Exodus 32:1-33:6 - The Golden Calf
The Isrealites felt that Moses was gone too long so they convince Aaron to make them a god. They gave up on Moses inturn giving up on God.
Aaron told them to have them bring all of their earrings they are wearing. Aaron made them a golden calf from the earrings. And then they began to worship the golden calf.
Exodus 32:5-6
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.
When God saw this he told Moses to go down and because of what they have done. God was angry because of what they had done. God wanted to destroy them. Moses pleaded with God to not destroy them. Moses reminded the Lord of the promise he made with Abraham, Isaac and Israel.
Exodus 32:14
Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
Moses took the two tables that God himself wrote on them and went back down the mountain. Moses and Joshua could hear the Israelites from far off. When Moses saw what was happening he became angry and threw the table down and broke them. He burnt the calf in a fire and then ground it to a powder, scattered in water and made them drink it.
Moses asked Aaron what the people did to make him do it.
Exodus 32:22-24
“Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, ‘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.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Love how he says he just threw the gold into the fire and the calf just came out.
Moses stood at the gate and said to the Israelites “ Whoever is for the Lord come to me”. With this the Levites rallied to him. Moses had them put swords at their side. Then they were told to kill his brother, friend and neighbor. Three thousand of the people died. Moses told the people the sinned against the Lord. He also told them he was going back up the make atonement to the Lord.
Moses did go back up the mountain and he for God to forgive the Isrealites and if God would not to instead blot Moses name out of his book.
Exodus 32:33-35
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.
God told Moses to go to the land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God told him he would send and angel before him to will drive out their enemies. But God was not going to go with him because he would kill them. And this worried the Isrealites because they know God would not be with them because he would kill them.
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