出埃及記 32
1
百姓見摩西遲延不下山,就大家聚集到亞倫那裡,對他說:起來!為我們做神像,可以在我們前面引路;因為領我們出埃及地的那個摩西,我們不知道他遭了甚麼事。
2
亞倫對他們說:你們去摘下你們妻子、兒女耳上的金環,拿來給我。
4
亞倫從他們手裡接過來,鑄了一隻牛犢,用雕刻的器具做成。他們就說:以色列阿,這是領你出埃及地的神。
5
亞倫看見,就在牛犢面前築壇,且宣告說:明日要向耶和華守節。
6
次日清早,百姓起來獻燔祭和平安祭,就坐下吃喝,起來玩耍。
7
耶和華吩咐摩西說:下去罷,因為你的百姓,就是你從埃及地領出來的,已經敗壞了。
8
他們快快偏離了我所吩咐的道,為自己鑄了一隻牛犢,向他下拜獻祭,說:以色列阿,這就是領你出埃及地的神。
10
你且由著我,我要向他們發烈怒,將他們滅絕,使你的後裔成為大國。
11
摩西便懇求耶和華─他的神說:耶和華阿,你為甚麼向你的百姓發烈怒呢?這百姓是你用大力和大能的手從埃及地領出來的。
12
為甚麼使埃及人議論說他領他們出去,是要降禍與他們,把他們殺在山中,將他們從地上除滅?求你轉意,不發你的烈怒,後悔,不降禍與你的百姓。
13
求你記念你的僕人亞伯拉罕、以撒、以色列。你曾指著自己起誓說:我必使你們的後裔像天上的星那樣多,並且我所應許的這全地,必給你們的後裔,他們要永遠承受為業。
15
摩西轉身下山,手裡拿著兩塊法版。這版是兩面寫的,這面那面都有字,
17
約書亞一聽見百姓呼喊的聲音,就對摩西說:在營裡有爭戰的聲音。
18
摩西說:這不是人打勝仗的聲音,也不是人打敗仗的聲音,我所聽見的乃是人歌唱的聲音。
19
摩西挨近營前就看見牛犢,又看見人跳舞,便發烈怒,把兩塊版扔在山下摔碎了,
20
又將他們所鑄的牛犢用火焚燒,磨得粉碎,撒在水面上,叫以色列人喝。
21
摩西對亞倫說:這百姓向你做了甚麼?你竟使他們陷在大罪裡!
22
亞倫說:求我主不要發烈怒。這百姓專於作惡,是你知道的。
23
他們對我說:你為我們做神像,可以在我們前面引路;因為領我們出埃及地的那個摩西,我們不知道他遭了甚麼事。
24
我對他們說:凡有金環的可以摘下來,他們就給了我。我把金環扔在火中,這牛犢便出來了。
25
摩西見百姓放肆(亞倫縱容他們,使他們在仇敵中間被譏刺),
26
就站在營門中,說:凡屬耶和華的,都要到我這裡來!於是利未的子孫都到他那裡聚集。
27
他對他們說:耶和華─以色列的神這樣說:你們各人把刀跨在腰間,在營中往來,從這門到那門,各人殺他的弟兄與同伴並鄰舍。
28
利未的子孫照摩西的話行了。那一天百姓中被殺的約有三千。
29
摩西說:今天你們要自潔,歸耶和華為聖,各人攻擊他的兒子和弟兄,使耶和華賜福與你們。
30
到了第二天,摩西對百姓說:你們犯了大罪。我如今要上耶和華那裡去,或者可以為你們贖罪。
31
摩西回到耶和華那裡,說:唉!這百姓犯了大罪,為自己做了金像。
32
倘或你肯赦免他們的罪……不然,求你從你所寫的冊上塗抹我的名。
Moses
At the inmost level, the story of Moses -- like all of the Bible -- is about the Lord and his spiritual development during his human life as Jesus. Moses's role represents establishing forms of worship and to make the people obedient. As such, his primary representation is "the Law of God," the rules God gave the people of Israel to follow in order to represent spiritual things. This can be interpreted narrowly as the Ten Commandments, more broadly as the books of Moses, or most broadly as the entire Bible. Fittingly, his spiritual meaning is complex and important, and evolves throughout the course of his life. To understand it, it helps to understand the meaning of the events in which he was involved. At a more basic level, Moses's story deals with the establishment of the third church to serve as a container of knowledge of the Lord. The first such church -- the Most Ancient Church, represented by Adam and centered on love of the Lord -- had fallen prey to human pride and was destroyed. The second -- the Ancient Church, represented by Noah and the generations that followed him -- was centered on love of the neighbor, wisdom from the Lord and knowledge of the correspondences between natural and spiritual things. It fell prey to the pride of intelligence, however -- represented by the Tower of Babel -- and at the time of Moses was in scattered pockets that were sliding into idolatry. On an external level, of course, Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt through 40 years in the wilderness to the border of the homeland God had promised them. Along the way, he established and codified their religious system, and oversaw the creation of its most holy objects. Those rules and the forms of worship they created were given as containers for deeper ideas about the Lord, deeper truth, and at some points -- especially when he was first leading his people away from Egypt, a time before the rules had been written down -- Moses takes on the deeper representation of Divine Truth itself, truth from the Lord. At other times -- especially after Mount Sinai -- he has a less exalted meaning, representing the people of Israel themselves due to his position as their leader. Through Moses the Lord established a third church, one more external than its predecessors but one that could preserve knowledge of the Lord and could, through worship that represented spiritual things, make it possible for the Bible to be written and passed to future generations.