The Golden Calf of Aaron Worship of animals and their idols was prevalent in the ancient Near East. Particularly, the bull was considered sacred. The Israelites too took part in worship of idols of the bull during two different periods of time. When Moses was in Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, the Israelites lost their patience and asked Aaron to create a god for them. Aaron collected gold from the Israelites and created a golden calf. The Israelites worshipped the golden calf and gave offerings to the idol. Some of us raise questions on the need for Aaron to create a golden calf. Aaron could have lost his faith in God. Or he could have created the golden calf as a representation or symbol of the God of Israel. As Aaron had personally experienced the wonders done by the hand of God in Egypt, he is unlikely to have lost his faith in God like other Israelites. Aaron probably was irritated by the behaviour of the Israelites and created the golden calf as a mark of his scorn. Aaron is likely to have thought that the Israelites would not part with their gold for making a calf. Instead, they offered their gold for creation of the calf. Even though Aaron created the calf, he did not worship it. Similarly, many Israelites too did not worship the calf and waited with patience and faith in God. Over 3000 Israelites who worshipped the golden calf were killed later. There is no answer to the question why Aaron did not create any other image other than a calf. The Egyptians worshipped an idol of a bull representing their god Apis. As the Israelites lived in Egypt for 400 years, they know about the idol of a bull. The Israelites failed to remember that God saved them. So they asked for an idol of another god when Moses was absent. When a leader is subjected to hero worship, such things happen. So hero worship is also considered idolatry. Moses destroys the calf later and makes them understand what they did was wrong. After this incident, the worship of calf was practiced in a later period of time by the Israelites. This happened when their country was split. One of the Kings Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel. Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam." After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other. Political compulsions made Israelites worship an idol at that period of time too. Politicians should understand that it is wrong to make people worship idols because of selfish intentions. It is wrong to trust in people instead of having faith in God. We learn this from the Israelites.