Moses Blames Aaron For Making The Golden Calf
April 10, 2021
Commentary
While still on the mountain, Moses heard from God that the Israelites had sinned terribly. Instead of defending their actions, Moses pleaded with the Lord for mercy and asked Him not to destroy His people (vv. 11–13). He reminded God of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—that their descendants would be as countless as the stars and would inherit the promised land. Because of Moses’ prayer, God showed mercy and did not carry out His earlier plan to destroy them completely (v. 14). Moses then went down the mountain carrying the two stone tablets, written on both sides by the very hand of God (vv. 15–16).
As Moses and Joshua came near the camp, Joshua heard the noise that sounded like a battle (v. 17). But Moses said it was not the sound of victory or defeat, but the sound of singing—a wild celebration of sin (v. 18). When Moses saw the golden calf and the people dancing around it, his anger burned. He acted immediately in three ways:
1. He smashed the tablets of the law (v. 19) — This showed that the people had broken their covenant with God.
2. He burned the idol, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water (v. 20) — By making the Israelites drink it, Moses showed that sin brings shame and bitter consequences.
3. He confronted Aaron (vv. 21–24) — Aaron blamed the people and made excuses, claiming the golden calf “just came out” of the fire.
Moses’ actions remind us that sin must always be faced honestly before God.
Application
When I am caught doing something wrong, do I make excuses like Aaron or admit my fault before God? How do I respond when someone lovingly confronts my sin? I want to learn from Moses’ courage to face sin honestly, even when it’s uncomfortable. What idols in my heart need to be destroyed to be obedient to God?
Exodus 32:11–24 (NET)
11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’” 14 Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.
15 Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides—they were written on the front and on the back. 16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. 17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “It is the sound of war in the camp!” 18 Moses said, “It is not the sound of those who shout for victory, nor is it the sound of those who cry because they are overcome, but the sound of singing I hear.”
19 When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. 20 He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, poured it out on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.
21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?” 22 Aaron said, “Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; you know these people, that they tend to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.”
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