While Moses was on top of the mountain 🏔️ receiving special instructions from God, the people were getting worried 😧 and impatient ⏰ as it had been many days. 📆 

The people went to Moses’ brother Aaron and said, "We don't know what happened to Moses. Make us something to worship!" 🙏 Even though Aaron knew this was wrong, he was afraid 😱 of the people. So he asked them to bring him their gold jewelry. 💍 

Aaron took the gold and made a shiny golden calf 🐄 - a statue that looked like a baby cow 🐮 made of beautiful, sparkling gold. Some of the people started dancing 🕺 💃 and celebrating 🥳 around the golden statue, thinking it was something special they could worship. 🙇‍♂️ 

When Moses came down from the mountain, ⛰️ he was carrying two big stone tablets 🪨🪨 with God's special rules. When he saw the people dancing 🕺 around the golden calf, he became very upset! 😠 He knew God had told them not to make or worship statues.

Moses threw down 😡 the stone tablets, breaking them on the ground. He told the people they had made a big mistake. 😑 God wanted them to love and trust Him, not worship a golden statue they had made themselves.

God was sad 😔 that the people had forgotten His special instructions. He wanted them to remember that He was the one who had helped them escape from Egypt 🇪🇬 and was taking care of them in the desert.

16. the ten commandments / 17. the golden calf / 18. tabernacle and ark