Exodus 32-34

What I Noticed Today (Exodus 32-34)

Exodus 32

In Chapter 32, the people break their covenant promise with God by making a golden idol.

In verses 1-6, the people make an idol:

• When Moses didn’t come back down from the mountain right away, the people came to Aaron and asked him to make a god for them that would go before them.
• Aaron told them to bring him their gold rings, and with them, he fashioned a golden idol in the shape of a calf, and they said, this is your God who brought you out of Egypt.

• Aaron built an altar and announced there would be a festival to God (Yahweh) the next day.
• Early the next day, they got up early and made fellowship and burnt offerings.
• Then they ate and drank and got up to play (some translations “indulge in revelry”).

In verses 7-14, Moses intercedes on behalf of the people:

• The Lord spoke to Moses, telling him what the people had acted corruptly in making the idol and worshiping and sacrificing to it.

• God accused them of being stiff-necked (stubborn). He wanted to destroy them and start over in building Moses into a great nation.
• But Moses interceded on behalf of the people. Pleading for mercy, Moses asked God to remember His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bring them into the Promised Land. So God relented.

In verses 15-29, Moses confronts Aaron and the people:

• Carrying the tablets of the Law God had made, Moses came down from the mountain with Joshua. As they got close to the camp, they saw the golden calf and the people dancing. Moses was furious. He threw down the tablets breaking them.
• He took the golden calf ground it up, put the powder in water, and made the people drink it.
• Moses then confronted Aaron asking why he led the people to sin so greatly.
• Aaron immediately cast blame on the people saying they were evil. Then he lied saying he had taken their gold, thrown it into the fire, and out came the golden calf.
• Moses saw the people were out of control because Aaron let them get out of control.
• Moses asked for those who are for the Lord to come to him and all the Levites assembled. Moses ordered them to kill all those who were still worshipping the idol. That day 3,000 people were killed.
• Moses commended the Levites, saying they had been dedicated to the Lord and had brought a blessing upon themselves by their actions.

In verses 30-35, Moses intercedes a second time for the people:

• The next day Moses accused the people of a great sin and returned to the Lord to atone for them.
• Moses asked God to forgive them, and if not, erase me from the book You have written.

• God refuses to kill Moses but says He will erase those who sinned.
• Then God told Moses to lead the people to the place He told them. He would send an angel to lead them.
• The Lord sent a plague on the people for the sin they committed by worshipping the golden calf.

Exodus 33

In Chapter 33, God establishes a meeting tent outside of camp to meet with Moses.

In verses 1-6, God rejects the people:

• The Lord told Moses to take the people he led out of Egypt and take them to the land the Lord had promised.

• The Lord promised to send an angel ahead of them to take them to the Promised Land, but He would not go with them because they were stubborn, and He might destroy them on the way.
• When the people heard this, they mourned and removed their jewelry and did not wear it from Mount Horeb on.

In verses 7-23, the Lord establishes an intimate relationship with Moses:

• Moses took a tent and set it up far outside the camp and called it the tent of meeting.
• It was a place where the people could go to consult with God.
• Whenever Moses went to the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend on the tent, and God would speak to Moses face-to-face, just as friends speak to one another.

• Moses has an intimate conversation with God (There are three sections each begins with “Moses said/responded” vv. 12, 15, and 18.)
  • Moses asks God to teach him His ways, so he can know God and find favor with Him. Moses also asked God to consider these people His people. God replied that He would go with Moses, and would give him rest.
  • Moses said if You do not go with us, don’t make us go. Your presence is what will distinguish us from other nations. The Lord responded, saying He would do what Moses had asked because Moses had found favor in His sight.
  • Then Moses asked to see God’s glory. God responded that He would show Moses His glory and goodness, and would be gracious and compassionate on whom He would have grace and compassion. But, said God, no one can see My face and live.
  • Then God put Moses in a cleft of a rock and passed by so Moses could see the glory of God from the back.

Exodus 34

In Chapter 34, God renews His covenant.

In verses 1-9, God replaces the tablets of the Law that Moses broke:

• The Lord told Moses to make two new tablets and come up on the mountain the next day.
• Moses did just as the Lord commanded and brought two new tablets of stone up on the mountain early the next morning.
• God descended on the mountain in a cloud proclaiming his name, Yahweh. He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in love and truth, maintaining love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished; they will suffer the consequences of their wrongdoing to the third and fourth generation.

• Moses bowed down before the Lord and worshiped. He interceded for the people once again, asking God to go with them even though they are stubborn. He asked the Lord to forgive them for their wrongdoing and sin and accept them as His people.

In verses 10-28, God renews His covenant with the people of Israel:

• The Lord responded He was making a new covenant and would perform wonders as had never been seen on earth before.
• He would drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
• The Lord warned them not to make treaties with people in the land as they would be a snare to them. Instead, they are to tear down and chop up their Asherah poles and sacred pillars.
• You are never to bow down to another god because Yahweh is a jealous God.
• Do not eat the sacrifices of the people in the land. Do not take their daughters as brides for your sons. They will cause your sons to prostitute themselves to foreign gods.
• Do not make cast images of gods for yourselves.
• Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
• The firstborn son and firstborn male livestock belong to the Lord and must be redeemed.
• You must labor for six days but rest on the Sabbath even during plowing and harvest times.
• You must observe the Festival of Weeks (Firstfruits) and the Festival of Ingathering. Three times a year, all the males must appear before the Lord.

• Do not present the blood of a sacrifice with anything leavened.
• The Passover meal must not remain until morning.
• Bring the first fruits of your land to the Lord.
• Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
• God instructed Moses to write down all these words as a covenant He made with Moses.
• Moses was with God 40 days and nights without food or water.
• God wrote the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets.

In verses 29-35, Moses returns to camp, reflecting the glory of God:

• Moses descended from the mountain with the stone tablets, not realizing his face was shining from having been in the presence of God.
• When Aaron and the Israelites saw him, they were afraid to come near him, but Moses called out to them and told them all the words of the Lord.
• After he finished speaking, Moses put a veil over his face.
• Whenever Moses went to speak to the Lord, he would remove the veil and put it back on when he came out. He would then tell the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded.

Some thoughts for additional consideration:

• One of the challenges of being a leader and following God is that there will be times when people want the easy road, and the leader must remain strong and faithful to God’s direction. And, if a poor decision is made, a leader needs to take responsibility for their decisions!
• Do we get so stubborn and want our own way so much that we actually push God away?!
• God is both merciful and gracious in renewing the covenant.
• It is pretty easy to look at our society today and say that many have made covenants with foreign nations who don’t believe in God. They have worshiped other gods (money, power, etc.). They have intermarried with non-believers. The result is that we are one generation closer to a depraved secular society.
• My prayer is that as I meet God every day that I would come away with a changed countenance, a countenance that would be noticeable to others, a countenance that would draw others to Christ!

What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.

Tomorrow: Exodus 35-37