And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden rings that are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring [them] to me.
Moses is still on the mountain, and the people have demanded a visible god. Aaron does not refuse them — he asks for the gold rings in the ears of their wives, sons and daughters.
Aaron's answer to the people's demand was not a rebuke but a shopping list. One writer weighs what Aaron felt against the mood around him.
Whatever Aaron felt inside, the mood of the camp was for a visible image of the deity, and so for a return to idolatry. Aaron fell under it. He was swept away with the current. By playing to the times he did what popular leaders do: he led in turn the people who had led him. Corrupted by the people, he corrupted them.
Another writer names what moved him:
Aaron was sadly willing — he feared the people.
Why a calf? One writer points back to what the people had grown used to in Egypt.
They wanted a visible something to represent the invisible before their eyes. They had been familiar with the worship of bulls and calves in the corrupt idolatry of Egypt. Aaron weakly gave in.
The gold came off their ears. Another writer says ears were made for something else:
There is a serious lesson here. Our idols, whatever they are, take their character from what decorates or pampers the flesh — the golden earrings. Ears are given for hearing. But Israel was not hearing the first commandment God had given them: "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3).
Asking for gold may have been Aaron's way of stalling. It did not work.
"Bring your gold earrings to me," he said. He seemed to hope the sacrifice would not meet with approval. But "all the people" (Ex. 32:3) answered the call. Gifts are never lacking when idolatry is in view, and Aaron was left to follow his course to its bitter end.
They handed over the gold without complaining. One writer explains why people pay so readily for such a thing:
Their desire was urgent, and they would satisfy it at any cost. Without a murmur they bring their golden ornaments to Aaron. How deeply rooted this principle is in the human heart! What people pay for, they also feel entitled to use for their own ends. If it promises release from depending on God, they will buy it at any price.
Where did the gold come from? Israel carried Egypt's wealth out with them. One writer says God had already claimed it for the tabernacle, His tent of worship.
Why did God sanction the very thing that later contributed to the solemn sin of chapter 32? Chapter 25 throws a good deal of light on this question. God had set apart the wealth Israel carried away from Egypt for His own service in the tabernacle. It had a rightful use, and God's claim was on the wealth that came out with them. The abuse of it comes out plainly in chapter 32, where the golden calf came before the dancing.
The gold came off wives, sons and daughters, so whole households went into the idol. One writer sets that scene beside everything these same people had already seen God do.
What a picture! A whole assembly — the entire nation of Israel sunk in a moment into absurd and degrading idolatry! All with one accord bowed before a god made from the earrings that a little while before hung from the ears of their wives and daughters. And this in the face of all they had seen of the mighty acts of the Lord.
Aaron gave way to keep the people happy. One writer follows that habit into the church's later history.
Have not the greatest corruptions in the church come from good men trying to bless a popular feeling? They little realised what they were really approving. Image worship itself was simply "the calf that came out" of the honour paid to the memory of saints. Good men tried to turn that honour to good account — but in God's sight it is idolatry. Doing what is convenient in the things of God soon turns to discomfort and weakness. Aaron had listened to the people's cry instead of being angered by it, and by listening he made them "naked to their shame among their enemies."
- Gold demanded — Aaron feared the people and would not resist them. The crowd carried him, and the man they led ended up leading them further down.
- Gold surrendered — they paid without a murmur. What people buy, they feel entitled to use their own way, and they will pay any price to stop depending on God.
- Gold misplaced — ears made for hearing God's Word wore heathen gold. Our idols take their shape from whatever pampers the flesh.
- Gold misused — the wealth carried out of Egypt was God's, marked for His tabernacle. Chapter 32 shows that wealth turned against its owner.
- Gold's result — households stripped bare. A nation bowed to its own jewellery, and its leader left it exposed and ashamed.
Then all the people broke off the golden rings that were in their ears, and brought [them] to Aaron.
Aaron asks Israel for the gold hanging in their ears, and every person hands it over. Why were people just rescued from Egypt so quick to pay for an idol?
Aaron asked for something costly. One writer thinks that was the point: he hoped the cost would stop them.
"Bring your gold earrings to me," he said. He seemed to hope the cost would put them off, but "all the people" (Ex. 32:3) answered the call. There never seems to be a shortage of gifts when idolatry is in view, and Aaron was left to pursue his course to its bitter end.
Nobody needed persuading twice. Paying for a thing changes how a person treats it.
Their desire was urgent, and they would satisfy it at any cost. Without a murmur they bring their golden ornaments to Aaron. How deeply rooted this principle is in the human heart! What men pay for, they also have a claim on, to use for their own ends. If it promises relief from depending on God, they will buy it at any cost.
The gold came off their ears. That detail matters, because ears were made for something else.
The ears of the people should have been listening to the Word of God. Instead they wore gold rings like the ears of the heathen. That gold went to make the golden calf, which they greeted as though it were a god.
Another writer notes where that gold came from, then turns the earrings into a test for our own idols.
Aaron weakly gave in to their foolish shouting. He told them to break off the golden earrings that were common among them, taken from the Egyptians. There is a serious lesson here. Our idols, whatever they are, take their character from what decorates or pampers the flesh — the golden earrings. God gave ears for hearing. But Israel was not hearing the first commandment He had given them: "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3).
That gold had a history. One writer asks why God ever let Israel carry Egypt's wealth away, given what it became.
But why did God allow something that later fed the solemn sin of chapter 32? Chapter 25 throws much light on this question. God set apart the wealth that Israel took out of Egypt for His service in the tabernacle. It had a lawful use. God's claim was on the wealth that came out of the land with them. The misuse of it comes out clearly in chapter 32, where the golden calf came before the dancing.
This craving was not unique to Israel. One writer traces it through every age.
The human heart loves what it can see; it loves what meets and pleases the senses. Only faith can "endure as seeing him who is invisible." So in every age men have been quick to set up and lean on human imitations of divine realities.
The giving was not the end of it. Three things came together here: the people's wish, their gold, and Aaron's hand.
The desire of the people, the surrender of their gold, the act of Aaron had together ended in corruption. What a frightening lesson! When God's people tamper with the things of God, they corrupt those things and themselves. They throw aside their proper glory and become taken up with what lowers them. Their glory was that the LORD was their God; but they wanted to make gods for themselves.
- Desire — the craving came first: a heart that loves what it can see, when only faith can hold to the One it cannot see.
- Payment — desire opened the purse. Nobody grumbled at the cost, because what a man pays for, he feels entitled to use for himself.
- Material — the gold came out of Egypt, already set apart by God for the tabernacle. An idol is built from a gift meant for Him.
- Location — it came off ears made for hearing God's word, and what decorates the flesh gave the idol its shape.
- Outcome — desire, payment, and Aaron's hand ended in corruption. Israel's glory was that the LORD was its God, and it traded that for something lower.