Exodus 32

1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, Rise up, make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
3 Then all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron,
4 who took them from their hands and fashioned it with a graving tool and made of it a molten calf. Then they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
5 And seeing this, Aaron built an altar before the calf; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast unto the LORD.
6 And they rose up early on the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.
7 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go, descend; for thy people, which thou didst bring out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molten calf and have worshipped it and have sacrificed unto it and said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
9 The LORD further said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and for certain it is a stiffnecked people.
10 Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot in them and consume them; and I will put thee over a great nation.
11 Then Moses grieved before the LORD his God and said, LORD, why shall thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians speak and say, For evil did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains and to consume them from upon the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath and repent of the evil of thy people.
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy slaves, to whom thou didst sware by thine own self and hast said unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall take it for inheritance for ever.
14 Then the LORD repented of the evil which he said should be done unto his people.
15 And Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand; the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
17 And Joshua, hearing the noise of the people as they shouted, said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
18 And he answered, It is not the voice of those that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of those that cry for being overcome, but the noise of those that sing that I hear.
19 And it came to pass as soon as he came near unto the camp and he saw the calf and the dances, anger caused Moses to wax hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mount.
20 And he took the calf which they had made and burnt it in the fire and ground it to powder and scattered it upon the waters and made the sons of Israel drink it.
21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people do unto thee that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
22 And Aaron answered, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot; thou knowest the people that they are inclined to evil.
23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us, for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what is become of him.
24 And I answered unto them, Whoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it to me and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.
25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies),
26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the LORD’s side? Come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
27 And he said unto them, Thus hath the LORD God of Israel said, Put every man his sword by his side and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp and slay each one his brother and his companion and his neighbour.
28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
29 Then Moses had said, Today you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, for each one has consecrated in his son and in his brother, that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
30 And it came to pass on the next day that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin, but now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make reconciliation for your sin.
31 Then Moses returned unto the LORD and said, I pray thee, for, this people who have sinned a great sin and have made themselves gods of gold,
32 that thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me now out of thy book which thou hast written.
33 And the LORD answered unto Moses, Whoever has sinned against me, this one will I blot out of my book.
34 Therefore go now, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee; behold, my Angel shall go before thee; nevertheless in the day of my visitation I will visit their sin in them.
35 And the LORD smote the people because they had made the calf, which Aaron formed.

Exodus 32 Commentary

Chapter 32

The people cause Aaron to make a golden calf. (1-6) God's displeasure, The intercession of Moses. (7-14) Moses breaks the tables of the law, He destroys the golden calf. (15-20) Aaron's excuse, The idolaters slain. (21-29) Moses prays for the people. (30-35)

Verses 1-6 While Moses was in the mount, receiving the law from God, the people made a tumultuous address to Aaron. This giddy multitude were weary of waiting for the return of Moses. Weariness in waiting betrays to many temptations. The Lord must be waited for till he comes, and waited for though he tarry. Let their readiness to part with their ear-rings to make an idol, shame our niggardliness in the service of the true God. They did not draw back on account of the cost of their idolatry; and shall we grudge the expenses of religion? Aaron produced the shape of an ox or calf, giving it some finish with a graving tool. They offered sacrifice to this idol. Having set up an image before them, and so changed the truth of God into a lie, their sacrifices were abomination. Had they not, only a few days before, in this very place, heard the voice of the Lord God speaking to them out of the midst of the fire, Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image? Had they not themselves solemnly entered into covenant with God, that they would do all he had said to them, and would be obedient? ch. 24:7 . Yet before they stirred from the place where this covenant had been solemnly made, they brake an express command, in defiance of an express threatening. It plainly shows, that the law was no more able to make holy, than it was to justify; by it is the knowledge of sin, but not the cure of sin. Aaron was set apart by the Divine appointment to the office of the priesthood; but he, who had once shamed himself so far as to build an altar to a golden calf, must own himself unworthy of the honour of attending at the altar of God, and indebted to free grace alone for it. Thus pride and boasting were silenced.

Verses 7-14 God says to Moses, that the Israelites had corrupted themselves. Sin is the corruption of the sinner, and it is a self-corruption; every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust. They had turned aside out of the way. Sin is a departing from the way of duty into a by-path. They soon forgot God's works. He sees what they cannot discover, nor is any wickedness of the world hid from him. We could not bear to see the thousandth part of that evil which God sees every day. God expresses the greatness of his just displeasure, after the manner of men who would have prayer of Moses could save them from ruin; thus he was a type of Christ, by whose mediation alone, God would reconcile the world to himself. Moses pleads God's glory. The glorifying God's name, as it ought to be our first petition, and it is so in the Lord's prayer, so it ought to be our great plea. And God's promises are to be our pleas in prayer; for what he has promised he is able to perform. See the power of prayer. In answer to the prayers of Moses, God showed his purpose of sparing the people, as he had before seemed determined on their destruction; which change of the outward discovery of his purpose, is called repenting of the evil.

Verses 15-20 What a change it is, to come down from the mount of communion with God, to converse with a wicked world. In God we see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing but what is sinful and provoking. That it might appear an idol is nothing in the world, Moses ground the calf to dust. Mixing this powder with their drink, signified that the backslider in heart should be filled with his own ways.

Verses 21-29 Never did any wise man make a more frivolous and foolish excuse than that of Aaron. We must never be drawn into sin by any thing man can say or do to us; for men can but tempt us to sin, they cannot force us. The approach of Moses turned the dancing into trembling. They were exposed to shame by their sin. The course Moses took to roll away this reproach, was, not by concealing the sin, or putting any false colour upon it, but by punishing it. The Levites were to slay the ringleaders in this wickedness; yet none were executed but those who openly stood forth. Those are marked for ruin who persist in sin: those who in the morning were shouting and dancing, before night were dying. Such sudden changes do the judgments of the Lord sometimes make with sinners that are secure and jovial in their sin.

Verses 30-35 Moses calls it a great sin. The work of ministers is to show people the greatness of their sins. The great evil of sin appears in the price of pardon. Moses pleads with God for mercy; he came not to make excuses, but to make atonement. We are not to suppose that Moses means that he would be willing to perish for ever, for the people's sake. We are to love our neighbour as ourselves, and not more than ourselves. But having that mind which was in Christ, he was willing to lay down his life in the most painful manner, if he might thereby preserve the people. Moses could not wholly turn away the wrath of God; which shows that the law of Moses was not able to reconcile men to God, and to perfect our peace with him. In Christ alone, God so pardons sin as to remember it no more. From this history we see, that no unhumbled, carnal heart, can long endure the holy precepts, the humbling truths, and the spiritual worship of God. But a god, a priest, a worship, a doctrine, and a sacrifice, suited to the carnal mind, will ever meet with abundance of worshippers. The very gospel itself may be so perverted as to suit a worldly taste. Well is it for us, that the Prophet like unto Moses, but who is beyond compare more powerful and merciful, has made atonement for our souls, and now intercedes in our behalf. Let us rejoice in his grace.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 32

This chapter gives an account of the idolatry of the Israelites making and worshipping a golden calf, Ex 32:1-6 the information of it God gave to Moses, bidding him at the same time not to make any suit in their favour, that he might consume them, and make a large nation out Moses's family, Ex 32:7-10 the intercession of Moses for them, in which he succeeded, Ex 32:11-14 his descent from the mount with the two tables in his hands, accompanied by Joshua, when he was an eyewitness of their idolatry, which raised his indignation, that he cast the two tables out of his hands and broke them, took the calf and burnt it, and ground it to powder, and made the children of Israel drink of it, Ex 32:15-20 the examination of Aaron about the fact, who excused himself, Ex 32:21-24 the orders given to the Levites, who joined themselves to Moses, to slay every man his brother, which they did to the number of 3000 men, Ex 32:25-29 another intercession for them by Moses, which gained a respite of them for a time, for they are threatened to be visited still for their sin, and they were plagued for it, Ex 32:30-35.

Exodus 32 Commentaries

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010