Aaron, who had been left in charge of the camp, yielded to their clamors. Instead of exercising faith in God, trusting to divine power to sustain him, he was tempted to believe that if he resisted the demands of the people, they would take his life; and he did as they desired. He collected the golden ornaments, made the molten calf, and fashioned it with a graving tool. Then the leaders of the people declared, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” When Aaron saw that the image he had graven pleased the people, he was proud of his workmanship. He built an altar before the idol, “made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.” They drank and feasted, and gave themselves up to mirth and dancing, which ended in the shameful orgies that marked the heathen worship of false gods. {TM 99.3}

Aron, som var blevet efterladt for at holde øje med lejren, gav efter for deres råb. I stedet for at bruge gudstroen, stole på at den guddommelige kraft ville støtte ham, var han fristet til at tro at hvis han modsatte sig folkets pålæg, ville de tage hans liv; og han gjorde hvad de ønskede. Han indsamlede guldstykkerne, smeltede dem, og fremstillede en kalv, og formede den med et graverings redskab. Da erklærede lederne af folket, »Her, Israel, er din gud, som førte dig ud af (100) Ægypten!« Da Aron så at det billede han havde fremstillet behagede folket, var han stolt af hans håndværk. Han byggede et alter foran afguden, og »lod kundgøre: I morgen er det højtid for Herren! Tidligt næste morgen ofrede de så brændofre og bragte takofre, og folket satte sig til at spise og drikke, og derpå stod de op for at lege.« De drak og festede, og gav dem selv over til munterhed og dans, der endte i de skammelige orgier der markerede de falske guders hedenske dyrkelse.