Exodus 32
Exodus 32:1-35 (NLT)
1 When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”
2 So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron.
4 Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5 Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the LORD!”
6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.
7 The LORD told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.
8 How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
9 Then the LORD said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are.
10 Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”
11 But Moses tried to pacify the LORD his God. “O LORD!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand?
12 Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people!
13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’”
14 So the LORD changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.
15 Then Moses turned and went down the mountain. He held in his hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.
16 These tablets were God’s work; the words on them were written by God himself.
17 When Joshua heard the boisterous noise of the people shouting below them, he exclaimed to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp!”
18 But Moses replied, “No, it’s not a shout of victory nor the wailing of defeat. I hear the sound of a celebration.”
19 When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain.
20 He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it.
21 Finally, he turned to Aaron and demanded, “What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?”
22 “Don’t get so upset, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know how evil these people are.
23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’
24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire—and out came this calf!”
25 Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.
26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “All of you who are on the LORD’s side, come here and join me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.
27 Moses told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone—even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.”
28 The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.
29 Then Moses told the Levites, “Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the LORD, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers. Today you have earned a blessing.”
30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin, but I will go back up to the LORD on the mountain. Perhaps I will be able to obtain forgiveness for your sin.”
31 So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves.
32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!”
33 But the LORD replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me.
34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Look! My angel will lead the way before you. And when I come to call the people to account, I will certainly hold them responsible for their sins.”
35 Then the LORD sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshiped the calf Aaron had made.
People have a craving, an unstoppable drive, to worship and serve someone or something that will provide them with hope for the future. When an existing provider of this hope is removed, a desperation is formed for its replacement. No matter the personal cost or risk, any requirement of that thing will be offered up and served to get back to the gratification only a god can provide. For the children of Israel, removal of the God of their forefathers, who had just delivered them from slavery and a destroying army, created a void they were willing to quickly pay for and replace with their riches and even lives. How easy it is to look down on and judge the people and Aaron for this unimaginable action, and yet it is very indicative of the very response that is built into each of us. Though we’ve discovered and been delivered by the God of Creation, if He can be removed from our worship for even the slightest period, a void will quickly be filled by the expense and risk of temporary gratifications, things that have immediate promise of pleasure. Why is this such an offense to the God of our Salvation? For all the provision He has made for our best, He cannot occupy a place of benefactor or redeemer where other gods are worshipped. Not even the slightest presence of another gratifier may exist if there is to be hope in Him. It’s amazing that the Levites who chose to side with God, first had to put to death any representative of this corruption, even if found in their own precious family members. For God to be God, He had to come before what might have been reasoned to be the most legitimate exceptions. Remaining full of His presence and gratified by His provision is a very serious occupation for all who will side with Him and His eternal life. Allowing any subsiding of His awareness and fellowshiping with His alternatives is most dangerous and perilous. There is a certain punishment to be rendered on those who trample underfoot the precious Gift He’s given, especially for trivial pursuits that fail miserably.