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.” 2 So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” 6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
In Exodus chapter 19, Moses goes up onto the Mountain of God, and God begins giving Moses the Torah. From Exodus 20 all the way to Exodus 31, God is giving Moses laws. In the end of Exodus 31, God writes the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone and gives them to Moses to carry down to the people. But something interesting also goes on below.
The people get upset because Moses has been gone so long, and they come to Aaron and demand that he "make... gods who shall go before us." They demand something they can see, rather than this invisible God who conceals Himself in smoke and fire.
And poor Aaron is caught between THE ROCK and a hard-nosed people. So what does he do? He commands them to bring to him all the gold jewelry they have. He takes the gold and fashions a "golden calf." And then the interesting thing happens: Aaron says "Tomorow shall be a feast to Yehovah!"
Aaron uses God's Holy NAME, which our English Bibles translate as "LORD" in all capital letters. There's no ambiguity: the calf he has just fashioned out of gold is supposed to represent the God on the Mountain.
Why does Aaron make a calf?
Because the symbol of their deliverance was the lamb at the Passover. Aaron does the best he can to make an image of the Living God, as best he can imagine Him. Aaron was not trying to make an idol of an Egyptian god, but rather to make an image of the One True God.
Aaron was trying to stay true to the God who had delivered them.
This is not to let Aaron off the hook.... God expressed a perfect willingness to execute every single Hebrew at the base of the mountain and start over again with Moses alone (Exodus 32:10). What Aaron did was deserving of death and damnation. He made an idol out of metal and proposed that the Hebrews worship it.
But he was sincere. He was so sincere. He thought he was doing the right thing. He thought that in his honesty, in his sincerity, The God on the Mountain would bless him.
Sincerity is not enough. Honesty is not enough. We must worship the God Who Is in the way He desires to be worshiped. We must worship Him as He is, not as we would make Him to be.
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