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Parsha 21:
Ki Tissa (continued)
“When you take” • Exod. 30:11-34:36
2. Isra'el Rebels (32:1-34:35)
a. The Golden Calf (32:1-29)
1 When the people saw that Moshe was taking a long time to come down from the mountain, they gathered around Aharon and said to him, “Come, make us a god,[1a] who will go before us. As for this Moshe who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.”[1b]
2 So Aharon told them, “Remove the gold earrings from your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 All the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aharon. 4 He took [the gold] they handed him and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into molded calf.[4] Then they said, “Isra'el, this is your god who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
5 When Aharon saw this, he built an altar before [the calf] and Aharon proclaimed, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to ADONAI.”[5]
6 They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to revel.[6]
7 Then ADONAI said to Moshe, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves![7] 8 How quickly they have turned away from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molded calf; they have worshiped it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Isra'el, this is your god who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’”
9 ADONAI also said to Moshe, “I have seen these people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked[9] people. 10 Now leave me alone so My anger may burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make a great nation of you.”
11 But Moshe interceded with ADONAI his God and said, “ADONAI, why does Your anger burn hot against Your people that You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out with evil intent just to kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the face of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce anger and relent from this evil against Your people. 13 Remember Your servants Avraham, Yitz’chak, and Isra'el, to whom You swore by Yourself and declared to them, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have spoken of, and they will possess it forever.’”
14 So ADONAI relented from the calamity He said He would bring upon His people.
15 Then Moshe turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both their sides, front and back. 16 The tablets were the work of Elohim, and the writing was the writing of Elohim, engraved on the tablets.
17 When YehoshuaJoshua[17] heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moshe, “It sounds like war in the camp.”
18 Moshe answered, “It isn’t the sound of victory nor the sound of defeat; I hear the sound of singing.” 19 As he approached the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moshe’s anger burned, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them at the base of the mountain. 20 He took the calf they had made, melted it down, and ground it to powder. Then he scattered the powder over the surface of the water, and made the Isra'elites drink it.
21 Moshe said to Aharon, “What did these people do to you, that you have led them into such a great sin?”
22 Aharon said, “My lord[22a] shouldn’t be so angry. You yourself know the people are determined to do evil.[22b] 23 They told me, ‘Make us a god who will go before us, because this man Moshe who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold, take it off.’ So they gave it to me; when I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!”[24]
25 When Moshe saw that the people were out of control (for Aharon had let them run wild and become a laughingstock to their enemies),[25] 26 he stood at the entrance to the camp, and said, “Whoever is on ADONAI’s side, come to me!”
All the descendants of Levi gathered around him.[26] 27 He said to them, “ADONAI, the God of Isra'el, says, ‘Each of you men is to strap his sword to his side, and go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’” 28 The Levites did as Moshe had ordered, and that day about three thousand[28] of the people fell dead. 29 Afterward Moshe said, “Today your have been consecrated to ADONAI, since each man went out against his son and against his brother, so He has bestowed a blessing on you today.”
b. Moses Intercedes for the People (32:30-35)
30 The next day Moshe said to the people, “You have committed a great sin.[30] Now I will go up to ADONAI. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
31 So Moshe returned to ADONAI, and said, “Oh, what a great sin this people have committed; they have made a god of gold for themselves. 32 Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please erase me from Your book which You have written.”[31]
33 ADONAI replied to Moshe, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will erase him out of My book. 34 Now go! Lead the people to the place I told you about! Hinneh!Behold! My Angel[GN] will go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35 ADONAI struck the people because of what they did with the calf Aharon had made.[35]
1a. God: Hebrew אֱלֹהִ֗ים (’ĕ·lō·hîm), gods (plural); however, when referring to ADONAI it is in exactly the same form. Modern English translations seem to be about equally split between those who translate it in the singular and those who translate it in the plural. Since Aharon made just one golden “god” for them, I have chosen to render it singular. You decide which is correct. [BACK]
1b. Eighty-year old Moshe had wandered off into the mountain at least a couple of weeks ago. They had every reason to suspect that he might not be coming back. [BACK]
4. The golden calf was the image of the Egyptian “god” Apis, with whom those in the Mixed Multitude would be very familiar.
In ancient Egyptian religion Apis (or Hapis) … was a sacred bull worshiped in the Memphis region, identified as the son of Hathor, a primary deity in the pantheon of ancient Egypt. Apis also served as an intermediary between humans and other powerful deities. … This animal was chosen because it symbolized the courageous heart, great strength, and fighting spirit of the king. Apis came to being considered a manifestation of the king, as bulls were symbols of strength and fertility, qualities that are closely linked with kingship. “Strong bull of his mother Hathor” was a common title for Egyptian gods and male kings, being unused for women serving as king, such as Hatshepsut. [“Apis (deity),” Wikipedia] [BACK]
5. Unfortunately, Scripture does not tell us what Aharon was actually thinking. He declared that the next day was to be a feast to ADONAI. Did he believe that his brother Moshe was actually dead? Did he believe that the little statue that he had made was actually ADONAI? Was it a replacement for ADONAI or just a reminder of ADONAI? Did it really matter that they had made an image of Apis (the “god” of the Mixed Multitued) to worship as long as they knew it really wasn’t their intention to worship Apis? Did Aharon compromise just to keep peace in his community? After all, “everybody else” in the Mixed Multitude was doing it and it didn’t hurt anything.
They were worhipping ADONAI, not Apis, so it was OK? Is this not exactly what is happening in the Church when the pastor compromises just like Aharon did? When we do “Trunk or Treat” we really know that the day is Satan’s high holy day, but we aren’t actually honoring Satan. We’re just giving our kids a day to have a costume party, so it’s OK? [We choose to ignore the fact that the biblical holiday Purim provides the kids with a costume party holiday.] We know that December 25 isn’t really Jesus’ birthday and isn’t our intent to honor the Roman god Saturn whose high holy day is December 25. And we certainly aren’t paying homage to Saint Nicholas! We know the difference, so that makes it OK? We know that bunnies and eggs are the fertility symbols of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar (also known as Diana of the Ephesians) and that this is her high holy day, but we aren't honoring her when we hold an Ishtar egg hunt for our kiddies, so that makes it OK? We know that our golden calves aren’t actually ADONAI, so that makes it OK? Let’s read on later in the chapter and see if ADONAI thinks it’s OK. [BACK]
6. revel The Hebrew verb used here, צְחַק (tsachaq), commonly refers to laughing, joking, or mocking (Gen 17:17; 18:12; 19:14; 21:9). In this context, it may refer to dancing (Exod 32:19). However, usage of tsachaq in other contexts suggests that sexual connotations are possible (Gen 26:8; 39:14, 17). [BACK]
7. Notice that all at once the Isra'elites are no longer God’s people whom He brought out of Egypt. They are now Moshe’s people whom Moshe brought out of Egypt! [BACK]
9. Stiff-necked: Hebrew קְשֵׁה־ (qə·šêh-), hard, cruel, severe, obstinate difficult; severe; fierce, intense, vehement; עֹ֖רֶף (‘ō·rep̄), neck, back of the neck. [BACK]
17. Hebrew יְהוֹשֻׁ֛עַ (yə·hō·wō·šu·a‘), ADONAI is salvation. [BACK]
22a. My lord: Hebrew אֲדֹנִ֑י (’ă·ḏō·nî), firm, strong, lord, master; in this context, simply a title of respect. [BACK]
22b. The blame game. See the notes on Genesis 3:12-13. [BACK]
24. Again, we have no idea what Aharon was actually thinking. Surely Aharon wasn’t stupid enough that he thought Moshe would believe such a bold-faced and rediculous lie. Was he being extremely sarcastic? Ask him when you meet him in the Olam Haba. [BACK]
25. Congregational leaders, remember, when you stumble your flock will descend into chaos. But one must wonder, at the base of Mount Sinai in the middle of a vast wilderness, where were their enemies that they could observe their behavior? [BACK]
26. Remember that brothers Moshe and Aharon and their sister Myriam were all of the tribe of Levi. [BACK]
28. See Acts 2:37-41. Is it only a “coincidence” that three thousand were “redeemed” in response to Kefa’s message? Or was it that the Eternal was restoring that which was lost in the wilderness? [BACK]
30. Literally, you have sinned a great sin. [BACK]
31. Moshe essentially took responsibility for the sin of the people. The implication is “forgive all of us or forgive none of us.” Book: the Book of Life (Ps 69:28; Phil 4:3; Rev 3:5; 13:8) [BACK]
35. ADONAI demands that we worship Him His way, at His time, and in His place. Violating this rule, even with the best intentions, will only bring disaster. Perhaps that disaster will not come immediately, or even in the near future; but it will come. “God is not mocked!” (Gal 6:7) [BACK]
Other commentaries on Exodus 32
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Pulpit Commentary
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
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ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!
