golden calf

Golden Calf – Pt 4 – God

“The Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people” (Exodus 32:14)

We need always to be careful we do not read Scripture through the lenses of our theology or biases. This passage does not say that He would not exact full penalty against those who sinned. The last few verses of the chapter emphasise that (vv 33-35). That which God relented of was the manner of execution which would mean the end of the genealogy through Israel’s (Jacob’s) twelve sons. Jacob had prophesied concerning his sons and among other things he had prophesied that kings would come from Judah’s descendants and One would be King forever.

Moses’ appeal to the Abrahamic Covenant was much more than to just land promises and Abraham having a multitude of physical descendants.

We note that God had distanced Himself from (v 7) and disowned (v 10) Israel because of their sin. However following Moses’ plea on the basis of the Abrahamic Covenant He again identifies Himself with Israel (v 14). This must have been sweet to the ears of Moses. Only when he had heard this was Moses prepared to leave God’s presence and go down to the people. Possibly the first thing most of us would want to do is go and accuse the people and maybe then return to God and seek mercy and forgiveness. Moses obtained forgiveness for the people before they were convicted of their sin.

We would do well to notice that at no time does God deal lightly with sin. It should also be noted that even though God forgave Israel’s “great sin” He had the tabernacle erected “outside the camp” (33:7) instead of in their midst.

God cannot overlook corporate sin in the church or personal sin or He would not be Holy and just. Sin in the church will put Jesus Christ outside the church and no longer in the midst.

Periodically there is a call to Israel “Who is on the Lord’s side” (v 26). The Lord is never on our side but He knows the need to frequently ask if we are on His side.

God is God and we will not avert judgment by pleading ignorance, blaming another or applying something that appears spiritual to our sinful ways. If we are not careful we may find ourselves offering a sacrifice to the Lord that is an abomination to Him.

Our appeal to Him will only be successful when based on Jesus Christ’s atonement by His shed blood on the cross.

Golden Calf – Pt 3 – Moses

“Moses pleaded with the Lord his God” (Exodus 32:11)

We cannot imagine the emotions that must have arisen in Moses at this time. He had been in the presence of God for some time and had just received two tablets of stone on which God Himself had written (Exodus 31:18). It must have seemed to him that every thing was going perfectly until God suddenly distanced Himself from and disowned the people of Israel saying they were Moses’ people and that Moses had brought them out of Egypt. Worse, God told Moses that the people had corrupted themselves (v 7).

Without seeing the evidence for himself Moses must have been bewildered by this sudden change of attitude by God toward Israel. All of a sudden Israel stood condemned. How would he respond? Would he demand to see evidence? Would he make excuses? No! He accepted God’s word on the matter.

God made a magnificent offer to Moses. He would wipe out all Israel except Moses and start again as He did with Abraham and then only Moses’ descendants would inherit the Abrahamic Covenant. However, Moses though he represented God to the people also recognised that he represented the people to God. He would have a failure on this point later but not here. He pleaded with God for the people.

He did not diminish the sin of the people nor did he make excuses. He knew and accepted that Israel had not kept their vow to obey the Lord and justice therefore demanded the death penalty be carried out.

Moses pleaded for mercy but not to the covenant that Israel had made with God (24:7) but to the unconditional Covenant that God had made with Abraham (v 13). He was also concerned for how God would be perceived by Egypt. The great signs were not just for Israel but that Egypt may know that the Lord is God alone (v 11; cf. 8:10; 9:29; 14:4).

In response to Moses plea Israel would not be destroyed immediately but they did not know how close they came to destruction.

Moses, full of righteous anger (v 19), came straight to the point. He destroyed the golden calf and made the people drink the water in which its powder was mixed. This was each individual acknowledging their part in this great sin and a sign of repentance. Then he demanded the people make a visible choice to follow the Lord. Even so, that day God’s righteous judgment on Israel began (v 28) and it would last forty years (vv 33-35).

We have no basis to claim righteousness on the basis of the Law because we all have sinned. Like Israel we are under death sentence (Romans 6:23). Our only basis for mercy is God’s unconditional Covenant made with Abraham and fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cross.

Golden Calf – Pt 2 – The People

“Come make us a god that shall go before us” (Exodus 32:1)

One of the things we must always be on guard against is making God in our image or according to our imagination. History has shown that it is innate in the sin nature to do this and so we need to be watchful lest we too follow Israel’s example.

Moses had been up on the mountain with God for a long while and the people had no idea whether he would return to them or not (v 1). Like us, they were impatient and also like us they would prefer to have a God they can see. It would appear that the contingent that approached Aaron was a vocal minority (cf. v 28) who may have been as intimidating to others as they were to Aaron.

It is difficult to see from logic just why they wanted an image of God since they had the cloud by day, the fire by night, the manna daily and the memory of their miraculous deliverance from Egypt but such is the nature of sin.

Why did they claim that Moses brought them out of Egypt? Could a man do those great signs? No! It was God who brought them out so why did they say Moses brought them out?

The reason is the same as is used by us today and the clue is in their request. They knew they had made a covenant not to make an image of God. If that covenant was with God they would not be able to entice Aaron to do as they asked and not expect any sympathy from the people. However, by suggesting that the covenant was with Moses and with Moses’ words then it was just opinion against opinion.

Aaron then tried to make their abominable act appear spiritual by making sacrifices and a feast of celebration. How far from reality they were and did not know it.

Few people in our churches take time to really study God’s Word. It is easier to read or hear what others say and choose cafeteria style what we will accept. That way we avoid and sense of guilt when we do the abominable thing.

The consequences for this act of foolishness were not light. God disowned them (v 7) and condemned them to death (v 10) and the tabernacle would be outside the camp instead of in the midst (33:7). Moses intervention spread the execution of the sentence over a period of 40 years.

Like Aaron and Israel we are all too ready to minimise our sin and claim ignorance when we have made no attempt to discern the truth. We do so to our condemnation and the Lord’s just judgment.

Golden Calf – Pt 1 – Aaron

“Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame” (Exodus 32:25)

If Aaron were alive today he might be sought after by many churches to be their pastor. He had been seconded because Moses (his brother) had refused to speak to the people directly and therefore he wasn’t God’s choice for the role. As spokesperson for Moses, who was God’s spokesperson, Aaron was most likely seen as the number two in seniority. The commandments had been given (Exodus 20) and the people had declared they would do all the Lord had said (24:7) and it had been sealed as a blood covenant (24:8). The deal with a blood covenant is that if either party does not keep their part the penalty is death.

By making the golden calf Israel had not kept their part of the covenant and therefore God would be justified in destroying the nation (32:10) and in fact must do so or be unjust.

Why did Aaron lead the people astray? Moses clearly laid the blame for Israel’s sin on Aaron because he had allowed himself to be manipulated by the people (32:21) and there are several reasons why he was able to be so led:

  1. He did not spend time with God
  2. He was a democratic leader – he did what pleased the people
  3. He enjoyed the praise of men
  4. He enjoyed being #1 in Moses’ absence.

Aaron would be in demand today in many churches because he listens to the congregation and not to God. He did not see what he had done as being much of a sin but Moses corrected him calling it “a great sin” (there is no other kind). We, like Aaron prefer to call sin by some other name more politically correct but all sin is great sin.

Like us Aaron tried to methods to excuse his behaviour and shift blame. First, he blamed the people (v 22). If he knew the people were set on evil as he states then his sin is even worse for doing as they demanded.

Second, he tried to make what he had done appear spiritual (v 24). All he claimed to have done was throw the gold into the fire and, presto, out pops a golden calf. It must have been a Divine act and therefore divinely approved. How dare Moses criticize a Divine act!

However Moses did spend time with God and he knew that Israel had sinned greatly and were now under God’s condemnation and sentence of death.

We are our father’s children and like Adam when we sin we will call it by some less condemning name, blame someone else and as a last resort claim that God is responsible. Hopefully we will realise our gross error and repent.