Long ago, humans could only move things as fast as our feet could carry them. Today, cars can carry us over the land faster than any animal alive. Jets can pierce the sky faster than their own engines’ roar. Computers can send messages across the globe in literally the blink of an eye. These wondrous powers are the result of invention, centuries of people learning the ways of the world, refining, expanding, and applying their knowledge. Of the many candidates for what separates us from the beasts, our knowledge is the most visible. Indeed, knowledge is humanity's greatest power, but it is also our greatest vulnerability.



Even our most basic knowledge can grant us power. Take, for instance, the Tabernacle: the portable temple that our ancestors built at Mount Sinai. This great construction would not exist without the powers of those endowed with the knowledge of skill. Someone had to weave the yarns. Someone had to assemble the altar. Someone had to cast and hammer together the menorah. Someone had to build and adorn the Ark. Bezalel in particular was singled out by name as having the greatest skills of all. He coordinated the project, and made sure that all the disparate pieces worked together as one, so the holy could become whole. It is by his knowledge, and the knowledge of all those who excelled in skill, that the Israelites possessed this creative power.



Aaron too had great power for, as Moses’ translator to Israel (Exodus 4:15-16), he was the first to hear the word of God and, he was the first to repeat it. This is demonstrated by the fact that the material still available, despite the infamous golden calf, was more than enough to complete the Tabernacle (Exodus 36:4-5). How is it that all this gold was not squandered? It is because, when the Israelites first came to him, Aaron took only the gold rings, and nothing else (Exodus 32:2). He invoked the Lord by name when the people falsely declared their creation to be a god. Many scholars believe too that Aaron tried to delay the sacrilegious festival in hopes that Moses would return (Exodus 32:4-5).



However, Aaron’s power was lessened by the fact that he did not have knowledge of it. Aaron’s attempts to placate, mitigate, and delay the Israelites’ sin shows that he knew what they were doing was wrong. This knowledge granted him the power to preserve the available gold, and thus save the Tabernacle. However, he did not use his knowledge that Moses had put him in charge (Exodus 24:14), nor did he use his knowledge of how to build a correct altar (Exodus 20:21). Such an altar, if built, could have satisfied Israel’s desires, and prevented the whole debacle. Having lived his entire life as a slave though, it is unlikely Aaron believed​ that he could be in charge of anything. This false knowledge, pushed on him by the Egyptians, narrowed his options, and denied Aaron his true power.



False knowledge, thinking that you know something when you actually don’t, can be very dangerous indeed. When the Israelites declared the golden calf to be their god, it is quite likely that at least some of them believed it with conviction, and felt it true in their hearts. However, we now know that it was absolutely false, as Moses returned, and immediately exposed the golden calf for the lie that it was. Thousands died as a result (Exodus 32:28,35), and the calf itself was burned, stewed, and drunk (Exodus 32:20). So it was that any part of it that was ever of value was rendered utterly repulsive, and buried beyond all recognition. Such is the fate of all false knowledge.



For our knowledge is a double-edged sword. When we have it, and apply it, knowledge grants us great power. When we deny it, or shy away from using it, our lack of knowledge ties our hands. When we corrupt it, and refuse to verify it, our lies turn against us, rendering us powerless. Therefore, to be at our most powerful, we must repeatedly apply our knowledge, seek constantly to expand it, and routinely challenge what we think we know. Only then can we fulfill God’s command, bestowed unto us at the dawn of Creation, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it.” (Exodus 1:28) Only then can we finish the work of Creation, as partners with God.