Did Ibn Ezra endorse idols?

Moshe Rabbenu declares that the new creation will make it apparent that his actions were at the command of Hashem.

כח וַיֹּאמֶר, מֹשֶׁה, בְּזֹאת תֵּדְעוּן, כִּי-ה' שְׁלָחַנִי לַעֲשׂוֹת אֵת כָּל-הַמַּעֲשִׂים הָאֵלֶּה: כִּי-לֹא, מִלִּבִּי.

28 And Moses said: 'Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works, and that I have not done them of mine own mind.

What are these works? Ibn Ezra explains:

[טז, כח]
לעשות את כל המעשים -
להחליף הבכורים בלוים.
ודע, כי דבר גדול היה ומכעיס לאשר איננו מאמין להסיר הבכורים מכהונתם ולהשיב המעלה למשפחת משה לבדו, וכל זה היה בעבור מעשה העגל, כי ויעלו עולות ויגשו שלמים, הבכורים העלום כי הם היו לבדם הכהנים ובני לוי הרגו עובדי העגל, ויש בכאן שאלה ותשובתה בפרשת וילך משה.

"To do all these works" -- to switch the firstborns for the Levites.
And know, that it is a great thing which would infuriate one who does not believe, to remove the firstborns from their priesthood and to grant the status to the family of Moshe only. And all of this was because of the incident of the Golden Calf. For "they offered burnt-offerings and brought peace-offerings," the firstborns offered them, for only they were priests, while the Levites killed those who worshipped the Calf.
And there is in this a question; and its answer is in parashat Vayelech Moshe.

But Ibn Ezra does not explain what the question is, nor does he explain the answer.

Meshech Chochmah (page 14 in the PDF) grapples with this and suggests that the question is why if the firstborns lost their priesthood because of the sin of the Golden Calf, Aharon did not lose it as well, with the priesthood granted to Moshe's sons. And the answer he gives, based on a pasuk in Vayelech, is that Moshe could not get it because of a future sin of idolatry from one of his descendants.

While the question is the correct question, the answer should focus on Aharon rather than Moshe, and should be based on Ibn Ezra's comment in Vayelech rather than a random pasuk. This second objection is also why we should not follow a supercommentator who interprets a pasuk in Vayelech to mean that Hashem knows the intent of man, and therefore knew that Aharon had good intent throughout. And the same to Moshe's appointment of Yehoshua in parshat Vayelech.

Also, if it is something as innocuous as this, why should Ibn Ezra conceal his answer?

Rav Shmuel Motot knows there is something "dangerous" here, and so explains that he will not explain. Thus:

"And there is in this a question, and an answer in parashat Vayelech."

That is to say, there is to ask here an answer, and the answer is in parashat Vayelech. And after the scholar, za"l, did not wish to hint in this, it is more fitting to anyone who is a neeman ruach to conceal his words, even though {Mishlei 20:5}:

ה מַיִם עֲמֻקִּים, עֵצָה בְלֶב-אִישׁ; וְאִישׁ תְּבוּנָה יִדְלֶנָּה.

5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.

Mekor Chaim, a supercommentary on Ibn Ezra, explains that it is based on a comment Ibn Ezra makes on Vayelech. The pasuk there states {Devarim 31:16}:

טז וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, הִנְּךָ שֹׁכֵב עִם-אֲבֹתֶיךָ; וְקָם הָעָם הַזֶּה וְזָנָה אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהֵי נֵכַר-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר הוּא בָא-שָׁמָּה בְּקִרְבּוֹ, וַעֲזָבַנִי, וְהֵפֵר אֶת-בְּרִיתִי אֲשֶׁר כָּרַתִּי אִתּוֹ.

16 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Behold, thou art about to sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go astray after the foreign gods of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake Me, and break My covenant which I have made with them.

On that pasuk, Ibn Ezra writes:

אחרי אלהי נכר הארץ -
ידענו כי השם אחד והשנוי יבוא מהמקבלים והשם לא ישנה מעשיו, כי כולם בחכמה. ומעבודת השם לשמור כח הקבול כפי המקום, על כן כתוב: את משפט אלהי הארץ, על כן אמר יעקב: הסירו את אלהי הנכר והפך המקום הדבק בעריות, שהם שאר. והמשכיל יבין

"After the foreign gods of the land" {J: emphasis on the land, implying a specific land.} We know that Hashem is One and the difference comes from the recipients {?}, while Hashem does not change His actions, for all of them are with wisdom. And part of the service of Hashem is to keep with the power of the recieving in accordance with the location. And therefore it is written {II Melachim 17:26}"

כו וַיֹּאמְרוּ, לְמֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר לֵאמֹר, הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר הִגְלִיתָ וַתּוֹשֶׁב בְּעָרֵי שֹׁמְרוֹן, לֹא יָדְעוּ, אֶת-מִשְׁפַּט אֱלֹהֵי הָאָרֶץ; וַיְשַׁלַּח-בָּם אֶת-הָאֲרָיוֹת, וְהִנָּם מְמִיתִים אוֹתָם, כַּאֲשֶׁר אֵינָם יֹדְעִים, אֶת-מִשְׁפַּט אֱלֹהֵי הָאָרֶץ.

26 Wherefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying: 'The nations which thou hast carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land; therefore He hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.'

And so did Yaakov say {Bereishit 35:2; see also Yehoshua 24:23}:

ב וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב אֶל-בֵּיתוֹ, וְאֶל כָּל-אֲשֶׁר עִמּוֹ: הָסִרוּ אֶת-אֱלֹהֵי הַנֵּכָר, אֲשֶׁר בְּתֹכְכֶם, וְהִטַּהֲרוּ, וְהַחֲלִיפוּ שִׂמְלֹתֵיכֶם.	2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him: 'Put away the strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments;

And the place was turned to be one which is attached to illicit relations, which is near relatives. {?? Suggestions welcome. Maybe that certain things were forbidden in Eretz Yisrael which were not elsewhere?} And the intelligent will understand.

According to Mekor Chaim, Ibn Ezra is stating that Aharon did nothing wrong in making the eigel. They were in the wilderness, which was ruled over by Maadim (Mars), whose house was Scorpius and which could be counteracted by Taurus which was seventh to it. And to counteract that effect, he made a calf, corresponding to Yosef's mazal of Shor, because Yosef counteracts Esav. Thus, Aharon's intent was to prevent against harm by Maadim, while the people strayed and worshiped the calf.

When it comes to this subject, I am not always a "maskil", to say the least. But it seems that Ibn Ezra is saying that Aharon's conduct was good here. And that the idols outside of Eretz Yisrael, when matching the forces of reception from Hashem's power in a particular place, it a good thing. Thus only when entering Eretz Yisrael should they put away the foreign idols. Perhaps we could compare the marrying of two sisters outside the land of Israel? I am not certain what he meant by the concluding remarks. What about inside Eretz Yisrael? Are other idols appropriate there, and should exist, except that the Israelites would stray after them to worship them?

Meanwhile, Ibn Ezra wrote that this was מעבודת השם לשמור כח הקבול כפי המקום. If he was mystically inclined, and felt that this was meiAvodat Hashem and that he was privy to this mystical / astrological secrets, did he make his own idols in accordance with the koach hakibbul which existed in Spain? After all, what Aharon did was proper...

Update: Here is the commentary upon Meshech Chochmah, which quotes the words of the Mekor Chaim. You might want to click on the image to make it larger.