Exodus 32-34

What’s Happening?

God wants to be with his people, but God’s people are hostile to him. Since their miraculous rescue from Egypt, every word from God has been grumbled over and disobeyed. For the last 40 days, God has given Moses new instructions about how to worship him. But predictably, as God communicates, the Israelites grow restless. Israel demands, in blatant disobedience to God’s first command, that Aaron make them an idol, a false representative image of God (Exodus 32:1). Giving in to the request, Aaron takes some gold, melts it down, and hammers it into a calf (Exodus 32:2-4). In a public ceremony, Aaron announces that this cow represents their God and builds an altar in front of it (Exodus 32:5). They then offer the idol the blood of sacrificial animals and host a feast in its honor (Exodus 32:6). In the same moment God is making plans to live with his people, God’s people are plotting to live with a god of their own making.

Meanwhile, God tells Moses what’s happening in the camp and says he will punish Israel’s blatant disobedience. God will destroy the people he has just saved and start again with Moses (Exodus 32:7-10). But Moses intercedes on behalf of God’s guilty people. He tells God to remember the promises he made to Israel’s forefathers. Moses reminds God that he has staked his reputation on delivering his people to the land he has promised them. Besides, if he kills Israel now, the Egyptians will call him an evil God who only liberated his people to kill them himself. And in response to Moses’ prayer, God listens. He promises he won’t start over by destroying all of Israel despite their great evil against him (Exodus 32:11-14).

Moses then walks down the mountain with God’s commands to his people engraved on two pieces of stone (Exodus 32:15-16). As he approaches the camp, he hears Israelites singing to their imagined god and smashes the tablets to pieces as a symbol of the relationship with God Israel has just broken (Exodus 32:17-19). He then grinds the golden calf to powder, mixes it with water, and makes the people drink the dust of what they once thought was their god (Exodus 32:20).  Moses demands an explanation from Aaron, who lies and invents a miracle to justify his actions (Exodus 32:21-24).

Moses then calls for those on God’s side to rally behind him (Exodus 32:25-26). The tribe of Levi responds, and Moses tells them to remove all those still involved in the idolatry from the camp (Exodus 32:27-29). Hopeful that the idolaters have been purged from the camp, Moses asks God for forgiveness and that God kill Moses instaed of the people. But God tells Moses he will only punish the guilty (Exodus 32:30-33). Moreover, Israel’s disobedience means God must remain at a new distance from his people. As a result of Israel’s disobedience, many people die from plague (Exodus 32:34-35). Those who remain, remove their jewelry as a sign of mourning that their rebellion has created further separation between them and God (Exodus 33:1-6).

Where is the Gospel?

Israel’s failure at Mount Sinai foreshadows the rest of the Old Testament. No matter how much God wants to be with his people, and no matter how many chances God gives them, Israel always chooses other gods. In response, God’s anger is roused, and judgment is promised. But just like in this story, again and again, God provides an intercessor for his people to secure temporary forgiveness and restoration. From this point in the Bible onward, no human intercession entirely stops divine judgment, secures God’s forgiveness, or restores humanity’s relationship with the God who wants to be with his people.

Thankfully, we don’t have to live in suspense of God’s actions towards us. He showed us in Jesus his great love even for those who rebel against him. When Israel rebelled against Jesus to the point of killing him on a cross, Jesus prayed for their forgiveness (Luke 23:32-34). He rose from the grave defeating the evil powers that put him to death, and ascended into heaven to intercede for his people (Hebrews 7:25). When we are hostile and disobedient, God, in Jesus, pleads on our behalf (Romans 8:34). Jesus died to destroy the evil that causes us to rebel against God, and he permanently erased the distance between God and his people. There is no more suspense and no more distance, because nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus (Romans 8:38-39). In Jesus, all our hostility, idolatry, and blatant rebellion are forgiven, and the possibility of a relationship with God is restored (Acts 13:38).

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who wants to be with his people. And may you see Jesus as the one who has interceded on our behalf to secure our relationship with God.