You have seen pictures of the ruins of temples in the land of Egypt. On the walls there are still to be seen sculptured pictures and in front of the temples are remains of the double row of sphinxes which formed an avenue through which the temple was approached. Sphinxes had the bodies of lions and the heads of men. In and about the temples there were many other statues and pictures which have not been preserved down to our times. There were images of gold and silver and of other substances.

Why were all these things? What was the original reason for their being used? Merely because they looked beautiful and served as ornamentation? No! In the Ancient Church they originally had all kinds of pictures and carved molten images because when the people looked at them they helped them to think of spiritual things ("spiritual things" means things belonging to the spirit of a human being). The temple itself made them think of the Lord and of heaven, for heaven is the Father's house. Every picture or image in the temple meant some particular thing. For instance, over the gate of the temple they had the picture of a sun with wings on each side. This was because the warm sun helped them to think of the Lord's warm love. Because a bird shelters her young under her wings and thus cares for them, the wings helped the worshipers think of the Lord's care for people, or providence. A horse led them to think of understanding the truth. A chariot led them to think of the teachings they received in the temple. A man led them to think of reason, or rationality. A spear, and bows and arrows, led them to think of the truths they learned from the Word of the Lord, with which to fight against their evils. The evils and falsities which they had to fight were represented by evil animals and by enemies. For this reason you see pictures of battle and of hunting. The science of correspondences taught them what each thing corresponded to and therefore represented.

They had many images of a calf, because the calf especially represented something that all the Egyptians had. And what was that? The pleasure we feel when we learn something new, especially some new truth. It also represented the pleasure in doing what is good. For this reason they often made the calves of gold, because gold signifies what is good.

All this was when the Egyptian people were good. But after a long while they no longer cared to think much about heavenly things, although they still attended the worship in the temples. Instead of finding pleasure in learning things from the Word, and in doing outward deeds of love and charity and kindness to others, they cared only for their own pleasure. Just like children who do not care to do things that their parents wish them to do and take no interest in them, but always want to have what they call "fun," whether it is fun for others or not. And when the people became bad like that, then the golden calf no longer represented the pleasure of learning what is good and true, and the pleasure of doing kind things for others, and of having fun with others, but it represented the selfish pleasure which they then enjoyed. Then, when they went to church, instead of worshiping the Lord, and looking at the calf to help them think about the lovely pleasures He gives to us, they worshiped the golden calf itself, making an idol of it. So you see what manner of idolatry arose.

At the time that the children of Israel were in Egypt, the Egyptians were idolaters and the chief idols they had were calves. The children of Israel also worshiped these idols, for they did not know who the God of their fathers had been, until Jevohah showed Himself to Moses, and taught him.

After Jehovah had shown Himself to Moses, and later by the wonderful miracles in Egypt had proven His power, His omnipotence, and that He was indeed God, and that the idols of Egypt were not God, you would think that the Israelites would stop entirely worshiping the calves, and would worship Jehovah their God. But no, they did not like the idea of worshiping Jehovah because they could not see Him with the eyes of their body. They wanted a god whom they could see and touch, and so when Moses stayed such a long time - forty days - on the mount, they thought he had perished. They paid no further attention to Jehovah, but remembering the golden calves of Egypt, they brought all their gold jewelry and made a golden calf in the way that our chapter describes.

You will think that they must have had a very short memory or have been a very fickle people, that they would turn to worship an Egyptian idol within little more than a month after the wonderful manifestations of the Lord's power in giving them bread from heaven, and water out of the Rock, and revealing the Ten Commandments amid great earthquakes and lightnings and thunderings. And they were fickle. But are not many people that way now-a-days? Do you know of children who, very soon after they have been impressively taught on the holy Sabbath day in the lovely church or Sunday school, and have made up their minds to be good, will then do something just the opposite of what they have been taught? Perhaps we have many among us who are like the children of Israel, and who worship a golden calf, that is who care only for their own pleasure and selfish fun. For, remember that there are two kinds of fun. The Lord wants all children to have fun, but there is selfish fun and unselfish fun. Wishing to have "a good time" only for ourselves is one thing. Loving to give others "a good time" is quite another, but there is much pleasure in it.

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