Matthew Henry Commentary Exodus 32:1-6

"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.