1560 Geneva Bible: Exodus 31-32 – The Golden Calf
YHWH is sharing with Moshe, on Mt Sinai, how He wants humans to celebrate Shabbat with Him, and why. He has also prepared a place for Him to live among humans – the Ark of the Tabernacle, or of the Tent — and He has described the ceremonial robes and breastplate that the Priest, Moshe’s brother Aaron, and Aaron’s sons, should wear in performing service to Him in the Tent of Meeting.
Tragically, the Children of Israel could not wait for even a short time, before losing all faith in YHWH and abandoning all connection to Him. They give up on Moshe coming down from the mountain pretty quickly, and immediately melt down their gold jewelry to create a molten calf image, which they then worship. This idol-worship breaks YHWH’s heart and He almost destroys the entire community of the Children of Israel, He is so upset.
Moshe offers himself as a sacrifice — prefiguring Yeshua’s sacrificial act — and YHWH rejects this, but He does note that the idolatry will be in the final accounting against the idolaters, on the day when accounts are reconciled. A massacre unfolds, leaving only the people who actively stood with YHWH, alive and able to move on with the story.
Again we explore the issue of “making holy” — “mekadesh” — and we show how very different this Jewish idea is from “ordination” or even from confession, and other kinds of sanctification, in later religious traditions. Everyone is invited to “lekadesh”, in the Hebrew idea of holiness, and it is not a one-time activity but a continual process that allows one to draw closer to God and to absorb His blessings.
We also explore the idea of whether God is eternal and changeless, or if He changes over time — as I argue He does in relation to humans, as He continually seeks closeness, only to be, in this text, often rebuffed. Or could both be true at once?
A dramatic crisis in the relationship of God and His family.
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