The Man Moses #13

The Lord said to me,.."I will test my people with a plumbline. Amos 7:8 (TLB)

The Plumbline is a blog to encourage the Body of Christ.

The Man Moses #13

Pacification By Moses

Remember when Moses delayed his decent from the mountain the people got nervous and persuaded Aaron to make a golden calf so they could worship the idol. These actions prompted God to address Moses in verse ten.

Exodus 32:10 (NKJV) 10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”

Make of you a great nation—Care must be taken not to suppose this language as offering any change or vacillation in God’s 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 the 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.

Pacification By Moses: Moses attempts to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand?  Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.* You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever. So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.

Moses turned, and went down from the mount— he heard the shouting some time before they actually saw the camp. The Israelites were reveling around the Golden Calf.

Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands—The arrival of the leader, like the appearance of a specter, 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, so God could 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 history.

Moses took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire—It has been supposed that the gold was dissolved by some chemical substance. But there is no mention of solubility here, or in De 9:21; it was “burned in the fire,” to cast it into ingots of suitable size for 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; and 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 drunk for a time [Napier]. Others think that as the idolatrous festivals were usually ended with great use of sweet wine, the nauseous draught of the gold dust would be a severe punishment (compare 2Ki 23:6, 15; 2Ch 15:16; 34:7).

Naked—either unarmed and defenseless, or ashamed from a sense of guilt. Some think they were literally naked, as their enemies performed some of their rites in that indecent manner.

Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said—The camp is supposed to have been protected by a rampart after the attack of the Amalekites.

Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me—The zeal and courage of Moses was astonishing, considering he opposed an intoxicated mob. The people were separated into two divisions, and those who were the boldest and most obstinate in vindicating their idolatry were put to death, while the rest, who withdrew in shame or sorrow, were spared.

Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord—or, “Ye have consecrated yourselves to-day.” The Levites, notwithstanding the dejection of Aaron, distinguished themselves by their zeal for the honor of God and their conduct in doing the office of executioners on this occasion; and this was one reason that they were appointed to a high and honorable office in the service.

Exodus 32:31-35 31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!” 33 But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Look! My angel will lead the way before you. And when I come to call the people to account, I will certainly hold them responsible for their sins.” 35 Then the Lord sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshiped the calf Aaron had made.