Exodus Chapter 32
Human beings are very inpatient, and they will give up easily when they think that God has not responded to them in a timely manner. Reading this passage, we are struck with amazement that the Israelites would so quickly give up on their leader Moses and more importantly give up on God. We must humbly admit that many times we do the same thing when we turn our back on Him when things do not go the way we planned. Or we become impatient with God, and we try to resolve things in our own way.
The people assumed since Moses had not come back to lead them, he must have abandoned them, or he was dead. They probably voiced something like we need to find other gods, or we need to worship gods like we had back in Egypt. And we find that Aaron did not put up a fight with this ideology in fact he decided to take the lead and help them out by creating a god for them to worship. Aaron feared the people more than he feared God.
Let's Reflect
1. What material was used to create the new god? This material was the same material that the people were going to be asked to donate to help fashion the tabernacle.
2. Aaron was so proud of his work that he created that he announced his work to the people as a work of art that the people should worship. What additional thing did Aaron create for worship to this god?
3. The people celebrated their new god. They ate food, drank (drunkenness) and they played. The Hebrew word for play here indicates they participated in sexual acts as a part of their “worship.” God knew what was going on. In fact, He told Moses what the people were doing below the mountain. God even quoted to Moses what the people had said. What was the quote?
4. God was angry with the people, and He was going to destroy them. There was only one thing that brought the mercy of God upon the Israelites and that was the intercession of Moses. God did not need to be reminded of His great works on Israel’s behalf, but Moses reminded Him anyways. Moses called on God to act in mercy as He had acted in mercy previously. The Old King James Version uses the word “repented” in verse 14 which is not the best rendering for us to understand the meaning. The idea is that Moses interceded, and God heard his prayer. What did God say He would do according to verse 14?
5. On the way down the mountain Moses was rejoined by Joshua before reaching the base. What sound did Joshua think that he heard coming from the people that they could not see just yet?
6. What was Moses’ reaction when his eyes saw the worship of the people and all that was taking place?
7. Aaron admitted to Moses that he was afraid of the people and that he had been instrumental in the creation of the idol. What did he lie about?
8. I think verse 25 is key to understanding the rest of the chapter. We recall that God had called the Israelites to be separate from the other nations and to dwell with Him. Here there is an indication that they were “worshipping” with other people groups. And so, Moses had a call to action. He called for the men to take a side. Either they were on the LORD’s side, or they were not. What was the manner in which Moses took as their leader to clean out the wicked from among them?
9. Moses was still willing to ask God on behalf of the people to forgive them. What did Moses want God to do if He was not going to forgive the sins of the people?
10. God was willing to forgive, but there would be consequences for their sin. What were the consequences mentioned?
