Featured Whom Did the Israelites Worship in the Golden Calf Incident?

It seems fine to me. According to my dictionary, a calf is a young bovine animal; male or female..

 

20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

 

Anytime an idol is worshipped there is a demonic spirit behind the idol soliciting worship.

 

Maybe there are two questions here.

Who did they think they were worshipping?

Who were they actually worshipping?

Clearly, Aaron made a “visual” representation of the invisible God, as AustinC has pointed out.

If they worshipped the idol, they weren’t worshipping God, no matter what they intended.

peace to you

 

The MAIN "god' they were worshipping was BAAL, which meant "lord" in several languages, & with different pronunciations per language. (bale, beel, ball, etc.)

Most of the golden calves, likely including the Israeli one, were made with one U-shaped horn. This was because they were an image of the planet Venus while it was a comet, as it appeared with a U-shaped double tail, with an arc between the 2 tails. After wreaking havoc on the earth with 2 close approaches, it didn't come close any more, but still had a cigar-shaped orbit, becoming highly-visible every 49-52 years. God instituted the Year of Jubilee every 49 years to remind the Israelis He had spared them from another catastrophe brought on by Venus. After so long, the menace faded, but during Hezekiah's time, Venus & Mars became entangled, & approached earth, causing several catastrophes, including distorting the atmosphere in places & disturbing earth's rotation, allowing the sun to scorch parts of earth. Thus came the Greek legend of Phaeton, & the retreat of the sun at Hezekiah's request.

None of this is set in stone, of course, byut until a better, provable explanation comes along, this one stands.

But the MAIN "god" the Israelis worshipped with their calf was Baal. Such calves remained Baal's symbol for senturies in many lands.

 

What did Aaron say to them when he brought the calf to be worshipped?

peace to you

 

Specifically concerning the golden calf, what did Aaron say to them?

edit to add: I stand corrected, beyond declaring a feast to the Lord, he did not say the calf was the true God.

peace to you

 

As I stated, I stand corrected. Beyond declaring a feast for the Lord, Aaron did not say the calf was God.

peace to you

 

Exodus 32:5 would be the verse supporting YHWH as the object of worship.

Exodus 32:5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”

Benson Commentary

Exodus 32:5. "Aaron built an altar — Being borne down with the stream; and proclaimed a feast — Namely, of dedication; yet he calls it a feast to Jehovah — By which it is still more evident that the people did not intend to terminate their adoration in the image, but designed to worship the true God in and by this calf, which they meant to consider as only a visible token of God’s presence with them, and a medium by which to convey their worship to him."
Barnes Notes on the Bible
"It is expressly said that they yielded to the idolatry of Egypt while they were in bondage Joshua 24:14; Ezekiel 20:8; Ezekiel 23:3, Ezekiel 23:8; and this is in keeping with the earliest Jewish tradition (Philo). In the next verse, Aaron appears to speak of the calf as if it was a representative of Yahweh - "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord." The Israelites did not, it should be noted, worship a living Mnevis, or Apis, having a proper name, but only the golden type of the animal."
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
"5, 6. Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord—a remarkable circumstance, strongly confirmatory of the view that they had not renounced the worship of Jehovah, but in accordance with Egyptian notions, had formed an image with which they had been familiar, to be the visible symbol of the divine presence. But there seems to have been much of the revelry that marked the feasts of the heathen."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

"When Aaron saw, i.e. observed with what applause they received it, and with what fury and resolution they prosecuted their former desire, he was borne down with the stream, and, as it is probable, by the people’s instigation, built an altar to it.

To the Lord, Heb. to Jehovah; which title being peculiar to the true God, and being here given by Aaron to the calf, with the approbation of the people, makes it more than probable that the people designed to worship the true God in this calf, which they made only as a visible token of God’s presence with them, and an image by which they might convey their worship to God."

 

My posts #4 and #8 are still there if you wish to engage with them.

 

That's a given. When you attempt to create an image of YHWH, you are worshipping your own god. This is why "free will" theology is a form of idolatry like unto Aaron and the calf.