2. Moses and the Golden Calf

Long Ago and Far Away
A curriculum by Dan Harper currently in development, v. 0.1
Copyright (c) 2026 Dan Harper

Moses and the Golden Calf

After the Israelites escaped from Pharaoh, Moses led them into the desert. They had to cross the desert, hot and dry, in order to get to the Promised Land, the place where they could live in peace and freedom.

They walked and they walked, day after day, for three whole months, until at last they reached Mount Sinai. They decided to camp there for a while, so they set up their tents.

Moses climbed up Mount Sinai, up to the very top, and while he was up there, the god sometimes known as Yahweh spoke to him. This god told Moses, “The Israelites are going to be my special, chosen people. I will take care of you, and all you have to do is promise to obey me over all the other gods and goddesses.”

Moses agreed, and went back down Mount Sinai to tell the Israelites. All the Israelites had to do was to obey the god Yahweh, and Yahweh would take care of them. Yahweh had already forced Pharaoh to release them all from slavery, so this sounded like a good plan.

Moses went back up Mount Sinai to report to the Yahweh. “They all promised to obey you,” Moses reported.

“Well, just to make sure,” said Yahweh, who was now the god of the ancient Israelites, “I’m going to appear at the top of this mountain as a dense dark cloud, filled with thunder and lightning. You come back up the mountain, I’ll talk with you, and then all the Israelites will know that I talk to you directly. That way they will trust you and listen to you.”

So Moses went back down Mount Sinai, and sure enough, the god of the Israelites appeared at the top of the mountain as a dense cloud. Moses went back up the mountain to talk with the god of the Israelites. All the other Israelites watched from the foot of the mountain.

Moses climbed up and up, and at last entered the dense cloud at the top of the mountain. The god of the Israelites started telling him about all the rules and laws the Israelites would have to obey. First of all, the god of the Israelites made ten laws against stealing, against murdering people, against lying. There was also a law saying the Israelites weren’t allowed to worship any other god or goddess. These first ten laws are sometimes called the “Ten Commandments.” Most of these laws still make sense, even today. And Moses went back down the mountain bringing those first ten laws to the Israelites.

Next day, Moses climbed back up the mountain for more laws. Yahweh gave him lots of laws. Some of these other laws sound strange to us today, like the law that said if one ox hurts another ox, the owner of the first ox has to sell it and divide the money with the owner of the second ox, and the owner of the second ox has to butcher it and divide the meat with the owner of the first ox. Yahweh had lots and lots of laws and rules for Moses to bring to the Israelites. Moses had to climb up and down that mountain quite a few times.

Then came a time when Moses stayed on top of the mountain for a really long time. The rest of the Israelites finally deicded Yahweh had abandoned them, and Moses wasn’t coming back. The Israelites decided to make a new god. They took gold and made it into the shape of a calf — a golden calf. They thought their new calf looked pretty cool, and they invented new worship services for their new religion, and had a big party to celebrate.

Just as the party was really getting going, Moses came back down the mountain with more laws.

“What’s going on here?” Moses said. “Don’t you remember that you promised not to worship any other gods? And here you all are, having a party, and worshipping some new god. You guys broke your promise!”

The Israelites looked a little shamefaced at first, but then some of them pointed out that Moses had been gone for a long time. For all they knew, Moses’s god had given up on the Israelites and gone somewhere else with Moses.

“Who’s on my side?” said Moses angrily. “If you still like Yahweh better than the golden calf, come with me!” A few people joined him. Moses made sure they all had swords, and then told them to go and kill anyone who was still worshiping that golden calf.

For they knew that those people had chosen between worshiping truth, in the form of their God, or worshiping falsehood, in the form of the Golden Calf. And we might think they were too harsh for killing off those who worshiped falsehood.

SESSION 2: Moses and the Golden Calf

Top-level educational goals:
(1) Have fun and build community;
(2) Increase “Biblical literacy”;
(3) Build skills associated with liberal religion, e.g., interpersonal skills, introspection, basic leadership, being in front of a group of people, etc.

Educational objectives for this session:
(1) Get to know other people in the class;
(2) Hear a story from the Hebrew Bible;
(3) Be able to talk about one or more incidents or themes from the story, e.g., if parents ask what happened in Sunday school today.

Preparation:

Coming soon.

I/ Opening

Take attendance.

Light chalice with these or other words: “We light this chalice to celebrate Unitarian Universalism: the church of the open mind, the helping hands, and the loving heart.”

Check-in: Go around circle. Each child and adult says their name, and then may say one good thing and one bad thing that has happened in the past week (anyone may pass).

II/ Read the story “Moses and the Golden Calf”

Read “Moses and the Golden Calf” out loud.

III/ Act out the story

We will help the children internalize the story by acting it out.

Ask: “Who are the characters in this story?”

Set up the stage area, and have the audience sit facing the stage area. The lead teacher reads the story, prompting actors. At appropriate moments in the story, you may want to prompt the children to think through the following things:

Coming soon.

IV/ Conversation about the story

Sit back down in a group. Now ask some general questions: “What was the best part of the story? Did the story make sense to you?” — or questions you come up with on your own.

Now some questions specific to the story.

Now open-ended questions about the moral of the story. Note that I’ve chosen Bible stories that are also great literature; and great literature resists easy interpretations.

V/ Other activity or free play

Activity specific to the story.

Free play.

Card game called “Exodus.”

VI/ Closing circle

When time is almost up, have the children stand in a circle.

When the children are in a circle, ask them what they did today, and prompt them with questions and answers, e.g.: “What did we do today? We heard a story, right?” — etc. You’re not trying to put any one child on the spot, but rather drawing on the wisdom of the group as a whole.

If any parents have come to pick up their children, invite them to join the circle (so they can know what it is their children learned about this week).

Say the closing words together, or other words of your choice:

Then tell the children how you enjoyed seeing them (if that’s true), and that you look forward to seeing them again next week.

If any children left any drawings or completed coloring pages, post them on the bulletin board before you go.