Lesson 11: Journey to the Real Mt. Sinai "The Golden Calf Altar"
Earlier in the tour, we had visited the proposed site for Golden Calf Altar. In my mind this was one of the most intriguing places we visited. The altar area was a huge pile of uncut stones, with petroglyphs of cows and other carvings on the stones, surrounded by a barbed wire fence. We all ducked under a place in the fence and approached the altar. Take a look at some of these pictures, which show petroglyphs of cows, and of men gaining nourishment from the cows! These same petroglyphs resemble those of the god Apis, found in Egypt and dated to the time of Moses. Someone from Egypt had been there, long ago, and carved them on the rocks for a purpose!
Each of us in our lives have “golden Calves” of our own. We all have things that at times threaten our faith, and take God off his throne. Often, this takes place when we think no one is looking, our spiritual leader is gone, we become fearful, Or, we experience a spiritual attack. After a huge victory, the enemy always seems to counter with an attack. We too, can become vulnerable and “unrestrained” just like the Israelites. Watch out! On the heels of a victory we can experience a great failure!
The Israelites were worshiping the cow God, yes, but more than that, they had already broken the commandments, the covenant. They had rejected Yahweh, and turned their allegiance back to Egypt, back to the world. They did not want to follow the 10 words, but the evil dictates of their own hearts. They wanted to rewrite the commandments as they saw fit. If we are honest, there is a little bit of idol worship in all of us this side of heaven.
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Discussion Questions:
What was God speaking to you while you were watching this lesson?
How do you think the Israelites felt when Moses did not return for a long period of time?
Why do you think the Israelites made a covenant with God, and then fell so quickly?
How many of the people do you think actually were involved in the Golden Calf Worship?
What was the significance of Moses breaking the stone tablets?
Yahweh punished the perpetrators of this incident with the sword and plague. Why was Aaron spared? (See Deut. Chapter 9. Read this Chapter for more details of the narrative.)
What did God wish to do to Israel? Why didn’t he do it? How many days did Moses pray for Israel before God relented?
What did Moses do with the idol? Why do you think he might have done what he did with it?
What was the response of the people? Why do you think only the sons of Levi said they were on the Lord’s side?
Why might God have had the men of Levi to bring judgment to the rest? Why did he not do it himself?
What might our golden calves look like today?
Do you think the “golden calf” and the golden bull at Wall Street represent the same thing? Why or why not?
What do you tend to do when you are fearful? Do you fall back to the things that you are used to, or do you tend to sin?
The Israelites did not want to follow the 10 words, but the evil dictates of their own hearts. They wanted to rewrite the commandments as they saw fit. How is this similar to our churches today?
Watch this 7 minute site visit with Ryan Mauro and Joel Richardson.
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