Exodus 32

The Golden Calf Incident

The bull symbolized courage, strength, a fighting spirit and, of course, fertility.

Though the calf was made with gold from melted down jewelry, it was probably a gold-plated wooden calf because later in this chapter (verse 20) Moses commands them to burn the idol. All of this took time. Time to collect jewelry, design and build the wooden calf, melt the gold, etc. Though the verses take only seconds to read, I imagine quite a bit of time elapsed between the call for an idol and the return of Moses.

With the calf completed, “Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

Notice again the “they” who gathered around Aaron, and it was “they” who said, “These are your gods.” Who are these people? I suspect they were representatives of each tribe who went to Aaron and pressured him to order the building of this idol. They may have been heavily influenced by some of the mixed multitudes, the Egyptians, who left Egypt with the Israelites.

Why would Aaron agree to their demands? Was he intimidated by more assertive tribal leaders who were making these demands? One commentator suggested that Aaron went along with this because he felt that it would be best for him to appear to yield until he could wean them from their error. That sounds like a rather weak explanation to me. I think that this incident demonstrated why God chose Moses rather than Aaron to lead His people. Aaron was a good man and made a fine priest, but he wasn’t the strong personality who could stand up to a “stiff-necked” people.

In the military, a good, hard working and intelligent staff officer might not be a good commander. Aaron was better suited for being a priest than a leader. Moses wouldn’t have been intimidated by these demanding people, as we will see later in this chapter. Aaron, I imagine, was probably very eager for Moses to return and resume command so that he could get back to what he did best.

Exodus 32:5, “When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” So, the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings.” Well, doesn’t this sound very pious? What devout, god-fearing people we have here. “Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”

After eating and drinking, they indulged in revelry. Revelry? Do you want to guess what that word suggests? The Talmud, (the Jewish commentary on the Hebrew Bible) says that the word for revelry implies three serious sins: idolatry, licentiousness, and murder. The golden calf was an idol that symbolized, among other things, fertility. Worshipping it is committing two major sins, idolatry and immorality. Who did they murder? According to Jewish tradition, they murdered Hur, the son of Miriam, sister of Moses. Why would they murder Hur? Because he tried to stop their them. Hur, stepped in to do what Aaron should have done. You might recall that Hur is mentioned earlier when the Amalekites were battling the Israelites in Exodus 17:10. It was Hur, along with Aaron, who held up the arms of Moses during that battle.

Exodus 32:7 God knows what’s going on at the bottom of the mountain and tells Moses that he had better get back down there, to “your people.” Did you notice that God didn’t call them, “my people” or “our people.” When a little boy is misbehaving, the mom might say to the dad, “Do something about YOUR son.” Of course, when he excels in some area, she might say, “That’s my boy.”

Exodus 32:10, How angry was God? He says, “Now let me along so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

If you were Moses, what would you say? How about, “That’s a great idea. Now I know why you are God. What a brilliant idea. You’ve been patient with these people long enough.” And why not? Moses would be relieved of the headache of dealing with these people and God starts again with his family much as he started anew with Noah. But Moses doesn’t say that. He argues against the destruction of the Israelites. What will the Egyptians say? What about your promise to Abraham? Then God relented.

Does God change His mind? Mal. 3:6 says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change.” Well, God does not change his nature, or his will. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. But he might change his mind if conditions change. He might plan on punishing someone, but if they repent of their sin, He will change his mind. When circumstances change a different action might be necessary. When Moses interceded for the Israelites, that changed things. His pleading brought the Israelites under God’s mercy. His intercession changed the relationship of the people to God. Some of God’s promises and threats are conditional. But His nature, who He is, does not change.

As Moses makes his way down the mountain, he meets up with Joshua. As they hike down together Joshua hears the noise of the people and says,

Exodus 32:17, “there is the sound of war in the camp.” Moses, who knows better, says, “”it is the sound of singing that I hear.” 

Earlier, Moses was trying to turn God’s anger away from the Israelites. Now, in verse 19, as Moses approached the camp and actually sees the golden calf, the dancing, and immorality, “his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces.”

Is this one of those times when you do something and just as quickly as you do, you think, “that was a big mistake.” Probably not. It was probably a deliberate act to symbolize the fact that the Israelites had broken the covenant that they so recently made with God.

Moses, the leader, took charge. Moses himself threw the calf into the fire, ground it into powder, dumped it into the water and said, “DRINK IT.” I wouldn’t want to be in that crowd that day. I’d be moving to the back of the group, trying to become invisible.

Then he turns to Aaron. You remember Aaron. He’s the one Moses put in charge while he was gone.

Exodus 32:21, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”

Who was Moses holding responsible for this? In the military, a commander can delegate authority to staff officers to act on his behalf. But he can’t delegate the responsibility for what is done. The Commander is ALWAYS the responsible person. Aaron was being held responsible, “YOU led them into such great sin.”

How does Aaron respond to this chastisement? Like most of us do. He makes excuses, just like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.

Exodus 32: 22, “You know how prone these people are to evil.” Translation: “It’s their fault, not mine.” He goes on to say in verse 24, “. . . then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” Translation: I didn’t really do it, it just sort of happened.

Yeah boss, as I said, in went the gold out came this calf. It must have been some sort of Sinai Miracle.” I’d love to see the look on Moses’ face when he hears this lame story.

Exodus 32:26, That’s it, Moses draws a line in the dirt and challenges the leaders. Moses said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” Once and for all Moses is forcing them to make a decision, to recommit to the covenant that they earlier made with God. This isn’t the only time the people have had to make a commitment, one way or another. In Joshua 24:15, the successor to Moses, Joshua, says, “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Moses and Joshua were challenging the Israelites, “You can’t have it both ways. You can’t live the life of those in the culture around you and serve God at the same time. Let’s stop playing games. Choose one way of life or another.”

What was the response to Moses’ challenge? The Levites “rallied to him” (verse 26).

Then Moses had to purge the Israelites of the idolaters before their sin spread like a cancer throughout the people.

Exodus 32:27, Moses orders the Levites to go through the camp and kill anyone who was guilty of idolatry. This resulted in the deaths of 3,000 people. That is a very small percentage of the population which numbered several million. It has been suggested that the only ones who were killed those who persisted in the idolatry and immorality. In Numbers 25:6-9 there was a similar situation with these -stiff-necked people. Those who were killed had the nerve to sin in the very sight of Moses. It’s was as if they dared Moses to do something.

Because the Levites were willing to choose to follow God, even at the expense of their family and friends, God rewards the Levites and sets them apart for service in the temple.

Moses then goes back up the mountain to plead for mercy for his people. What a day he’s had. Exodus 32:32, “But now, please forgive their sin-but if not, then blot me out of the book of life you have written.” The Lord replied, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you.”

What a generous gesture on the part of Moses. Pleading for the lives of the Israelites and even being willing to “take a bullet” for them. God response was, in effect, “thanks for the offer, Moses, you’re a nice man, but no. You go and lead them on their way.”

Exodus 32:34-35, “Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you, however when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin. Then the Lord struck the people with a plaque because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.”

We don’t know what the plaque was. Might it have been a euphemism for a terrible hangover from all the partying? Maybe not.

Did you notice that God said, in verse 34, “my angel will go before you.”? He didn’t say, “I will go before you.” In the next chapter God says, “I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people.” Hurts can be forgiven, but sometimes the relationship can’t be immediately restored to what it once was. So it was with God and Israel.

This is a tragic chapter in the history of Israel. It didn’t take very long for the Israelites to go back into their old ways. Not everyone is cut out to be a leader. But there are some commendable points, also. Moses was willing to give his life for the life of the Israelites. God does forgive. And, though the people sinned and were punished, God would still be their God and would continue to lead them to the promised land. But the relationship would not completely heal right away.