Exodus 32:1-35

Cross-references For Better Understanding a Related Topics b Additional Materials c

Summary

• The people worship a golden calf; God threatens to destroy them for their sin; Moses intercedes for them.

Scripture

Exodus 32:1-35 – The golden calf. SIN IS A SERIOUS MATTER!

Scripture Passage	Comments and Links
Exo 32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come 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 don't know what has become of him." Exo 32:2 Aaron said to them, "Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me." Exo 32:3 All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. Exo 32:4 He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt." Exo 32:5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh." Exo 32:6 They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.	When used for Yahweh, the Hebrew word normally used for "God" ("Elohim") is plural. Aaron made only one golden calf, and used it for a "feast to Yahweh" (v. 5). These details suggest that they weren't asking to replace Yahweh with some other gods; but were wanting to represent him. They wanted something they could see. (Moses seemed to have disappeared in the fire on the mountain, and the pillar of fire/cloud that previously guided them wasn't doing anything but staying on the mountain.) This was a violation of the Second Commandment. Aaron decided to give-in to their sinful desires. The "playing" may have involved sexual immorality of some kind. What they were doing was patterned after the practices of the idolatrous nations around them. (Throughout history, idolatry and sexual sin often seem to occur simultaneously.) Seventh Commandment
Exo 32:7 Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves! Exo 32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.' "	God tells Moses that they are “your (Moses') people”!
Exo 32:9 Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. Exo 32:10 Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation."	God offers to destroy them and to make Moses a great nation, instead. This is what they DESERVED. Sin is a lot more serious than we want to believe. In many respects, this was a test of Moses' faith and integrity.
Exo 32:11 Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, "Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Exo 32:12 Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, 'He brought them forth for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?' Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. Exo 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.' "	Moses intercedes for the people. Two facts are the basis of his pleading: The negative effect it would have on the Egyptians views about Yahweh. God's promises to the Patriarchs ("Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants"). Thanks to Moses, the people would NOT be annihilated (and Moses' offspring raised up to take their place). However, there would still be judgment.
Exo 32:14 Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.	This verse may be a summary of what the outcome will be, inserted here in the account before it happened. During the events of v. 25-28 (below), the entire nation is still in danger of judgment. And judgment will come - but not what was threatened in these verses. The word “repent” applies to God's dealings with people on the “human” level. It has nothing to do with the sovereign perspective or his eternal decree. Describing God with "The Language of Change"
Exo 32:15 Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. Exo 32:16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tables.	A reminder – these tablets were the very work of God, not of human origin. God Doing Physical Activities
Exo 32:17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is the noise of war in the camp." Exo 32:18 He said, "It isn't the voice of those who shout for victory, neither is it the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear." Exo 32:19 It happened, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.	Just as the people had broken the law in their hearts, Moses physically broke the stone tablets. Ten Commandments
Exo 32:20 He took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.	Drinking “gold-polluted” water! (It was probably inert and didn't do much to them.)
Exo 32:21 Moses said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?" Exo 32:22 Aaron said, "Don't let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. Exo 32:23 For they said to me, '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 don't know what has become of him.' Exo 32:24 I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let them take it off:' so they gave it to me; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."	Aaron's excuse. Blame-shifting. Blame-Shifting, Excuses Deuteronomy 9:20 seems to suggest that God would have destroyed him, had not Moses prayed for him.
Exo 32:25 When Moses saw that the people had broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies), Exo 32:26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on Yahweh's side, come to me!" All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. Exo 32:27 He said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.' " Exo 32:28 The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.	Perhaps a reference to "breaking loose" from moral restraints, and about to bring God's judgment upon them. These events demonstrate that not everyone was a participant in the sin, and may (from the “human responsibility” standpoint) be part of the reason God didn't entirely destroy the nation.
Exo 32:29 Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to Yahweh, yes, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow on you a blessing this day."	They had been told to prove themselves holy. This was an issue of "love for God" vs. "love for neighbor (or family)"; and they showed that their love for God (and his holiness) was greater.
Exo 32:30 It happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin." Exo 32:31 Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. Exo 32:32 Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin--and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written."	Moses intercedes for the people. See comments for v. 1-6, about the plural word "gods." A better translation might be that they were representing God (= Yahweh) with a gold object. As verse 14 says, God did not immediately destroy them all.
Exo 32:33 Yahweh said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Exo 32:34 Now 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 punish, I will punish them for their sin."	Judgment will come, but it is delayed. The nation was not wiped off the face of the earth; but the consequences are severe (but deserved). The Seriousness of Sin Book of Life
Exo 32:35 Yahweh struck the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.	An ongoing judgment – none of these people ever made it to the promised land (except for Joshua, Caleb, and the children who were too young to take part in choosing to go after the idol).

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—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——

The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.

Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.