The Skeptics Annotated Bible (91 page)

32
And
when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the moun
t, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

(32.1)
“When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount,”

2 And
Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

(32.2)
“Aaron said to them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.”

3
And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

(32.3)
“And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.”

4
And he
received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had
made it a molten calf
: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

(32.4)
“And he … made it a molten calf.”

5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

(32.9-14) God decides to kill all of the Israelites because of Aaron’s golden calf. But, luckily, Moses talked him out of it, using the age-old argument, “What will the neighbors say?”

9 And
the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people
:

(32.9)
“The LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people.”

10 Now therefore
let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them
: and I will make of thee a great nation.

(32.10)
“Let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them.”

11
And Moses besought the LORD
his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

(32.11)
“And Moses besought the LORD.”

12
Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

(32.12)
“Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.”

13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

14
And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

(32.14)
“And the Lord repented of the evil which he though to do unto his people.”
But how could a good God even consider doing evil to anyone? And how could an unchangeable God change his mind?
32 Does God repent?

15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

18 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

(32.19-20) When Moses saw the people dancing naked (see v.35) around Aaron’s golden calf, he smashed the stone tablets, burned the golden calf (gold doesn’t burn), ground it into powder, and then forced it down the throats of all the people.
100 Is dancing a sin?

19 And it came to pass, as soon
as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them
beneath the mount.

(32.19)
“As soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them.”