Overview (Verses 83 - 85)

Promises Fulfilled or Broken
 
God has appointed a time for Moses to meet Him at the Mount after forty days, when he would be given the commandments outlining the tasks his people have to fulfil after the victory they were given. Victory carries with it its own responsibilities, as does faith. Hence, it was necessary for Moses to be psychologically prepared and ready to receive God’s commandments.
 
Thus, Moses went up the Mount, leaving his people at the bottom, after asking his brother Aaron to deputize for him. Moses longed dearly for this encounter, when he would stand in front of his Lord and address Him. He had had this experience once before and was keen to experience it again. Hence, he made haste to stand in the presence of his Lord. He was however totally unaware of what his people had perpetrated after he had left.
 
His Lord tells him the news, pointing out what has taken place. The scene is shown to us and we listen to the conversation: [And God said]: Now what has caused you, Moses, to leave your people behind in so great a haste?’ He answered: ‘They are treading in my footsteps, while I have hastened to You, my Lord, so that You might be well pleased with me.’ Said He: ‘Then [know that] in your absence We have put your people to a test, and the Sāmiriy has led them astray.’ (Verses 83-85) Thus Moses is faced with a terrible shock. He was in haste to meet his Lord, after forty days of diligent preparation, eager to listen to His directives and commandments which would constitute the basis of the new way of life for the Children of Israel. It was to be a way of life suited for a community that had been freed from the shackles of subjugation so that it would become the bearer of a divine message.
 
The long period they had spent in subjugation and humiliation under Pharaoh’s rule and his idolatrous beliefs had had a damaging effect on the nature of the Israelites. Their ability to withstand the difficulties that attend the fulfilment of a hard task, and to remain true to their promises in the face of hardship, was certainly suspect. Psychologically, they suffered an impairment which made them always keen to have a comfortable life, even if this meant a willingness to be led without troubling to think. No sooner did Moses leave them under Aaron’s stewardship than they allowed their faith to collapse at the first hurdle. Hence, they needed repeated tests and trials in a process of psychological rebuilding. The first test to which they were subjected was that of the golden calf which the Sāmiriy had produced. “In your absence We have put your people to a test, and the Sāmiriy has led them astray.” (Verse 85) Moses did not know about this test until his appointment with his Lord.
 
The sūrah sums up the scene of the direct address between God and Moses very briefly in order to describe Moses’ reaction to what he learnt, his speedy return, his anger and his sorrow. How could his people do this after God had saved them from humiliating subjugation by tyrannical idolatry, and favoured them with easy provisions and care in the desert? He had only very recently reminded them of God’s favours, warning them against going astray. Yet now they follow the first one to call them back to paganism and the worship of a call?
 
The sūrah does not tell us any details about how they were led to this situation. It moves on to the scene of Moses hurriedly returning to his people. However, the way this is described tells us something of these details. Moses has returned, angry, sad, remonstrating with his people and scolding his brother. He must have known the magnitude of their ghastly deed: Thus Moses returned to his people full of wrath and sorrow: My people,’ he said, Did not your Lord hold out a goodly promise to you? Did, then, [the fulfilment of] this promise seem to you too long in coming? Or are you determined to see your Lord’s condemnation fall upon you, and so you broke your promise to me?’ They answered: ‘We did not break our promise to you of our own free-will, but we were loaded with the burdens of the [Egyptian] people’s ornaments, and so we threw them [into the fire], and likewise this Sāmiriy threw.’ Thus he produced for them the effigy of a calf which made a lowing sound. ‘This,’ they said, ‘is your deity and the deity of Moses; but he has forgotten. Why! Did they not see that it could not give them any response, and that it could neither harm nor benefit them? And, indeed, Aaron had said to them earlier: My people! You are but being tempted to evil by this calf. Your only Lord is the Most Merciful! Follow me, then, and do as I bid you.’ But they had replied: ‘By no means shall we cease worshipping it until Moses comes back to us.’ (Verses 86-91) Such was the trial to which the Israelites were put. It is revealed to us as Moses confronts his people. It is not reported in the scene of the meeting between Moses and his Lord. It is left to the scene of inquiry undertaken by Moses upon his return.