Matthew Henry Commentary Exodus 32
Matthew Henry Commentary
Exodus 32
Matthew Henry Commentary
Exodus 32
"And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf: and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw [this], he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow shall be a feast to Jehovah. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play." — Exodus 32:1-6 (ASV)
While Moses was on the mountain, receiving the law from God, the people made a tumultuous demand to Aaron. This fickle crowd was tired of waiting for Moses's return. Weariness in waiting exposes one to many temptations. The Lord must be waited for until He comes, and waited for even if He delays. Let their readiness to part with their earrings to make an idol shame our stinginess in the service of the true God.
They did not hesitate because of the cost of their idolatry; and shall we begrudge the expenses of religion? Aaron produced the shape of an ox or calf, giving it some finish with an engraving tool. They offered sacrifice to this idol. Having set up an image before them, and so changed the truth of God into a lie, their sacrifices were an abomination.
Had they not, only a few days before, in this very place, heard the voice of the Lord God speaking to them out of the midst of the fire, Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image? Had they not themselves solemnly entered into a covenant with God, that they would do all He had said to them, and would be obedient? (Exodus 24:7).
Yet before they stirred from the place where this covenant had been solemnly made, they broke an express command, in defiance of an express threatening. This plainly shows that the law was no more able to make holy than it was to justify; through it comes the knowledge of sin, but not the cure of sin.
Aaron was set apart by divine appointment to the office of the priesthood; but he, who had once so shamed himself as to build an altar to a golden calf, must acknowledge himself unworthy of the honor of attending at the altar of God, and indebted for it to free grace alone. Thus pride and boasting were silenced.
"And Jehovah spake unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, that thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed unto it, and said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And Jehovah said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought Jehovah his God, and said, Jehovah, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, that thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. And Jehovah repented of the evil which he said he would do unto his people." — Exodus 32:7-14 (ASV)
God says to Moses that the Israelites had corrupted themselves. Sin is the corruption of the sinner, and it is a self-corruption; every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust. They had turned aside out of the way. Sin is a departing from the way of duty into a bypath. They soon forgot God's works.
He sees what they cannot discover, nor is any wickedness of the world hidden from Him. We could not bear to see the thousandth part of that evil which God sees every day. God expresses the greatness of His just displeasure, after the manner of men who would believe that the prayer of Moses could save them from ruin; thus he was a type of Christ, by whose mediation alone, God would reconcile the world to Himself.
Moses pleads God's glory. Glorifying God's name, as it ought to be our first petition (and it is so in the Lord's Prayer), so too it ought to be our great plea. And God's promises are to be our pleas in prayer, for what He has promised He is able to perform. See the power of prayer.
In answer to the prayers of Moses, God showed His purpose of sparing the people, though He had before seemed determined on their destruction; this change in the outward manifestation of His purpose is called repenting of the evil.
"And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand; tables that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; but the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses` anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it." — Exodus 32:15-20 (ASV)
What a change it is, to come down from the mount of communion with God, to converse with a wicked world. In God we see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing but what is sinful and provoking.
So that it might be clear that an idol is nothing in the world, Moses ground the calf to dust. Mixing this powder with their drink signified that the backslider in heart should be filled with his own ways.
"And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are [set] on evil. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off: so they gave it me; and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies,) then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on Jehovah`s side, [let him come] unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to Jehovah, yea, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day." — Exodus 32:21-29 (ASV)
No wise man ever made a more frivolous and foolish excuse than that of Aaron. We must never be drawn into sin by anything people can say or do to us, for people can only tempt us to sin; they cannot force us.
The approach of Moses turned the dancing into trembling. They were exposed to shame by their sin.
The course Moses took to roll away this reproach was not by concealing the sin, or misrepresenting it, but by punishing it.
The Levites were to slay the ringleaders in this wickedness; yet no one was executed except those who openly stood out.
Those who persist in sin are marked for ruin: those who in the morning were shouting and dancing, before night were dying. The Lord's judgments sometimes bring such sudden changes upon sinners who are secure and jovial in their sin.
"And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto Jehovah; peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin-; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 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. And Jehovah smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made." — Exodus 32:30-35 (ASV)
Moses calls it a great sin. The work of ministers is to show people the greatness of their sins. The great evil of sin appears in the price of pardon. Moses pleads with God for mercy; he came not to make excuses, but to make atonement. We are not to suppose that Moses means that he would be willing to perish forever for the people's sake.
We are to love our neighbor as ourselves, and not more than ourselves. But having that mind which was in Christ, he was willing to lay down his life in the most painful manner, if he might thereby preserve the people. Moses could not wholly turn away the wrath of God, which shows that the law of Moses was not able to reconcile people to God and to perfect our peace with him.
In Christ alone, God so pardons sin as to remember it no more. From this history we see that no unhumbled, carnal heart can long endure the holy precepts, the humbling truths, and the spiritual worship of God. But a god, a priest, a worship, a doctrine, and a sacrifice, suited to the carnal mind, will always meet with an abundance of worshippers. The very gospel itself may be so perverted as to suit a worldly taste. It is well for us that the Prophet like Moses, but who is beyond compare more powerful and merciful, has made atonement for our souls and now intercedes on our behalf.
Let us rejoice in his grace.
Jump to: