The Golden Calf
(Deuteronomy 9:7–29; Acts 7:39–43)
Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!” 1 Act 7:40Deu 9:92Pe 3:4Exo 24:18Mat 24:48Deu 9:11-12Act 17:29Deu 4:15-18
So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold earrings that are on your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.” Exo 12:35-36Jdg 8:24-27Ezk 16:11-12Ezk 16:17Hos 2:8Exo 35:22Gen 24:47Gen 24:22
Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. Isa 40:19-20Isa 46:6Jdg 17:3-4Jer 10:9 He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” Neh 9:181Ki 12:28Act 7:41Deu 9:16Exo 32:8Isa 44:9-102Ki 10:29Hos 13:2
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before the calf and proclaimed: “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” 2Ki 10:20Lev 23:2Lev 23:371Co 5:81Ki 12:32-331Ki 21:91Sa 14:352Ch 30:5
So the next day they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to indulge in revelry. 2 1Co 10:7Num 25:2Act 7:41-42Exo 32:17-19Amo 2:8Amo 8:10Exo 24:4-5Jdg 16:23-25
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. Exo 32:11Hos 9:9Deu 9:12Exo 19:24Gen 6:11-12Jdg 2:19Dan 9:24Deu 32:5 How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’” 1Ki 12:28Exo 20:23Exo 20:3-4Deu 9:16Exo 22:20Jdg 2:17Exo 32:4
The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. Act 7:51Isa 48:4Deu 9:13Exo 33:3Exo 33:5Exo 34:92Ch 30:8Deu 31:27 Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” Deu 9:14Num 14:12Deu 9:19Exo 22:24Num 16:45-48Num 14:19-20Num 16:22Exo 32:11
But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Deu 9:18-20Deu 9:26-29Psa 106:23Isa 63:17Jer 12:1-2Num 11:11Num 16:22Psa 74:1-2 Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from doing harm to Your people. Num 14:13-16Deu 9:28Exo 32:14Jos 7:9Amo 7:3Amo 7:6Deu 13:17Deu 32:26-27 Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’” Heb 6:13Gen 12:7Gen 22:16Gen 15:18Gen 15:5Gen 15:7Gen 35:11-12Deu 7:8
So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people. Jon 3:10Jer 26:13Psa 106:451Ch 21:15Jer 18:82Sa 24:16Jon 4:2Jer 26:19
Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. Deu 9:15Deu 5:22Exo 16:34Exo 24:18Exo 31:18Exo 40:20Psa 19:7Rev 5:1 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. Exo 31:18Heb 8:102Co 3:3Deu 10:1Deu 9:15Deu 9:9-11Exo 34:1Exo 34:4
When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “The sound of war is in the camp.” Exo 24:13Exo 17:91Sa 17:201Sa 17:521Sa 4:5-6Amo 1:14Amo 2:2Exo 32:18
But Moses replied: Dan 5:23Dan 5:4Exo 15:1-18
“It is neither the cry of victory nor the cry of defeat;
I hear the sound of singing!”
As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain. Deu 9:16-172Sa 6:14Deu 27:26Eph 4:26Exo 15:20Exo 32:11Exo 32:4-6Jer 31:32 Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it. Deu 9:212Ki 23:152Ki 23:6Deu 7:25Deu 7:5Pro 1:31Pro 14:14
“What did this people do to you,” Moses asked Aaron, “that you have led them into so great a sin?” Gen 20:9Jos 7:19-261Ki 14:161Ki 21:221Sa 26:192Ki 21:9-11Deu 13:6-8Gen 26:10
“Do not be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil. Deu 9:241Sa 15:24Exo 14:11Exo 15:24Exo 16:20Pro 4:16Psa 36:4Deu 31:27 They told me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!’ Exo 32:1-4Exo 32:8
So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, let him take it off,’ and they gave it to me. And when I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!” Exo 32:4Gen 3:12-13Luk 10:29Rom 3:10
Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild and become a laughingstock 3to their enemies. Isa 47:3Mic 1:11Rev 16:152Ch 28:19Dan 12:2Deu 9:20Exo 33:4-6Ezk 16:63 So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” 2Ki 9:32Mat 12:302Sa 20:11Jos 5:13
And all the Levites gathered around him.
He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’” Num 25:5Luk 14:26Deu 33:8-92Co 5:16Exo 32:26Exo 32:29Num 25:7-12
The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people fell dead. Deu 33:91Co 10:8Heb 2:2-3Mal 2:4-6Num 16:32-35Num 16:41
Afterward, Moses said, “Today you have been ordained 4for service to the LORD, since each man went against his son and his brother; so the LORD has bestowed a blessing on you this day.” Num 25:11-13Mat 10:37Zec 13:3Deu 13:6-11Pro 21:31Sa 15:18-22Deu 33:9-10Jol 2:12-14
The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 1Sa 12:20Num 25:131Sa 12:232Ki 17:212Sa 16:12Amo 5:15Exo 32:31-32Jon 3:9
So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves. Exo 20:23Dan 9:11Dan 9:8Exo 32:30Dan 9:5Deu 9:18-19Exo 20:4Exo 34:28 Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.” Psa 69:28Rom 9:3Php 4:3Rev 21:27Dan 12:1Rev 3:5Psa 139:16Psa 56:8
The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book. Deu 29:20Ezk 18:4Lev 23:30Psa 69:28Rev 20:12Psa 9:5Php 4:3Psa 109:13-14 Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.” Deu 32:35Exo 23:20Exo 3:17Exo 33:14-15Exo 33:2Mat 23:35Amo 3:14Exo 20:5
And the LORD sent a plague on the people because of what they had done with the calf that Aaron had made. 2Sa 12:9-10Act 1:18Act 7:41Exo 32:25Exo 32:4Mat 27:3-7