Exodus 32 Devotional Bible Study

Exodus 32 Chapter Summary

The Israelites grew impatient waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain, so they told Aaron to make them gods. Aaron instructed the people to give him their gold earrings, and he melted the gold and formed it into a calf. He built an altar and held a festival to God in front of the calf.

The people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings.

Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

- Exodus 32:6

 

God told Moses what was happening and told him to go down the mountain. He told Moses to leave Him alone so that He could destroy the Israelites. Moses, however, argued that God should not destroy the people because the people of other nations would say God brought the Israelites out of Egypt just to kill them. He also reminded God about the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

 

Moses came down the mountain with the tablets of the Ten Commandments written by God. Joshua was waiting for him further down the mountain. When Moses saw what was happening, he was so angry, he threw the tablets down and broke them.

 

Then he melted the golden calf down again, ground it up, mixed it with water, and made the people drink it. Moses confronted Aaron, and Aaron said he put the gold in the fire “and out came this calf!”

 

Moses saw that the people were running wild

and that Aaron had let them get out of control

and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.

So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said,

“Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.”

And all the Levites rallied to him.

- Exodus 32:25-26

 

Then Moses told the Levites that God commanded them to strike down the Israelites with their swords. The Levites killed 3,000 Israelites.

 

The next day, Moses prayed for God to forgive the people for their sin, or else “blot me out of the book you have written.”

 

God told him He would blot out of His book whoever had sinned. He then instructed Moses to go lead the people and promised His angel would go before them. Then God further punished Israel by sending a plague.

 

How???

Exodus 32:1-6

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

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. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

How did Aaron go from being used powerfully by the Lord to this? Aaron was Moses’ mouthpiece to Pharaoh! He should have known better than to make fake gods – or even a sham representation of the real God.

But how many times have we known better and done wrong against the Lord?

The good news is that though Aaron fails here, the Lord still chooses him to be His high priest. That’s grace, isn’t it?

I wonder, do we show that much grace to our church leaders when they fail in some way? Do we show grace to ourselves, like God does?

 

Not as Bad as It Could Have Been

Exodus 32:9-14, 19-35

“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened…

Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.

Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’” The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”

The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”

The Lord replied to Moses, “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. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

Moses interceded for the people, and it says “the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.” But then what happened? Moses told the Levites to kill 3,000 Israelites, and then later, God sent a plague among the people.

Moses interceded for them, but the people were still punished for their sin; it just wasn’t the complete “disaster” it could have been. When we sin, we can expect to reap the consequences. Thankfully, Jesus is interceding for us to ensure that we are not completely destroyed.

“If anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1).

Thank Jesus today for taking your eternal punishment. Like Moses, He volunteered to be punished in order to spare His people. Even now, He is interceding with the Father to lessen the punishment for the sins we still commit. We will still be punished in this life – disciplined if you prefer that term – but it stops there. Our eternity is secure. And even our punishments here will not be as bad as they could have been without Christ interceding for us.

Like Jesus and Moses, who can you intercede for? Who is living in sin, standing on the brink of disaster, that you can pray for? What can you do to lessen their punishment?

 

Laughingstock

Exodus 32:25

Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.

Why were the Israelites a laughingstock to their enemies? Because after all the Lord had done for Israel, after all the miraculous signs, after all the severity of the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea by the hand of the Lord… they’re camping in the dessert getting drunk and worshiping an idol. Their enemies are thinking, “Ha. Maybe we don’t have to take these people seriously, after all!”

Of course, Christians can become a laughingstock to those around them, as well. When someone comes to Christ or “finds religion,” people expect a change to take place. There’s anticipation of the transformation. If we don’t follow through with the change, they scoff and say, “I guess they weren’t serious about it.”

And when they can laugh off our commitment to Christ, it pushes them further away from making a commitment to the Lord themselves.

Let’s not be the reason someone doesn’t take God seriously.

 

Whoever Is for the Lord!

Exodus 32:26-29

Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him. Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’”  The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”

I’m not advocating violence, but we do have a choice to make, don’t we? Will we show ourselves to be on the Lord’s side, or will we go along with what our family, friends, and community are doing? As Christians, there has to be a distinction between us and the people who are still of the world.

As Jesus said, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law” (Luke 12:51-53).

When we stand for the Lord, He will bless us and set apart as holy to Him.

Whoever is for the Lord, make it known.