Exo 32:1-14 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Exod 32:1-35: 32:1-35 At the foot of Mount Sinai, after Moses had been absent for many days, the people felt the need for protection, guidance, and a tangible way to express their worship. God knew this and was eager to meet these needs (chs 25–31 ). The Israelites, however, tried to meet their needs for themselves. Fellowship with God requires depending on him (see John 15:5 ; 2 Cor 3:5 ). Summary for Exod 32:1-6: 32:1-6 The people were not willing to wait and see what God had been saying to Moses on the mountain for the forty days while he was there (see 24:18 ). 32:1 The Israelites’ actions were motivated by fear, disrespect for this fellow Moses , disbelief in God’s leadership, and denial of responsibility. They were unwilling to wait for God to reveal his plans of care for them. Refusal to wait on God is often a cause of sin (see 1 Sam 13:7-13 ; Isa 30:15-18 ).

Summary for Exod 32:1-35: 32:1-35 ^a At the foot of Mount Sinai, after Moses had been absent for many days, the people felt the need for protection, guidance, and a tangible way to express their worship. God knew this and was eager to meet these needs (chs 25–31 ^b). The Israelites, however, tried to meet their needs for themselves. Fellowship with God requires depending on him (see John 15:5 ^c; 2 Cor 3:5 ^d).
Summary for Exod 32:1-6: 32:1-6 ^e The people were not willing to wait and see what God had been saying to Moses on the mountain for the forty days while he was there (see 24:18 ^f). 32:1 ^g The Israelites’ actions were motivated by fear, disrespect for this fellow Moses, disbelief in God’s leadership, and denial of responsibility. They were unwilling to wait for God to reveal his plans of care for them. Refusal to wait on God is often a cause of sin (see 1 Sam 13:7-13 ^h; Isa 30:15-18 ⁱ).
Summary for Exod 32:2-4: 32:2-4 ^j The religious professional, Aaron, demanded a specific contribution of gold rings and then excluded the people from any further involvement in the process. This is very different from what God had commanded regarding the construction of the Tabernacle, where the people were invited to bring many different kinds of things as they felt led (25:1-9 ^k; 35:4–36:7 ^l) and to share in the work under the guidance of a Spirit-filled layperson (31:1-6 ^m; 36:1-2 ⁿ).
32:4 ^o the shape of a calf: The idol might actually have been an image of a bull, like the images of the Egyptian god Amon-Re that the people had known in Egypt. The bull represented power, domination, and fertility. The writer would then be using the term calf as a way of expressing contempt for the idol. Alternatively, Aaron might have made a calf, feeling that this sin was not as serious as if the idol were a full-sized bull.

• these are the gods who brought you out: The people attributed to the idol what they had just said that Moses had done (32:1 ^p). Idolatry expresses the belief that the divine realm and the visible world are continuous with one another. This worldview sees it as possible to lay hold of divine power through ritual manipulation of the god by means of the idol. God had been insisting that the very opposite is true: God is not contained in or restrained by his creation, and his blessings cannot be procured by manipulating creation, either ritually or otherwise. The blessings of God are for those who surrender their own efforts to make themselves secure and come to him using the ways and means that he has decreed.
32:5 ^q Aaron attempted to control the process, but he was actually abdicating leadership by simply doing what he thought the people wanted.

• Although the idol was referred to as “the gods” (32:4 ^r), Aaron also implied that it was a physical manifestation of the Lord.
32:6 ^s The Hebrew term translated pagan revelry is traditionally rendered they got up to play. As in English, the Hebrew word for play can have sexual overtones (see Gen 26:8 ^t, “caressing”), which is likely the case here. Worship of a fertility symbol such as a bull was often accompanied by sexual activities on the part of the worshipers (see 1 Cor 10:7-8 ^u).
32:7 ^v Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt: God here attributes his own work to Moses, which suggests that he was testing Moses, giving him an opportunity to make the same mistake the people had made (32:1 ^w). God was not “tempting” Moses in the sense of “seducing him to do evil” (see Jas 1:13-14 ^x), but he was putting Moses into a situation where he was faced with a clear choice that could take him in opposing directions (cp. 1 Kgs 22:19-23 ^y).
Summary for Exod 32:9-10: 32:9-10 ^z God was apparently prepared to disown his people, since they had broken their covenant with him.
32:10 ^aa Now leave me alone: This apparent command was in fact an invitation to Moses to intercede for his people. Although the people deserved destruction, God was willing not to destroy them if Moses continued to stand before him as an intercessor.

• I will make you, Moses, into a great nation: If Moses were willing, God would start over again, abandoning the rest of the children of Abraham and beginning now with the children of Moses. This was apparently a test of Moses’ understanding of God.
Summary for Exod 32:11-13: 32:11-13 ^ab If a test was involved, Moses passed it. He refused to put himself in God’s place (32:11 ^ac). He knew that God is just and faithful and that he would not deliver people only to destroy them (32:12 ^ad). He refused to accept the invitation to become the father of a great nation, since that would involve God’s breaking his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (32:13 ^ae). Moses had learned who God really is.
32:14 ^af In response to Moses’ argument, the Lord changed his mind. This is not the picture of a raging tyrant who is, with great difficulty, finally persuaded to back down. The Lord is much more inclined to be merciful than to insist on vengeance, and he invites those who are near him, like Moses, to give him an occasion for his mercy through faithful intercession.