Looking back upon the large set of instructions that Yahweh gave to Moses for the construction of the tabernacle, we should again remind ourselves of the truth of Beale calling the tent of meeting “Eden remixed.” We have seen this with the garden imagery of the tabernacle, as well as the gold and precious stones that alluded back to Eden. Furthermore, just as the goal of creation as for humanity to dwell with God, the goal of the tabernacle was to restore something of that lost communion to God’s chosen nation and treasured people. Just as God created all things over the span of seven days through the word of His mouth, so too were the tabernacle’s instructions give through a sevenfold declaration of the phrase, “The LORD said to Moses…” Indeed, just as God rested on the seventh day and sanctified the Sabbath, the seventh instruction was for Israel to also keep the Sabbath as holy. Following the days of creation, Genesis 2 records Yahweh giving Adam two glorious gifts, the garden of Eden and his wife, Eve. Likewise, following the instructions for the tabernacle, Yahweh gave Moses two tablets of His covenant union with Israel.

Unfortunately, the similarities between these chapters and the opening chapters of Genesis do not end there. Just as the wonders of creation and Eden are followed immediately with Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, so too the instructions for the remixed Eden are followed by a similar fall into sin by all of Israel.

In our present passage, Moses brings our focus back to the base of the mountain to what Israelites have been doing over the course of his meeting with God. The event that is presented sadly sets the pattern for the remainder of the entire Old Testament.

THE IDOL // VERSES 1-6

Verse 1 sets the scene for the following verses by bringing our attention back to the Israelites as they wait for Moses to come down from Sinai. Indeed, as we read what follows, we should keep in mind that Moses was hidden in the cloud of God’s glory upon the mountain; however, the cloud itself was certainly visible. All of their idolatry was committed under the shadow of the glory that once greatly feared.

With Moses not before them, the Israelites gather themselves together and go to Aaron, saying, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Notice first that the Israelites gathered themselves together. While it could be simply that they gathered themselves around Aaron, one commentary argues that it is best to view at them gathering against Aaron, since the wording “always carries a menacing nuance.” As with all the world being gathered together at Babel and Israel later gathering themselves against Samuel to demand a king, this ought to remind us that unity is not inherently a virtue. People may be united and of one mind, while being together in rebellion against the Most High.

Second, we should consider the scorn that the Israelites evidently had for their both Moses and Aaron as their leaders. Their dismissal view of Moses is seen in how they distance themselves from him, saying this Moses and calling him the man. As Ryken notes, “Their language was dismissive and disrespectful. They would never say something like this to his face, of course, but now that he was gone, now that his ministry had failed to meet their expectations, they felt justified in setting him aside.” Likewise, they showed disrespect and scorn towards Aaron, who had functioned as Moses’ right hand throughout the exodus, by ordering him to make an idol for them. They had dismissed Moses while he was away, and now they were ready to bully Aaron into doing what they wanted him to do. Of course, while the people do not yet know that Yahweh has set Aaron apart as a high priest, they clearly saw him as authoritative. Thus, if they could get Aaron to make an idol for them, it would be imbued with a greater degree of credibility than if they had just made an idol for themselves.

Sadly, in verses 2-3, Aaron yields to their demands and commands them to give him the earrings from their wives and children. While there is potentially some connection between the earrings that the Israelites were wearing and idolatry, especially compared with Genesis 35:4 and Judges 8:24-27, the simplest connection seems to be with God’s command for the Israelites to give the materials required for the tabernacle. While Moses was commanded to give the command to all of Israel, Yahweh specifically said, “From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me” (25:2). God was specifically calling upon the men of Israel to give their treasures for the building of God’s tent, yet with this idol, Aaron calls upon the men to take the jewelry from their wives and children. This pattern continues generally today as well. True worship in the household ought to be led by husbands and fathers who give sacrificially of themselves just as Christ did for us. False worship, on the other hand, especially the kind seen in various cults, tends to absolve men of their responsibility and robs and abuses women and children.

Verse 4 then tells us that Aaron took their earrings and made them into a calf. Stuart notes that “collecting the earrings, melting them into gold, and shaping the gold around a wooden form to make an idol may have taken more than a day” (665). But whenever it was finished, the people were apparently pleased with the result, for they proclaimed to one another: “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” This seems to be an outright rejection of Yahweh as their God, which may explain Aaron’s actions and words in verse 5: When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.”

Ryken notes that scholars continuously debate whether the golden calf was a violation of the First or Second Commandment, but I agree with his answer: yes. It seems that the Israelites (at least a large portion of them) wanted to reject Yahweh entirely or at least to return to polytheism, which was clearly in violation of the First Commandment. Indeed, they specifically ask for gods, not for an image of Yahweh. Yet Aaron identifies the golden calf with Yahweh, building an altar and proclaiming a feast, both of which were commanded in the Book of the Covenant. Indeed, in verse 6, they offer both peace and burnt offerings. So, it seems as though Aaron was attempting to salvage and justify the situation by saying that they were really doing everything for Yahweh. Yet that is still a violation of the Second Commandment, for regardless of how Aaron tried to spin his actions as being worshipful, they were still against God’s will, which is sin.

Indeed, it is also worth noting that Aaron is absent from verse 6. Although he may have attempted to contain the people, they have broken out of whatever limits he aimed to impose. We have sadly seen this all too often, especially in regard to the sexual revolution, in churches. Pastors, churches, and whole denominations yield to the demands of the culture and go against their conscience, arguing that it will be the only concession that they make. Yet disobedience defies being “managed.” A measure of compromise with sin always breaks away leads to more sin.

And that is indeed what seems to have happened. In saying that the Israelites rose up to play, the notion is, as the NIV translates, revelry. There was probably a heavy emphasis on dancing and sexuality.  

What the Israelites were doing was indecent. Their idolatry led to immorality. Their worship was vulgar and debauched. It degenerated into a wanton orgy of lewd dancing. They weren’t worshiping; they were partying. And it wasn’t for God’s glory at all; it was just for their own sinful pleasure. This is what happens when we do things our way rather than God’s way. Such action contaminates our worship, corrupts our gifts, and compromises our morals. Are we living the way God wants us to live or the way we want to live? Are we pleasing God in our worship? Are we serving him with our gifts? Are we honoring him with our bodies? Or are we becoming more and more profane in the way we live?

It is right for us to ask ourselves such questions. For Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10:6-13, specifically applies this sin and others from the exodus generation of Israelites to us as Christians:

Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

THE JUDGMENT // VERSES 7-10

With verse 7, the narrative then jumps back to Moses, where we see again the same phrase that was used seven times during the instructions of the tabernacle, but the words that follow them are not the good news of communion that was the tabernacle:

And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ”And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

In another interesting parallel, the Israelites began by telling Aaron to rise up, while God begins by telling Moses to go down. And just as the Israelites distanced themselves from Moses with their speech, so too does God now distance Himself from Israel. He calls them Moses’ people and says that Moses brought them out of Egypt. That is the natural result of sin. Whenever we sin, we reject and distance ourselves from God, and yet we are very often then flabbergasted by why God feels so distant from us. The 1689 Confession warns of this, saying,

True believers may have the assurance of their salvation diverse ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as by negligence in preserving it, by falling into some special sin which woundeth the conscience and grieveth the Spirit… (18:4)

When we, like the Israelites, turn aside from the way that God commands us, we cannot expect to walk in the joys of the path of life.

After telling Moses what the people have done, Yahweh then declares in verses 9-10 His judgment. He calls Israel a stiff-necked people. Ryken gives a wonderful comment and challenge for us from this phrase:

The phrase “stiff-necked” describes a beast of burden that is too stubborn to wear its master’s yoke or do what its master says. This is the first time the phrase is used in Exodus, but it becomes one of the Bible’s standard ways of referring to the Israelites. What kind of people were they? A stiff-necked people who refused to lower their heads and wear the yoke of obedience to God.

This is a dangerous position for anyone to be in. Stiff-necked people always think they’re right and never admit they’re wrong. They refuse to listen to good spiritual counsel. They say, “I’m sorry; that’s just the way I am,” and then they expect everyone else to deal with it. They ask for advice, but they don’t follow it. They go ahead and do what they were planning to do anyway. And when they get into trouble, they are unwilling to be corrected. “Yes,” they say, “but my situation is different,” and then they offer some kind of excuse. When they go through suffering, they complain about it, but they never seem to learn anything from it. They never change. They never grow. And the saddest thing of all is that they don’t even know it. Since they never bow in true submission to God, they don’t realize how stiff-necked they are.

So don’t be stiff-necked! Assume that you might be wrong; and when you are wrong, admit it. If you ask for counsel from someone in spiritual authority, try to follow it. Listen when people correct you, especially if what they’re saying makes you angry. This is almost always a sign that there’s some truth to what they’re saying. Learn from God through suffering. Pursue spiritual transformation by spending time in prayer and the Word. Wear the yoke of Christ with glad submission.

He then tells Moses to leave Him to His burning wrath, which will consume them, after which He would make a great nation of Moses. First, although God has no real intent of consuming Israel, this is not an altogether idle threat. In the next couple of verses, Moses will remind God of His promise to Abraham, but Moses was also from Abraham. To destroy Israel and make a nation of Moses would have only been delaying the promises fulfillment, but God would not have been going against His promise. Thus, while God clearly means for Moses to intercede for Israel, the people’s lives really are at stake. Second, we should indeed notice that God is placing the matter upon Moses’ shoulders as the mediator between Yahweh and Israel. By telling Moses “let me alone,” God is cuing Moses into the reality that the prophet is only one who stands between Israel and immediate destruction for their sin.

What then will Moses do? Will he take the offer? Remember that all of Exodus has resembled verse 1. Israel has quarreled and disrespected Moses as God’s prophet just as frequently as they have quarreled and disrespected Yahweh Himself. Pragmatically, Moses has no reason to intercede for Israel and every reason to let the LORD destroy them. But crucially, the life of faith does not submit to what is pragmatic, which Moses displays for us in the final verses of our text.

THE INTERCESSION // VERSES 11-14

But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”

With these words, Moses passed one of the most significant tests of his prophetic ministry. He turned down the ambition of making his own name great and begins to intercede for the very people who have been and will continue to be a thorn in his side. Yet the prophet sets his own good aside in order to stand in for God’s sinful people.

His prayer for Israel is a marvelous example of prayer that pleases God. Moses begins by taking the working of the exodus away from himself and back to Yahweh. Although there is truly a sense in which we can say that Moses brought the people out of Egypt, Moses knew that he was simply an instrument in the hand of God; therefore, God alone was deserving of the glory.

Next, Moses appeals to what the Egyptians will think about Yahweh if He destroys Israel. While it may seem strange that God would care what the nation that He decimated with plagues would think of Him, it actually shows that Moses was paying attention God’s explicit purpose for bringing Israel out of Egypt. In 7:5, God said, “The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” Then again in 14:4, “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.”

Finally, Moses appeals to God’s promise to the patriarchs. Notice that Moses does not make light of Israel’s sin. Indeed, in the remainder of the chapter, we will see Moses’ own wrath burning against the people. However, here he is set on turning away God’s wrath, and he does so by appealing to God’s own character in promising to bless the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (who he very rightly calls by his new name here, Israel).

Psalm 106:19-23 gives us a poetic commentary on these verses, saying:

            They made a calf in Horeb
                        and worshiped a metal image.
            They exchanged the glory of God
                        for the image of an ox that eats grass.
            They forgot God, their Savior,
                        who had done great things in Egypt,
            wondrous works in the land of Ham,
                        and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
            Therefore he said he would destroy them—
                        had not Moses, his chosen one,
            stood in the breach before him,
                        to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

Indeed, this is one of the chief moments in which Moses is a type of Christ. Recall the words of Isaiah regarding Christ: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3). Or as John 1:11 says, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” To a far greater degree than even Moses, Jesus had every pragmatic excuse for summoning the twelve legions of angels to destroy humanity and leave us for all eternity in our sins. But instead of leaving us to be justly consumed by the wrath of God against our sins, Christ took God’s wrath upon Himself. And one hymn rightly says, “And he stood before the wrath of God, shielding sinners with his blood.”

As we come to our Lord’s Table, let us marvel at the grace poured out upon us through our great Mediator. Though we are just as idolatrous and sinful of heart as the Israelites, we have not been cut off or destroyed by the LORD because the One who is greater than even Abraham and Moses has interceded for us. Christ stood in the breach and turned away the cup of God’s wrath by drinking every drop Himself. Indeed, through Moses’ intercession, the LORD relents from consuming Israel, but through Christ, both the penalty for our sin is removed and we now receive grace upon grace from His hand. That is the beauty of this cup being the cup of the new covenant in Christ’s blood, rather than the cup of God’s wrath that we rightly deserve. Indeed, just as God relented from destroying Israel for the sake of Moses and the patriarchs, we are now invited to come boldly to God’s throne, not through our own righteousness, but through Christ who gave Himself for us. Therefore, as we eat this bread and drink this cup, let us taste and see the goodness of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ and the glories of the redemption that He has worked for us.