Exodus:32

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* Verse 1-6 - While Moses was in the mount , receiving the law from God , the people made a tumultuous address to Aaron . This giddy multitude were weary of waiting for the return of Moses . Weariness in waiting betrays to many temptations . The Lord must be waited for till he comes , and waited for though he tarry . Let their readiness to part with their ear-rings to make an idol , shame our niggardliness in the service of the true God . They did not draw back on account of the cost of their idolatry ; and shall we grudge the expenses of religion ? Aaron produced the shape of an ox or calf , giving it some finish with a graving tool . They offered sacrifice to this idol . Having set up an image before them , and so changed the truth of God into a lie , their sacrifices were abomination . Had they not , only a few days before , in this very place , heard the voice of the Lord God speaking to them out of the midst of the fire , Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image ? Had they not themselves solemnly entered into covenant with God , that they would do all he had said to them , and would be obedient ? ch . strkjv @24:7 . Yet before they stirred from the place where this covenant had been solemnly made , they brake an express command , in defiance of an express threatening . It plainly shows , that the law was no more able to make holy , than it was to justify ; by it is the knowledge of sin , but not the cure of sin . Aaron was set apart by the Divine appointment to the office of the priesthood ; but he , who had once shamed himself so far as to build an altar to a golden calf , must own himself unworthy of the honour of attending at the altar of God , and indebted to free grace alone for it . Thus pride and boasting were silenced . * Verse 7-14 - God says to Moses , that the Israelites had corrupted themselves . Sin is the corruption of the sinner , and it is a self-corruption ; every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust . They had turned aside out of the way . Sin is a departing from the way of duty into a by-path . They soon forgot God 's works . He sees what they cannot discover , nor is any wickedness of the world hid from him . We could not bear to see the thousandth part of that evil which God sees every day . God expresses the greatness of his just displeasure , after the manner of men who would have prayer of Moses could save them from ruin ; thus he was a type of Christ , by whose mediation alone , God would reconcile the world to himself . Moses pleads God 's glory . The glorifying God 's name , as it ought to be our first petition , and it is so in the Lord 's prayer , so it ought to be our great plea . And God 's promises are to be our pleas in prayer ; for what he has promised he is able to perform . See the power of prayer . In answer to the prayers of Moses , God showed his purpose of sparing the people , as he had before seemed determined on their destruction ; which change of the outward discovery of his purpose , is called repenting of the evil . * Verse 15-20 - What a change it is , to come down from the mount of communion with God , to converse with a wicked world . In God we see nothing but what is pure and pleasing ; in the world nothing but what is sinful and provoking . That it might appear an idol is nothing in the world , Moses ground the calf to dust . Mixing this powder with their drink , signified that the backslider in heart should be filled with his own ways . * Verse 21-29 - Never did any wise man make a more frivolous and foolish excuse than that of Aaron . We must never be drawn into sin by any thing man can say or do to us ; for men can but tempt us to sin , they cannot force us . The approach of Moses turned the dancing into trembling . They were exposed to shame by their sin . The course Moses took to roll away this reproach , was , not by concealing the sin , or putting any false colour upon it , but by punishing it . The Levites were to slay the ringleaders in this wickedness ; yet none were executed but those who openly stood forth . Those are marked for ruin who persist in sin : those who in the morning were shouting and dancing , before night were dying . Such sudden changes do the judgments of the Lord sometimes make with sinners that are secure and jovial in their sin . * Verse 30-35 - Moses calls it a great sin . The work of ministers is to show people the greatness of their sins . The great evil of sin appears in the price of pardon . Moses pleads with God for mercy ; he came not to make excuses , but to make atonement . We are not to suppose that Moses means that he would be willing to perish for ever , for the people 's sake . We are to love our neighbour as ourselves , and not more than ourselves . But having that mind which was in Christ , he was willing to lay down his life in the most painful manner , if he might thereby preserve the people . Moses could not wholly turn away the wrath of God ; which shows that the law of Moses was not able to reconcile men to God , and to perfect our peace with him . In Christ alone , God so pardons sin as to remember it no more . From this history we see , that no unhumbled , carnal heart , can long endure the holy precepts , the humbling truths , and the spiritual worship of God . But a god , a priest , a worship , a doctrine , and a sacrifice , suited to the carnal mind , will ever meet with abundance of worshippers . The very gospel itself may be so perverted as to suit a worldly taste . Well is it for us , that the Prophet like unto Moses , but who is beyond compare more powerful and merciful , has made atonement for our souls , and now intercedes in our behalf . Let us rejoice in his grace . **** Matthew Henry 's Commentary ****

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