In Exodus chapter thirty-two, God called Moses to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God. Assuming that Moses was not going to return, the Israelites asked Aaron to create them a new god. Aaron created a golden calf out of molten gold from the Israelites’ golden earrings and began to idolize the golden calf. Therefore, I propose the question: why did the Israelites create and worship a golden calf? Specifically, why a calf and why did they need to idolize an object?
Ellen G. White suggests that because the Israelites were feeling helpless when Moses was absent, they reverted to their old superstitions from Egypt. From the portrayal of a deity using a symbolic object, they chose an ox or calf, which suggest that the Israelites had practiced this form of idolatry in Egypt…show more content… I believe that the sole reason why the Israelites created a golden calf was to symbolize Apis the Bull of Egypt. Multiple sources have stated that the inspiration of the golden calf came from the Egyptian god Apis. As golden earrings and other articles of jewelry were collected to be molted, the gold held a significant amount of value in Egypt. The golden calf was made out of gold because it held the value of an immortal, divine being. I believe the golden calf was used to represent the presence of God, even though it was considered a sin to idolize. Although it resembled the Egyptian god Apis the Bull, the Israelites were used to the design of the Egyptian principles of iconographies. However in actuality, they prepared the golden calf as a symbol of God due to the “absence” of a physical appearance. What makes it challenging to determine if the calf was indeed a representation of Yahweh is that the Bible does not make a clear distinction of polytheism and idolatry. Even making a statue for the service of Yahweh is considered worshipping other