The Exodus and the wilderness · Exodus 32–34
The Golden Calf
Moses is slow to come down from Sinai. The people grow impatient and press Aaron: “Make us gods, which shall go before us.” Aaron collects the golden earrings, casts them in a mold, and makes a calf. “These be thy gods, O Israel,” they cry, and the feast begins. God wants to consume this “stiffnecked” people, but Moses intercedes, and the LORD relents of the evil he had spoken of. Coming down, Moses sees the calf and the dancing: he breaks the tablets at the foot of the mountain, burns the calf, grinds it to powder, and makes the people drink it. The Levites rally to his side; about three thousand men fall. Moses pleads, “Forgive their sin; and if not, blot me out of thy book.” Then he asks, “Shew me thy glory!” God passes before him, proclaiming, “merciful and gracious, longsuffering.” He renews the covenant on two new tablets, and Moses’ face shines.
What happens
- “Make us gods”: Aaron makes a golden calf Exodus 32:1–4
- Moses intercedes, and the LORD relents of the evil he had spoken of Exodus 32:11–14
- Moses breaks the tablets and destroys the calf Exodus 32:19–20
- “Forgive their sin; and if not, blot me out of thy book” Exodus 32:31–32
- “Shew me thy glory!” Exodus 33:18–20
- “Merciful and gracious, longsuffering” Exodus 34:6–7
Who is in this story
The lesson
Idolatry is making a god to our own measure when the true God seems to be slow. In the face of sin, Moses’ intercession foreshadows Christ’s, and God reveals himself as “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (34:6).
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Quick quiz on this story
What does Aaron make the calf from?
Aaron has them bring “the golden earrings” from their ears, casts the gold in a mold, and makes “a molten calf.” Exodus 32:2–4
What does Moses do when he sees the calf and the dancing?
Moses’ anger waxed hot, and “he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount,” then burned the calf. Exodus 32:19–20
What does Moses say in his prayer after “Forgive their sin”?
Moses intercedes for the people: “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” Exodus 32:31–32
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