Chapter XXXII
Ver. l-ffi. TiiK Golden Calk. 1. when the people saw that Moses delayed-they supposed that he had lost his way In the darkness or perished In the Are. the people gathered tikemselvea together unto Aaron— rather "against" Aaron In a tumultuous manner, to compel him to do what they wished. The Incidents rttlated In this chapter disclose a state of popular sentiment
CHAPTER XXXI.
Ver. 1-18. Rkzai.f.el and Aiiomah. a. See, I have called—Though the Instructions about the tabi'rnaelo were privately communicated to Moses, It was i)lalnly Impossible that he could superintend the work In person, umld the multiplicity of his otherdutles. A liead director
an<i feeling among the Isroelltes that stanils in singular contrast to the tone of profound and humble reverence they displayed at the giving of the law. Within a space of little more than thirty days, their Impressions were dissipated; and although they were still encamped upon ground which thoy had every reason to regard ivs holy ;
v/» builder was selected by Ood himself; and the uomlua-
Idolatry of the People. EXODUS XXXII. Moses Breakelh tlie Tabltt.
recently promulgated laws, make of theeagreat nation —Care must be taken not to suppose this language as betokening any change or vacillation in the Divine purpose. The covenant made with the patriarchs had been ratified in the most solemn manner; it could not and never was intended that it should be broken. But tlie manner in which God spoke to Moses served two important purposes—it tended to develop the faith and intercessory patriotism of the Hebrew leader, and to excite the serious alarm .of the people, that God would reject them and deprive them of the privileges they had fondly fancied were so secure. 15-18. Moses turned, and went down from the mount—The plain, Er-Raheli, is not visible from the top of Jebel Musa, nor can the mount be descended on the side towards that valley; hence JXosi^s and his companion who on duty had patiently waited his
although the cloud of glory that capped the summit of Sinai was still before their eyes, all'ordiug a visible demonstration of their being in close contact, or ratlier in the immediate presence, of God, they acted as if tliey liad entirely forgotten tlie impressive scenes of wiiicli they aad been so recently the witnesses, said unto lUm, Up, make ua gods ; which shall go before us—Tlie Uebi etv word rendered gods is simply the name of God lu its plural form. The Image made was single, and therefore it would be imputing to tlie Israelites a greater sin tlian they. were guilty of, to charge them with renouncing the worship of the true God for idols. The fact is, tliat they required, like children, to have something to strike their senses, and as the Sliechinah, "tlie glory of God," of which they had hitherto enjoyed the
siglit, was now veiled, they wished for some visible material object as the symbol of the Divine presence, which should go before them as the pillar of fire had done. /J. Aaron said, . , . Break off . . . earrings—It was not an Egyptian custom for young men to wear earrings, and the circumstance, therefore, seems to point out " the mixed rabble," who were chiefly foreign slaves, as the ringleaders in this insurrection. In giving direction to break their earrings, Aaron probably calculated on gaining time ; or, perhaps, on tlieir covetousness and love of finery proving stronger than their idolatrous propen-
return in the hollow of tlie mountain's brow, heard tlie shouting some time before they actually saw the camp. 19. nioses' anger waxed hot, and he cast tlie tables out of his hands—Tlie arrival of the leader, like tlie appearance of a spectre, arrested the revellers in the midst of their carnival, and his act of righteous indignation, when he dashed on the ground the tables of the law, in token that as they had so soon departed from their covenant relation, God would withdraw the peculiar privileges that He had promised them—that act, together with the rigorous measures that followed, forms one of the most striking scenes recorded in sacred liistory. ao. he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the Hire, etc.—ll has been supposed that the gold was dissolved by jiairon, or some chemical substance. But there is no mention of solubility here, or in Deuteronomy S. 21 ; it was " burufd in the fire," to cast it into ingots of suitable size lor the operations which follow—"grounded to powder;" the powder of malleable metals can be ground so fine as to resemble dust from the wings of a moth or butterfly ; aiid these dust particles will float in water for hours, and in a running stream for days. These operations of grinding were intended to show contempt for such worthless gods, and the Israelites would be made to remember the humiliating lesson by the state of the water they had drank for a time. [Napier.] Others think that as the idolatrous festivals were usually ended with great use of sweel wine, the nauseous draught of the gold dust would be a severe punishment (cf. 2 Kings 23. 6, 15; 2Clironicles 15. 16; 34. 7). 33. Aaron said, Let not the anger of m jLord wax hot^Aaron cuts a poor figure, making ashuflling excuse and betraying more dread of the anger of Moses than of the Lord (cf. Deuteronomy 9. 20). 35. naked— either unarmed and defenceless, or ashamed from a sense of guilt. Some think they were literally naked, as the Egyptians performed some of their rices in that indecent manner. 30-38. Moses stood in the gate of tbe camp, and said—the camp is supposed to have been protected by a rampart after the attack of the Ainalckiti s. Who is on the Lord's sidel let him come unto meThe zeal and courage of Moses was astonishing, considering he opposed himself toan intoxicated mob. The people were separated into two divisions, and those who were the boldest and most olistinate in vindicating their idolatry were put to death, while the rest, who withdrew in shame or sorrow, were spared. 39. Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord—or, ye have consecrated .yourselves to-day. The Ijevites, uot pithstanding the dejection of Aaron, distinguished themselves by their zeal lor the honour of God and their conduct in doing the oflii e of executioners on this occasion; and this was one reason of their being appointed to a high and honourable oflice in the service of the sanctuary. .30-33. Moses said unto the people. Ye have sinned a great sin—Moses laboured to show the people tlie heinous nature of their sin, and bring them to repentance. But not content with that, he hastened more earnestly to intercede for them. .33. blot me . . . out of thy book—an allusion to the registering of the living, and erasing the names of those who die.
sity. If such wei'e his expectations, they were doomed to signal disappointment. Better to have calmly and earnestly remonstrated with them, or to have preferred duty to expediency, leaving tlie issue in the hands of Providence. 3. all the people brake off the golden earrings —The Egyptian rings, as seen on the monuments, were round massy plates of metal ; and as tliey were rings of this sort tlie Israelites wore, their size and number must, in the general collection, have produced a large store of the precious metal. 4. fashioned it with a gravlng-tool, after he had made it a molten calf—Tlie words are transposed, and the rendering should be, "he framed with a graving-tool the image to be made, and having poured the liquid gold into the mould, he made it a molten calf." It is not said whether it was of life size, whether it was of solid gold or merely a wooden frame covered with plates of gold. This idol seems to have been the god Apis, the cliief deity of the Egyptians, worshipped at Memphis under the form of a live ox, three years old. It was distinguished by a, triangular wliite spot on its forehead and other peculiar marks. Images of it in the form of a whole ox, or of a calf's head on the end of a pole, were very common ; and it makes a great figure on the monuments, where it is represented in the A-an of all processions, as borne aloft on men's shoulders, they said, These be tliy gods, O Israel, which brouglit thee tip out of the land of Egypt—It is inconceivable, i-hat they who but a few weeks before had witnessed such amazing demonstrations of the true God, could have suddenly sunk to such a pitch of infatuation and brutish stupidity, as to imagine that human art or hands could make a god that should go before them. But it must be borne In mind, that though by election and in name they were the people of God, they were as yet, in feelings and associations, in habits and tastes, little, if at all difl'ercnt. from Egyptians. They meant the calf to be an image, a visible sign or symbol of Jehovah, so that their sin consisted not in a breach of the first, but of the second commandment. 5,6, Aaron made proclamation, and said. To-morrow is a feast to tlie Lord-a reinarkalile circumstance, strongly confirmatory of the view that they had not renounced the worship of Jehovah, but in accordance with Egyptian notions, had formed an image with which they had been familiar, to be the visible symbol of the Divine presence. But there seems to have been imich of the revelry that marked the feasts of the lieathen. 7-14. the Lord said unto nioses. Go, get thee down Intelligence of the Idolatrous scene enacted at the foot of the mount was communicated to Moses in Innguage borrowed from human passions and feelings, and the jndgmentof a justly offended God pronounced in terms of just Indignation against the gross violation of the so
What warmth of afl^ection did he evince for his bret hren I how full.y was he animated with the true spirit of a patriot, when he professed his willinuness to die for them,
The Tabernacle Removed. EXODUS XXXIII, xxxrv. The Tables are Benewed.
But Christ actually died for His people (Romans 5. 8). 33. tlie Lord plagfiied tUc people, because tliey made the calf—No irainediate judgments were inflicted, but
that the favour was to be restored with some memento jf the rupture; for at the former time God himself had provided the materials, as well as written upon them. Now, Moses was to prepare the stone tables, and Gcd was only to retrace the characters originally Inscribed for the use and guidance of the people, a. present thyself ... to me In the top of the mount—Not absolutely the higlu-st peak; for as the cloud of the ShecUinah usually abode oi the summit, arid yet (v. 5) it "descended," the plain in ference is, that Moses was to station himself at a poiiil not far distant, but still below the loftiest pinnacle. 3. no man shall come up with thee . . . neither . . . flocka nor herds—All these enactments were made in order tliat the law might be a second time renewed with the soU mnity and sanctity that marked its first delivery. 'Ilie whole transaction was ordered so as to impress the people with an awful sense of the holiness of God; and that it; was a matter of no trifling moment to have subjected him, so to speak, to the necessity of re-delivering the law of the ten commandments. 4. Moses . . . took In his hand the two tables of stone—As he had no atlfiidant to diTlde the labour of carrying them, it is evident that they must have been light, and of no great dimensions — probably flat slabs of shale or slate, such as abound in the mountainous region of Horeb. An additional proof of their comparatively small size appears in the circumstance of their being deposited in the ark of the most holy place (ch. 25. 10). 5. the Lord descended In tho cloud—After graciously hovering over the tabernacle, it seems to have resumed its usual position on the summit of the mount. It was the shadow of God manifest to the outward senses; and, at the same time, of God manifest in the flesh. The emblem of a cloud seems to have been chosen to signify that, although He was pleased to make known much about himself, there was more veiled from mortal view. It was to check presumption, and engender awe, and give a humble sense of human attainments in Divine knowledge, as now man sees, but darkly. 6. the Loi-d passed by before him—in this remarkable scene, God performed what He had promisetl to Moses t he day before, proclaimed. The Lord . . . merciful and gracious—At an earlier period He had announced him-
tliis early lapse into idolatrj' was always mentioned as an aggravation of their subsequent apostasies.