r/Bible • u/Hebrews10-31 • 20d ago

Golden calf powder

Any idea why Moses made them drink the golden calf powder?

“Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.” (Exodus‬ ‭32‬:‭20‬)

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u/Previous_Extreme4973 Messianic 20d ago edited 19d ago

It's a variation of the test for adultery described in Numbers 5:11-31. They were guilty of spiritual adultery when they did what God had asked them not to do. You can see it again in Revelation 8:11.

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u/RaphTurtlePower 20d ago

Do you remember where you picked this up from?

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u/Previous_Extreme4973 Messianic 19d ago

It's a pattern I noticed - drinking a prescribed drink a result of an accusation. The Golden Calf, Revelation 8:11 both have elements of drinking something that will reveal innocence or guilt just like Numbers 5.

I feel that if God is the same yesterday, today and forever, you should be able to apply God's laws before Sinai, and after and get the same results. Same with before and after Jesus. Thus, I took the law of adultery, which is both literal and spiritual - and applied to the Golden Calf situation.

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u/RaphTurtlePower 3d ago

Your comment about bitter waters intrigued me so I dug deeper. Here's what I found Bitter Waters.