Exodus Chapter 32 Deep-Dive: The Golden Calf

Hosted by Joey and Matt 

biblebonesandligaments.com

Deep-dives into the Bible beyond what Sunday teaches you.

 

Exodus Ch 32 The Golden Calf

AS WE WORK THROUGH THE EXODUS IT’S CRITICAL TO KEEP IN MIND THAT MUCH LATER IN ISRAEL’S HISTORY, WHILE GOD IS CONDEMNING THE NATION TO EXILE IN BABYLON DUE TO THEIR CONTINUED IDOLATRY & REBELLION … HE REVEALS THROUGH HIS PROPHET IN BABYLON, EZEKIEL THE PRIEST, IN Ez 20:7-9 … THAT THE PEOPLE WERE IDOLIZING THE EGYPTIAN GODS WHILE THEY WERE INCREASING IN NUMBER IN EGYPT … GOD SAYS HE HAD TOLD THEM TO GIVE UP THEIR IDOLATRY BUT THEY NEVER DID, SO ON SOME LEVEL GOD IS ANGRY WITH ISRAEL, EVEN IN THE MIDST OF RESCUING THEM FROM THE EGYPTIANS … EZEKIEL TELLS US THAT YAHWEH RESCUED THEM PRIMARILY TO PREVENT HIS NAME FROM BEING DEGRADED BEFORE THE NATIONS AND NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE DESERVING OF IT … WE’VE ALSO SEEN THAT ISRAEL HAS BEEN IN PARTIAL REBELLION SINCE PASSING THROUGH THE RED SEA EVEN THOUGH YAHWEH HAD DONE MIRACLES BEFORE THEIR VERY EYES OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS BEFORE THEY ARRIVED AT SINAI … INCLUDING WATER FROM A ROCK AND DAILY MANNA ...

IT’S BEEN 6-12 MONTHS SINCE MOSES FIRST SHOWED UP IN EGYPT AND DELIVERED YAHWEH’S MESSAGE TO ISRAEL. THROUGHOUT THE MIRACULOUS PLAGUES IN EGYPT, THE DIVIDING OF THE RED SEA, THE DEFEAT OF PHARAOH’S FORCES AND THE EARLY MIRACLES OF THE EXODUS GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL IN PROVIDING FOR ISRAEL AND DELIVERING THEM FROM THEIR ENEMIES. ON THE OTHER HAND, ISRAEL HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT UNFAITHFUL TO GOD, COMPLAINING, MURMURING, WANTING TO GO BACK TO EGYPT … SPIRITUAL KNUCKLEHEADS … UNTIL THEY ARRIVE AT SINAI AND GOD SPEAKS THE 10 COMMANDMENTS TO THEM FROM THE MOUNTAIN OUT OF THUNDER AND LIGHTNING … ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING. THEY THEN ASK MOSES TO REPRESENT THEM AND SPEAK TO GOD FOR THEM, ALSO, JUST 40 DAYS BEFORE THIS THE SEVENTY ELDERS OF ISRAEL SHARED A MEAL WITH YAHWEH … IN PERSON!

SO, MOSES HAS BEEN ON MT SINAI FOR 12 CHAPTERS (SINCE CH 24:18) … 40 DAYS … THE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ALONE, WITH NOTHING TO DO, FOR 40 DAYS WITH NO MOSES, AND NO GOD … WITH AARON AND HUR IN CHARGE ...

1When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD WERE USUALLY FATAL – MAYBE MOSES WAS NEVER COMING BACK?, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron THIS IS UNDERSTATED, THE HEBREW HERE IS VERY STRONG AND REPRESENTS A BORDERLINE RIOT – THEY ARE IN AARON’S FACE and said to him, “Up, make us gods (HEBREW IS ELOHIM – THE FORM IS PLURAL BUT ITS MEANING CAN BE SINGULAR OR PLURAL AND IS USUALLY TRANSLATED AS SINGULAR – GOD. THE PEOPLE WANT GODS THEY CAN SEE, THEY FEEL ABANDONED BY MOSES AND GOD … who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man (LACK OF INTIMACY, DISDAIN – MOSES WHO? … “THIS” MOSES!) who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” IT’S VERY INTERESTING THAT GOD CONTINUED TO PROVIDE DAILY MANNA DURING THIS TIME … WHERE DID THEY THINK THAT WAS COMING FROM? … UNBELIEVABLE … 2So Aaron said to them IN THE FACE OF A RIOT – THE PEOPLE ARE GANGING UP ON HIM, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears (THEY WERE WILLING TO GIVE UP PERSONAL WEALTH IN ORDER TO HAVE AN IDOL – WEALTH GAINED FROM THE EGYPTIANS. EARINGS AND JEWELRY WERE A METHOD OF TRANSPORTING WEALTH) and brought them to Aaron. 4And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” ELOHIM IS THE WORD FOR GOD HERE AND COULD HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED “GOD” SINGULAR … AARON IS MOST LIKELY SAYING THAT THIS GOLDEN BULL REPRESENTS YAHWEH … THIS IS FURTHER EXPLAINED ABOUT 700 YEARS LATER WHEN NEHEMIAH WAS WRITTEN AFTER THE BABYLONIAN EXILE … THIS PASSAGE WAS RECAPPING THE INCIDENT OF THE GOLDEN CALF AT THE FOOT OF SINAI: Nehemiah 9:18 Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ SINGULAR

BOVINES – OXEN, BULLS, COWS … WERE COMMONLY USED TO REPRESENT DEITY IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST, AND BOVINE CULTS WERE COMMON IN ANCIENT EGYPT: APIS WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THE SACRED BULLS. ISIS, QUEEN OF THE EGYPTIAN GODS, HAD COW’S HORNS ON HER HEAD, AND HATHOR HAD A BOVINE HEAD. THE CALF WAS ALSO A REPRESENTATION OF THE CANAANITE GOD EL, OR, BAAL. THROUGHOUT THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST THE BULL WAS A SYMBOL OF LORDSHIP, LEADERSHIP, STRENGTH, VITALITY AND FERTILITY … THEY WERE ALSO USED TO REPRESENT A PEDESTAL ON WHICH A GOD STOOD – ON THE BACK OF THE CALF … ABOVE HUMAN HEIGHT.

REMEMBER, JUST 6-9 MONTHS BEFORE THIS THE PEOPLE WERE IN EGYPT – SURROUNDED BY AND PARTICIPATING IN PAGAN RELIGIONS. THERE WAS NO BIBLE AT THIS POINT AND EVERYONE HAD THEIR OWN “IDEAS” ABOUT GOD. WHEN MOSES DISAPPEARED FOR 40 DAYS, IT MADE SENSE THAT THESE SPIRITUAL KNUCKLEHEADS WOULD TRY TO CONJURE UP GOD BY MAKING AN IDOL IN A FORM THEY WERE FAMILIAR WITH … A CALF. ALTHOUGH THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN BY THE COMMANDMENT THEY HAD JUST RECEIVED FROM SINAI – NO GRAVEN IMAGE OR ARTISTIC REPRESENTATION OF ANYTHING IN HEAVEN.

BACK TO EXODUS 32:4 … And they THE PEOPLE said, “These are your gods (OR “GOD” ACCORDING TO NEHEMAIH), O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 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 (YAHWEH).” AARON’S PROCLAMATION THAT THE GOLDEN CALF IS TIED DIRECTLY TO YAHWEH … HE’S TRYING TO COMPROMISE … HE ALSO PILES ON AND DECLARES A FEAST ON HIS OWN AUTHORITY … AND THE PEOPLE AGREED. 6And they THE PEOPLE rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. SLAUGHTERED MUCH OF THEIR LIVESTOCK IN A PAGAN RITUAL THAT WAS MEANINGLESS TO YAHWEH … And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play SEXUAL CONNOTATIONS RELATED TO “PLAY” … ORGIES WERE PART OF PAGAN WORSHIP … SEEKING THE BLESSING OF FERTILITY.

LET’S STOP HERE AND PUT ON OUR NEW COVENANT DECODER GLASSES

Paul’s take on this in the New Testament: 1 Cor 10:1For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. YAHWEH KILLED THEM !!! 9We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did PAUL IS SAYING TO THE CORINTHIANS “DON’T PUT JESUS TO THE TEST THE SAME WAY THE ISRAELITES DID … JESUS WAS THE ONE THE ISRAELITES DISOBEYED … REMEMBER THAT JESUS SAID “MOSES WROTE ABOUT ME” 9We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. GOD’S RETRIBUTION & WRATH 11Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 14Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

BACK TO THE GOLDEN CALF … IT’S LIKELY THAT THE PEOPLE HAD NOT TURNED AWAY FROM YAHWEH, BUT “ADDED TO HIM” WITH THE GOLDEN CALF: 1) EITHER TO HAVE YAHWEH STAND ON THE CALF AS A PEDESTAL, OR, 2) THAT THE CALF REPRESENTED THE LORDSHIP, LEADERSHIP, STRENGTH, VITALITY AND FERTILITY OF YAHWEH … MORE SIGNS THAT THEY WERE NOT PAYING ATTENTION WHEN THE 10 COMMANDMENTS WERE GIVEN AND WERE STILL SPIRITUAL KNUCKLEHEADS.

JUST TWO MONTHS BEFORE THIS GOD HAD SPOKEN THE 10 COMMANDMENTS DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE FROM MT SINAI: Ex 20:3 1^ST COMMANDMENT “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 2^ND COMMANDMENT “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

JUST 40 DAYS BEFORE THIS THE SEVENTY ELDERS OF ISRAEL SHARED A MEAL WITH YAHWEH … IN PERSON! Ex 24:9Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. WHERE WERE THEY WHEN THIS REBELLION BEGAN !?!

BACK TO EX 32, MOSES SPEAKING WITH GOD ON MT SINAI: 7And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, THE LORD WANTS TO DISOWN HIS PEOPLE – HE’S DISGUSTED WITH THEM!! … have corrupted themselves. 8They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. 10 COMMANDMENTS GIVEN BY GOD SPEAKING DIRECTLY FROM SINAI … They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, (OR, ACCORDING TO NEHEMIAH, SINGULAR – THIS IS YOUR GOD, O ISRAEL) … who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” WHATEVER THEIR MOTIVES … GOD SINGULAR, GODS PLURAL, YAHWEH RIDING ON THE BACK OF THE GOLDEN CALF, THE GOLDEN CALF AN IMAGE OF YAHWEH, TRYING TO BRING YAHWEH BACK TO THEM, WORSHIPING OTHER GODS … WHATEVER THE PRACTICE, WHATEVER THE MOTIVES – THIS IS ILLEGITIMATE PAGAN WORSHIP … GOD REJECTS IT COMPLETELY AND IS INFURIATED. … 9And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, GOD IS PREPARING TO KILL THEM ALL – THE WRATH OF GOD !!! … in order that I may make a great nation of you.” THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT NOW OFFERED TO MOSES …

11But Moses implored the Lord his God INTERCEDES ON BEHALF OF ISRAEL – A PRIESTLY MEDIATOR, A PICTURE OF JESUS and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. MOSES IS SAYING “HOW WILL THE OTHER NATIONS COME TO KNOW YOU IF YOU ABANDON YOUR PEOPLE NOW?” 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” MOSES REMINDS GOD THAT IT’S GOD’S REPUTATION THAT’S AT STAKE, ESPECIALLY BEFORE THE EGYPTIANS … GOD’S PLAN WAS TO USE ISRAEL TO COMMUNICATE WITH ALL MANKIND. 14And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people. MOSES WAS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME A GREAT NATION HIMSELF, INSTEAD, HE INTERCEDES FOR THE PEOPLE AND GETS GOD TO CHANGE HIS MIND …

SO, DOES GOD REALLY CHANGE HIS MIND? GOD IS THE SOVEREIGN CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE WHO KNOWS ALL THINGS AND ULTIMATELY CONTROLS ALL THINGS, HOWEVER, THE BIBLE CLEARLY AND CERTAINLY SAYS HE DOES, IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS “CHANGE HIS MIND”, IN RESPONSE TO OUR PRAYER …

2 Kings 20:1 In those days Hezekiah (ONE OF THE FEW “GOOD” KINGS OF ISRAEL 2 KI CH 18-20, THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED LATE IN LIFE – AFTER HE HAD SEEN GOD WORK IN MANY MIRACULOUS WAYS) … became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3“Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5“Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, 6and I will add fifteen years to your life. … BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR … THIS 15 YEAR EXTENSION OF HEZEKIAH’S LIFE ENDED UP BEING A BAD THING FOR ISRAEL AFTER HEZEKIAH SHOWED THE ENVOYS FROM BABYLON ALL OF THE TREASURES OF ISRAEL ... HEZEKIAH LATER HEARS FROM ISAIAH THAT BABYLON WILL SHORTLY DESTROY ISRAEL AND TAKE HEZEKIAH’S FAMILY CAPTIVE: 2 Ki 20:16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 18And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 19Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?” UGH – DID HEZEKIAH LOSE HIS REPUTATION WITH THAT STATEMENT? IF HE HAD DIED ACCORDING TO GOD’S ORIGINAL PLAN HE WOULD NOT HAVE HAD TO HEAR THIS BAD NEWS, AND HE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PART OF IT. HE WAS CERTAINLY SELF-CENTERED IN HIS REACTION. REMEMBER, NONE OF US ARE GETTING OUT OF THIS ALIVE – CONSIDER THAT A TRUE BELIEVER AND FOLLOWER OF JESUS MUST BE PREPARED FOR DEATH AT ANY MOMENT. WHAT A GIFT FROM GOD TO HEAR THAT THE ILLNESS YOU CURRENTLY HAVE WILL BE THE FINAL ONE – GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER, FOR YOU SHALL DIE.

2 Ki 21:1 Manasseh (SON OF HEZEKIAH AND ONE OF THE ABSOLUTELY WORST KINGS ISRAEL EVER HAD) was twelve years old when he began to reign, (IF HEZEKIAH HAD DIED ACCORDING TO GOD’S ORIGINAL PLAN MANASSEH WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN BORN!) and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

NOW THE LINE OF CHRIST PASSED THROUGH MANASSEH, SO, WAS IT GOD’S ORIGINAL PLAN TO NOT HAVE MANASSEH BORN IF HEZEKIAH HAD DIED AS GOD ORIGINALLY PLANNED, OR DID GOD ACTUALLY CHANGE THE PLAN AFTER HE DECIDED TO GIVE HEZEKIAH 15 MORE YEARS?

Deut 29:29“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Is 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.:

BACK TO EX 32, AFTER GOD RELENTS OF DESTROYING THE NATION … 15Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. 16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. 17When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 18But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.”19And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, DRUNKEN REVELRY – THE COVENANT HAS ALREADY BEEN BROKEN ... Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. MOSES IS FURIOUS – AFTER INTERCEDING FOR THE PEOPLE AND TURNING AWAY GOD’S PLAN TO DESTROY THE NATION … MOSES EXPRESSES THAT SAME ANGER IN HIS OWN WRATH WITH THE PEOPLE … 20He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it. MOSES DESTROYS THE IDOL AND MAKES THE PEOPLE SUFFER FOR IT.

21And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” DID THEY TORTURE YOU? 22And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” AARON DISPLAYS THE WORST TYPE OF LEADERSHIP POSSIBLE … A VICTIM MENTALITY … IT’S NOT MY FAULT!

25And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), 26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. A WAR CALL FROM MOSES – WHO IS ON THE LORD’S SIDE!?!

THIS IS THE REDEMPTION OF LEVI – LEVI AND SIMEON WERE THE BROTHERS OF DINAH … WHEN DINAH WAS RAPED AND ABDUCTED BY SCHECHEM THE BROTHERS DECEIVED AND KILLED THE MEN OF SHECHEM AND PLUNDERED THEIR CITY. THEIR FATHER, ISRAEL (JACOB), AT THE END OF HIS LIFE GAVE HIS FINAL PROPHETIC WORD ABOUT THEM Gen 49: 5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. 6Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. 7Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

EX 32:27And he MOSES said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’” 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. 29And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.” THIS IS NOT THE LEVITES WERE BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE … THEY HAD BEEN PARTICIPATING, BUT THEY NOW RESPOND TO MOSES’ CALL FOR REPENTANCE

BIBLE BONES AND LIGAMENTS … Deut 13:1“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

6 “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, 7some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, 8you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. 9But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.

12“If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there, 13that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, 14then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, 15you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. 16You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. 17None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers, 18if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.

LET’S LOOK AT HOW THIS SCENE RELATES TO THE NEW TESTAMENT. JESUS SAID, UNLESS YOU HATE YOUR OWN FATHER AND MOTHER … Lk 14:25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. IF YOUR FATHER, MOTHER, WIFE, SIBLINGS OR CHILDREN COME BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS – YOU MUST HATE THEM. YOU MUST ALSO HATE YOUR OWN LIFE AS IT COMES BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS – BEAR YOUR OWN CROSS! WE ARE CALLED TO SUFFER NOT ONLY FOR THE GOSPEL, BUT FOR THE SAKE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

BACK TO EXODUS CH 32:30 THE LEVITES RESPONDING TO MOSES’ CALL AND KILLING 3,000 OF THEIR SONS AND BROTHERS … GOD REWARDED THE LEVITES FOR THAT ACT: Ex 32:29 “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.” HOW CAN THE CHURCH CALL SINNERS TO REPENT OF THEIR SINS IF THE BODY OF CHRIST IS INVOLVED IN THOSE SAME SINS? SIN IS BAD, BAD, BAD. A LOT OF PREACHERS TEACH THAT THE 3,000 KILLED WERE THE ONES DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE IDOLATRY, HOWEVER, THAT IS NOT WHAT EXODUS SAYS … IT JUST SAYS THAT 3,000 WERE KILLED. REMEMBER, WHEN GOD WAS SPEAKING WITH MOSES, RIGHT BEFORE THE LEVITES RESPONDED, GOD HAD SAID HE WAS GOING TO KILL EVERYONE … EVERY SINGLE PERSON … WHEN MOSES INTERCEDED FOR THE PEOPLE. EVERYONE DESERVED TO DIE … THERE’S NO WAY WE CAN KNOW WHO THESE 3,000 WERE OR WHAT THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR … THE BIBLE IS SILENT ON THAT ... STOP SINNING !

BACK TO MOSES AT SINAI:

Ex 32:30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” IT NEVER SAYS GOD FORGAVE THEM – HE RELENTED FROM DESTROYING THE NATION … 31So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. 32But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” MOSES IDENTIFIES WITH THE PEOPLE AND IS WILLING TO GIVE HIS LIFE FOR THEM … BUT HE’S NOT QUALIFIED TO DO THAT, HE CAN ONLY INTERCEDE FOR THEM – ASK GOD TO FORGIVE THEM, HE CAN’T MAKE ATONEMENT HIMSELF – ONLY CHRIST CAN DO THAT.

PAUL, A TYPE OF MOSES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, DOES THE SAME THING WHEN WRITING TO THE ROMANS Rom 9:3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. (ISRAELITES WHO WERE REJECTING JESUS AS THE MESSIAH)

BACK TO MOSES AT SINAI Ex 32:33But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS, I’LL HANDLE THAT, MOSES … 34But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.” THE FULL VISITATION OF GOD’S WRATH IS YET TO COME … THE END TIMES?

Col 3:5 PAUL WRITING TO THE COLOSSIAN CHURCH Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these (SINS) the wrath of God is coming – IT WAS STILL TO COME WHEN PAUL WROTE THAT – THE END TIMES. BACK TO EXODUS CH 32:35Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made. AND ACCORDING TO PAUL IN 1 COR 10:8 YAHWEH KILLED 23,000.

PARALLEL PASSAGES: DEUT 9:7-10:11, NEH 9:16-21

AND THAT WILL WRAP UP EX CH 32

 

About

 

This is an audio broadcast, designed to encourage you to dive deeper into the most influential and impactful literature of all time: The Bible. This podcasts helps to show the benefits of reading/listening to the Bible, front to back, over and over and over endlessly. And study to fill the gaps for deeper understanding. Join us as we dissect the bones and ligaments of God’s written revelation to mankind through scripture.