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NASB | Exodus 32:4 He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Exodus 32:4 And he took the gold from their hands, and fashioned it with an engraving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." |
Bible Question:
How could the Israelites melt gold and make the golden calf while Moses was talking to God if they didn’t have a furnace, neither industry in the desert to mold that gold? And how could they find a graving tool in the desert? Thank you, Max |
Bible Answer: Hi Max, Perhaps they improvised. They learned brick-making in Egypt. (EX 5:7-8). Structurally, some of the temple implements required building vessels to contain heat. For the gold-working itself, in Exodus 31:1-6, God inspired Bezalel and Oholiab. It sounds to me like they were supervisors and fine finishers. They may well have been others with lesser skills in the field. For fuel, the immediate surrounding are a possibility. This dessert, I think, was more like a wasteland, unable to sustain permanent settlement than like the sandy Sahara. Moses found the burning bush (Ex 3) in this dessert. Maybe there was enough brush to sustain the project. More likely, I think, for fuel and odd implements is that the Midianites were cheerful brokers. The sons of Israel encounter them with Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, in Ex 18, one Chapter before the story of Moses at Sinai begins. They seem to be lurking nearby from that point throughout the time that Israel wonders, "protecting" Israel from others and meeting their needs. They seem to be the middle-men in trading through the region. Israel could trade some of the riches they looted from Egypt. (Ex 12:35-36) Of course, in faith and from the Scripture, we know that the LORD protected and provided for Israel. From the point-of-view of those who didn't know the LORD, I suspect that Midian appeared to be serving that role. I find similar reasoning satisfactory for the huge shopping list necessary to complete the Tabernacle and implements in the dessert. Your in faith, Rick |