Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1902-07-26
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the international Series
for July ~, 1sO&wOrshfDinE
the Golden Calf.
THE LESSON TEXT.

THE LESSON TEXT.
exodus s2:1-6. SO-S5)
Z And when the people saw that Moses
delayed to come down out of the mount
the people gathered themselves toSetneE
unto Aaron. and said unto him: Up
mako us GODS which shall go before US
for asfor this Moses, the man tnat prousns
US up out of the land OF Egypt We WI
not what is become Of him.
2 And Aaron said unto them: Break
or the golden earrings, which are IN tnS
ears of your wives, OF your SonSs IL
of your daughters, and bring them unto
me.
5. And all the people brake on the
golden earrings which were in their ears
and brought them unto Aaron. -
i. And he received them at their handl'
and fashioned it with q craving tool:
after he had made it a molten calf: andi
| they said: These be thy gods. o israel;
which brought thee up out OF the 4ahd
of Egypt
s. And when Aaron saw it. he built an
altar before it: and Aaron made proc
lamation, and said: Tomorrow is feast
to the Lord.
6. And they rose up early on the NOR
row, and offered burnt onerlngs, anu
/ brought peace offerings; and the people
sat down to eat and to drink, and rose
| up to play.
80. And it came to pass on the morrow.
| that Moses said unto the people, re nave
sinned a great sin; and now / Will go
up unto the Lord: peradventure shali
make atonement for your SIM
81. And Moses returned unto the boro'
and said, Oh, this people have sinne1
great sin, and have made them gods OF
| gold.
81. Yet, now, if Thou will forgive their
sin; and if not, blot me, pray CheS"
out of Thy book which thou hast WIKI
SO. And the Lord said unto Moses,
| Whosoever hath sinned against me, him
will I blot out of my book.
| 81. Therefore now go, lead the people
| unto the place of which I have spoken
unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go
before thee: nevertheless in the day When
| visit will visit their sin upon them
| S5 And the Lord plagued the people
because they made the calf which Aaron
GOLDEN TEXT-ThOu shalt have nO
/ other gods before MEEK. 2O;3.
! OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION.
The civil law. - 5I-I1S
The calf worshiped. Elk. 52:loS.
The idolaters punished. Elk $3.50 -
Moses intercession. .............EX. 8ziau-Sa-
PLAA6c5;EM .6sinai L''i-
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The Law Broken.-By a solemn cove
nant the Israelites bound themselves to
keep all the law, moral and civil GA: 3-S).
This covenant they broke when they
made the golden calf. In making this
there was no intention to turn away
from Jehovah, but to have a material
representation of Him which would
help them in their worship. They
broke, not the first, but the second
commandment.
The Civil Law.-Ex. 2o:22-23, called
the ''Book of the Covenant" is
the earliest of all Hebrew legislation,
some of the laws coming down fl ON the
early days in Egypt. 1t treats of (1S
worship, (2) rights of slaves, f3) as
saults onpersons, a. domestic animals,
(5) property, (6) purity, ~ kindness,
(S) injustice, and (9) the sacred sea-
sons.
| The Calf Worshiped.-Moses and
Joshua had gone up into the noun
tain The people had been waiting
almost six weeks, expecting every day
that they would return, but still they
came not, and the people at last gave
them up for lost and turned to Aaron
for leadership. There is the sugges-
ton of a sneer in the expression ''as
for this Moses, the man that brought
US up out of the land of Egypt" At
first thought the coupling of sheer
with the statement of the great service
Moses had done them, seems like the
basest ingratitude. Perhaps it is,
but to this day, the man who dnder-
takes a thing and fails to carry it
through, or, in other words, who leads
n people into the wilderness and cam
not or does not lead them out again,
is spoken of in the same tone of voice.
That is what Moses seemed to have
done. so the people took things into
their own hands. The life of the camp
under Moses leadership had been rig
oroUs. They respected him. but now
that he was gone they asked for lead
ership and a worship more 10 their
taste. Aaron was in a hard place.
So is every leader of men under similar
circumstances. He probably said to
himself, 81 wish it.were otherwise, but
I can go no further than public opinion
will warrant; the time is not vet ripe
for Moses rigorous morality; the peo-
pie are not educated up to it. Lead.
ers who lead are still rare. Aaron was
following the crowd. The Hebrews
were breaking the command, but they
were not consciously abandoning Jeho.
yah. The calf was thought of as part
of the old JehOvah-worship, and the
feast proclaimed by Aaron, with all its
disgusting and imEhora1 features IRE
ferred to in the word play was feast
"to Jehovah" (Ex. $3.50.
Intercession and Punishment,-Th
earnestness and seIf-effacement of
Moses in pleading with Jehovah for his
beloved but hayward people is sublime
We may be sure that if God were ade-
quately represented here He would not
seem more petulant and less forgiv-
ing than His servant Note in fbis 500.
ton how Aaron lays the blame for his
own act on the people, and also how
Jehovah recognizes the responsibility
of the ''voters" for the act Of public
official. "And Jehovah smoCe the peo.
pie, because they made the calf, which
Aaron made" Eek. 32:35). What the
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