But, as it were, the people were eager to take off these earrings and give them to Aaron. Seeing how willing they were to give something of universal value for the sake of their god, makes me wonder about the sacrifices of Abel and Cain. Abel's sacrifice was accepted but Cain's was not. Well, this offering of their earrings was not acceptable even though costly. God is not impressed with things man treasures. He wants true worship that honors Him and does not substitute anything for Himself. No 'stand=ins" for Him!
Amazingly, Moses had preached the Words of God concerning the commandments. The Decalogue was delivered orally to the people before the people agreed to follow God and His commands. This is what they assented to do. They clearly knew that they were not to:
First of all, worship any other god but YHWH.
And Second of all, never create an image of any kind to represent YHWH.
So, whatever the golden calf represented broke one of these paramount commandments. The top of the list, so to speak. WOW!
Did they not fear Him? Did they think that they could just exchange YHWH for a more acceptable and "tame" god? Did they really think that YHWH would cause His Presence to dwell within or upon this golden calf or that a different god could do this?
I don't think we can ever really know what the Israelites and Aaron were really intending here, but we can know that what ever their intents, these were gravely sinful.
Creating this golden calf took some time and skill. The gold needed to be melted down and a cast of some time needed to be made. This shows that there was plenty of time for these people and Aaron to reverse course under the conviction of their sin. Aaron did the fine tuning on the calf, using tools to refine the features of the image. They took great care to form this idol.
YHWH, of course, knows all things and He knew their intentions and also what was going on in the camp while with Moses on the Mount. Moses was unknowing
But, as it were, the people were eager to take off these earrings and give them to Aaron. Seeing how willing they were to give something of universal value for the sake of their god, makes me wonder about the sacrifices of Abel and Cain. Abel's sacrifice was accepted but Cain's was not. Well, this offering of their earrings was not acceptable even though costly. God is not impressed with things man treasures. He wants true worship that honors Him and does not substitute anything for Himself. No 'stand=ins" for Him!
Amazingly, Moses had preached the Words of God concerning the commandments. The Decalogue was delivered orally to the people before the people agreed to follow God and His commands. This is what they assented to do. They clearly knew that they were not to:
First of all, worship any other god but YHWH.
And Second of all, never create an image of any kind to represent YHWH.
So, whatever the golden calf represented broke one of these paramount commandments. The top of the list, so to speak. WOW!
Did they not fear Him? Did they think that they could just exchange YHWH for a more acceptable and "tame" god? Did they really think that YHWH would cause His Presence to dwell within or upon this golden calf or that a different god could do this?
I don't think we can ever really know what the Israelites and Aaron were really intending here, but we can know that what ever their intents, these were gravely sinful.
Creating this golden calf took some time and skill. The gold needed to be melted down and a cast of some time needed to be made. This shows that there was plenty of time for these people and Aaron to reverse course under the conviction of their sin. Aaron did the fine tuning on the calf, using tools to refine the features of the image. They took great care to form this idol.
YHWH, of course, knows all things and He knew their intentions and also what was going on in the camp while with Moses on the Mount. Moses was unknowing
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