The Golden Calf

God had rescued His people from Egypt, and now He was teaching them how to live. Their leader, Moses, climbed up a tall mountain to talk with God. The people waited at the bottom and watched the clouds and fire on the mountaintop.

Moses was up there a long, long time. The people grew tired of waiting. “Where is Moses? Where is God?” they said. Instead of trusting and waiting, they wanted something they could see right now.

So they went to Moses’ brother, Aaron, and said, “Make us a god to lead us!” Aaron asked everyone for their gold rings and earrings. He melted all the gold and shaped it into a shiny golden calf.

The people danced around the gold statue and shouted, “This is our god who brought us out of Egypt!” But that wasn’t true at all. A statue can’t see or hear or love anyone. Only the real God had saved them.

When Moses came down the mountain and saw it, he was very sad. God had done so many wonderful things, and so quickly the people had forgotten and made a pretend god instead. The golden calf was taken away.

But God still loved His people. He kept being patient with them and leading them, even after their big mistake. God wants to be first in our hearts — and nothing shiny can ever take His place.