The Golden Calf
(Deuteronomy 9:7–29; Acts 7:39–43)
At the foot of Mount Sinai, after Moses...
At the foot of Mount Sinai, after Moses had been absent for many days, the people felt the need for protection, guidance, and a tangible way to express their worship. God knew this and was eager to meet these needs (chs 25–31). The Israelites, however, tried to meet their needs for themselves. Fellowship with God requires depending on him (see John 15:5; 2 Cor 3:5).
The people were not willing to wait and...
The people were not willing to wait and see what God had been saying to Moses on the mountain for the forty days while he was there (see 24:18).
1Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”†
The religious professional, Aaron, demanded a specific contribution...
The religious professional, Aaron, demanded a specific contribution of gold rings and then excluded the people from any further involvement in the process. This is very different from what God had commanded regarding the construction of the Tabernacle, where the people were invited to bring many different kinds of things as they felt led (25:1–9; 35:4–36:7) and to share in the work under the guidance of a Spirit-filled layperson (31:1–6; 36:1–2).
2So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold earrings that are on your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
3Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before the calf and proclaimed: “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.”
6So the next day they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.†
7Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
God was apparently prepared to disown his people,...
God was apparently prepared to disown his people, since they had broken their covenant with him.
9The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. 10Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
If a test was involved, Moses passed it....
If a test was involved, Moses passed it. He refused to put himself in God’s place (32:11). He knew that God is just and faithful and that he would not deliver people only to destroy them (32:12). He refused to accept the invitation to become the father of a great nation, since that would involve God’s breaking his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (32:13). Moses had learned who God really is.
11But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from doing harm to Your people. 13Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”
14So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.
When Moses actually saw what was going on,...
When Moses actually saw what was going on, he was much less calm than he had been on the mountain. He smashed the tablets (32:15–19), destroyed the calf (32:20), confronted Aaron (32:21–25), and had the ringleaders killed (32:26–29).
15Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. 16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
17When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “The sound of war is in the camp.”
18But Moses replied:
“It is neither the cry of victory nor the cry of defeat;I hear the sound of singing!”19As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain. 20Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.
Aaron denied responsibility even though he himself had...
Aaron denied responsibility even though he himself had made the molds and poured the gold (32:4). Aaron wanted Moses to believe that it all “just happened” (32:24) and that he had no choice because the people were so evil (32:22). Moses was not misled. He knew that Aaron could have led the people but had let them get completely out of control (32:25).
21“What did this people do to you,” Moses asked Aaron, “that you have led them into so great a sin?”
22“Do not be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil. 23They told me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!’
24So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, let him take it off,’ and they gave it to me. And when I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!”
25Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild and become a laughingstock† to their enemies.
Moses had asked God to spare the people,...
Moses had asked God to spare the people, but now he called on those who followed the Lord to kill those who had sinned. The Levites (32:26) were willing to confront the sin that Aaron had let loose. Although Moses commanded them to kill everyone (32:27), the number 3,000 (32:28) makes it clear that the word everyone had a restricted meaning. The reference to your own sons and brothers suggests that as Aaron had led in the idolatry, many of the Levites had led in the worship of the idol, and they were the ones that the rest of the Levites killed. Aaron may have escaped because God had already designated him as high priest (28:1).
26So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.
27He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”
28The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people fell dead.
29Afterward, Moses said, “Today you have been ordained† for service to the LORD, since each man went against his son and his brother; so the LORD has bestowed a blessing on you this day.”
This further intercession for the people may have...
This further intercession for the people may have been needed because of Moses’ new recognition of how serious the sin really was.
30The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
31So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves. 32Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”
33The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book. 34Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
35And the LORD sent a plague on the people because of what they had done with the calf that Aaron had made.