Year 7, Day 81: Exodus 32

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Exodus 32 is a real head-shaker of a chapter.  While it is not nearly as popular of a story as the burning bush or the ten plagues or even the crossing of the Red Sea, it is still certainly well known.  What makes it a head-shaker is the horrible way that human beings act in this chapter.

First of all, we can easily talk about impulsiveness.  Moses is gone for a reasonably short while.  While he is gone, there is all kinds of storms and lightning and reason to realize that Moses is up on the mountain with God.  But what do the people say?  “We don’t know what happened to that guy who brought us out of Egypt.”  In other words, we want leadership here and now, and if you can’t be here in the moment then we’re moving on to something else.  Doesn’t that sound rather modern?  Perhaps modern impulsiveness isn’t such a modern concept at all.

Next, of course, there is the blame game.  The people blame Moses for being away.  Aaron blames the people for making him create the golden calf.  Moses comes back before God and blames the people for making him angry.  I’m not sure that anyone takes any responsibility for anything that they do in this chapter at all.

Naturally, this leads us to anger.  Moses is so enraged by the behavior of the people that he smashes the work of the Lord.  The Law of the Lord, which God had literally just inscribed, Moses smashes in his rage.  Remember that Moses has had other anger issues in the past, by the way.

We shouldn’t also forget the human propensity to whitewash sinful behavior.  When asked about the golden calf, Aaron essentially says, “We took some gold, threw it in a fire, and out popped the calf!” This makes it sound so innocent, unplanned, benign.

Given all of this, let’s look at God’s behavior.  God’s wrath burns.  He wants to destroy the people in their rebellion.  That’s how bad the sinfulness was!  However, in His wrath He is forgiving.  There are consequences, of course.  Yet, the people live.  God deals with them in their sin, through a plague, even!  But God still forgives.  He imparts grace upon them and gives them an additional chance.  We may shake our heads at humanity, but we must acknowledge the sovereignty of God’s love.

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