Acts 7:41

Acts 7:41. And they made a calf in those days. The famous golden calf, made originally under the direction of the high priest Aaron, while his brother was in the mount of God, and which was subsequently destroyed by Moses, seems to have been a representation not of a calf, but of a full-grown bull, and was doubtless intended to represent a well-known Egyptian object of worship, either the Bull Apis adored at Memphis, or the Bull Mnevis worshipped at Heliopolis in Lower Egypt. The Israelites, perhaps from past associations, seem to have been peculiarly attached to this symbol of idolatry; for we find Jeroboam, the first king of Israel, after the separation of the monarchies, setting up, in opposition to the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem, rival sanctuaries at Bethel and at Dan, dedicated each to ‘a golden calf (1 Kings 12:28). The strange attachment of the people to these idols is borne witness to by such passages as 2 Kings 9:29, when kings like Jehu, famous for their enmity to idolatry, allowed these ‘golden calves' and their sanctuaries to remain in the land.

The explanation of this attachment of the children of Israel to this calf or bull worship is, that they persuaded themselves that it was the visible image or emblem of Jehovah the God of Israel. They had seen it worshipped in old days in Memphis or in On, and there it was the visible symbol of the Sun or of Osiris, and perhaps they loved to identify these with the Eternal One who had chosen Israel to be His people. There was much to attract the heart of man in the picturesque ritual with which these Egyptian deities were worshipped, and the wild licence which was permitted and even encouraged at some of their festivals presented a singular contrast to the simple worship of Jehovah, and the stern purity and severity of His moral law. The worship of these golden calves of Aaron, and later, of King Jeroboam, seems an attempt to continue the worship of the God of Israel, the God of their fathers, and then to enjoy still the benefits of their almighty Protector, without at the same time giving up the unlawful pleasures sanctioned and even encouraged by a less austere religion.