Continuing with a chronological Bible study:
(Exodus 32:1) And when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
In the last chapter, God had just finished talking to Moses on Mount Sinai, where he had been for forty days and forty nights (Exodus 24:18). Meanwhile, the people grew restless because they didn't know what had become of Moses. Consider that this must have been some time before the end of forty days as it would take them time to accomplish what they set out to do in Moses's absence. The people came to Aaron who had been put in charge in while Moses was gone from the people, and asked him to make them gods to go before them. As God in the cloud went before them on their trek to the promised land, this must be a reference for the need of "gods" to go before them so that they could continue their wilderness trek. The phrase they used "as for this Moses" wreaks of contempt and impatience. How soon people forget! When you read this, it seems unfathomable, but I know it happens to us all the time. They have the one true God of the universe in their presence vowing to be their God, and they get impatient for Moses's return and have the need for "gods", any old god? Surely, in their minds the gods would have been representative of their one true God; they just seemed to need something physical to follow. But had God not just told them not to make any graven images or likenesses? He said it amongst thunder and lightning and smoke that greatly frightened the people. How much more of an impression could He have made upon them?
(2) And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
To me, this is the most unbelievable, that Aaron, who had been Moses's right-hand man, and was in charge of these people in Moses's absence, should seem to go along with them. He told them to break off the golden earrings that were in the ears of their wives and children and bring them to him (in order to make a god as they asked). I was surprised to find that most of the early commentators gave Aaron the benefit of the doubt and supposed that he did not initially go along with this plan of theirs, and by asking for only the earrings of the wives and children, he was asking for what he thought would be the hardest for them to give up, and they would abandon their plan. It seems to me that they are reading into the text something that was not at all expressed. "IF" it did happen that way, the point is obviously that it did not matter, for it seems Aaron eventually gave in to the will of the people.
(3) And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. (4) And he received them from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.”
The people did indeed bring Aaron the earrings, and once again, I see no hesitation in Aaron. He appears to take them from their hands and immediately proceed with fashioning a golden calf! Possibly the likeness was chosen because of the familiar ox worship they had been exposed to in Egypt. Once again, some of the commentators suppose that Aaron was fashioning something he surely thought they would recognize as foolish and would regret the giving up of their precious gold they had received from their Egyptian neighbors. And once again, I believe they have to add to the text to come up with this viewpoint. "IF" this was his plan, it wasn't a very good plan from a man in leadership. This appears to be a leader who doesn't lead, but follows the will of the people. Do we not see that these days in our leaders who appear to sway as the polls determine? The people happily accepted the golden calf and proclaimed it their God! This is the one place where I am willing to give them a small benefit of the doubt. Surely they did not see this inanimate golden calf as their god, but as a representative of their Lord who brought them out of the land of Egypt. This was still a complete violation of the commandment God had given them, and inexcusable, but it brings the point to a place where we can personally identify with it. How many times do we fudge a little on God's commandment because we "aren't really worshiping idols"?
(5) And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.”
When Aaron saw his finished product, he went on to build an altar before it. Then he indeed proclaimed a feast be made to "the LORD", not to the calf. It appears they were indeed using the calf as a representation of their one true Lord, but there can be no likeness that can measure up to God, and anything in heaven above or in the earth below would only disrespect and diminish the one true God, especially a calf, the symbol of pagan worship! Besides, it was disobedience to a direct commandment, regardless of what they thought their motives were. God's laws are always about what is truly best for us, and I believe this one is no exception. God wanted His people to learn to depend on Him even though they could not see Him. They needed to feel His Spirit and presence among them and learn to follow that. We know God in our hearts, not from something we physically see and feel. That ultimately makes Him much bigger to us and someone we can surely trust with everything! A god that can be contained in a box that we have created is not our one true Creator God. It is in our best interests to better know the one true God and not be limited to what we can see and understand.
(6) And they rose up early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
It was supposed to be their feast to the Lord, and the next day the people indeed woke up early, offered their burnt offerings and brought their peace offerings. However, it begins to sound like a raucous party where they ate, drank, and were merry, probably to excess, as the original word for "play" was "tsachaq", most often used to mean laughing in scorn or mocking. If this is indeed so, then not only were the people who had just recently received the thunderous ten commandments of the Lord, making likenesses of the Lord to worship them, but they were probably also taking the Lord's name in vain. They were certainly taking Him all too lightly and commonly.
As a side note, I just read something from Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, that I had not read before, and want to mention here. Henry was contemplating about how Aaron could have so easily fallen into such an active role in this vain idol worship, even leading by making the golden calf and proclaiming the feast day. He wrote that the Jews have a tradition that Hur, also left in charge with Aaron, did indeed oppose what the people wanted to do, and was stoned, and that is why we never hear anything of him afterward. This may have frightened Aaron into compliance. It may have been a story based on presumption and assumption to explain why Aaron would do such a thing. I would think it would have been written about in scripture if it were true. The fact that it wasn't written, even if it was true and not written, must mean that it just doesn't matter why Aaron did what he did. Aaron was the chief priest, Moses's right-hand man, second in command, and now in charge of the people, and there is no evidence that he even tried to dissuade the people. If he was so frightened not to take even an initial stand against their vain idolatry, then he wasn't much of a leader, and I believe that is certainly the point here.
(7) And the LORD said to Moses, “Go, get down, for your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. (8) They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, which has brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
Meanwhile, the Lord had just finished His instructions to Moses, and now told him what the people were doing in his absence. He urged him to quickly get down to them because they had corrupted themselves. Note the Lord said "your" people whom "you" brought out of Egypt. The people had so corrupted themselves in hearts and actions against the Lord that He did not even consider them His people anymore. After hearing God's commandments and promising to obey them, the Lord noted they had quickly forgotten His commands and He told Moses exactly what they had been doing--making a molded calf, worshiping and sacrificing to it, and even told Moses their very words about this calf being their god which had brought them out of Egypt.
(9) And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people. (10) Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and
I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”
The Lord told Moses He had seen this group of people and saw that they were a stiff-necked (from two words meaning "stubborn" and "neck") people. It was written by Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, that this was possibly a reference to the stiff-necked ox that they worshiped. He told Moses to leave Him alone and let Him destroy this people, and that He would make a great nation from Moses and his line alone. I always find it interesting when God says something like, "let Me alone". How could Moses do anything to stop the God of the universe from destroying these people if He wanted to? He obviously couldn't, but for our own learning, He showed us an example of intercession for a people that deserved death, as will unfold in the next verses.
(11) And Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: “LORD,
why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought
out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? (12) Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm
them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face
of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to
Your people.'"
Moses began pleading with God. The word translated as "pleaded" in the NKJV and as "besought" in the KJV is "chalah" and more completely means "to become weak, sick, or grieved", and one of the lesser used definitions is to pray or beg. I believe that means Moses was completely broken and prostrate before the Lord, begging for the people. He pleaded with God to have mercy on this people, and seemed to indicate to God that he knew these were God's people, not his own, and gave glory to God alone as the one who brought the people out of Egypt with His great power. He pleaded not only for the people, but for God's honor and glory, and that should always be our prayer, as well, that through the things we ask of our Lord, that glory and honor be brought to Him. Moses begged the Lord to turn from His wrath, have mercy on this undeserving people, and turn away from His plan to destroy them. This is a perfect illustration of Christ interceding on our behalf. We sinful people are deserving of eternal death and separation from God, but Christ intercedes for us. Note how God said in verse 10 that He would make a great nation of Moses alone. Jesus Christ who sits as King at the throne of God came down to intercede for us, to save us from our deserved death. Moses could alone have been the father of his people as was Abraham, but being unselfish and loving, pleaded for the people.
(13) “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore
by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as
the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to
your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’”
Moses went on to plead with God to remember His original promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. It's not that God needs reminding, but we should always stand on God's promises. No matter how things appear, we stand on the promises of God, and should pray to that effect. We pray for God's will, and we pray that He have mercy, and forgive us our sins, that we may remain His forever. Is that not what Jesus Christ did for us? He interceded for us, and although we deserved death, He provided a way that God's will be done, but that we may by His mercy be forgiven our sins, and inherit the kingdom of God forever.
(14) And the LORD relented from the harm which He thought to do to His people.
The Lord indeed turned from His righteous and well-deserved plan to destroy His people, but this plan was probably not yet known to Moses as indicated by the following verses (esp. 30-31).
(15) And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. (16) And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
Moses turned from conversing with God and started back down the mountain. He carried the two stone tablets of God's Testimony in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides, which appears to have been a remarkable thing in its time as in ancient times two sides of the same substance were never used. Some of the old commentators I have read suppose that it may have been the same law written on the back as on the front so that it could be seen by the reader and the listening observers. Some even speculate that the lettering may have been cut all the way through so as to be seen from both sides, but the back side would have been seen in reverse. It's also possible the different laws were written on different sides of the two tablets so as to be read in book form. We can't really know exactly how the tablets looked, but we do know that they were remarkably or perhaps even miraculously unique, and that they were the work of God, once again said to be the writing of God Himself.
(17) And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”
When Moses ascended all the way up the mountain to converse with God, Joshua had stayed partway down the mountain, but had remained there all the while Moses was there. Moses had been on the top of the mountain for forty days, and Joshua had waited for him patiently. As Moses came down to where he was, he told him that he heard the shouts of the people, and supposed there was war in the camp.
(18) And he said, “It is not the voice of the shout of victory, neither the voice of the cry of defeat, but the noise of singing I hear.”
The Lord had already revealed to Moses what the people were really doing in his absence, so he understood the noise to be their singing rather than the sounds of war.
(19) And it came to pass, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses's anger burned hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
Although God had already told Moses that the people had made a calf and were sacrificing to it and worshiping it, I guess the sight of it was too much for Moses. When he saw their dancing and celebrating, he threw the stone tablets out of his hands and they broke at the foot of the mountain. In the past, I always took this as just Moses's righteous anger. However, I always felt a twinge of guilt for Moses having thrust tablets written by the very finger of God. Perhaps he should have shown more care and respect for those tablets than to have allowed them to be destroyed in his anger. It was upon reading and studying some of the old commentaries that I frequently read along with this Bible study, that I found that it was thought that this action was probably inspired by the Holy Spirit of God and was symbolic. They cite the fact that Moses was never really chastised for his actions, and he himself talked quite frankly with no regret about his actions in Deuteronomy 9:17. There he seemed to suggest he could have done it deliberately, saying, "I took the two tablets and cast them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes." When Moses broke the tablets, it was symbolic of the fact that the people had broken God's laws written on those tablets.
(20) And he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink of it.
Additionally, Moses took the calf they had made and burned it in fire and ground it to powder which he then scattered on the water and made the people drink. Of course, Moses wanted to destroy the detestable thing, but also there was symbolism in showing the people that their god had been reduced to nothing but powder, something the people were able to drink. Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible, said it this way, "The idol was brought to nothing and the people were made to swallow their own sin."
(21) And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”
Moses then rightly turned to Aaron to ask how he could have let such a thing happen. Note the way he asked it. First, what could they have done to him that he would allow it; and second, that he, Aaron, was responsible for bringing so great a sin on the people, by allowing them to do such a thing. For his brother to allow such an abomination, surely the people must have terribly threatened him. He was in charge of this people in Moses's absence and responsible for this great sin brought upon them. As leader, Aaron was in a position of higher responsibility. I can't help but think of the times in the Old Testament that it was stated that the king "did evil in the sight of the Lord" and "made Israel to sin". God did indeed hold the leaders to a higher standard. It was their responsibility to righteously and morally lead the people. My mind can't help but play the line, "Obama did evil in the sight of the Lord, and made the people to sin". How could it possibly look to the Lord that we not only kill babies, but chop them up to use their best parts; and that we not only allow homosexual marriage, but celebrate it, something God specifically called an abomination, shining God's rainbow, His symbol of promise, on the White House, the symbol of our government and country? People can justify these acts to their dying days, but they can never convince me that God approves. The closest they can get to making me understand how we can allow such atrocities is that we are a secular country and we have secular laws. This country is not a church. The kings were leaders of Israel, God's own people. Fine, but how on earth do people think a country without God will survive? It won't, plain and simple.
(22) And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are set on mischief. (23) For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ (24) And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
Aaron's answer is remarkable in its weakness and immaturity. It seems to be in our nature to always want to blame others for our sin, from the time Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. Here Aaron weakly blamed the people, suggesting that Moses knew how they were. He even seemed to lay a little blame on Moses when he repeated the people's seemingly contemptuous remark about not knowing what had become of "this Moses". Aaron offered no evidence of heavy-handedness on the part of the people, but described how the people asked for a god and he asked for their gold. He merely cast the gold into the fire and out popped a calf! Does this not sound like a child explaining the mess he made? When there is no one else to blame, Aaron said in effect, "it just happened". One can only assume his point was that perhaps Satan himself entered into the fire and created the calf. I suppose that is someone else to blame--"the devil made me do it". However, Aaron didn't bother to add that he himself had fashioned and molded the calf (verse 4 above).
(25) And when Moses saw that the people were naked (for Aaron had made them naked to their shame among their enemies), (26) Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Who is on the LORD'S side? Let him come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.
This word "naked" didn't really mean stripped of their clothing, but rather exposed by their sin, and therefore abandoned by God in the face of their enemies. Once again, it is said that Aaron caused this. Moses then stood in the gate of the camp and asked who was on the Lord's side, obviously in opposition to the false idol and raucous sin that had developed in its presence. Whether they had never participated in the idolatrous acts, or perhaps they did and they now turned from their sin and chose the side of their Lord, the sons of Levi, Moses and Aaron's own tribe, gathered themselves to Moses.
(27) And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’”
Wow! This verse may make most people uncomfortable. Moses told those Levites who had gathered before him that the Lord instructed them to go throughout the camp and kill the transgressors, not sparing their own brothers, friends, and neighbors. Note he told them to go from gate to gate. I believe this suggests that they were not to go into the tents of people who were not taking part of the celebration feast to the false idol, but rather the people who were still "in the streets", as it were, not ashamed and not repenting for what they had done.
(28) And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell about three thousand men of the people that day.
Again, wow! The children of Levi killed about 3000 men from their own brothers, friends, and neighbors. Before we get caught up in the presumed cruelty in this verse, we must consider that this was in no way an indiscriminate massacre. It has already been pointed out that the people killed were only the ones who persisted in their celebration to the false idol. A choice was made to all the people when they were all asked, "Who is on the LORD'S side?" They all had the opportunity to turn from their wickedness and come to Moses on the Lord's side. Those who would not turn were destroyed from God's people. There is always a consequence to sin. People often don't want to accept responsibility for their actions; they want to pleasure in their sin with no consequences, but that is not how it works. Sin ultimately means death, and life is only in the Lord. He beckons us to "choose life". In this case, 3000 men chose death.
(29) For Moses had said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day."
Interesting that the newer translations wrote something to the effect of, "then Moses said" or "afterward Moses said", but the KJV makes the most sense to me--"For Moses had said" before they went out and "did according to the word of Moses". The children of Levi killed 3000 of their men because Moses had told them the word of the Lord to go from gate to gate throughout the camp killing their brothers, friends, and neighbors. Additionally, he had said that if they would devote themselves to the Lord, obeying His command to kill those who weren't on the Lord's side and had apparently remained indifferent about their worship of the golden calf, sparing not even their loved ones, that the Lord would recognize their zeal for Him and would bestow a blessing on them.
(30) And it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin; and now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make an atonement for your sin.”
Although the greatest offenders had been slain, Moses reminded the people the next day that they had committed a great sin and certainly were not yet free from guilt. He told them he would now return to the Lord on the mountain and "perhaps" he would be able to get forgiveness for them.
(31) And Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold. (32) Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—and if not, blot me, I pray, out of Your book which You have written.”
Moses returned to the Lord and told Him what the Lord had already told Moses. I have to assume that knowing the Lord already knew this, that this statement was more of a confession or lamentation that "these people" had done such a thing. Moses pleaded with the Lord to forgive their sin, and then went as far as to offer his own life if the Lord would not forgive them. Wow, I'm not sure I could have offered so much as to be blotted out of God's book which He Himself had written. I don't know if this was a literal book of God's people, the names of the children of Israel, the ones who were to inherit the promised land; and Moses was referring to God's proposal in verse 10 that He destroy all the people and make a great nation from Moses alone, and he was now asking the Lord not to do that. Then again, perhaps this was God's Book of Life and Moses was actually asking that he be blotted from the Book of Life, either alone or along with his people. I have to assume by God's answer below that Moses was not expressing this out of greater love for his people than for His Lord, and desiring to go with them, but because of his great love for his Lord and His glory, he was willing to sacrifice himself to prevent the total destruction of His people which were an example and reminder to the world of the power and might of the Lord (v. 11-12 above). In this, Moses would be an example of Christ who would lay down His life for His sheep (John 10:11), and as everything has appeared to be an illustration of the coming Christ, I believe this is also one.
(33) And the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. (34) Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you; behold, My Angel shall go before you; nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them."
The Lord, however, told Moses that each offender was to suffer for his own sin; Moses, as innocent of this great sin, would not die for the guilty. He then told him to go ahead and lead the people toward the place of which He had spoken, the promised land. However, He said His Angel would go before them. This sounds as if the Lord Himself would no longer be with them in the cloud. However, in His mercy, He would allow His Angel to lead the people toward the promised land, but in the day that He Himself visited, He would not forget this sin, and the people would indeed be punished for it. In this, the Lord would punish the individuals, but would not take His blessing from the nation as a whole.
(35) And the LORD plagued the people because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.
For the present, it appears that the Lord did send a plague to the people because they had made the calf, although there are no details of the plague. Note that although Aaron had made the calf, scripture referred to the people having made it. Indeed, they were the ones who desired it to worship it, and were the guilty ones. Aaron definitely bore some guilt, surely in weakness and inability to stand up for the Lord against the people, but the people were plagued because "they made the calf".
The people, as the nation of the children of Israel, were saved from total destruction. However, Moses was not able to totally turn away the wrath of God. This may be in example of how the law was unable to completely reconcile men to God, and that was reserved for the coming Christ, in whom alone it is that God would so completely pardon sin that it would be remembered no more (Hebrews 10:17).
