Chapter 32

Exodus 32:5 - Aaron made a golden calf and called it YHWH (the LORD). It is one thing if he made the calf and called it some other name. But it was significant that he did this. It shows the ignorance of the human mind to conceive of God properly. Calvin said “When we are in a manner forced to the contemplation of God, and thus led to form some impressions of Deity, we immediately fly off to carnal dreams and depraved fictions”, which is why we must rely on Scripture to guide us (Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Ch. 5). This is a classic example of creating a god to suite one’s sin. He takes the basic idea of the Lord; twist and contort it until a god is fashioned that will suit one’s sinful desires. For the Israelites, they did not want the invisible God. They wanted a god like the Egyptians.

Notice too how quickly they were ready to forsake the covenant they had made with the Lord to go back to their former sins. At the first sign of trouble in the covenant, they abandon the Lord's regulations. This shows the un-circumcision of their hearts. They were never truly converted, though some were and turned their swords on their countrymen. So too, if we had made a presumptuous commitment to the Lord, at first sign of trouble, we will abandon our allegiance to Him and go back to our sinful bondage to sin in Egypt. What was the consequence? 3000 men died that day (32:28).

Exodus 32:10 - Was this a test of Moses' motives? If Moses had not interceded, he could have been the new progenitor of Israel and thus increased his stature for the nation to come. If he were self-serving, he might have done that. But at the same time, he would have allowed the Lord's name to be defamed while at the same time allowing his own name to be more highly honored. This would have been a double sin.

Exodus 32:11-13 - Why did Moses ask the Lord why He was angry? Is it not obvious? Verse 8 tells everything they have done. It is possible that Moses was thinking more compassionately and did not understand the gravity of the offense against the Lord. Moses misunderstood the situation. That would explain his behavior in verses 19-20. Now it is Moses whose anger flared. He lost his temper and behaved rashly. Often, we can see some sort of sin and think that because it is normal, it is not so grievous. It would be normal for the Israelites to fashion a god and worship it. It is a standard practice of ancient near eastern religion. Promiscuity, rebellion, stealing, homosexuality, these are all normal features of life in the 21st Century. Nevertheless, these are grievous sins in the eyes of the Lord. We should never lose our appallment at these sins, even if we are less disturbed by them. We should never think that because a sin is normal that it deserves any less punishment. Thus, we should be thankful for the mercy we enjoy and seek to unite others with Christ that they may not feel the full wrath of God.
(Note: Read Matthew Henry's comments on this chapter in the complete edition.)

Exodus 32:20 - This verse is an allegorical warning that you
will drink the results of your sin.

Exodus 32:21 - Moses asks Aaron "What did this people do to you...?" I.e., Did they hurt or offend you that you would hate them so much as to lead them into this great sin? As a leader, we show sheer hatred for those in our charge when we let them go against God's commands. We think we are giving them what they want. We think we are doing a good thing, but the Lord says, "You hate them." Furthermore, the Scripture says, "Cursed is the man who does the work of the Lord negligently" (Jeremiah 48:10). This is a grave warning to presumptuous Christian leaders.

Exodus 32:22 - It is hilarious that now Aaron is saying the same thing to Moses that Moses said to the Lord. The places are exactly switched.

Exodus 32:25 - This verse contains the means of another commonly taught factoid that is biblically unsupportable. Some say that when Moses came down the mountain, the people were having a drunken orgy. I do not know what gave rise to this notion. The Scripture does not even hint to this fact. The KJV translates the Hebrew word for "let go" as "naked." But in King James English, "naked" did not have as its primary meaning "unclothed." It meant "open, discovered, stripped." There is no other verse that remotely hints to a drunken orgy taking place. They were celebrating a feast with singing and dancing. Matthew Henry, who was closer in time to the writing of the KJV, also did not see this as an unclothed state, but rather a state of exposure to shame.

Exodus 32:32 - I do not believe this "book" is the Lamb's book of life, i.e., the record of the saved. This book is a book of physical life and death. Moses did not want the people to be killed (vs. 10). He commanded the execution of 3,000 men, and he asked the Lord that this should be enough. The Lord says, "The soul that sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4). Thus, in verse 34, the Lord says "I will punish them for their sin with death."

Exodus 32:35 - This one verse should strike the fear of God and the fear of sin into our hearts. In verse 34, the Lord promises to punish the people. Then in this verse, Moses records that He did strike the people. There are no details on how it was done, who was killed, or how many. This is actually quite mysterious. Moses does not expand at all. He goes right on with the story beginning in chapter 33. Notice that Aaron himself was not struck, even though it was he who made the golden calf and officiated at the festivities. Rather, the people were struck.