The Calves of the Trinity

“Then the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain. So the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, ‘Arise, make us gods who will go before (elohim asher yelaku) us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And Aaron said to them, ‘Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he took this from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, ‘These are your gods (elleh eloheka), O Israel, who brought you up (asher he‘eluka) from the land of Egypt.’ And Aaron looked and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.’ So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.

“Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, ‘Go! Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and have said, “These are your gods (elleh eloheka), O Israel, who brought you up up (asher he‘eluka) from the land of Egypt!”’ And Yahweh said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may consume them; and I will make you a great nation.’” Exodus 32:1-10

“Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?’And Aaron said, ‘Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil. Indeed they said to me, “Make gods (elohim) for us who will go (asher yelaku) before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” And I said to them, “Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” Now Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies… Then Yahweh smote the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.” Exodus 32:21-25, 35

“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people combined against Aaron, and said to him, Arise and make us gods who shall go (theous hoi proporeusontai) before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt– we do not know what is become of him… And he received them at their hands, and formed them with a graving tool; and he made them a molten calf, and said, These [are] thy gods (houtoi hoi theoi sou), O Israel, which have brought (oitines anebibasan) thee up out of the land of Egypt… And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Go quickly, descend hence, for thy people whom thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have transgressed; they have quickly gone out of the way which thou commandedst; they have made for themselves a calf, and worshipped it, and sacrificed to it, and said, These are thy gods (houtoi hoi theoi sou), O Israel, who brought (oitines anebibasan) thee up out of the land of Egypt… For they say to me, Make us gods, which shall go (theous hoi proporeusontai before us; for as for this man Moses, who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what is become of him.” Exodus 32:2, 4, 7-8, 23 LXX

“Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go (theous hoi proporeusontai) before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what has become of him.’ At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you present Me with slain beasts and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will remove you beyond Babylon.’” Acts 7:39-43

“So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. And I saw that you had indeed sinned against Yahweh your God. You had made for yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which Yahweh had commanded you. And I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands and shattered them before your eyes.” Deuteronomy 9:15-17

“They made a calf in Horeb And worshiped a molten image. Thus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham And awesome things by the Red Sea. Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, To turn away His wrath from eradicating them.” Psalm 106:19-23

“Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.’ So the king took counsel, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods (eloheka), O Israel, that brought you up (asher he‘eluka) from the land of Egypt.’And he set one in Bethel, and one he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam made a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, to sacrifice to the calves which he had made. And he had the priests of the high places, which he had made, stand in Bethel. Then he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised in his own heart; and he made a feast for the sons of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.” 1 Kings 12:25-33

“Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of the bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, ‘I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burned up?’ And Yahweh saw that he turned aside to look, so God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!” And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ He said also, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” Exodus 3:1-6 

“And Yahweh was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to guide them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might go by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.” Exodus 13:21-22  

“Then the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and Yahweh swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea into dry ground, so the waters were split. So the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Then the Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. Then at the morning watch, Yahweh looked down on the camp of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the camp of the Egyptians into confusion. And He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, ‘Let us flee from Israel, for Yahweh is fighting for them against the Egyptians.’ 

“Then Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.’ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Then Israel saw the great hand which Yahweh had used against the Egyptians; and the people feared Yahweh, and they believed in Yahweh and in His servant Moses.” Exodus 14:19-25 

“Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to keep you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Keep watch of yourself before him and listen to his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him. But if you truly listen to his voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will annihilate them.” Exodus 23:20-23 

“From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom: ‘Thus your brother Israel has said, ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us, that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. So we cried out to Yahweh, and He heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.’” Numbers 20:14-16 

“Then the angel of Yahweh came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, ‘I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, “I will never break My covenant with you, and as for you, you shall cut no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.” But you have not listened to My voice; what is this you have done? Therefore I also said, “I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides, and their gods will become a snare to you.”’ So it happened that when the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. So they named that place Bochim; and there they sacrificed to Yahweh.” Judges 2:1-5

“And Yahweh has a contention with Judah And will punish Jacob according to his ways; He will cause everything to return to him according to his deeds. In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his maturity he wrestled with God. Indeed, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor. He found Him at Bethel, And there He spoke with us, Even Yahweh, the God of hosts, Yahweh is His name of remembrance.” Hosea 12:2-5 

“Yet I have been Yahweh your God Since the land of Egypt; And you were not to know any god except Me, And there is no savior besides Me. I Myself knew you in the wilderness, In the land of drought. As they had their pasture, then they became satisfied, Indeed, they were satisfied, and their heart became raised up; Therefore they forgot Me.” Hosea 13:4-6

“They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You did among them; So they became stiff-necked and gave themselves a chief to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of lavish forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them. Even when they made for themselves A molten calf And said, ‘This is your God Who brought you up (eloheka asher he‘eluka) from Egypt,’ And committed great blasphemies, But You, in Your abundant compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day, To lead them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, To light for them the way in which they were to go. You gave Your good Spirit to give them insight, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.” Nehemiah 9:17-20

“I shall bring to remembrance the lovingkindnesses of Yahweh, the praises of Yahweh, According to all the ways that Yahweh has dealt bountifully with us, And the abundant goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has dealt bountifully to them according to His compassion And according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses. And He said, ‘Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.’ So He became their Savior.

“In all their distress He was distressed, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the ancient days. But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy; He fought against them. Then His people remembered the ancient days, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them, Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, Who split the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name, Who led them through the depths? Like the horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble; As the cattle which go down into the valley, The Spirit of Yahweh gave them rest. So You led Your people, To make for Yourself a glorious name.

“Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious habitation; Where are Your zeal and Your mighty deeds? The tumults within You and Your compassion are restrained toward me. For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us And Israel does not recognize us. You, O Yahweh, are our Father, Our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.” Isaiah 63:7-16

“Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!” Deuteronomy 6:4

“You alone are Yahweh. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down to You.” Nehemiah 9:6

“But now, O Yahweh our God, save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are Yahweh, You alone.” Isaiah 37:20

“And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; in that day Yahweh will be the only one, and His name one.” Zechariah 14:9