THE GOLDEN CALF WAS NOT JUST A CALF: ECHOES OF EGYPT IN THE DESERT BY ABRI BRANCKEN

Understanding Bible verses and passages within their historical and cultural contexts is essential for grasping their true meaning. Without an awareness of the customs, religious practices, and worldview of the time, we risk misinterpreting the significance and depth of the text. In our exploration of why the Hebrews created a golden calf in the desert while Moses was meeting with God on Mount Sinai, we need to familiarise ourselves with the mindset of the Hebrews. We have to understand Egyptian culture and religious practices because that is the setting in which the Hebrews found themselves for about 400 years.

Throughout ancient history, no civilisation understood the power of art, image and form quite like the Egyptians. For them, art was not merely decorative. It was a sacred “technology”, a tool used to influence, summon, bind, or repel supernatural beings and spiritual forces. The Egyptian belief that art influences the supernatural would extend far beyond Egypt’s borders. It exists to this very day. When the Hebrews crafted the golden calf in the wilderness, they were not inventing a new religion but replicating an ancient Egyptian practice, which God told them not to do.