Kyle Skaggs muses about one of his favorite online series and how it relates to our common temptation to seek comfort from idols like the Israelites’ golden calf.
I’ve been watching YouTube’s series “The Promised Land” (think Exodus meets “The Office”), which has inspired me to revisit the law-related section of the Pentateuch: Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Leviticus. Any good Christian media should encourage you to do that. My favorite character in the show is Chisisi, an Egyptian soldier who got washed up on the other side of the Red Sea and is awkwardly pretending to be a Hebrew.
One of my favorite moments in the show is taken straight from Exodus, where the people convince Aaron to make them a new god. Many of us know how that goes. He makes a golden calf. The people worship it, and then Moses comes down and flies into a rage. This got me thinking.
Regarding the calf, I (and commentators more skilled than I) have noted the significance that the idol was a calf of all other possible shapes. It may have a connection to Apis, the son of Hathor, an Egyptian god represented by a bull. His worship began in the city of Memphis. Widespread worship of the bull began in the First Dynasty (2925-2775 BC), meaning the cult of Apis was around at least 1,300 years before the Hebrews left Egypt if we use the early date for the exodus.
The Hebrews spent around four hundred years in Egypt. The only other gods they knew were well established Egyptian deities. In the absence of Moses’ leadership, the people grew restless and returned to what they were comfortable with, something they could see, touch, and manipulate rather than waiting for Moses to return with God’s word.
When we face difficulty, we are often tempted to go our own way rather than waiting on God. And when we do things without God, we run back to our sin. We all have a golden calf of our own, something we turn to for stability instead of God. It can be something serious like pornography, smoking, or gambling; it can even be something less obvious like over-eating or spending too much time on social media. We are comforted by our sin even if we know it’s wrong.
To mature as a Christian, one takes on the mindset that they were set free from sin and made slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:18). That which the world holds in regard—wealth, power, pleasure, and all self-serving things—are dead to us. So when it becomes hard to see God, don’t settle for the shiny calf from your old life. Trust in God’s timing. Don’t be like the Hebrews.
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