The Lamb King

Chapter 9 God’s 10 Commandments and the Golden Idol (1446 BC)

With a thundering voice in the wilderness, God spoke from the mountain at Sinai to the entire Israelite nation, giving them Ten Commandments to teach His nation how to live under His Kingship. But one day when Moses was spending time alone with God on Mount Sinai, just days after God had commanded the Is- raelites to worship only Him, the people made an idol of gold and worshipped it instead! God was angry and wanted to de- stroy the nation, for He had just proven that only He deserved their worship. When Moses came down from the mountain with the tablets God had written His Ten Commandments on, and saw that the people were worshiping a golden calf, he was furious. Moses told the people who chose to honor God’s command- ment to worship only Him, to kill those who made the idol. From the 2.5 million Israelites who were delivered out of Egypt about 3,000 non-trusting idol worshipers died that day. Moses then begged God not to destroy the entire nation. God heard and responded to Moses’ plea. God sent punishment but did not destroy the whole nation.

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