Chapter 32 represents a major shift in the Exodus narrative. Since arriving at Mt. Sinai, God has been laying the foundation of His covenant with His people, including what He will do for them, their purpose (a kingdom of priests), and how they are to live to properly reflect that purpose and the image of Yahweh, their covenant partner. As well, they are instructed how Yahweh is to be interacted with and worshiped, a necessary instruction to a group of people who, as a nation, had spent the last 400 years in an idolatrous, Egyptian culture. Through the extensive instruction around the construction of God’s dwelling among them and its consecration (cleansing for use) as well as the appointment and consecration of His dedicated servants, they are being taught about His character, His holiness, His absolute purity and how they may interact with it/Him relative to that.
And yet now, all will be put at risk. The scene opens as the people have been waiting for Moses’ return from the mountain as He was receiving instruction from Yahweh. In previous trips, Moses appears to have not been gone overnight so this extended period of time (40 days should not necessarily be taken literally, it’s an idiom like we might say “dozens” or “a great many”) causes them to react poorly. Perhaps we can understand the normal human response here, that in absence of a strong leader, folks not only begin to abandon their fealty to the leader but also to the ideals that leader held them to.
So, the people appear to go back to what they know and ask Aaron to create an idol for them (a direct rejection of commandments/words 1 & 2 which they did know about, it was shared with them back in chapter 24.) Aaron, completely abandoning any pretense of being the stand-in leader of this group of folks, caves and facilitates the making of an idol using the earrings from the women and children to overlay the top with gold. Most translations say he made a calf, but our impression from that is like a really young cow but it’s really meaning to get at a young but otherwise strong bull.
Next, Aaron declares that these are the “gods” who brought you out of Egypt and that tomorrow there will be a feast to Yahweh (remember, in most translations when you see LORD in all caps it’s referring to God’s personal name vs. the other times when the word for lord has a range of meanings from “sir” to “king”.) This is interesting, because Aaron has not made a new god and credited it with bringing them out of Egypt, he’s created a visible representation and called it Yahweh. In any other culture, this may not be an issue, but it is a direct rejection of not only God’s instruction in the 10 Words but also a rejection of His way of doing things. Part of His relationship with His people was a trust in His faithfulness, or put another way, faith in His faithfulness, in His presence. Idol construction was a refusal to do so.
The people make offerings to the idol but even in this we see distinctions about how God goes about things. Traditional idol sacrifice is on an altar in front of the idol to ensure that the god “sees” it so it may bless the people in response. Note that in the tabernacle, and later the temple, the altar is in the courtyard, separated and out of the line of sight of the Holy of Holies. Yahweh, of course, is aware of the sacrifices, He doesn’t need to “see” them. So we find here a continuation of the pursuit of something physical/tangible where God expects His people to act in faith and trust in Him.
God alerts Moses to the situation going on down below. They have corrupted themselves with very little provoking and have completely cast aside God’s commands. (Flashback to chapter 24 “When Moses went and told the people all the LORD’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.”) What a disaster. Note, these people were still eating manna daily provided by Yahweh. They had only recently been part of hearing God’s voice, seeing his fire and cloud lead them through the wilderness. But they rejected God’s way of showing Himself to His people and instead landed on a man made idol who cannot speak, move, turn into fire, or any such other obviously cooler expressions of God-ness. God is right, they/we are a stiff-necked people.
God tells Moses to leave Him alone whilst he destroys the people and offers to make a new people out of the lineage of Moses. This is not a command, it’s rhetoric, God is expecting a response from Moses, who does indeed do so by “reminding” God of His promises to Abraham and the potential sullying of His name by the Egyptians who predicted such a destruction of the people. This is not, odd, by the way. We see other examples of God proclaiming what will happen with an expectation that a prophet of his will intercede (see Amos 7). And the concept of it being odd for God to change His mind isn’t a Biblical one, it’s an extrapolation of a theology that says all is already determined. It is perfectly within God’s prerogative to alter a course based upon a request from His people.
Note, though, that God is relenting from the wiping out of the people, not the consequences completely. They are not being acquitted (there will be some sword justice and a demonstrative plague). Moses heads back down with the two tablets with the Words on them (both tablets have all 10 Words, front and back. When you’re doing a covenant, both parties get a copy). God did the writing, that’s also cool.
Moses sees the rabble-rousing going on once he reaches the base of the mountain (not coincidentally, the place where the people meet and worship occurs). In reaction to the situation, Moses chucks both tablets to the ground and they break. This is not an irrational, out of control action by Moses out of anger (although he certainly is mad). What Moses threw to the ground was not a random object, it was the most priceless item in the whole world that represented the covenant terms between Yahweh and His people. Moses was openly and clearly demonstrating that what the people have done has broken the covenant. Now what? God has every right to walk away here. What will He do?
Moses gets down to business and first destroys the bull, burning it up (remember, made primarily out of wood) and then sprinkling the ashes into the water they all drink from at the base of the mountain. The impression shouldn’t be that he forced them to drink it as a punishment like right then and there. In general, the powder of the remains of the idol would be drunk by the people as they normally consumed the water, their body would process it, come out as waste, and it would be defiled and ruined for any future idol making.
Moses turns to Aaron, who responds pathetically. The impression that his hand was forced seems accurate, the people did appear to pressure him into it. However, he relented quickly and jumped on in. Also, his attempt to convince Moses that all he did was melt the gold and the young bull idol jumped out of the fire after fashioning itself would be comical if it didn’t represent such a cowardly act and pathetic defense.
Then follows the decision. Literally, the Hebrew is “Whoever for Yahweh, to me!” They are being offered the chance to repent. All of them? Yes, all of them. Immediately, the Levites join (certainly including Aaron, who is not so foolish as to not jump at the chance to publicly repent of his action). But not everyone joins. The instructions here aren’t for the Levites to kill everyone that wasn’t them, it was to go systematically through the camp and offer repentance on Yahweh’s behalf. Anyone that did not turn back go God was to be killed. Now, that seems harsh in our minds. However, if idolatry were allowed to continue, many people in ancient Israel would turn from saving truth to destruction. And given the role of Israel in the world, this was not acceptable. And remember, these folks were given the chance to repent, they simply refused.
Also note, this is specific to the Old Covenant. The New Covenant, the one based upon Jesus, does not allow for killing as a means of preserving truth.
The next day, Moses addresses the people and clearly calls out their sin and goes to Yahweh to speak of how it can be atoned for (“covered”). Moses lumps himself in with Israel in their sin, basically saying if this can’t be atoned for that he will go down with the ship. God does two things here. One, he stays faithful to the covenant and His promises. He instructs Moses to continue to lead the people to the promised land and will continue to go before them to lead them there. However, justice is still to come. A plague will be sent directly (not directly implying folks will die, could just be a sickness) but eventually there will be a punishment for this sin (that’s v. 35, most likely referring to the future event of the exiles from the promised land). Basically, it reads as a “for now, I will do x, but eventually y will come to roost.
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