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!

Gud havde ikke vist folket, hvorledes han så ud, og han havde forbudt dem at fremstille billeder til at repræsentere ham. De store mirakler i Ægypten og ved Det røde Hav blev udført for at stadfæste troen på ham som Israels usynlige, almægtige hjælper, den eneste sande Gud, og ønsket om en synlig åbenbarelse af hans nærværelse var blevet efterkommet i skystøttet og ildstøtten, der ledede deres hær, og i åbenbarelsen af Guds herlighed på Sinaj. Men skønt han stadig var hos dem i skyen, vendte de i deres hjerte tilbage til Ægyptens afguderi og fremstillede den usynlige Guds herlighed ved hjælp af et billede af en okse!