Context No. 3695 of 4322 · Exodus

Exodus 32:17-21: in context

17When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the noise of war in the camp.” 18He said, “It isn’t the voice of those who shout for victory. It is not the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear.” 19As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain. 20He took the calf which they had made, and burned it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it. 21Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”

Moses descends from the mountain, carrying the tablets God had written, and hears the noise of revelry below. When he sees the golden calf and the dancing, his anger burns and he throws down the tablets, breaking them at the foot of the mountain. The breaking of the tablets is a vivid picture: the covenant, freshly given, is already shattered by the people's idolatry.

Moses then destroys the calf utterly, burning it, grinding it to powder, and making the people drink it, showing how worthless the idol they had worshiped truly was. And he confronts Aaron for letting it happen. There is a sobering picture here of how quickly God's people can turn from him. Barely had they received the covenant when they broke it, trading the living God for a golden calf. The pull toward idolatry is strong and swift, even right after we have known God's presence. It is a warning to guard our hearts, for we too can turn quickly to lesser gods, even in the very shadow of God's mountain.

Do I guard my heart against the swift pull toward lesser "gods," aware how quickly even those who have known God's presence can turn to idols?

Sources

Exodus 32:19: "He saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses' anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them."
Exodus 32:20: "He took the calf which they had made, and burned it with fire, ground it to powder."
Exodus 32:8: "They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf."