That they _did_ worship idols there is no doubt from what the Scripture says about the going out of the children of Israel, when Moses went up to Mount Sinai, and persevered in prayer to God. Whilst receiving the law, the ungrateful people rose against Aaron, the priest of God, saying: ‘Make us gods who may go before us. For as to Moses, we know not what has befallen him.’ Then, when they had looked over the trinkets of their wives, and brought them together, they ate and drank, and were inebriated with wine and madness, and began to make merry, saying in their foolishness, ‘These are thy gods, O Israel.’ Do you see that they made gods of idols who were demons, and that they worshipped the creature instead of the Creator? As the holy apostle says: ‘They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things, and served the creature rather than the Creator.’ On this account God forbade them to make any graven image, as Moses says in Deuteronomy: ‘And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the voice of His words, but you saw not any form at all.’ And a little further on: ‘Keep therefore your souls carefully; you saw not any similitude in the day that the Lord God spoke to you in Horeb, from the midst of the fire, lest perhaps being deceived you might make you a graven similitude or image of male or female, the similitude of any beasts that are upon the earth, or of birds that fly under heaven.’ And again: ‘Lest perhaps lifting up thy eyes to heaven, thou see the sun and the moon, and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error, thou adore and serve them.’ You see the one object in view is that the creature should not be worshipped instead of the Creator, and that the worship of latreia should be given to God alone. Thus in every case when he speaks of worship he means latreia. Again: ‘Thou shalt not have strange gods in my sight; thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing nor any likeness.’ Again: ‘Thou shalt not make to thyself gods of metal.’ You see that He forbids image-making on account of idolatry, and that it is impossible to make an image of God, who is a Spirit, invisible, and uncircumscribed. ‘You have not seen His likeness,’ He says; and St Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, says: ‘Being therefore the offspring of God, we must not suppose the divinity to be like unto gold, or silver, or stone, the graving of art, a device of man.’