This study comes from Reading Plan week 15, Exodus 31-40. Other studies from this week's reading: |
Introduction To be sure, there are times when God requires that we step out in faith and trust Him for the results. Such situations may be out of OUR control, but of our faculties and demeanor we still retain complete control. One of the most common, visible indicators that something being done in the name and/or with the things of God is not, in reality, truly OF God is when we observe the participants to be out of control. They are using things that under regular circumstances are subordinate to God’s desire, but in such circumstances are actually working only for their own desire. The final measure of such things is dependent on the degree to which such things agree or disagree with God’s Word. |
1Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” |
[Read v.1] Q: What kind of need do they exhibit and how do they go about addressing it? What does this reveal about their personality and character? A: They have a spiritual need. They address it by doing the very things they’ve seen the Egyptians and other nations do—create and worship graven images. Although the need is legitimate, their proposal reveals that they lack the spiritual strength of character to stand on their own and do things the right way; they’re easily influenced by others. Point: Spiritual deception is often rooted in allowing someone else’s influence to replace the Word of God. Someone else’s words and ways are never a substitute for God’s Word and ways. Q: What is probably already visible right there before them that should have served as a tangible reminder that God was still with them? A: The cloud and pillar of fire. God’s glory—which led them every step of the way from Egypt—was probably still visible, even if now centered on the same mountain to which Moses ascended. Q: Why didn’t they simply go look for Moses? What might that indicate about their spiritual condition? A: They didn’t go looking for Moses because, in reality, they knew where he was: On the mountain covered by God’s glory. They were forbidden to ascend the mountain. Taken together, this indicates that on a conscience level they knew the right thing to do but sought to appease themselves according to their own desire. It was a way of getting around God’s “rules” or restrictions. |
2Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5Now 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.” 6So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. |
[Read v.2-6] Q: From where, most likely, did the Israelites obtain the gold rings they were wearing which they gave up to Aaron? A: They were most likely part of the plunder the Lord gave them upon leaving Egypt. Point: What originated as the things of God were perverted to be used against God. This is a defining characteristic of apostasy repeated throughout Scripture: the misuse of the name and things of God. It is often the case that the gifts of God become desecrated by their employment in the service of sin. Q: What is the irony of what Aaron and the people were doing below in contrast to God and Moses above? A: God through Moses was preparing the precious things that would be connected with His relationship to the people—the Law, the tabernacle, the priesthood, etc., while Aaron and company were making their own thing to establish a relationship with another. Q: What seems almost preposterous about how their new god came about? A: They witnessed every step of its creation. There was no doubt that it came from the gold they donated, the gold was melted in front of them, and the hardening material fashioned before their eyes by the hand of Aaron. There could be no doubt of its human, man-made origin. Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame.
A: They declare “a feast to the Lord” to be celebrated to their golden idol. They are taking the things already conveyed to them by God—feasts already outlined through Moses—and attempting to give their idol legitimacy by applying those things to it. Point: They have not only misapplied the gifts of God, but His Word. |
| 7Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” | [Read v.7-8] Q: How does God define the “corruption” that has taken place?
Q: What does God call the Israelites? What does this indicate about how God reacts to substitutes for Him? A: He calls them “your [Moses’] people” rather than “My people”. God does not consider anyone to be His that substitute another in His place. |
9The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.” 11Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. |
[Read v.9-14] Q: What is God’s specific problem with these people? What is their defining characteristic that causes God’s anger to burn so? A: “They are an obstinate people”. Some versions provide the literal translation, “they are a stiff-necked people”, a people that will not yield or bend to the commandment of God. They are defined by their consistent rejection of God’s Word. Q: What is Moses’ role? What support of that is provided in Scripture? A: He is mediator for the people. Now listen to me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people’s representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, then teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do.
A: A true mediator of God, whose heart is in the right place, will not seek an opportunity for himself, but show that he cares more for those on whose behalf he intercedes than for an opportunity to elevate himself. Q: How do we know that whereas the people have failed to obey God’s Word, that Moses has proven that he adheres to it? A: It’s God’s Word that Moses uses to mediate on behalf of the people. Q: So how did God’s interaction with Moses serve to work on BOTH parties? A: To the people it served as a warning that they could be rejected and lose everything provided by God—both now and for the future—and for Moses it served to refine his faith and spiritual leadership. |
15Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other. 16The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets. 17Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”
“It is not the sound of the cry of triumph, Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat; But the sound of singing I hear.” |
[Read v.15-18] Q: Based on what we know of the people’s behavior to this point, what might singing indicate as to their spiritual condition? A: They weren’t really engaging in activities consistent with celebrating a feast or sacrifices or peace offerings to the Lord as they said they were going to do. Their activities involving their new idol were clearly rooted in bringing pleasure only to their self. Q: So what is the contrast provided between Moses and the people? A: One was devoted to God’s desire through the keeping of His Word, the other devoted to their own pleasure at the expense of ignoring God’s Word. |
19It came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it. 22Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil. 23For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” |
[Read v.19-24] Q: Why did Moses shatter the tablets? What did it represent? A: It represented the people’s disobedience to God’s Word. Their behavior shattered God’s Word as clearly as Moses shattered the tablets. Q: What were the benefits and/or lessons of grinding the calf to powder and making them eat it?
Q: What do Aaron’s lies teach us about false leaders? A: Their favorite tools are to blame others and to blame the supernatural when, in fact, the leader himself is to blame. False teachers try to deflect blame from themselves onto something else. They also believe that the ends justify the means, so as to avoid, if possible, any discussion of events as they might be interpreted according to God’s Word. In the lie that “out came this calf”, he is trying to make the case that supernatural forces at work somehow trumped God’s Word that should have instead been reinforced by him. |
| 25Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies— 26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’” 28So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. | [Read v.25-28] Q: What is one of the clear signs that an activity is NOT of God? A: The participants are “out of control”. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
A: It’s an indication that in such a condition they cannot be an effective witness for God. The issue was not only hurting their personal relationship with God, but how He revealed Himself to others through them. Application: Give an example of when someone in the name of Christianity has been “out of control” and how non-Christians were affected. How is it that non-believers know the difference between a truly spiritual event as opposed to something manufactured by man? Q: What is the lesson we can learn and apply from the example of Moses leading the Levites against the rest of the people? A: We must take seriously the need and task of cleansing the church of false worship. |
29Then Moses said, “Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.” 30On the next day Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. 32But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” 33The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35Then the Lord smote the people, because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made. |
[Read v.29-35] Q: What does it take on our part to recover from “a great sin”, from rebellion against God?
Q: How does Moses differ from Aaron in how he presents the situation? A: Moses neither lies nor embellishes, but states the plain and simple truth. Q: What is the meaning of God’s response to Moses’ empathetic request to “blot me out from Your book”? A: God is basically stating that each individual is responsible for their own actions, for their own sin and its consequences. Q: What might be revealed by the fact that a name must be blotted out rather than written in? A: Every name BEGINS by being included; only by ones disobedience and choices is a name blotted out—erased. Q: Does forgiveness always mean that there will be no punishment? A: No. As in this example, sin has consequences. The priority is not to avoid punishment but to be reconciled to a right relationship with God. |
Overall Application
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