The Golden Calf

Moses went up to the mountain for forty days to get the 10 Commandments. The people below were getting impatient. It is not easy to wait for forty days when no end is in sight. Listen to the Israelites.
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Up, make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." (Exodus 32:1)
Deep down in the human psyche, there is a spiritual need. The Israelites needed a god to go before them. I think, despite the technological advancement of the last century, men still need gods to walk with them into the unknown future. Newtonian physics has been very successful in explaining the physical world on the molecular level. However, when it comes to the subatomic or relativistic levels, it breaks down. Newtonian physics has to be replaced by general relativity (at the macroscopic level) and quantum mechanics (at the subatomic level). Meanwhile, chaos theory reigns. The world we live in is more complicated than Newtonian physics can explain. The world is deterministic but unpredictable because of chaos theory. Science is unable to exorcize the existence of God.

Some atheists would argue that in order to satisfy their spiritual needs, man created God. I agree with this but I think this applies only to some religions but not all. For example, Chinese mythology is rather bureaucratic. The deities in heavens, at seas or even in hells are arranged in a hierarchy reminiscent of the royal hierarchy in the Middle Kingdom. No doubt, this arrangement of deities is artificial to support the status quo. Christianity is rather different in the sense that the God of Christianity is rather elusive and is not subject to manipulation. Once, God said,
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD (Isaiah 55:8).
Despite the fact that the Bible has made use of many human features to describe God, the Biblical God behaves in many ways inexplicable with human logic. Therefore, the God of Christianity is not a creation of man, and by definition, any artificial deity cannot be truly God. Of course, that is still far from proving that God is truly God.

When the true God is elusive, can we blame the people for resorting to idolatry? Well, it is understandable though pitiful. But God had not been elusive to the Israelites. Have they not seen the last plague? Have they not crossed the Red Sea and seen how the pursuing Egyptians perish? Have they not eaten manna? It is hard to imagine how, after all these incidents, the Israelites could rebel against Moses and God.

In this golden calf incident, all the blames seemed to have fallen on Aaron.
When the people pressurized him, Aaron asked them for gold and made them a calf.
And Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me."
So all the people took off the rings of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
"And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf (Exodus 32:2-4);
However, when Moses confronted him, Aaron gave a scandalous answer.
And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought a great sin upon them?"
And Aaron said, "Let not the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are set on evil.
For they said to me, 'Make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'
And I said to them, 'Let any who have gold take it off'; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and there came out this calf." (Exodus 32:21-24)
"I threw it (the gold) into the fire, and there came out this calf.". What a jaw-dropping miracle! All statisticians would throw up their hands in the air. Aaron was crying "not my fault". Indirectly, Aaron was shifting the blame on God. God made this golden calf! Probably, Aaron had greater and darker ambitions than the author of Exodus would admit. No doubt, all the blame had been laid on Aaron who did not have the guts to stand up against popular demands. He was a politician rather than a high priest, nor was he a spokesman for the liberation leader. There is nothing new under the sun. Most of the time, revolutionary leaders are sabotaged by their secondhand men. Moses was no exception.

Dear Lord, have pity on us subordinates. Give us a strong enough backbone to uphold Your will. Amen.