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Moses and the Golden Calf

Aaron and the Israelites make an idol.
Contributed by Sweet Publishing
Story also available on our translated websites: Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, Hindi, Simplified Chinese
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Exodus 32 Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights and the people below wondered if he would ever come back. – Slide 1
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They came to Aaron and demanded, ‘We don’t know what has happened to Moses. Let us make gods to lead us.’ – Slide 2
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Aaron told them to take off the gold earrings the women and children were wearing and give them to him so they could be melted down to make an idol. – Slide 3
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The gold was melted down and shaped into a golden calf. – Slide 4
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The people responded by declaring, ‘These are our gods who brought us up out of Egypt.’ – Slide 5
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‘Tomorrow there will be a festival,’ declared Aaron. – Slide 6
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Early the next day, people sacrificed burnt offerings, ate, drank and started a wild, noisy party worshipping the golden calf. – Slide 7
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Meanwhile, Moses, who was still high on Mount Sinai, was instructed by God. ‘Go down immediately. The people I brought out of Egypt have become rotten.’ – Slide 8
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‘They have made an idol cast in the shape of a calf and are bowing down and offering sacrifices. They are saying, ‘These are our gods who brought us out of Egypt.’ – Slide 9
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God was so upset by their disobedience he told Moses He wanted to destroy them. – Slide 10
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Moses pleaded with God not to destroy the people He had rescued from Egypt. He knew God had promised to make them into a great nation. – Slide 11
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Moses took hold of the two stones on which God had engraved His commandments and started walking down the mountain. – Slide 12
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Halfway down Moses met Joshua who had been waiting for him. ‘It sounds like there is a war in the camp,’ said Joshua. ‘It is not the sound of victory or defeat,’ replied Moses. ‘It is the sound of singing.’ – Slide 13
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When Moses saw the people wildly dancing to the golden calf he was angry. He threw the two stone tablets to the ground at the foot of the mountain, breaking them into pieces. – Slide 14
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Moses took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire. Then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. – Slide 15
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Moses turned on Aaron. ’What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great disobedience?’ ‘When they saw you were gone a long time they wanted gods to lead them,’ protested Aaron. ‘I put gold in the fire and out came this calf.’ – Slide 16
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Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, ‘Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.’ – Slide 17
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Those in a tribe called the Levites rallied to him. Moses told them to get their swords and carry out God’s punishment on those who had disobeyed Him. – Slide 18
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The Levites carried out the order. Moses then told them, ‘As you have shown your loyalty to God He has chosen you to serve Him.’ – Slide 19
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Moses called the rest of the people together. ‘You have committed a great sin, but I will go up and talk with God.’ – Slide 20
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Moses climbed back up the mountain to ask God to forgive His people for their disobedience. – Slide 21
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God told Moses that those who had worshipped the golden calf would be punished with a plague but the rest would be led on to the land God had promised to give them. – Slide 22
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God told Moses to chisel two new tablets of stone and return to the mountain again. The Lord then wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments. Moses came back down the mountain and put the tablets in the Ark of the Covenant. These are the laws God has given for us all to obey. – Slide 23
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