seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Exodus 32:19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”
21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”
Every time Moses thinks he has things under control, life throws him a curve ball.
He thought he was Egyptian royalty.... until he found out he was the son of a Jewish slave woman. He thought he could stand up for his new people by topping an Egyptian from beating one of his own, only to have the slave turn on him. He thought he could marry.... only to have the wrong woman under the veil. He thought he could finally live in peace with the woman he loved, only to have this yearning to go back to Egypt and save the slaves. He thought, since he was standing up for God, he would rescue the Jewish slaves from Pharoah easily. His own people had to live through 10 plagues. He thought he could trust Aaron to keep the people in line with the oath they all took.... only to find them breaking the laws. The tablets containing the law were brand new.... still warm from the carving.... and now....
The law laid broken in the dirt.....
This commentary comes from blueletterbible.org.
Israel broke the covenant by their idolatry and immorality with the golden calf. There was something appropriate about Moses breaking the stone tablets of the covenant at Israel's breaking of the covenant.
Moses ground up the calf and made the people drink it for three reasons.
- To show that this "god" was nothing and could be destroyed easily
- To completely obliterate this idol
- To make the people pay an immediate consequence of their sin
Moses understood that this plan didn't originate with Aaron, but that he allowed it and implemented it.
Moses ground up the calf and made the people drink it for three reasons.
- To show that this "god" was nothing and could be destroyed easily
- To completely obliterate this idol
- To make the people pay an immediate consequence of their sin
Moses understood that this plan didn't originate with Aaron, but that he allowed it and implemented it.
These comments are from the easy English commentary.
Moses and Joshua saw that the people were dancing in front of the image. Probably that crazy behaviour included sex acts. People from nations that did not know God worshipped their false gods in that way. Moses was so angry that he threw down those important flat stones. They broke, and that was a sign to the Israelites. They had not been loyal to their agreement with God.
The water where Moses scattered the powder was a stream. It flowed down the mountain (Deuteronomy 9:21).
In all fairness, Moses had the laws in his hands. He had not delivered the law to the Israelites yet. He knew the first and second laws were now shattered, but in all fairness, they didn't. Of course they should have acknowledged that it was important to them not to bring along any of the Egyptian idols.... but they didn't know the law....
