In the previous passage, God knew about the calf that the Israelites had made and was burning with anger. It’s not an easy passage to read. Yet in Exodus 32:1-15 we also have a beautiful passage of Moses interceding for the people.
(A) God’s Law broken, the covenant breached: Moses breaks the tablets and completely destroys the idol
What is the key focus of Exo 32:16 regarding the tablets? The tablets are God’s own writing. In Exodus 20, God tells Moses to tell the Israelites the law verbally. Why is it important to write them down? In Exodus 24, Moses read out the law and the Israelites said, “Everything that the Lord has said, we will do”—they verbally agreed to it. It is important that the law is from Him personally. It was not manipulated over time, neither was it a human construct. It describes His holiness, and it’s what helps God’s people become more like Him.
Moses only broke the tablets when he saw the calf and the dancing (Exo 32:19). This was after God had told him what Israel was doing (Exo 32:7-8). Israel had acted in a way beyond his expectation. It was a godless celebration. Moses therefore reacted with burning hot anger and it was similar to how God reacted when he saw their idolatry. This is a righteous anger, not an anger brought about by personal hurt or wounded pride. This is an anger that cares about God’s holiness.
Note how Moses broke the tablets at the foot of the mountain, the place where they had previous confirmed and committed to this covenant with God (Exo 32:19). Moses probably did not plan it, but he wanted them to see this visual and open way of watching these tablets break into pieces at the very same place where they had previously vowed to enter into a covenant with God. Before they had received these tablets, they had already broken God’s law. It was visible and undeniable that the laws God had given to them were broken and yet they broke it before they received it, thus they need something better than the law. James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” The law itself is insufficient to save God’s people. Before they even received it, they had broken it. They needed someone to help them keep the law.
Exo 32:20 describes Moses’ treatment of the calf—he burned it, ground it into powder and made the people drink it. It is a reversal of the process of making it: the act of destroying it so that no trace of it remains, because they drank it and the idol is now in their feces. This is what an idol is. Human hands can build it up and tear it down and there is no trace of it. We are so tender in the way we treat our idols. We say, “God, I lay them at your feet.” Moses is destroying it totally because of his great fear of God, and because true happiness is in seeing God and no one should distract them.
How do we approach our idols? Do we have a comfortable life, secure in our possessions? But what happens when your comfort is shaken? What will it look like to grind down and destroy your idol completely? Are you willing to tell God that you are willing to destroy it, and that is ok, because you are secure in God?
(B) God’s people broken loose: Moses calls Aaron into account and disciplines unrepentant sinners.
Moses was pastoral and firm with Aaron (Exo 32:21). He knew what the people were like yet also emphasised Aaron’s own responsibility in this matter. But Aaron’s response gives us an idea of how not to respond when confronted by sin. He said to Moses, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot”. Aaron knew that Moses was angry and was telling Moses to back off and not be that aggressive. He was also dismissive of Moses’ response to sin (“You know the people, that they are set on evil”) and dodged responsibility by blaming the people.
In his account, he was right in saying that they built the calf because Moses took too long. Yet, he removed himself from the scenario in his retelling of how the calf came to be. According to Aaron, the calf jumped out of the fire (Exo 32:24) but in Exo 32:1-4, we read of how he was systematic in his collection, sorted the gold and fashioned the calf with intention. In his account, the fire was responsible for creating the calf.
This account speaks to two groups. For those with responsibility in the church or over other believers: you are responsible for calling them out, walking with them and telling them what is godly or not. Don’t trivialise sin when you see it. Call it out and here, we see how this is the intercession that saves!
There are also those who are confronted with sin: do we tell God to back down the way Aaron told Moses? Do we deny our sin? We should be open before God and acknowledge our sin in every detail. We can’t just offer a “sorry” but we need to be specific about what we are repentant about. Are you honest and open before this God, who is for your good?
In Exo 32:26, Moses called people to him from the “breaking loose” that they were doing. It relates to being loose in morals and in the way they were conducting themselves. It was also in the sense of breaking from the godly way of living as God’s people, set apart to be His holy people. They broke loose of that to the point of “the derision of their enemies”. They did not act in a private manner and the world saw. The enemies of God saw, knew and also derided them. God was made to look like a joke.
Thus Moses issued the call from gate (Exo 32:26) and the gate is where the elders sat. This was where the economic and important exchanges took place. This was a significant part of their life and Moses stood there to call the people to him, to God (Exo 32:26b). They asked for this idol and all Israel was committed to the idolatry (Exo 32:2-3). Moses therefore was calling out to an entire nation that participated in this idolatry.
Moses called those that were on the LORD’s side to come to him (Exo 32:26). What would it take for them to obey this? it takes leaving the camp of sin and making a stand for what they belong to. Who is on the Lord’s side? Everyone who left behind what they were doing. It involved leaving their camp of sin, to leave their dancing and breaking loose and to head to Moses. This is for us too. As we are called to Him, we cannot stay where we are at, staying and enjoying the life that we have always known. Yet the truth of knowing we are God’s and on His side should move us to take a stand and set ourselves apart for Him.
The follow-up command in Exo 32:27 was given by God and not Moses. This was therefore God’s command of His righteous judgment. He tells the Israelites not to let their familial ties and closeness blind them to the sin their friends and family have committed. As a result, 3000 men fell (Exo 32:28). This was a fraction of a population of 600,000. As they were going through the camp, people had repented and chose to obey God’s call through Moses. Contrast this with God’s description of them in Exo 32:9. He called them a “stiff-necked people”, and in his anger, was ready to destroy and create a new people through Moses.
In these verses, we also see God’s mercy. He would be just to destroy them, yet also offered them a chance to repent. He provided them a way to repent and live in obedience to God, instead of living in sin and disobedience. He acted justly by cutting off those who were unrepentant, and was merciful enough to preserve those who were willing to follow Him.
What does this mean for us today? There is a sense of discipline in the Christian life. We are to approach our brothers and sisters pastorally, but we cannot bend the truth just to make each other feel welcomed. Do we call sin out as sin? Do we let people know that in a loving manner? Do we uphold holiness so that God’s people are not derided by His enemies? Do we care about the holiness of God and His glory?
This is also about separating from the unrepentant. We are all sinners but at the same time, this text calls us to distance ourselves from those who insist to persist in their own sin. There is a loving way to do this and church discipline is a loving thing to do.
(C) Moses’ life insufficient to atone for Israel’s sin, Christ the perfect intercessor sufficient to save
What is Moses’ plea to God and what is his fail-safe in Exo 32:32? His fail-safe to God is to take his life: Moses the intercessor going up to the mountain to offer his life for his people. Now, Moses was assuming that his life was worthy and that it was enough to appease God’s wrath, but we can learn something from God’s response too. God didn’t directly answer the question, but replied with a statement. God will blot out those that have sinned against Him. He will deal justly with those that have sinned, and this is not a surprised. The people entered knowingly into this covenant. But yet, this is a moving response too. Imagine: Moses offered his life and God said “no”. Is God cold and hungry for revenge? It is because Moses’ life is not worthy enough to atone for the lives of sinners. Moses was but a sinner who has broken God’s law and acted arrogantly against Him. Early in his life, Moses killed an Egyptian man. He was God’s chosen prophet, but is also not worthy enough to atone for the sins of the Israelites.
But God doesn’t just say no. There is a glimpse of hope. There is a “but now” (Exo 32:34). God will send an angel to lead them to the land that God had promised. He is giving them another chance.
What is the yearning that the people and Moses are left with? Moses had tried to intercede and obey to the best of his ability. He displayed a righteous anger and interceded for the people. But we come to this last passage where he could not atone.
This sets up a yearning for the One who can truly intercede and mediate and atone fully for our sins. This is what is left at the end of this chapter. Moses is a great leader but he is not enough to atone for God’s people’s sins. Who will then mediate and atone? Who is worthy?
This is the big question that this passage leaves us with. In Heb 10:11-17, we read of how the priest and his repeated offerings cannot fully take away sin. Christ is the only one who made the final sacrifice and can also sit down, because His work was final. God will give Him the honor that is due, by making His enemies His footstool. Because of that perfect sacrifice, God will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more (Heb 10:17). Notice the contrast between Jesus and Moses. Christ’s death on the cross truly atoned for our sin, and reconciled us back to God. Moses modelled intercession for us, but we also see how we need the true Intercessor to come and lay down His life for us.
What is Israel to do with the law that is now broken at the foot of the mountain? Heb 10:16 tells us that He will “put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds”. As people who have been reconciled, we can desire God’s law and love it as it is described in Ps 119. We can see the goodness of God’s law and want to obey it. We cannot do it on our own, but only He can do this work. Everything we’ve read of in this passage – destroying idols, confronting sin, repenting of sin, obeying God – is truly difficult and impossible on our own strength and ability. We can pray and ask for His help to see the goodness in His law, above comfort in our jobs, above the relationships we are pusuing.