Idolatry

Published: Aug. 12, 2018, 10 a.m.

Exodus 32:1-6 There are few themes in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, that recur more than the short memories of God's people. And they failed hard this time. While Moses is on Sinai, the same Israelites who saw the Plagues descend, the sea part, and bread come from the sky on their behalf decide they have been abandoned. They make a golden calf from their own jewelry and worship it as if their deliverance came from something physical that they threw together themselves. It's tempting to scoff at such literal and excessive idolatry here, but don't dismiss their mistake. Who among us can say they never turned to something worldly when they felt desperate?