For Scriptural context: read Exodus 32

As Moses was atop Mt. Sinai with the God, the ancient Israelites made the collective decision to reject God and worship the Golden Calf. In so doing, the Israelites demonstrated that they were not just impatient with God (and Moses), but they were also religiously influenced by the pagan and idol-worshiping Egyptians. The impatience which the Israelites displayed with God and Moses can be seen in modern Christians who do not obey God, who feel impatient with the same God of the Israelites when things do not go their way and are influenced to reject the promises of God by a God-rejecting society and do as they please rather than what God wants and commands. Through rebellion, the Golden Calf was a creation of the Israelites own hands in place of obedience and worship of the one true God and today many Christians worship God according to a standard which they contrive of in their own mind rather obeying Gods commandments found in the Bible. 

Before we explore the connection of the Golden Calf to the larger story of the Bible, I believe that it is important to review the history of the Israelite people up to the point in time when they worshiped the Golden Calf in the wilderness. The Israelite people came to Egypt in search of food because they were suffering widespread famine. Initially the Israelites were not seen as a threat to the Egyptians and God used Jacob’s son, Joseph, to build a good relationship with the Pharaoh. Some years passed and both the Pharaoh and Joseph died and a new Pharaoh came into power. This new Pharaoh did not view the Israelites as a harmless people and soon the Israelites became enslaved by the Egyptians. The Egyptians required the Israelites to work as their laborers and their lives as slaves in Egypt were not full of ease and comfort. In Egypt, the Israelite slaves lived a life full of hardness, pain and difficulty. In desperation they turned to God for redemption and freedom. Their cries did not go unheard and God divinely appointed a unique Israelite man who had grown up in the Pharaoh’s place, by the name of Moses to the Israelites leader and guide to freedom from slavery. Redemption eventually came for the Israelites, they were finally given their freedom. At long last, they could leave the land of Egypt and set off on a journey to the land that God was giving them to dwell in and to call their own, as He had spoken of to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, namely, the Promised Land. 

We can look at historically verifications to see that it was common practice for the Egyptians to worship an abundance of idols which were usually in the form of some kind of animal. We know from historical evidence that some representations of Egyptian gods were reptiles, birds, and cattle.  The Israelites would have been witness to idol worship during their years of slavery in Egypt, the Egyptian gods and their pagan ritualistic practices would have become familiar to the Israelites over time.  In relation to the Golden Calf, let us focus our ancient Egyptian idol worship to god Apis. Apis was depicted as a bull and was seen as a powerful god of fertility and life who would have been worshiped by the Egyptians in an effort to bring prosperity in their own lives. According to authors T. D. Alexander and D.W. Baker, the Egyptians understood that the manmade gods were not necessarily an untouchable higher power, rather the Egyptians viewed the idols as a part of creation. In turn, the god would “commune” with them and provide them with the things that they either wanted or needed. While we know what Apis represented to the Egyptians, there are several varying theories about what the Golden Calf represented to the Israelites. Some believe it represented God, rather than a god. Others think that it represented a symbol of God. Still others say that the Israelites were worshiping the Golden Calf as a representation of another god, as they had done so in Egypt. Later in scripture, Joshua would give evidence that the ancient Israelites participated in idol worship when they were in Egyptian slavery when he said in Joshua 24:14, “Put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt”.

I believe if we look in Exodus 32 we see the Israelites act as if this bull made from gold, crafted by Aarons own hands was the mighty, all-powerful, and holy God who delivered them from Egyptian slavery. Whatever the reason for the creation of the Golden Calf, the Israelites knew that they were not supposed to worship other gods, nor were they supposed to make idols to worship. It should be noted that God had just given the Israelites the commandment which would be rules for them to follow which would guide and shape their life in a way which would glorify and honor Him. God had already shown them so much mercy and love despite all their complaints, and yet they chose to turn away from Him. When the people were left alone while Moses was with God on Mount Sinai, their impatience grew and in an act of disobedience to God, they blatantly rebelled and turned away from Him. The love of God did not stop the Israelites rebellious nature and in their sin they begged Aaron to construct an idol for them to worship. These thankless people had been so completely dependent on God, even years before their journey out of Egypt, to provide their every need. This Golden Calf did not save them from the hand of Pharaoh, redeem them, give them safety from their enemies, fresh clothing, shoes, manna, quail or provide protection from the blistering desert sun and light at night in the form of fire and cloud. To the Israelites, the Golden Calf was an act of them doing what they conceived to be right and proper in their own eyes. While the symbol of the bull may have represented power and life to the Egyptians, to God, the Golden Calf of the Israelites represented a lack of faith, weakness, doubt and death.

God gave the Israelites certain rules to follow and in turn for their obedience of those rules, He promised to take care of them. God differentiated the Israelites from other people by prohibiting them from worshiping other gods as well as creating idols to worship. Aaron broke the first commandment when he constructed the Golden Calf and the Israelites broke the second commandment when they prepared a feast and danced around the Golden Calf in worship. Similarly, if we look back on Creation, we see that God commanded Adam and Eve to worship Him and obey His ordinances, specifically not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve did not follow God’s rules and their disobedience resulted in the Fall of Man, separation from God and their physical removal from the Garden of Eden. Years later God demanded the same worship and obedience from the Israelites. When the Israelites chose the Golden Calf over God they disobeyed, and their disobedience cost them greatly. God was justifiably furious with the Israelites that day. God could have killed all of them instantaneously, but He was gracious and extended mercy to some. Even though Moses was also angry with the Israelites, he was instrumental in persuading God to withhold all His wrath on the Israelites. God’s wrath may have been spared on some who worshiped the Golden Calf, but judgment did come for many Israelites that day. Three-thousand Israelites lost their lives because one act of rebellion against God. 

Throughout history mankind has been just as sinful, rebellious and disobedient as the Israelites who erected a Golden Calf to worship. Mankind needed a redeemer and many years after the Israelites rebellion against God, God divinely sent a redeemer, not just for the Israelites, but for all mankind in the form of His Son Jesus Christ. God demands of mankind have not changed over time. He still commands that we worship and obey Him in a way that He has ordained. God’s commandments include worshiping and obeying Him. In contemporary Christianity, the Golden Calf of the Israelites has not disappeared over time, but has become manifested in Christians very much in the same way the Golden Calf was seen in the heart of the ancient Israelites. Modern day individuals may not erect up a physical Golden Calf, but they are certainly influenced by the ideas of the what the Golden Calf signified to the Israelites. The Israelites disobedience did not cause them to no longer be God’s children, but their sin separated themselves from God, as did Adam and Eve’s rebellion. The Israelites were not committed to adhering to all the commandments of God and selectively chose what commandments they would follow when they selected idol worship over God. Modern-day Christians also choose which commandments they wish to follow and “modern-day Golden Calf idolatry” with Christians has resulted in the craving for certainty and control in the things related to the future and rather than trusting God Himself. 

Michael R. Langer writes, that we as a culture are “obsessed by the need for certainty…”. The obsession that we have with certainty is not a new concept. When the Israelites had Aaron construct the Golden Calf they were themselves exhibiting their need for certainty. While I agree that it is natural to want to feel safe, rather than securing our own safety in tangible objects, ideas or what we perceive to be right, proper and just in our own eyes we should look to the One who can provide our true safety. Yes, it is easy to feel safe in something you can grab hold of, but then that is not faith as it is describe in the Bible. In Hebrews 11:11, faith is described as, “…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Additionally, in 2 Corinthians 5:7 it says that “we (Children of God/Christians) walk by faith not by sight,”. We are to be different and a part of that difference is living a life of trusting in someone Who you cannot see or touch. That is the essence of faith; that is how the ancient Israelites should have lived, specifically in the wilderness, and that is how we as Christians should live daily. Granted, being a Child of God was not easy in the time of the ancient Israelites and neither is it easy in modern-day Christianity. Still, faith in God was the key of the ancient Israelites relationship with Him and faith is the key which unlocks mankind’s relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. As Christians obtain redemption through salvation, loosened from the shackles of slavery to Satan through sanctification and journey on in this life to the Promised Land of Heaven, for however long each of us has here on earth, it is imperative that we walk by faith and not allow ourselves to distrust and grow impatient with God. Whatever it might be, a higher education, career, wealth, or things that are truly empty should not be our priority. We should purpose to stand strong and not erect our own manifestations of a modern day “Golden Calf” in our lives that we can reach out for, look to and grasp onto rather than walking in faith and trust with our Heavenly Father who can successfully lead us and is the only one worthy of our worship. 

2 Corinthians 4.18: While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 5.7: For we walk by faith, not by sight:

For Scriptural context: read Exodus 1.10-22; 2.1-10

By divine providence, Joseph, the son of the great Israelite patriarch, Jacob, ascended to power in Egypt. Soon his brothers would leave their homeland and move to Egypt with their families. The Israelite population in Egypt which started out at 70 at the lowest number according to Exodus 1.1 grew and grew over the years. Exodus 1.2 mentions that the Israelite population grew in vast numbers so much so that the land of Egypt was full of Israelites. As a leader in Egypt, Joseph especially, but also Joseph’s brothers and their families would have gained some repour and security with the Pharaoh. However, that relationship would end when there was a transition in power from one Pharaoh to the next. 200 years would pass and the with the passing of time, not only was there now a larger Israelite population, but there was also now a new Pharaoh in Egypt. The once honored Israelites were now feared by the new Pharaoh who was now alarmed at the growing Israelite population.

This new Pharaoh ordered that the free Israelites were to become slaves of the Egyptians. Pharaoh’s plan was to crush not only the spirit of the Israelite, but to physically crush them through back breaking manual labor. His plan did not work, and through the toil and hard labor, the Israelite population continued to grow and grow. Pharaoh’s fears grew alongside the Israelite population. Pharaoh came up with a new plan. Rather than attempting to kill the Israelites passively, he decided to be blatantly obvious. His new plan would be to kill all the newborn Israelite boys by throwing them into the Nile River, but the girls would be kept alive. Among those Israelites in Egypt was a man, Amram, who was a descendant of Levi and married a woman, Jochebed, who also a descendant of Levi, Jacob’s third son and one of Joseph’s brothers. Jochebed is who I would like to focus on for a while. 

Jochebed lived in a hostel place and time, in Egyptian slavery. As already mentioned, Jochebed came from the tribe of Levi and her name implies, “glory of Jehovah” or “Jehovah (is her or our glory). She is also the first individual in Scripture to have their name compounded with “Jah” or “Yah” which is the shortened form of “Yhwh” or “Jehovah”. Jochebed is first introduced to us without mention of her name in Exodus 2.1, but her identity and linage is not recorded for us until Exodus 6.20. “And Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to wife: and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.” Yes, you read that correctly, Jochebed was both the wife and aunt of Amram. To us, in present day, that will sound very inappropriate, but this type of marital union was common practice in that part of the world and prior to the institution of the Law. 

These two descendants of Levi, Jochebed and Amram, would have grown up in Egypt and thrust into slavery, marry and start a family. She had already given birth to two children, a daughter, Miriam and a son, Aaron. And now with the new decree from Pharoah, Jochebed discovers she was pregnant. What is she to do? Her unborn child is doomed to death if it were a boy, but life if it is a girl. What is a mother to do when a difficult decision is to be made? Jochebed chose to do right and chose to obey God rather than Pharaoh. Imagine what she must have felt in the months leading up to the birth of her child. Only then to process the emotions and feelings of giving to a second son. A son who was ordered to be cast in the Nile River by Pharaoh himself. 

Jochebed, along with some midwives, disobeyed Pharaoh’s orders. Jochebed did not cast her newborn son into the Nile River, but instead, she hid her child for three months. Not only did Jochebed do this out of a mother’s love and because it was the right thing to do, but this child, her child, was different, he was special, Exodus 2.2 says, “…and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months” and Acts 7.20 says, “In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months:” Hiding a newborn baby was a task that must have been very difficult. Hiding the delivery and the sex of the baby would have been a chore. Concerned about the noise from outside awaking the baby or the baby waking others. Privacy in ancient times was not like modern times, I’m sure people lived in very close proximity to each other. Jochebed stayed sheltered in her home, wondering each moment, day and night, if this would be the last time she would be with her child because the Egyptians would burst into her home and rip her son out of her arms. No doubt she saw the same thing happen to other women who she knew. Would her neighbors see that she was no longer pregnant and turn her in to the Egyptians, jealous that her baby boy still lived? Would his crying be heard? Would Aaron and Miriam spill the beans in excitement about their new brother? What would happen when and if she got found out? These and other thoughts must have flooded her mind with worry constantly. But nevertheless, Jochebed did this task for three months, until it became no longer something she was able to do. What could she do now? What would happen to her precious baby? I imagine she and her husband Amram discussed and thought of all the possibilities as they lay in bed each night. I can picture them praying together, trying to figure out to do the right thing. Jochebed’s actions prior to and after the birth strike me as those of a woman who was incredibly thoughtful. 

Jochebed and Amram soon came up with a plan. Jochebed made a place of safety for her baby boy. Jochebed crafted “…an ark of bullrushes”, a grass or reed which grew abundantly in Egypt and was found specifically along the banks of rivers “and daubed it with slime and with pitch”, to make it waterproof, “and put the child therein: and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.” Exodus 2:3. Imagine the emotions and feelings piercing her heart and mind. When the water was calm, the ark might float safely; but if there were any changes of current what would happen, would the precious cargo be carried down the stream or tip it over causing the baby to drown? Or what if any of the crocodiles would think it were food and try to eat the ark with the baby inside? Or what would happen when someone, an Egyptian, were to come upon the ark, and notice that this baby boy was not an Egyptian, but was an Israelite, what would happen then? These thoughts of worry could not paralyze her. As difficult and heart wrenching as it was Jochebed gently placed her dear baby boy in the ark into the Nile and watched it float away. She stood by the riverbank saying goodbye to her precious baby as the thoughts of what could happen to him out of her arms if the little ark would have failed and not knowing when or if she would ever see him again. I imagine the tears streaming down her face as the ark drifted away and became smaller and smaller in the distance. He was out of her hands and fully in the hands of God, she had to trust God with her son. She couldn’t provide him safety, but God could. 

Part of Jochebed’s plan was to at least know what the fate of her son would be, so she instructed her daughter Miriam, to follow the ark as it flowed down the river. We know from Exodus 7.7, “And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.” that Aaron was three years older than Moses, and I believe that Miriam was older than three. Miriam was old enough to be given the responsibility of watching her baby brother in the ark and then speaking maturely, so I think it’s safe to say that it’s likely she would have been about five to ten years old at this time. Even at that age, this was a big responsibility for a child and no doubt Jochebed had a part in instructing and guiding Miriam on what to say and do when the time came to step in.

We know that Pharaoh had a plan, but God had His own plan. A plan that would involve this young Israelite baby boy in the ark who would play a huge role in the future deliverance of Israelites from Egyptian slavery. God plan, which included Jochebed’s precious baby boy would spare his life from the doom that awaited so many other Israelite baby boys. Just at the right time, the daughter of Pharaoh came down with her maidens to bathe in the river. Pharaoh’s daughter bathed while her maidens walked along by the river side. Something caught Pharaoh’s daughter’s attention. Perhaps, it was odd for them to see such something like the ark floating down the Nile, or maybe they heard noises, perhaps a cry or simply divine providence. The ark came to a stop among the flags (grass or reeds) of the riverbank and a maid was sent to fetch it. The daughter of Pharaoh opened it, and saw the child, and “the babe wept.” Perhaps she was a already mother herself or she had hoped to be one. As soon as she saw the baby boy her heart was softened. She recognized that the baby boy was not Egyptian but was instead he was “one of the Hebrews’ children.” Exodus 2.6 She could have right thrown the baby boy right back in the river, turned around and walked away. I’m sure if she did that her father would have been very pleased with her, but that’s not what she did. She had compassion on the baby boy, she knew what her father was like, she knew his order and she chose to go against him. 

Pharoah’s daughter was being used by God as an instrument to rescue this baby boy from death at the hands of her own father, but she would also be used by God to provide for his education and position which will be instrumental in his future role as leader of the nation of Israel. We know from Romans 8.28 that nothing happens by chance. God makes all things work together for good to them that love Him for His purpose. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Though God perfect Will, He made the daughter of Pharaoh the adoptive mother of the future leader of the Israelites. The man who would lead the Israelites to freedom from Egyptian slavery. This was no accident.

Remember Miriam, standing along the riverbank, seeing what is unfolding, and no doubt coached by her mother, approached Pharaoh’s daughter, saying: “Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.” Exodus 2.7-8. Isn’t it interesting that Pharaoh’s daughter didn’t find it suspicious at all that out pops Miriam out of the bushes. This young Israelite girl, who offers a Israelite woman, who will nurse the baby boy. Or maybe Pharaoh’s daughter just didn’t care. Or here we see God’s divine hand moving providentially. “And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.” Exodus 2.9-10 This little baby boy would be named by Pharaoh’s daughter as Moses. He would be raised by the daughter of Pharaoh in the palace, yet he would be nursed physically and no doubt spiritually, given Jochebed’s testimony, for years by his birth mother. Who would also be paid to do so though I have a feeling that she would have nursed him without getting paid. It was common practice for a child to be nursed until they were between the ages of 8-12. For potentially 12 years of his life, Moses would be prayed over by his mother. He would learn of God, Creation, the Flood, and be taught the history and teachings of what had been passed down to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. His early impressions of the God of his fathers would be of a real, true, living God, who spoke, and acted, loved and cared for His people and not the idolatry that he would learn living as a son of Pharaoh’s daughter in Pharaoh’s house. From his early childhood, he would know that the gods of Egypt were not trustworthy, powerful, real, but rather, fake, and worthless. Jochebed used her time with Moses to influence him and teach him of the God that she knew and trust, the God that had delivered him from death, she no doubt hoped that Moses would grow to know and trust God for himself.

This is the last we hear of Jochebed, Moses’ mother in the Biblical narrative. Later she would be mentioned in Numbers as the wife of Amram, and in the New Testament and then in Hebrews. However, her legacy would continue in the lives of her children. Each of Jochebed’s children grew up to be children who were very blessed. Moses grew up to be the great leader of the children of Israel. A man who would commune so intimately with God. Aaron would become the Israel’s very first high priest. And Miriam would become a songstress, poet and prophetess. Jochebed was a woman who lived in slavery, yet nurtured and shaped what she had, even in much adversity. She greatly influences the lives of her children to follow God’s will for their lives. The God who she trusted so deeply with their lives, became the God that they became to trust. 

Jochebed will forever be remembered, alongside her husband, for her faith and courageous acts in Hebrews 11.23: “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was not a proper child: and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.” Jochebed was a woman who exemplified Proverbs 9.10 in real life, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: And the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” Jochebed feared God instead of Pharaoh. She led with courage by example, and I believe, in conjunction with God by his side and his mother’s example, Moses was able to show the same courage when standing before Pharaoh himself. She is a woman who is little known, but she is the type, who had faith, courage and love that had made such a deep impact in the lives of her children which then trickled down to a nation of millions. She is a woman who we should strive to know and be like because of her faith and how God worked in her life through her faith, she chose to walk out in faith, rather than sinking back in fear. She saw the answer to her prayers, even if it took a lot of faith and time, she was blessed by God and probably didn’t see firsthand the results of her teaching. But Moses might never have been the man he was had it not been for Jochebed. Jochebed is one of many outstanding women in Scripture who are placed there for us to learn from and use as an example in our own lives even if they lived thousands of years ago. Let Jochebed be the example that we follow, especially when considering the little ones who are in our lives now or who will be in the future. Jochebed was a woman who trusted in God and sought to do what was right, no matter the cost, through her courage, faithfulness, and love. Jochebed’s faithful and trustworthy God still lives. And that same God can work in and through our life in the way that He did in Jochebed’s life and isn’t that something to be grateful for. Whether you are a mother or not, may we pray and hope that God works in our life the way He did in Jochebed, may we be responsive like her. Let her life be a lesson to us. Will I exhibit faith in God and how am I going to respond when I get in or face a difficult circumstance or a unthinkable challenge? Jochebed was prepared. Will we be prepared?