Old Testament - Exodus 32 - April 27, 2022

 4/27/2022 – Exodus 32

This is the chapter that tells us about the Israelites making the golden calf. Once again the chapter synopsis is very good: “Aaron makes a golden calf, which Israel worships—Moses serves as a mediator between God and rebellious Israel—Moses breaks the tablets of stone—Levites slay about 3000 rebels—Moses pleads and intercedes for the people.”

“Aaron makes a golden calf”: Moses had been up on the mountain at least 46 days. The Israelites went to Aaron saying basically what in the world has become of Moses??? He brought us out of Egypt, but where is he now??? The pillar of cloud and fire were no longer with them at this time. Aaron did tell them to prepare to “feast to the Lord the next day, and they did bring burnt offerings and peace offerings (v 6-7). But the scriptures seem to say that Aaron also encouraged them to build the golden calf.

No matter who did what, things were going astray with the Israelites. And up on the mountain “the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people…have corrupted themselves….they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. (v’s 7-8). Then in v 10 the Lord tells Moses: “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.”

Moses then pleads with the Lord not to destroy these slow learning Israelites. The JST says that Moses pleaded with the Lord saying: “Turn from thy fierce wrath. Thy people will repent of this evil; therefore come thou not out against them….And the Lord said unto Moses, if they will repent of the evil which they have done, I will spare them, and turn away my fierce wrath; but, behold thou shalt execute judgment upon all that will not repent of this evil this day. Therefore, see thou do this thing that I have commanded thee, or I will execute all that which I had thought to do unto my people.”

Moses then goes back down the mountain and sees them dancing around the golden calf, his “anger waxed hot and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf…and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder…” v’s 19-20

In v’s 22-24, Aaron makes excuses as to why he had let the people make the calf and worship it. Moses did not accept his excuses, asking him “What did this people unto thee, that hour hast brought so great a sin upon them?” (v21) Aaron gives him poor excuses. 

Moses then goes directly to the Israelites asking “Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come unto me.” All the Levites came to Moses and he told them to take their swords and slay every man who would not repent of their sins.  V 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.”

Moses tells the rest of the Israelites to “Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord” v 29. Their repentance was to be immediate and deep. Repentance is such an amazing gift to us, and all we have to do is to kneel down and ask for that gift, and then live up to our promises to avoid making the same mistakes again.

Moses then goes to the Lord agreeing that the people had “sinned a great sin” (v 31) and then tells the Lord “Yet now, if thou will forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” This is in v 32 and Moses has offered his own life, instead of the Lord punishing his people. That is a loving leader. The Lord’s answer to Moses was to “…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. And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.” (v’s 34-35)

The Israelites were slow learners, but so are we sometimes. President Kimball wrote about the people in our day choosing to worship things other than God: “Modern idols or false gods can take such forms as clothes, homes, businesses, machines, automobiles, pleasure boats, and numerous other material deflectors from the path to godhood. What difference does it make that the item concerned is not shaped like an idol?” I think it is good for us to sometimes stop and look at our lives and our thoughts to determine if there is anything that we are doing that causes us to avoid His commandments or cause us to ignore Christ and the gifts He has offered us.

The student manual had a paragraph that really caught my attention: “It was a surprising turn, but we know from experience that faith and commitment can sometimes be overcome by impatience, fear, or doubt. As we seek the Lord’s presence in our lives, it is encouraging to know that the Lord did not give up on ancient Israel and he will not give up on us—for He is ‘merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth: (Exodus 34:6)