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“And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron…and…after he had made it a molten calf…they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:3-4).
“Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them…behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:28).
It is very sad to see these verses in the Bible, and to realize that twice the Israelites made golden calves to worship. They made them once shortly after leaving Egypt, and then king Jeroboam made them again, more than 500 years later. Yet in both cases they said the same words—“These be thy gods, O Israel, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”
They had learned to worship the cow in Egypt, for the Egyptians worshiped the cow. The Israelites knew the true God, yet they turned so quickly to worshiping false gods like a calf. They had seen God’s power in delivering them from Egypt, yet they turned to idols. Even today there is at least one country in the world where they worship the cow.
Why did the Israelites do this? It was largely because they did not have faith, and wanted something they could see, rather than trusting a God whom they could not see. But they had seen clearly God’s power in saving them from the oppression of the Egyptians. We have seen not only God’s power, but also His love. Are we trusting only in Him?
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