You've got it right as well.
It's like this. The people accept the law. They don't always live up to the law. So while the law states "Do not worship any other god besides me," (my paraphrase from memory, not an exact translation), and while the Jewish religion (and the people) are monotheistic, sometimes the people sin. And that's why you see throughout the Bible that often the prophets and leaders of the people, such as Moses and (much later) Isaiah and Jeremiah, denounce the people for idolatry, asking them to throw out their false gods and idols. In fact, it was the sins of the people, idolatry being one of them, that lost us the Bais Hamikdash (Holy Temple) and threw us into exile. (The chief sin given was, unfortunately, hatred between fellow Jews.)
Apparently, idol worship was a big problem in Biblical times. That's because, according to the Midrash (part of the Jewish oral tradition), idolatry was a much greater temptation in those days than it is today. Most of the peoples of the world were idolatrous. In Egypt, the Jews were living in the midst of Egyptian culture, and though they kept themselves separate in their clothing, their language and their mannerisms, they had "grown up" as slaves in a culture that was idolatrous. When they worshipped the Golden Calf, they saw it as an intermediary to God and a focus for their prayers. It was partially because they were so used to idolatry as the norm in the Egyptian culture that it was difficult for them to conceive of any other way of worshipping God. Just having direct communication with God through prayer and not through a physical intermediary (focus) like an idol was scary and new to them. So when they miscalculated the date that Moses was supposed to come down from the mountain, they were sure that he was dead and not coming down at all. The Golden Calf was their response to this fear.
I can give you guys relevant chapter and verse (where to find all of this in the Bible) if you want, although some of this you'll find in the Jewish commentaries and in the Midrash and not in the written text. But I hope I've helped shed some light on an interesting question.
Gee, this is beginning to sound like an article!
Judith
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charlie Griefer"
> Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the 10 Commandments, I believe he found
> his people worshipping a golden idol (a calf?). I'd assume that any
> polytheism that went on was before the exodus of the Jews from Egypt.
>
> Realize the difference between Mike D. and myself when it comes to anything
> pertaining to the Jewish religion is like the difference between a well
> maintained Lambourghini and a 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit diesel (I owned the
> latter, so I'm allowed to disparage)...just saying, take it with a grain of
> salt :)
>
>
[Todays Threads] [This Message] [Subscription] [Fast Unsubscribe] [User Settings]
