Week 4 Exodus
The gold calf idolatry in chapter thirty-two is perplexing. The Hebrew tribes had seen the Lord’s plagues in Egypt, been rescued at the Red Sea, been fed almost by magic, were thunderstruck at Mount Sinai, could always see a gigantic pillar of cloud or fire…plus they were specifically told not to worship idols. And in thirty-two they turn from the Lord and worship an idol. Why would they do that?
Last July I was reading Ezekiel’s review of Hebrew history and he mentioned the idols of Egypt (so I wrote myself a note last year to re-read Ezekiel twenty while I was reading Exodus thirty-two this year. Which I just did).
Ezekiel said that after the exodus the Lord told Israel to: get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. That last phrase helped me make some sense of Israel’s leap to idolatry in Exodus thirty-two.
It makes pretty good sense really. Israel had been down in Egyptland for centuries so you figure that social exchanges were happening. A bit here, a bit there. Egyptian recipes, hair styles, idioms, architectural ideas, irrigation technologies, transportation, communication, art, entertainment, political ideology, religion. Idol worship.
Ezekiel says Israel had started worshipping the idols of Egypt.
Which means Exodus thirty-two wasn’t really a shocking turn-around at all. It was more just a doin-what-we-bin-doin return to normal.
Note: quote from Ezekiel 20:7 (NIV)