Exo 32:10-14 | TNotes | STEP | 32:10 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.

b32:11-13►

‏ Exodus 32:10-14

32:10 ^a 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 ^b If a test was involved, Moses passed it. He refused to put himself in God’s place (32:11 ^c). He knew that God is just and faithful and that he would not deliver people only to destroy them (32:12 ^d). 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 ^e). Moses had learned who God really is.
32:14 ^f 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.