Worshipping golden calves – Ki Tissa
From the sublime to the ridiculous – that is the story of the golden calf.
One minute the Israelites are at Sinai, uplifted, exhilarated, aware they are in the presence of God; the next moment, all has been forgotten and they are dancing round a golden calf and chanting, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you from the land of Egypt!” (Ex. 32:4).
How could a people be so fickle and disloyal?
Some rabbis try to defend them. The Midrash suggests they said to God, “It is the evil inclination You created within us that made us sin”. Another view says it was the mixed multitude who left Egypt with them who corrupted them.
Instead of making excuses, the Psalmist criticises them unmercifully: “They made a calf in Horeb and worshipped a molten image; they exchanged their glory for the likeness of an ox!” (Psalm 106:19-20). The Targum version is, “They exchanged the glory of their Lord for an ox” – an even more biting condemnation of the sin.
The tragic fact is that the golden calf syndrome is a constant danger in human history. Worshipping God is often too difficult for earth-bound creatures. A God who cannot be seen? A God who makes high moral demands? It’s easier to have an idol that is tangible and leaves his followers to get on with their transgressions without too much conscience!
Yet how apt is the title of a book about communism, “The God That Failed”. The materialistic philosophies that people have tried in our century and earlier have not worked. They have not made civilisation more stable or promoted the sacredness of human life and the beauty and awesomeness of the creation.
In the end, golden calves always let you down.
