{"id":62166,"date":"2019-09-02T08:19:06","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T05:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=62166"},"modified":"2023-03-29T06:57:04","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T03:57:04","slug":"whats-wrong-with-a-golden-calf-or-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/whats-wrong-with-a-golden-calf-or-two\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Wrong With A Golden Calf Or Two?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[695,366,429],"acf":{"old_id":"62166","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33692,"related_cahpter":"299","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"On the difference between idolatry and forbidden images","content":"

One question that occupies all the commentators is the degree to which Jeroboam’s calves and altars constituted idolatry. On the one hand, his calves are viewed by the Bible with great severity; the book of Kings consistently refers to Jeroboam’s sins as “other gods and images,” which enrage God. These acts bring punishment and destruction upon the house of Jeroboam and are a catalyst in the eventual national exile. This would thus appear to be an open-and-shut case. Yet many traditional commentaries question whether these calves were truly perceived as idolatry. What evidence suggests that they weren’t?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. In chapter 13, when the “man of God” arrives in Bethel to denounce Jeroboam’s religious deviance, the prophet addresses his reproach to the king’s altar but fails to mention the calf there. Surely molten images are worse than an altar. Why does the calf go unmentioned?<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Religious campaigns aimed at eradicating idolatry in the times of Elijah, Jehu, and Hezekiah target Baal as a national problem. The golden calves are never removed! If they were idolatry, why weren’t they destroyed?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. After the exile of the northern tribes, the Assyrians settle a non-Jewish population in place of the ousted Israelites. These non-Jews experience a mysterious attack of lions, which is perceived as a sign that God is furious with their idolatry. The solution to the problem is that an exiled Israelite teaches these foreigners how to worship: “So one of the priests who was exiled from Samaria came and settled in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord” (II Kings 17:28). If the religion of Bethel and Dan was idolatry, how does this Samarian priest offer a solution that will remove the threat of the lions?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For these reasons, many commentators suggest that the calves were forbidden images but not idol worship.\u00a0<\/span>These commentators are far from legitimizing Jeroboam, but they make a significant and fundamental distinction.\u00a0<\/span>There are two basic forms of idolatry. In one form, a person abandons service of God and replaces Him with a different deity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    In the other form, one worships God through an improper and illicit medium. This transgresses the second of the Ten Commandments, as it involves images and physical likenesses, but it does not constitute the adoption of a foreign deity; it is merely worship of God through incorrect means. Jeroboam’s altars and calves were directed at serving the God of Israel, not repudiating Him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Alex Israel, 1 Kings: Torn in Two<\/em>, Maggid Books, 2013, Revolution\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":61437,"id":61437,"title":"alex israel - kings 1","filename":"alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/adonijahs-scheme-to-ascend-the-throne\/alex-israel-kings-1\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"alex-israel-kings-1","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61414,"date":"2019-08-19 12:13:44","modified":"2019-08-19 12:13:53","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1020,"height":1304,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-235x300.jpg","medium-width":235,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-768x982.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":982,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-801x1024.jpg","large-width":801,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1020,"1536x1536-height":1304,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1020,"2048x2048-height":1304,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-939x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":939,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-329x420.jpg","home_baner-width":329,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Excerpts from: 1 Kings - 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