This is a simplified version of the Bible story found in Exodus 32, written for children to understand. For the original version, please refer to the Bible passage.
Moses was a man who led the people of Israel out of Egypt. God spoke to Moses on top of a mountain and gave him two tablets with ten rules, also known as the Ten Commandments. While Moses was still on the mountain, the people got worried and thought he was taking too long to come back, so they went to his brother, Aaron, and asked him to make gods for them to worship.
Aaron told them to give him all the gold they had, and he melted it and made a statue of a calf. The people then worshiped the calf and said that it was the god who had brought them out of Egypt. They had forgotten about the one true God who had saved them from slavery and brought them out of Egypt.
When Moses came down from the mountain and saw what the people had done, he was very angry. He threw the tablets with the Ten Commandments on them, and they broke into pieces. He asked Aaron why he had made the people do such a terrible thing.
Then he took the golden calf, burned it, and ground it into powder. He scattered the powder on the water, made the people drink it. This was to show the people that what they had done was a great sin and that they needed to repent and turn back to God.
Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me.” The Levites, who were members of the tribe of Levi, came to him. Moses told them to go throughout the camp and kill their brothers, companions, and neighbors who had worshiped the golden calf. The Levites did as they were told, and about three thousand people were killed that day.
After this, Moses went back up to the mountain to talk to God. He begged God to forgive the people for their sin and not to destroy them. God relented and did not destroy them, but he did send a plague on them as a punishment for their sin.
Moses was very sad that the people had turned away from God, but he still loved them and asked God to forgive them. The people were very sorry, and God forgave them, but they still had to face the consequences of their sin.
Biblical Lessons
- We should always trust in God, even when things are difficult.
- We should not worship other gods or idols, but only the one true God.
- God is patient and forgiving, but we still need to face the consequences of our actions.
- We should follow the rules that God gives us.