Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Cowardice » Instances of » Aaron, in yielding to the israelites, when they demanded an idol
Aaron said, "Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; you know these people, that they tend to evil. They said to me, 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out."
Excuses » To justify wrongdoing » Aaron for making the golden calf
So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out."
Verse Concepts
Falsehood » Instances of » Aaron, in attempting to shift responsibility for the making of the golden calf
When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, "Get up, make us gods that will go before us. As for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!" So Aaron said to them, "Break off the gold earrings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So all the people broke off the gold earrings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. read more.
He accepted the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molten calf. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow will be a feast to the Lord." So they got up early on the next day and offered up burnt offerings and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play. The Lord spoke to Moses: "Go quickly, descend, because your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them -- they have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.'" Then the Lord said to Moses: "I have seen this people. Look what a stiff-necked people they are! So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation." But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God and said, "O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, 'For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, 'I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.'" Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people. Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides -- they were written on the front and on the back. Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "It is the sound of war in the camp!" Moses said, "It is not the sound of those who shout for victory, nor is it the sound of those who cry because they are overcome, but the sound of singing I hear." When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, poured it out on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?" Aaron said, "Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; you know these people, that they tend to evil. They said to me, 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out."
He accepted the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molten calf. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow will be a feast to the Lord." So they got up early on the next day and offered up burnt offerings and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play. The Lord spoke to Moses: "Go quickly, descend, because your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them -- they have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.'" Then the Lord said to Moses: "I have seen this people. Look what a stiff-necked people they are! So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation." But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God and said, "O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, 'For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, 'I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.'" Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people. Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides -- they were written on the front and on the back. Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "It is the sound of war in the camp!" Moses said, "It is not the sound of those who shout for victory, nor is it the sound of those who cry because they are overcome, but the sound of singing I hear." When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, poured it out on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?" Aaron said, "Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; you know these people, that they tend to evil. They said to me, 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out."
Israel » moses » Indignation » death
When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, poured it out on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?" read more.
Aaron said, "Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; you know these people, that they tend to evil. They said to me, 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out." Moses saw that the people were running wild, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies. So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me." All the Levites gathered around him, and he said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Each man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.'" The Levites did what Moses ordered, and that day about three thousand men of the people died. Moses said, "You have been consecrated today for the Lord, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today." The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a very serious sin, but now I will go up to the Lord -- perhaps I can make atonement on behalf of your sin." So Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Alas, this people has committed a very serious sin, and they have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin, but if not, wipe me out from your book that you have written." The Lord said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me -- that person I will wipe out of my book. So now go, lead the people to the place I have spoken to you about. See, my angel will go before you. But on the day that I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin." And the Lord sent a plague on the people because they had made the calf -- the one Aaron made.
Aaron said, "Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; you know these people, that they tend to evil. They said to me, 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out." Moses saw that the people were running wild, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies. So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me." All the Levites gathered around him, and he said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Each man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.'" The Levites did what Moses ordered, and that day about three thousand men of the people died. Moses said, "You have been consecrated today for the Lord, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today." The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a very serious sin, but now I will go up to the Lord -- perhaps I can make atonement on behalf of your sin." So Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Alas, this people has committed a very serious sin, and they have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin, but if not, wipe me out from your book that you have written." The Lord said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me -- that person I will wipe out of my book. So now go, lead the people to the place I have spoken to you about. See, my angel will go before you. But on the day that I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin." And the Lord sent a plague on the people because they had made the calf -- the one Aaron made.
Justification » Of self attempted, to justify wrongdoing » Aaron for making the golden calf
So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out."
Verse Concepts
Reproof » Faithfulness in » Instances of » Moses, of the israelites
Now look, you are standing in your fathers' place, a brood of sinners, to increase still further the fierce wrath of the Lord against the Israelites.
Verse Concepts
Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?"
Verse Concepts
But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife?
Verse Concepts
Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your murmurings against the Lord. As for us, what are we, that you should murmur against us?"
When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, poured it out on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?" read more.
Aaron said, "Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; you know these people, that they tend to evil. They said to me, 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out." Moses saw that the people were running wild, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies. So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me." All the Levites gathered around him, and he said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Each man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.'" The Levites did what Moses ordered, and that day about three thousand men of the people died. Moses said, "You have been consecrated today for the Lord, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today." The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a very serious sin, but now I will go up to the Lord -- perhaps I can make atonement on behalf of your sin."
Aaron said, "Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; you know these people, that they tend to evil. They said to me, 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out." Moses saw that the people were running wild, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies. So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me." All the Levites gathered around him, and he said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Each man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.'" The Levites did what Moses ordered, and that day about three thousand men of the people died. Moses said, "You have been consecrated today for the Lord, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today." The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a very serious sin, but now I will go up to the Lord -- perhaps I can make atonement on behalf of your sin."
But Moses said, "Why are you now transgressing the commandment of the Lord? It will not succeed!
Verse Concepts
You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. You complained among yourselves privately and said, "Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us! What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage by describing people who are more numerous and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven itself! Moreover, they said they saw Anakites there." read more.
So I responded to you, "Do not be terrified of them! The Lord your God is about to go ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt and in the desert, where you saw him carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place." However, through all this you did not have confidence in the Lord your God, the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go. When the Lord heard you, he became angry and made this vow: "Not a single person of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors! The exception is Caleb son of Jephunneh; he will see it and I will give him and his descendants the territory on which he has walked, because he has wholeheartedly followed me." As for me, the Lord was also angry with me on your account. He said, "You also will not be able to go there. However, Joshua son of Nun, your assistant, will go. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit the land. Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way, and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad, will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess it. But as for you, turn back and head for the desert by the way to the Red Sea." Then you responded to me and admitted, "We have sinned against the Lord. We will now go up and fight as the Lord our God has told us to do." So you each put on your battle gear and prepared to go up to the hill country. But the Lord told me: "Tell them this: 'Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you and you will be defeated by your enemies.'" I spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the Lord and recklessly went up to the hill country.
So I responded to you, "Do not be terrified of them! The Lord your God is about to go ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt and in the desert, where you saw him carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place." However, through all this you did not have confidence in the Lord your God, the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go. When the Lord heard you, he became angry and made this vow: "Not a single person of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors! The exception is Caleb son of Jephunneh; he will see it and I will give him and his descendants the territory on which he has walked, because he has wholeheartedly followed me." As for me, the Lord was also angry with me on your account. He said, "You also will not be able to go there. However, Joshua son of Nun, your assistant, will go. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit the land. Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way, and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad, will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess it. But as for you, turn back and head for the desert by the way to the Red Sea." Then you responded to me and admitted, "We have sinned against the Lord. We will now go up and fight as the Lord our God has told us to do." So you each put on your battle gear and prepared to go up to the hill country. But the Lord told me: "Tell them this: 'Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you and you will be defeated by your enemies.'" I spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the Lord and recklessly went up to the hill country.
When I looked, you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God and had cast for yourselves a metal calf; you had quickly turned aside from the way he had commanded you! I grabbed the two tablets, threw them down, and shattered them before your very eyes. Then I again fell down before the Lord for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the Lord as to enrage him. read more.
For I was terrified at the Lord's intense anger that threatened to destroy you. But he listened to me this time as well. The Lord was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him too. As for your sinful thing that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain. Moreover, you continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-Hattaavah. And when he sent you from Kadesh-Barnea and told you, "Go up and possess the land I have given you," you rebelled against the Lord your God and would neither believe nor obey him. You have been rebelling against him from the very first day I knew you!
For I was terrified at the Lord's intense anger that threatened to destroy you. But he listened to me this time as well. The Lord was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him too. As for your sinful thing that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain. Moreover, you continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-Hattaavah. And when he sent you from Kadesh-Barnea and told you, "Go up and possess the land I have given you," you rebelled against the Lord your God and would neither believe nor obey him. You have been rebelling against him from the very first day I knew you!
Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: "You have seen all that the Lord did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land. Your eyes have seen the great judgments, those signs and mighty wonders. But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears!
for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. Indeed, even while I have been living among you to this very day, you have rebelled against the Lord; you will be even more rebellious after my death! Gather to me all your tribal elders and officials so I can speak to them directly about these things and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. For I know that after I die you will totally corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly before the Lord, inciting him to anger because of your actions."
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But Jeshurun became fat and kicked, you got fat, thick, and stuffed! Then he deserted the God who made him, and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt. They made him jealous with other gods, they enraged him with abhorrent idols. They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known; to new gods who had recently come along, gods your ancestors had not known about. read more.
You have forgotten the Rock who fathered you, and put out of mind the God who gave you birth.
You have forgotten the Rock who fathered you, and put out of mind the God who gave you birth.
Responsibility » Attempts to shift » Aaron
Aaron said, "Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; you know these people, that they tend to evil. They said to me, 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out."
Sin » Excuses offered for » Aaron for making the golden calf
So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out."
Verse Concepts