Feeling their helplessness in the absence of their leader, they 316 returned to their old superstitions. The "mixed multitude" had been the first to indulge murmuring and impatience, and they were the leaders in the apostasy that followed. Among the objects regarded by the Egyptians as symbols of deity was the ox or calf; and it was at the suggestion of those who had practiced this form of idolatry in Egypt that a calf was now made and worshiped. The people desired some image to represent God, and to go before them in the place of Moses. God had given no manner of similitude of Himself, and He had prohibited any material representation for such a purpose. The mighty miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea were designed to establish faith in Him as the invisible, all-powerful Helper of Israel, the only true God. And the desire for some visible manifestation of His presence had been granted in the pillar of cloud and of fire that guided their hosts, and in the revealing of His glory upon Mount Sinai. But with the cloud of the Presence still before them, they turned back in their hearts to the idolatry of Egypt, and represented the glory of the invisible God by the similitude of an ox!

De følte deres hjælpeløshed under deres leders fravær og faldt tilbage til deres gamle overtro. Den sammenløbne hob havde været de første til at knurre og vise utålmodighed, og de var hovedmændene i det frafald, der nu fulgte. Ægypterne regnede oksen eller kalven med til symbolerne på guddommen, og det var på opfordring af dem, der havde praktiseret denne form for afgudsdyrkelse i Ægypten, at man nu lavede og tilbad en kalv. Folket ønskede et billede, der kunne repræsentere Gud og gå foran dem i Moses' sted.