THE MOLTEN CALF AND GOD CONSUMING ISRAEL
Exo 32:3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
Exo 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exo 32:5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.
Exo 32:6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
Exo 32:7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
Simply and briefly put my understanding is that the “molten calf was more an Assyrian god than Egyptian. Not only do I think this to be so because of what Assyria is to the Adversary in the outworking of his main policy of evil, but especially because of what the Adversary was doing in Egypt through Assyrian influence at the very time that God visited Israel in Egypt and brought them unto Himself out of the darkness and captivity of Satan’s stronghold. So in view of what Satan was in the process of doing in Egypt, (and also in view of the judgments that God brought both upon him and specifically upon Egypt and their gods when He delivered Israel from them), it is my understanding that when Aaron responded to the people’s demand (/to/, “Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for *as for* this Moses, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him”),] that he did not make gods for Israel [that were] after the fashion of those that had been judged and overcome in Egypt. But rather Aaron made gods after the fashion of ones that had not.
Psa 106:16 They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.
Psa 106:17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.
Psa 106:18 And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.
Psa 106:19 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.
Psa 106:20 Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
Psa 106:21 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;
Psa 106:22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.
Psa 106:23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
Psa 106:24 Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:
In connection with this, (and as is related, for example, in Psalm 106), when Israel “made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image,” they “changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.” Moreover they did this not only as ones who were acting out of rebelliousness and carnal displeasure with God and Moses, but also as ones who actually were spitefully repudiating and rejecting both God and Moses, and also they especially did this as ones who failed to ‘understand God’s wonders in Egypt.’ In accordance with this they “forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt,” just as the Psalmist says. And so as ones who “forgat God,” (i.e. the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), it is my understanding that Israel spitefully went about to ascribe their deliverance from Egypt to the gods of others; and especially to gods that were not judged in Egypt.
Exo 32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exo 32:9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Exo 32:10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
Exo 32:11 And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?
Exo 32:12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
And so, wherefore when Aaron had received the gold from the people and “had made it a molten calf,” he “fashioned it with a graving tool” into “the similitude of an ox,” which was actually after the likeness of the gods of Assyria — ‘the gods which their fathers served on the other side of the flood.’ And to the delight of the Adversary, (who was still ‘licking his wounds,’ so to speak, following his defeat in Egypt), when the people saw the “calf they said, “these by thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” In so doing, (and despite the fact that they had just recently been delivered from Satanic captivity), Israel took the first step unto returning to it again.
Exo 32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
Exo 32:20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
Exo 32:21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
Was it a legitimate threat by God in v.10 to “consume” the people?
Exo 32:22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.
Exo 32:23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Exo 32:24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
Exo 32:25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)
Exo 32:26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
Exo 32:27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.
Exo 32:28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
Yes it was. For according to the terms of the covenant that they had just entered into with God, He had the legal right to do so. As I just briefly pointed out, since Israel’s sin was one of spitefully repudiating and rejecting God it was not just ‘any old sin,’ so to speak. But rather in accordance with them ‘forgetting God’ it was hate-based, and as such it was also pro-Adversary. Wherefore it provoked God’s righteous jealousy and indignation and wrath. For this cause not only did Moses “cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount” when he saw “the calf,” but he said to Aaron, “What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?” Then he said to the people, “Ye have sinned a great sin.” And then he said to the LORD, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.” For having just received the tables of commandments from God, Moses knew full well that what the people had done was a direct violation of the very first and foundational commandment of the covenant. He knew that they had just broken that most fundamental commandment, which in essence dealt with the issue of the people choosing to either love the LORD and hate the Adversary, or hate Him and love the Adversary. Therefore their idolatry was “a great sin” indeed, just as Moses said. And as such it legally merited their destruction. In accordance with the legalities of the covenant it legally merited God ‘repaying them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them,’ just as He had forewarned them.
Did Moses have to actually change his mind on the matter? (v.11–14)
Exo 32:11 And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?
Exo 32:12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
Exo 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
Exo 32:14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
In accordance with the fact that God has determined to have a real, and a genuine, and an unpretentious relationship with His creation, (and also in accordance with Moses himself not only understanding and appreciating the reality of this, but also understanding the fundamental issue of God’s “Jehovah-ness”), Moses did both legitimately and genuinely intercede for Israel. In doing so he appealed to God to operate upon the only thing whereby Israel ever will be able to become what God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob calls for them to become. In other words, Moses appealed to God to operate in accordance with the basic meaning and significance of His name “Jehovah.” And so in accordance with the real, and genuine, and unpretentious nature of God’s relationship and dealings with His creation, He Himself was not only truly provoked to jealousy, indignation, and wrath by Israel’s “great sin,” but in response to Moses’ appeal to His “Jehovah-ness” He also changed His mind and ‘turned from His fierce wrath,’ solely out of His “Jehovah-ness” and grace.
Exo 32:31 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
Exo 32:32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
Exo 32:33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
Exo 32:34 Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.
Exo 32:35 And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
Keith Blades
Enjoy The Bible Ministries