Joel M Bradshaw

30The 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.” 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.” 33But the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. 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.”

35Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.–Exodus 32

1. The people showed utter scorn toward Moses. Wasn’t this the guy that literally led you out of slavery? How quick our selfish minds change when we aren’t getting what we want!
2. The people broke commandments 1. They might have thought they were worshipping God, but they were in fact worshipping a god of their own design. They took the unique Holy Yahweh and made Him one of many. How many of us do that with our expectations!
3. They also broke commandment 2. Yahweh had just defeated an entire Egyptian pantheon of idols, and now at their first opportunity they reduced God to a cow? Idols lead to manipulation and control. Reducing God in our eyes always increases us.
4. Aaron lied when confronted, but verse 35 tells us that Moses knew better.
5. God has a book and you do not want to be blotted out of it! We see this book again in Daniel 12:1 and famously at the final judgment of Revelation 20:12.
6. Moses had a Christ-like moment as he offered to take Israel’s punishment for them and receive God’s wrath in their place.
7. Sin must be punished. For God to be holy and just, He cannot let sin slide. Otherwise, Adam and Eve have a legitimate gripe. On the cross Jesus took that punishment on our behalf. That sin was still punished, but we weren’t.–JMB