Aaron feared for his own safety; and instead of nobly standing up for the honor of God, he yielded to the demands of the multitude. His first act was to direct that the golden earrings be collected from all the people and brought to him, hoping that pride would lead them to refuse such a sacrifice. But they willingly yielded up their ornaments; and from these he made a molten calf, in imitation of the gods of Egypt. The people proclaimed, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." And Aaron basely permitted this insult to Jehovah. He did more. Seeing with what satisfaction the golden god was received, he built an altar before it, and made proclamation, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord." The announcement was heralded by trumpeters from company to company throughout the camp. "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." Under the pretense of holding "a feast to the Lord," they gave themselves up to gluttony and licentious reveling.

Aron nærede frygt for sin egen sikkerhed, og i stedet for modigt at forsvare Guds ære gav han efter for mængdens krav. Først forlangte han, at hele folket skulle aflevere deres guldørenringe til ham. Han håbede, at deres stolthed ville få dem til at nægte at bringe et sådant offer. Men de gav villigt afkald på deres prydelser, og af guldet lavede han en støbt tyrekalv i lighed med Ægyptens guder. Folket råbte: "Her, Israel, er din gud, som førte dig ud af Ægypten!" Og Aron nedværdigede sig til at tillade denne forhånelse mod Gud. Ja, han gik endnu videre. Da han så den tilfredshed, hvormed den gyldne gud blev modtaget, byggede han et alter for den og lod kundgøre: "I morgen er det højtid for Herren!" Denne kundgørelse blev forkyndt fra stamme til stamme af basunblæsere. "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." Under foregivende af at holde "højtid for Herren" kastede de sig ud i frådseri og tøjlesløse forlystelser.