17When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting below them, he exclaimed to Moses, "It sounds as if there is a war in the camp!"
18But Moses replied, "No, it's neither a cry of victory nor a cry of defeat. It is the sound of a celebration."
19When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing. In terrible anger, he threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf they had made and melted it in the fire. And when the metal had cooled, he ground it into powder and mixed it with water. Then he made the people drink it.
21After that, he turned to Aaron. "What did the people do to you?" he demanded. "How did they ever make you bring such terrible sin upon them?"
22"Don't get upset, sir," Aaron replied. "You yourself know these people and what a wicked bunch they are. 23They said to me, `Make us some gods to lead us, for something has happened to this man Moses, who led us out of Egypt.' 24So I told them, `Bring me your gold earrings.' When they brought them to me, I threw them into the fire--and out came this calf!"
25When Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control--and much to the amusement of their enemies-- 26he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, "All of you who are on the LORD's side, come over here and join me." And all the Levites came.
27He told them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Strap on your swords! Go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other, killing even your brothers, friends, and neighbors." 28The Levites obeyed Moses, and about three thousand people died that day.
29Then Moses told the Levites, "Today you have been ordained for the service of the LORD, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers. Because of this, he will now give you a great blessing."
30The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a terrible sin, but I will return to the LORD on the mountain. Perhaps I will be able to obtain forgiveness for you."
31So Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Alas, these people have committed a terrible sin. They have made gods of gold for themselves. 32But now, please forgive their sin--and if not, then blot me out of the record you are keeping."
33The LORD replied to Moses, "I will blot out whoever has sinned against me. 34Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Look! My angel will lead the way before you! But when I call the people to account, I will certainly punish them for their sins."
35And the LORD sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshiped the calf Aaron had made.
Points of Interest:
· ‘These stone tablets were God's work’—what a heartbreaking picture! God has given Moses this very special gift for his people, something he’s written with his own hands, like a hand-made card or a hand-written love letter. While Moses is in the midst of delivering it, the people do what would hurt God the most: they run off after another god. Moses’ destruction of the tablets is a statement that he no longer has anyone to deliver them to.
· ‘It sounds as if there is a war’—the party is so wild and chaotic that it sounds to Joshua (who is perhaps a bit naïve) as if there is a battle going on.
· ‘In terrible anger’—it was God who displayed terrible anger in yesterday’s passage. Here it is Moses. Perhaps Moses is now seeing for himself just how bad the situation is. Now that he sees it for himself, he can understand why God is so angry. This anger also shows what a perfect intermediary Moses is between God and the people. When Moses is with God, he takes the part of the people, calling for mercy from God for them; when he is with the people, he represents God, showing God’s anger and disappointment at their betrayal.
· ‘What did the people do to you?’—Moses can’t understand how Aaron could do such a thing. Aaron has led them so badly that, either mockingly or in earnest, he asks Aaron if led them into this sin in order to avenge himself for something they did to him. Aaron’s failure is so vast that it is impossible for him to see it as an accident—he must have done this to them on purpose for some reason.
· ‘Don't get upset’—with me, that is. Aaron shifts blame from himself to the people. He even goes to improbably lengths to make his actions seem accidental. He says, ‘I threw them into the fire—and out came this calf,’ when in reality he had carefully shaped it into a calf (see yesterday’s passage). ‘And all the Levites came’—that’s Moses’ (and Aaron’s) tribe. It can’t quite be that all the Levites came to Moses, because Moses instructs them to kill even their brothers, who would of course also be Levites. So, perhaps it means that as a whole the Levites came to Moses, or the majority of the people who came to him were Levites.
· ‘your brothers, friends, and neighbors’—while this translation says, ‘even your brothers, friends, and neighbors,’ other translations leave out the ‘even’ part. Perhaps Moses is asking the Levites to kill any of the Levites who have been involved in worshipping the golden calf. This would purify the tribe of Levi, which is supposed to become the tribe that will lead the rest of Israel in worship of the LORD. Many of things that God and Moses talked about during the 40 days on the mountain were God’s plan for the Levites and for Aaron’s family in particular.
· ‘three thousand people died that day’—this is tragic. It seems like what is happening here is crowd control. This festival has become an uncontrollable riot, and it takes desperate measures to bring back some semblance of order. In other words, the Levites are taking on the role of riot police.
· ‘if not, then blot me out of the record you are keeping’—God had suggested that he get rid of the people and start over with Moses; Moses offers that God punish him in order to save the people. It’s an offer God doesn’t accept.
· ‘I will certainly punish them for their sins’—God takes the people back, and restores his plans to lead them to the promised land, but there will still be consequences to this action.
Taking it home:
· For you: Aaron just doesn’t want to get into trouble—with the people, with Moses, or with God. His neurotic desire to avoid trouble actually brings down a world of trouble on everyone involved. When have you made staying out of conflict or trouble your highest goal? What have been the results? Ask God to forgive you for the times you’ve brought trouble down on others in an effort to escape it yourself. Pray that God would give you the courage to face your own mistakes and to speak boldly against plans that will certainly bring down trouble on others.
· For your six: In this passage, we see the Levites display a zeal for God (albeit in very intense, tragic, emergency circumstances). Pray that God would give your six opportunities (definitely less intense and tragic opportunities than this one) to step out and choose to stand on God’s side. Ask God to give them the faith and boldness to do so.
· For our church: During the past two passages, we’ve seen the Israelites behave at their worst. Ironically, we’ve also seen Moses’ love for and devotion to them grow to new levels. Pray that God would give us such a fierce love for New Haven and New Havenites—a love that only intensifies in light of New Haven’s faults and weaknesses.
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