said to Aaron,

What did the people do to you that caused you to make them to sin so badly?

²² Aaron said,

Don't be angry. You know how bad these people are.

²³ They said to me, "Make us gods, because we don't know what has become of Moses."

²⁴ So I said, "Give me your gold."

They gave me their gold, I threw it in the fire, and out came this golden calf.

God forces people to kill their family, friends, and neighbors

²⁵ When Moses saw that the people were naked (for Aaron had made them naked), he said, ²⁶ "Who is on God's side?"

The Levites came to Moses and said, "We are."

²⁷ Moses said,

Here is what God says,

Let every man get his sword and kill his brother, friend, and neighbor.

²⁸ And the Levites did as they were told, killing 3000 men.

The Lord plagued the people

³¹ So Moses climbed Mount Sinai and said to God,

³² The people have sinned by making gods of gold.

Forgive them - or blot me out of the book you have written.

³³ God said to Moses,

I will blot out of my book anyone who has sinned against me.

³⁴ Lead the people to the place I told you about.

I'll send my angel to punish them there.

³⁵ And God plagued the people because of the calf that Aaron made.