John Calvin Commentary Exodus 32:34

"And now go, lead the people unto [the place] of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine angel shall go before thee; nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them." — Exodus 32:34 (ASV)

Therefore now go, lead the people. In these words God shows that He is appeased, for it was a sure sign of His reconciliation that His angel is appointed to guide them during the rest of their way. The interpretation which some give—that an angel is now promised to take care of them, such as Daniel testifies to have been sometimes assigned even to heathen nations, and an instance of which we will see in the next chapter—is merely a poor conjecture. Besides, God declares that though the people have departed from the faith, He still stood firm to His agreement regarding their enjoyment of the promised inheritance.

His postponement of their punishment is an indirect rebuke of the people’s wickedness, as if He had said that they were of so perverse a nature that they would in the future give many fresh occasions for it. If any object that, whenever God later punished other sins, He did not then take into account this act of idolatry, I reply that it is nothing new for God, when people incur fresh guilt again, to accumulate their punishments and also to bring many sins to judgment together under one general punishment. Besides, we know that God casts the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation.

Lastly, there is nothing to prevent Him from visiting at another time with temporal punishments the iniquity which He has once pardoned. For why did He then forgive them? Was it not lest the truth of His covenant should perish? Those, then, whom He thus was unwilling to destroy, He might at His own time call up again for punishment, provided the chastisement was only moderate. Therefore, let us learn not to flatter ourselves if God ever suspends His judgment,³⁵⁹ nor to abuse His long-suffering, as if we had escaped with impunity.

³⁵⁹ “L’execution de son jugement;” the execution of His judgment. — Fr.