And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people collected together to Aaron, and said to him, Up, make us a god, who will go before us; for this Moses, the man that has brought us up out of the land of Egypt, -- we do not know what is become of him!
The people are camped at the foot of Sinai, and Moses has been out of sight on the mountain for forty days. In that gap they turn to Aaron and demand gods they can see — but why did the delay break them so fast, and what were they really asking for?
The delay had a purpose. One writer reads it as a test the people failed before it ended.
Moses was forty days in the mountain where God was showing him the pattern of the things for the tabernacle. This length of time was not needed for God. In a moment He could have made Moses see everything and understand everything. Why then forty days? In the wisdom of God it was the time needed to test the people. Would they obey, and wait patiently for the ordinances they had vowed to keep? They had no sense of the solemn responsibilities they had taken on. They did not even wait to hear them.
The test exposed what kind of walk they had.
Tested in this way, they showed very plainly that they walked by sight and not by faith. Moses had at least been a visible leader, though a rebellious and unbelieving spirit toward him had already shown itself. They did not have the faith that would have made the unseen Jehovah a reality to them.
At the very hour they wrote him off, Moses was working on their behalf.
Moses, hidden from the sight of the people, was still occupied with God for the people. At that very time Jehovah was giving him instructions. They were for building the beautiful tabernacle and for setting up the priesthood they needed. He was still serving them in a blessed way, although they could not see him.
Their request was not for a different God so much as for a God they could look at. Commentators trace the swap to a preference the human heart has never lost.
They grew weary of waiting for the absent one, and of hanging on an unseen but real arm. They imagined that a god formed by a graving tool was better than Jehovah; that a calf they could see was better than the invisible yet everywhere present God — a visible counterfeit rather than an invisible reality.
And they were willing to pay for it. The gold came off without an argument, which says something about how badly they wanted the relief.
At first they only wanted gods to go before them, to carry on what Moses had begun — to complete their rescue from Egypt by leading them into Canaan. This was their need — some present, visible prop they could throw themselves on, so as to be free from depending on what was invisible. Their desire was urgent, and they had to satisfy it at any cost. Without a murmur they bring their golden ornaments to Aaron. How deeply rooted this principle is in the human heart! What men pay for, they also claim the right to use for their own ends; and if it promises release from dependence on God, they will buy it at any price.
They credited their rescue to a man, and God gave that wording back to them.
In Egypt, God had always said, "My people, my people." But after they made the golden calf, He uses the word they had used — "your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt." For Israel had said, "This Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt." God takes them up in their own words. What happened? Moses interceded. He would not, so to speak, let God call them "your people," as if they belonged to Moses. He insisted they were God's people.
The same questions land on Christians whose Leader is out of sight.
Are the saints waiting patiently for Christ, dependent on Him and subject to Him who has gone on high? Do they not act as though they do not know what has become of Him? Instead of letting His word and Spirit lead them, have they not set up calves of gold, idols to go before them, rejoicing in the works of their own hands?
The principle stretches wider than a metal calf, and there is one safeguard.
Sometimes our hearts stop leaning on God Himself alone — in salvation, or in the needs of the road. Whenever that happens, we are, in principle, saying, "Up, make us gods." Our only safeguard is to be much in the presence of God. Moses knew that the molten calf was not Jehovah, and so he did not acknowledge it. But once we step outside the divine presence, gross errors and evils may trap us in ways we cannot count.
- Delay tests. God did not need the forty days. They tested whether the people would wait for what they had vowed to obey.
- Sight fails. Once their visible leader was gone, they had nothing to hold — they walked by sight, and the unseen God was never real to them.
- Absence serves. While they gave Moses up, he was on the mountain receiving the tabernacle and priesthood for their good.
- Craving buys. People pay any price for a visible prop that frees them from depending on God — the gold came off without a murmur.
- Words return. Israel gave a man the credit, so God handed their own phrase back — "your people, whom you brought up." Moses interceded and claimed them as God's.
And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden rings that are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring [them] to me.
Moses is still on the mountain, and the people have demanded a visible god. Aaron does not refuse them — he asks for the gold rings in the ears of their wives, sons and daughters.
Aaron's answer to the people's demand was not a rebuke but a shopping list. One writer weighs what Aaron felt against the mood around him.
Whatever Aaron felt inside, the mood of the camp was for a visible image of the deity, and so for a return to idolatry. Aaron fell under it. He was swept away with the current. By playing to the times he did what popular leaders do: he led in turn the people who had led him. Corrupted by the people, he corrupted them.
Another writer names what moved him:
Aaron was sadly willing — he feared the people.
Why a calf? One writer points back to what the people had grown used to in Egypt.
They wanted a visible something to represent the invisible before their eyes. They had been familiar with the worship of bulls and calves in the corrupt idolatry of Egypt. Aaron weakly gave in.
The gold came off their ears. Another writer says ears were made for something else:
There is a serious lesson here. Our idols, whatever they are, take their character from what decorates or pampers the flesh — the golden earrings. Ears are given for hearing. But Israel was not hearing the first commandment God had given them: "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3).
Asking for gold may have been Aaron's way of stalling. It did not work.
"Bring your gold earrings to me," he said. He seemed to hope the sacrifice would not meet with approval. But "all the people" (Ex. 32:3) answered the call. Gifts are never lacking when idolatry is in view, and Aaron was left to follow his course to its bitter end.
They handed over the gold without complaining. One writer explains why people pay so readily for such a thing:
Their desire was urgent, and they would satisfy it at any cost. Without a murmur they bring their golden ornaments to Aaron. How deeply rooted this principle is in the human heart! What people pay for, they also feel entitled to use for their own ends. If it promises release from depending on God, they will buy it at any price.
Where did the gold come from? Israel carried Egypt's wealth out with them. One writer says God had already claimed it for the tabernacle, His tent of worship.
Why did God sanction the very thing that later contributed to the solemn sin of chapter 32? Chapter 25 throws a good deal of light on this question. God had set apart the wealth Israel carried away from Egypt for His own service in the tabernacle. It had a rightful use, and God's claim was on the wealth that came out with them. The abuse of it comes out plainly in chapter 32, where the golden calf came before the dancing.
The gold came off wives, sons and daughters, so whole households went into the idol. One writer sets that scene beside everything these same people had already seen God do.
What a picture! A whole assembly — the entire nation of Israel sunk in a moment into absurd and degrading idolatry! All with one accord bowed before a god made from the earrings that a little while before hung from the ears of their wives and daughters. And this in the face of all they had seen of the mighty acts of the Lord.
Aaron gave way to keep the people happy. One writer follows that habit into the church's later history.
Have not the greatest corruptions in the church come from good men trying to bless a popular feeling? They little realised what they were really approving. Image worship itself was simply "the calf that came out" of the honour paid to the memory of saints. Good men tried to turn that honour to good account — but in God's sight it is idolatry. Doing what is convenient in the things of God soon turns to discomfort and weakness. Aaron had listened to the people's cry instead of being angered by it, and by listening he made them "naked to their shame among their enemies."
- Gold demanded — Aaron feared the people and would not resist them. The crowd carried him, and the man they led ended up leading them further down.
- Gold surrendered — they paid without a murmur. What people buy, they feel entitled to use their own way, and they will pay any price to stop depending on God.
- Gold misplaced — ears made for hearing God's Word wore heathen gold. Our idols take their shape from whatever pampers the flesh.
- Gold misused — the wealth carried out of Egypt was God's, marked for His tabernacle. Chapter 32 shows that wealth turned against its owner.
- Gold's result — households stripped bare. A nation bowed to its own jewellery, and its leader left it exposed and ashamed.
Then all the people broke off the golden rings that were in their ears, and brought [them] to Aaron.
Aaron asks Israel for the gold hanging in their ears, and every person hands it over. Why were people just rescued from Egypt so quick to pay for an idol?
Aaron asked for something costly. One writer thinks that was the point: he hoped the cost would stop them.
"Bring your gold earrings to me," he said. He seemed to hope the cost would put them off, but "all the people" (Ex. 32:3) answered the call. There never seems to be a shortage of gifts when idolatry is in view, and Aaron was left to pursue his course to its bitter end.
Nobody needed persuading twice. Paying for a thing changes how a person treats it.
Their desire was urgent, and they would satisfy it at any cost. Without a murmur they bring their golden ornaments to Aaron. How deeply rooted this principle is in the human heart! What men pay for, they also have a claim on, to use for their own ends. If it promises relief from depending on God, they will buy it at any cost.
The gold came off their ears. That detail matters, because ears were made for something else.
The ears of the people should have been listening to the Word of God. Instead they wore gold rings like the ears of the heathen. That gold went to make the golden calf, which they greeted as though it were a god.
Another writer notes where that gold came from, then turns the earrings into a test for our own idols.
Aaron weakly gave in to their foolish shouting. He told them to break off the golden earrings that were common among them, taken from the Egyptians. There is a serious lesson here. Our idols, whatever they are, take their character from what decorates or pampers the flesh — the golden earrings. God gave ears for hearing. But Israel was not hearing the first commandment He had given them: "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3).
That gold had a history. One writer asks why God ever let Israel carry Egypt's wealth away, given what it became.
But why did God allow something that later fed the solemn sin of chapter 32? Chapter 25 throws much light on this question. God set apart the wealth that Israel took out of Egypt for His service in the tabernacle. It had a lawful use. God's claim was on the wealth that came out of the land with them. The misuse of it comes out clearly in chapter 32, where the golden calf came before the dancing.
This craving was not unique to Israel. One writer traces it through every age.
The human heart loves what it can see; it loves what meets and pleases the senses. Only faith can "endure as seeing him who is invisible." So in every age men have been quick to set up and lean on human imitations of divine realities.
The giving was not the end of it. Three things came together here: the people's wish, their gold, and Aaron's hand.
The desire of the people, the surrender of their gold, the act of Aaron had together ended in corruption. What a frightening lesson! When God's people tamper with the things of God, they corrupt those things and themselves. They throw aside their proper glory and become taken up with what lowers them. Their glory was that the LORD was their God; but they wanted to make gods for themselves.
- Desire — the craving came first: a heart that loves what it can see, when only faith can hold to the One it cannot see.
- Payment — desire opened the purse. Nobody grumbled at the cost, because what a man pays for, he feels entitled to use for himself.
- Material — the gold came out of Egypt, already set apart by God for the tabernacle. An idol is built from a gift meant for Him.
- Location — it came off ears made for hearing God's word, and what decorates the flesh gave the idol its shape.
- Outcome — desire, payment, and Aaron's hand ended in corruption. Israel's glory was that the LORD was its God, and it traded that for something lower.
And he took [them] out of their hand, and fashioned it with a chisel and made of it a molten calf and they said, This is thy god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!
Israel had been out of Egypt only a few months. Moses was still on the mountain, so the people asked Aaron for something they could see. He gave them a calf of melted gold. The words spoken over it give that image the credit for the rescue from Egypt. Commentators keep asking one question: was this a rejection of God, or a way of picturing Him?
The gold came from ornaments brought out of Egypt. One writer draws a lesson from where the people wore them.
Aaron did not have the energy of faith his brother Moses had, to boldly stand against them. He weakly gave in to their foolish demands. He told them to break off the golden earrings, which were clearly common among them, taken from the Egyptians. There is a serious lesson here. Our idols, whatever they are, take their character from what decorates or pampers the flesh — the golden earrings. Ears are given for hearing, but Israel was not hearing the first commandment God had given them, "You shall have no other gods before me."
Not everyone reads the offence the same way. The verse reads "These are your gods." One reference work explains how the calf was made, and argues the words should be singular.
The calf was cast as a molten image first, and then fashioned with a graving tool. It was probably meant as a representation of God. That would place the sin under the second commandment, not the first. Aaron said, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt" (as it should read); and "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD."
On either reading, the intention behind the image does not soften what happened to them.
Let us not suppose that either Aaron or Israel intended to abandon Jehovah. It is no unworthy stretch of imagination to picture their indignation at such a charge. In Israel's mind the calf stood for the God no one can see, and Aaron said in plain words that it stood for Jehovah. As people say of all images, it was "a help to devotion," "a symbol of the unseen" — and in this sense, the God who had brought them out of Egypt! But none the less had they really returned in spirit to paganism.
An image does something to the worshipper, not only to the truth.
The people are plainly taught that in making any image and bowing down to it, they in reality lowered and corrupted themselves. So when they made the golden calf, the Lord said to Moses: "Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves." It could not be otherwise. The worshipper must be lower than the object of his worship. So in worshipping a calf, they put themselves below the level of the beasts that perish.
Moses left Aaron in charge while he was away. Aaron later defended himself: he only gave the people what they wanted.
How subtle is sin! When Moses challenged him, Aaron excused himself: he was only humouring the people. Think what evil a good man may cause by acting unfaithfully in an emergency. Aaron was left in charge of the people, to meet any difficulty that might arise. But the leader goes along with what the people want, and leads them into idolatry without meaning to. In vain was Aaron's proclamation, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD." The calf, and not Jehovah, had the homage of their hearts.
Neither Aaron nor the people set out to abandon God. So how does God weigh what they did?
At the very outset we are taught a solemn and searching truth — that God does not measure things by the intention of human agents, but by His own glory. Before God there is no such thing as innocence of intention, when a man takes it on himself to decide how God should be honoured, or how God's work should be carried forward. In such cases the means used are quite as important as the end intended.
The timing matters. The people had already broken with God before the law itself arrived.
But it was all over with the covenant of the law. The people had broken the first and basic link — that of having no other gods. The tables of the covenant never even came into the camp on the simple ground of law. The people had made a complete separation between themselves and God.
- Delay. With Moses out of sight, the people wanted something visible. The leader who should have held the line gave way "in an emergency."
- Gold. The idol came from what had decorated them — ears made for hearing paid for an image instead.
- Image. Nobody meant to abandon God; the calf was "a symbol of the unseen." Commentators differ on whether this broke the first commandment or the second.
- Exchange. Crediting the calf with the rescue from Egypt put the worshippers "below the level of the beasts that perish."
- Ruin. God measures by His own glory, not by our intentions. The covenant was finished before the tablets ever entered the camp.
And Aaron saw [it], and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to Jehovah!
The scene is a religious one: an altar, a proclamation, a named day of worship — all of it set up in front of a metal calf. Does God's name, spoken over something He never asked for, make that thing acceptable?
Aaron does not destroy the calf when he sees it. He builds it an altar, sets a day for a feast, and puts the Lord's name on it.
Besides this, Aaron built an altar before the idol, then announced that the next day they would have a feast "to the Lord"! (v. 5). Can we dare to think we can sanctify an idol by attaching the Lord's name to it? This is gross wickedness.
The Lord's name is still in use here. Notice what the devil does with that.
When Israel made the golden calf, the devil did not take away the name of Jehovah. They still said, "Tomorrow is a feast to Jehovah." So the name of God is not thrown out. Instead, something comes in that hides the truth. All Satan's aim is to blot out the Mediator. As long as Satan can block that, he will allow the name, and call it Christianity. But his aim is to keep our souls at a distance from God.
(Older translations print "Jehovah" where the ESV has "the LORD.")
God had told Israel to make no images. Aaron built this altar to honour that same God.
Aaron's proclamation shows the strange blindness that follows disobedience to the plain letter of God's Word. He said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to Jehovah." And to make their sin holy — the golden calf! (Deut. 9:21) — he built an altar to God's glory in front of it. This mixture is still popular: plain disobedience to God's Word, then a human effort to make it holy. Call the sin holy, and people will hold the abomination in religious awe. They dedicated the image to God, who had commanded them to make no image and to bow down to no image.
Watch how the celebration was actually kept.
Calling the festival by Jehovah's name did not touch its real nature. A demon may be dressed in clothes of light, but its true nature still shows. They kept the feast in true pagan style. The camp rang with loud songs sung back and forth, and was wild with sensual dancing. In this way Israel grafted idolatry onto the worship of Jehovah, and so brought the wrath of God down on their camp.
Aaron later told Moses he was only managing the crowd. His intention did not change the result.
How subtle is sin! When Moses challenged him, Aaron excused himself: he was only humouring the people. What a lot of evil a good man may cause by acting unfaithfully in an emergency! Moses had left Aaron in charge of the people, to meet any difficulty that might arise. But the leader gives in to what the people want, and leads them into idolatry without meaning to. He had no idolatrous aim in what he did, and neither did the people. Aaron's proclamation, "Tomorrow is a feast to Jehovah," was useless. The calf, and not Jehovah, had the homage of their hearts (see Acts 7:41). On this rests the solemn warning to us: "Do not be idolaters as some of them were" (1 Cor. 10:7).
The craving behind the calf is common to people everywhere.
The human spirit always tends to materialize what is spiritual. It must have a visible form, an object that can be at least revered, if not worshiped. This was Aaron's problem. In their thoughts, Aaron and the people lowered the Lord to the level of the gods of Egypt, saying, "Here is your God."
Hands are not the only tool that shapes an idol.
The root of all idolatry is self-will; it is making a god of our own. It starts with self and makes a god — not always out of silver, and not always with our hands. There is a tool more cunning and skilful than the hands, and that is the intellect of man. Wherever self takes the place of God's will, you will find the human mind busy making a god to please itself. And it does this in the name of the Lord, in the name of the true God.
- Name kept. At Sinai the devil did not erase God's name. He left it in place and slipped an object in front of it. The name stays; the truth is hidden.
- Name misused. An altar and a proclamation cannot make an idol holy; calling the sin holy only wins it religious awe.
- Name exposed. The songs and wild dancing showed what the feast really was, and grafting idolatry onto worship brought God's anger on the camp.
- Name excused. Aaron meant no idolatry and still caused it. A good man was unfaithful in an emergency and led a nation astray.
- Name today. Self-will still makes gods. The tool now is the mind, not our hands. And it still works in the name of the true God: "Do not be idolaters as some of them were."
And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered up burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to sport.
Israel had just promised to obey God, and days later they were bowing to a golden calf. Verse 6 shows what that worship looked like — offerings at dawn, then eating, drinking and play, all carried out under God's own name.
Aaron had announced a feast to the Lord for the next day. The offerings of verse 6 came under that name. The name changed nothing about where the people's hearts went.
How subtle sin is! When Moses challenged him, Aaron excused himself by saying he was only humouring the people... Aaron was left in charge of the people, to handle any difficulty that might come up. But the leader falls in with what the people want, and leads them into idolatry without meaning to. He himself had no idolatrous aim in what he did, and idolatry was not the people's intention either... Aaron's proclamation, "Tomorrow is a feast to Jehovah," was worthless. The calf, and not Jehovah, had the homage of their hearts.
The verse names two real offerings, and yet the day ends in eating, drinking and play. That ending shows what they imagined their God to be.
They keep up the mockery. They offer both burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar, then sit down to eat and drink and rise up to play. They were handing themselves over to the lust of self-indulgence. At the same time they whitewashed the whole thing with a religious appearance! What hollow vanity! And how insulting to the God who had delivered them from Egypt! They show what idea of God they hold. They think of Him as one who, as a lowly calf, only serves their selfish desires. They give God no place of authority, but a place of subjection to men!
The same thing lies behind all idol worship:
Their worship was a deification — as all heathen worship is — of their own lusts and passions... There is a craving in man's heart for what will satisfy. He cannot find satisfaction in God. He cannot trust God's love and care. So lust and care devour him. He worships himself, in a way that becomes more and more brutalizing and degrading.
The verse ends with a word that sounds harmless. Commentators trace an order in it: appetite first, then excitement, then the outcome.
"Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.'" First came a yielding to the desires of the flesh. Then came pleasurable excitement. That pointed to the result you see in the scripture quoted — the judgment.
Both parts of the law they had just accepted were violated in a single day — the part about God, and the part about each other.
They rose up early, killed the burnt offerings, and fed on the peace offerings. They sat down to eat and drink, and rose up for orgies of play... Now they were dancing around the golden calf, giving themselves up to unrestrained immorality. They had already broken both tables of the law. They had dishonoured God and worshipped the golden image of a calf. And in their sinful lusts they had dishonoured one another.
The setting makes the offence worse. They feasted at the foot of the mountain where God had spoken. Their calf copied the gods of the land He had just judged.
"Ungodly" indeed was that man. Within forty days of hearing the voice of God out of the mountain, he could turn from the God who had shown Himself by delivering them from Egypt's bitter slavery with a mighty arm. He gave the glory of his Redeemer to the likeness of an ox that eats grass! And of this the whole people together were guilty. Under the shadow of Mount Sinai they "sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." It was in honour of a carved image that Jehovah had plainly forbidden. And it was in clear memory of those gods of Egypt whom He had judged before their very eyes.
The apostle quotes this line as a warning to believers. That is why writers refuse to treat "play" as an innocent word.
Those who tremble at God's word must be shocked at this. So must the pure in heart, who see Him by faith. They see the sinful liberties people so often take under the excuse of "play." So it is play. But remember: "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." The apostle quotes this scripture as a warning to us.
- Name. Aaron put the Lord's name on the feast, but the calf had their hearts. A name does not change what people really worship.
- Appetite. Underneath the offerings lay the lust of self-indulgence, whitewashed with a religious appearance.
- Self. Idol worship ends as worship of one's own lusts and passions. Man cannot trust God, so he worships himself.
- Slide. The order runs: gratification of the flesh, then pleasurable excitement, then judgment. Both parts of the law fell in one day.
- Us. The apostle quotes this verse as a warning. "Play" is the excuse believers must watch.
Then Jehovah said to Moses, Away, go down! for thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, is acting corruptly.
Moses was up the mountain, taking down God's plans for the sanctuary; below, the people were worshipping a metal calf. God cuts the conversation short with an order to go down, and one changed word hands Israel back to Moses as "your people."
Two scenes are running at the same moment.
The Lord had been occupied with the blessing of His people, giving instructions for building His sanctuary so that He might dwell among them. Moses was on high to receive these communications of His grace. The Lord was talking with His servant about the precious things He was setting up. They belonged to the relationship He had entered into with Israel in grace. But even while He was doing this, sin and even apostasy appear in the camp at the foot of Sinai. Above, all is light and blessing; below, all is darkness and evil.
God does not say "My people." He gives back the words the people had used themselves.
The eyes of the LORD in the mountain saw what was happening at the foot of Sinai. He spoke to Moses and told him that Israel was worshipping a metal calf. Using the people's own words, the LORD calls them "your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt." They are your people, Moses. You brought them out of Egypt. The people say so. How can I call them My people when they are doing the very thing I brought them out of Egypt so that they would not do? They have gone back to the idols of Egypt. They are taking away My glory and giving it to a senseless, lifeless image.
This change of wording follows the terms Israel had agreed to.
They had freely promised to obey God's law as the condition of blessing. Sprinkled blood had sealed that covenant — blood being the emblem of death, the penalty for breaking it. That penalty they had now incurred. God therefore no longer treats them as His people. They had rejected Him, and had spoken of Moses as the man who brought them up out of Egypt, and the Lord takes them on their own ground. So He says to Moses, "Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves."
The verse says they corrupted themselves. Why themselves?
The people are taught plainly that in making any image and bowing down to it, they really lowered and corrupted themselves… The worshipper must be lower than the object of his worship. So in worshipping a calf they put themselves below the level of the animals that perish.
They also lost something in the trade.
The people of God cannot meddle with the things of God without corrupting both those things and themselves. They cast aside their proper glory, and become occupied with what debases them. That the LORD was their God was their glory, but they wanted to make gods for themselves.
God's word to Moses was also a test of Moses.
He wanted to prove and show the heart of His servant. He loved the people Himself, and delighted in Moses' love for them. If the people were under the test of law, Moses was under the test of grace.
Moses sends the same word straight back to God.
The Lord had said to Moses, "Your people, whom you brought up." Moses replies to the Lord, "Your people, whom You have brought up." They were the Lord's people despite everything. His name, His glory and His oath were all bound up with what became of them. The moment the Lord links Himself with a people, His character is involved, and faith will always look at Him on this solid ground. Moses loses sight of himself entirely. Thoughts of the Lord's glory and the Lord's people fill his whole soul.
- Above and below. God was arranging to live among Israel at the very hour Israel bowed to a calf. Light on the mountain, darkness in the camp.
- Your people. God repeats the people's own words back to them; they had credited Moses with the exodus, so He hands them to Moses.
- Their own ground. They promised obedience as the price of blessing. They broke it, so God stops treating them as His.
- Corrupted themselves. Idolatry drags the worshipper below the thing he worships. Israel threw away their real glory — that the LORD was their God.
- Handed back. Moses answers "Your people" with "Your people," He rests Israel's future on God's name, His glory and His oath.
They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them they have made themselves a molten calf, and have bowed down to it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, This is thy god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!
From the mountain God tells Moses what Israel is doing below. They have made a calf, and they now credit it with their rescue out of Egypt. This is God's own summary of how fast redeemed people can trade Him for something they made.
The sting of the verse is one word: quickly.
The speed with which corruption breaks into what God has set up in purity is remarkable. The people of Israel stood in awe of God's majesty. They had heard the solemn words, "You shall have no other gods before me." They had answered, "All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do." And yet after only a few short days they turn aside out of the way and make themselves gods. Does this surprise us? Is it not rather too faithful a history of the outwardly professing people of God in every age?
The calf was not a rival god brought in to replace the God of Israel.
It is probable that the calf was intended as a representation of God, and would come under the second commandment rather than the first. This form of idolatry is more plausible than openly disowning God and setting up an idol in His place. But it is just as truly idolatry, and God punished it in a way no one could miss. The same worship existed in Egypt with the bull Apis, said to represent the god Osiris. This may have given the Israelites the idea of making a calf. Jeroboam later repeated the same sin. He was afraid his people would go up to Jerusalem to worship, so he set up two calves, one in Bethel and one in Dan. He announced, "Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt" (1 Kings 12:28-33).
Nobody in the camp thought they were swapping Jehovah for another god.
Let us not suppose that either Aaron or Israel intended to abandon Jehovah. It is no unfair stretch of imagination to picture their indignation at such a charge. In Israel's mind the calf stood for the God no eye can see. Aaron said as much of Jehovah in plain words. It was, as people say of all images, "a help to devotion," "a symbol of the unseen," and in that sense, the God who had brought them out of Egypt! Yet none the less they had really gone back in spirit to paganism. They had "in their hearts turned to Egypt" (Acts 7:39).
These people had watched God break Egypt and open the sea. Now they gave the calf the credit.
Did they really believe that a molten image had made the land of Egypt tremble, humbled its proud king, and brought them out in triumph? Had a calf divided the sea for them and led them grandly through its depths? So they said, at least; for what will people not say when the eye and the heart are turned away from God and His word?
Notice how their request had shifted. At first they wanted only a guide for the road ahead.
It is remarkable how little the people or Aaron saw of what their gratified desire would produce. At first they only wanted gods to go before them, to carry on what Moses had begun, and to finish their deliverance out of Egypt by leading them into Canaan. But now they treat these gods, and not Moses, as the ones who brought them out of Egypt. One departure from the fear of God may lead to incalculable damage.
At Sinai, Israel had accepted blessing on the terms of their own obedience.
Israel had indeed exposed themselves to the righteous judgment of God. They had promised obedience to God's law of their own accord, as the condition of blessing. The sprinkling of blood had sealed that covenant — the sign of death as the penalty for breaking it. That penalty they had now incurred. So God no longer treats them as His people.
Moses does not soften Israel's sin. His plea rests somewhere else.
Moses stood where God pronounced righteous judgment, but he also stood in the very atmosphere of grace. There he could take the place of intercession and prevail, because his plea was the honour of the Lord Himself. This must always be a plea that prevails, because it admits that God's judgment is righteous. Moses can neither excuse nor lessen the people's sin. It is not the place of intercession to do that, because everything before God must be truthful. What comfort for us to know of Christ that He "is at the right hand of God" and "indeed is interceding for us"!
- Quickly. Days after promising to obey every word, Israel turned aside. God's people have failed this fast in every age.
- Plausibly. The calf was not a rival god but a picture of the true one. Respectable idolatry is still idolatry, and Jeroboam later repeated it word for word.
- Sincerely. Israel would have denied abandoning God. Yet an image "to help devotion" carried them back in spirit to Egypt.
- Ruinously. One step away from the fear of God ended with a new-made calf taking credit for the Red Sea. Israel broke the covenant they had sworn to, and its penalty fell due.
- Mercifully. Moses excused nothing and pleaded God's own honour. That plea prevails — and Christ intercedes for us on the same ground now.
And Jehovah said to Moses, I see this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
On the mountain God gives His verdict on the people He had just rescued. Two questions follow: what does "stiff-necked" charge Israel with, and why does God say "let me alone"?
Earlier in the book God spoke of these same people in very different words. One writer sets the two sentences side by side:
At the opening of this book, when the people were suffering in Egypt, the Lord could say, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows." But now He has to say, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people." An afflicted people is an object of grace; but a stiff-necked people must be humbled. God answered the cry of oppressed Israel with grace; but He must answer the song of idol-worshipping Israel with stern rebuke.
What does that charge mean? One writer puts it in a sentence:
Being stiff-necked refers to the stubbornness of wanting our own way.
Israel had agreed to be blessed on the basis of their own obedience.
They had freely promised to obey God's law as the condition of blessing, and the covenant was sealed by the sprinkling of blood — a sign of death — as the penalty for breaking it. They had now brought that penalty on themselves. So God no longer treats them as His people. They had rejected Him, and had spoken of Moses as the man who brought them up out of Egypt; and the Lord takes them on the ground they have chosen... So if God dealt with Israel by the righteous demands of the law they had accepted, they were lost beyond recovery, and would perish through their own deliberate sin and turning away from Him.
The next verse says, "now therefore let me alone." One writer finds mercy in those words, not only anger:
How great was the mercy of God, that He stopped to consider the feelings of His servant in this great crisis. He knew well what Moses would think and want. He already feels the pleading of His dear servant's heart before it is spoken, for He says, "Let Me alone." Israel's sin had brought down on them the righteous anger of a holy God, but intercession mixed mercy with judgment.
The threat came with an offer: God would make something of Moses himself.
That "let me alone" said a great deal. It was God saying to His dear servant, I know you have a true heart for Me and My people. If there had been self-importance in that dear man of God, what a fine opportunity this was! He could have stood up and said, "Well, the people have brought this judgment on themselves. I could not help it, and now God is going to make something of me. I will take it." How lovely it is of Moses: he refuses. He refuses himself. He refused the world when he was in Egypt; that was the first thing, and now he refuses himself.
Two chapters later Moses uses the same phrase again — but now as his reason for asking God to come with them:
In Exodus 34:9 Moses pleads, "If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, please go among us, for it is a stiff-necked people." And we know — I know — that sin in me is the ground of my being lost; and yet sin in me is the very ground of my going to God to keep me, now that sacrifice has come in. It shows a wonderful character of grace, its overflowing fullness, to give as the ground of God's being with us what was the ground of judgment — once sacrifice has come in.
- Seen. God's word moved from "I have seen the affliction of my people" to "I have seen this people." Affliction draws out His grace; stubbornness must be humbled.
- Stubborn. Stiff-necked means the stubbornness of wanting our own way.
- Owed. Israel had promised obedience as the condition of blessing. On that ground the calf left them lost beyond recovery, and God no longer treated them as His people.
- Opened. "Let me alone" was mercy as well as anger. God already felt His servant's pleading before Moses spoke, and Moses refused the chance to have God make something of him.
- Reversed. Once sacrifice came in, the ground of judgment became the plea. "It is a stiff-necked people" is now the reason to ask God to go among us.
And now let me alone, that my anger may burn against them, and I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation.
Israel broke the first commandment while Moses was still on the mountain with God. Now God tells His servant to stand back so judgment can fall — and offers to build a new nation out of Moses himself. Everything in the chapter turns on what Moses does with that sentence.
The threat is not arbitrary. Israel had agreed to the terms themselves.
They had freely promised to obey God's law as the condition of blessing. The sprinkling of blood sealed the covenant, and that blood was the emblem of death — the penalty for breaking it. They had now brought that penalty on themselves. So God no longer treats them as His people. They had rejected Him. They had spoken of Moses as the man who brought them up out of Egypt, and the Lord takes them on their own ground... So if God dealt with Israel by the righteous requirements of the law they had accepted, they were lost beyond recovery, and would perish through their own wilful sin.
The threat carries an opening inside it. God asks Moses not to hold Him back — which shows Moses that he can.
How great was the mercy of God, that He stopped to consider the feelings of His servant in this great crisis. He knew well what the thoughts and desires of Moses would be. He already feels what His dear devoted servant is pleading for before the words are spoken, for He says, "Let Me alone." Israel's sin had called down on them the righteous anger of a holy God, but intercession mingled mercy with judgment.
The second half of the verse offers Moses everything a man might want.
Was that not a splendid chance for Moses, if he had not been what he was? If there had been self-importance in that dear man of God, what a fine opportunity for him. He could easily have stood up and said, "Well, the people have brought this judgment on themselves, and I could not help it. Now God is going to make something of me, I will take it." I think it is so lovely of Moses — he refuses. He refuses himself. He refused the world when in Egypt, that was the first thing, and now he refuses himself.
God had called Israel Moses' people. Moses hands them back to the One who redeemed them.
He does not for one moment make the sin of the people look smaller — this he could not do. Nor does he ask for mercy, for there was no room for mercy in the covenant of Sinai. So he throws himself upon God, and upon what His glory required for the people He had redeemed... God had said to Moses, "your" people; but Moses pleads that they are "His" people. He will not accept the breaking of the link.
God already knew how Moses would answer. The point of the words lies elsewhere.
How could Moses alone bury over two million people? Also, would a nation fathered by Moses be any better than Israel? God knew all this, and He knew the heart of Moses toward Israel. But He spoke this way for our sakes. He wanted to draw our attention to the intercession of Moses for Israel, as a picture of the intercession of the Lord Jesus for us even when we fail badly. On the one hand, we must realise how fierce is the anger of God against every evil thing put in the place He alone is entitled to. On the other hand, we are to see the great value of the intercession of the one Man, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The picture has a limit. Moses pleaded God's glory; Christ pleads sin already put away.
What comfort for us to know of Christ that He is at the right hand of God, and that He is also interceding for us. He knows the righteous judgment of God. He knows too the evil of our sin. But His intercession rests on this: He Himself has vindicated the righteousness of God by putting away our sin.
Moses' answer to "let Me alone" was to refuse to leave God alone.
More than once you can see the tremendous power of prayer — tremendous because God gives it. It can even turn the mighty God from His purpose when He means to deal in judgment. Think of that!... But Moses would not let the Lord alone. He would not let God make him a great nation at such cost to stiff-necked Israel.
- Cause: Israel accepted the covenant on their own terms. The calf brought down the penalty they had agreed to, and the law left them beyond recovery.
- Opening: "Let Me alone" is a threat with a door in it. God feels His servant's pleading before he speaks it.
- Refusal: Moses turns down the greatest offer of his life. Having once refused the world, he now refuses himself.
- Ground: He never makes the sin look smaller. He pleads God's glory and insists they are still God's people, not his.
- Result: Intercession turns the judgment aside — a picture of Christ pleading for us when we fail, though His plea rests on sin already put away.
And Moses besought Jehovah his God, and said, Why, Jehovah, doth thy wrath burn against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?
Israel had just made a golden calf at the foot of the mountain and worshipped it. God offered to destroy them and make Moses a great nation instead — and Moses answers with a prayer that is all about God.
God's words to Moses in the previous verse were not simply a threat. One writer reads them as a deliberate probe of the man standing there:
He wanted to prove and show the heart of His servant. He loved the people Himself, and He delighted in Moses' love for them. If the people were under the test of law, Moses was under the test of grace.
God had spoken of Israel as your people, whom you brought out of Egypt. Moses hands both back:
God had said to Moses, "your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt" (v. 11). He pleaded with God on this basis. God's mighty hand had done that great work. Was God any less mighty now?
Moses never excuses Israel, and he never asks for mercy. One writer explains why:
He does not for one moment make light of the sin of the people — this he could not do. Nor does he plead for mercy, for there was no room for mercy in the covenant of Sinai. So instead he throws himself on God — on what His glory required for the people He had redeemed. First, he points to the dishonour that would come on God's name among the Egyptians if Israel were destroyed.
Moses was the one man in the camp with clean hands. He was also the only man with anything to gain from Israel's ruin. What he does with that moment should unsettle us:
He had not had the least involvement in the people's sin. We might expect him to say that he shared God's righteous indignation. This was his opportunity to secure a place of honour: "I will make of you a great nation" (v. 10). Instead, this is what we read. Moses implored the LORD his God and said, "O LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people, whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt?" (v. 11). Instead of condemning, he intercedes for this "stiff-necked" people. This must be a puzzle to anyone honest enough to admit how easily we condemn fellow Christians.
The same grace shows in what he would not take. Another writer puts it in a single line: "He refuses to be or to have anything without the people. He pleads with God on the ground of His own glory."
Moses appeals to what God's own honour requires. One writer turns that appeal into a question about our praying:
The people had sinned deeply, and God was threatening to disinherit them. How instructive, then, that God shows us the true ground on which to appeal for mercy and forgiveness! That ground is not our need, however great it may be. It is not even repentance, however heartfelt and true. It is the glory of God, the honour of His name, the written pledge of His faithfulness to those who are under the blood. For this He puts away the sins and failures of His own people. We pray, we make our requests, and we ask a Father's forgiveness. But do we take in the full meaning of "for the sake of" or "in the name of Jesus Christ"? Is it just a closing formula in our minds?
If God already knew Moses' heart, the conversation was for readers, not for information:
God knew all this, and He knew the heart of Moses toward Israel. But He spoke in this way to Moses for our sakes. He wanted to draw our attention to how Moses interceded for Israel. That is a picture of how the Lord Jesus intercedes for us, even when we fail badly. On the one hand, we must realise how fierce God's anger is against every evil thing put in the place that belongs to Him alone. On the other hand, we are to see the great value of the intercession of the one Man, the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Tested. God offered to destroy Israel and start again with Moses. That offer put Moses under the test of grace, as the law had tested the people.
- Handed back. God called Israel Moses' people. Moses gives the word back: they are Your people, brought out by Your power.
- Emptied. Offered a nation of his own, he will have nothing apart from the people he prays for.
- Grounded. His plea rests not on Israel's need or repentance. It rests on God's glory and the honour of His name. That is the weight behind praying "in the name of Jesus Christ."
- Fulfilled. God spoke this way for our sakes — to show His anger against sin, and the worth of the intercession of one Man, Jesus Christ.
Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, For misfortune he has brought them out, to slay them on the mountains, and to annihilate them from the face of the earth? Turn from the heat of thine anger, and repent of this evil against thy people!
Israel has just made a golden calf, and God has told Moses to leave Him alone while His anger burns against them — He will make a great nation of Moses instead. Moses does not defend the people; he pleads what the Egyptians would say, and the promise God swore to the fathers.
God had called Israel Moses' people — the ones Moses brought up out of Egypt. Moses hands them straight back.
He does not for a moment make light of the people's sin — that he could not do. Nor does he ask for mercy, for there was no room for mercy in the covenant of Sinai. So what he does is throw himself on God, and on what His glory required in connection with the people He had redeemed. First he presses the dishonour that would be done to His name among the Egyptians if Israel were destroyed. He reminds the Lord of the link made with His people through redemption. God had said to Moses, "your" people; but Moses pleads that they are "His" people.
Why does that link still hold, after a sin like this?
They were the Lord's people despite everything, and His name, His glory, His oath were all bound up with what became of them. The moment the Lord links Himself with a people, His character is involved, and faith will always look at Him on this solid ground.
Moses does not argue that the judgment would be unjust. He asks how it would look to Egypt, which had just felt God's power.
In verse 12 he shows his zeal for the name of the Lord, in case its glory should be dimmed in the minds of the Egyptians. They had felt the mighty power of the Lord's arm in the deliverance of His people. Were they now to hear that those He had acknowledged as His people were destroyed too? The proposed act of judgment would be right; but would it have the appearance of being right in the eyes of men?
Moses then names Abraham, Isaac and Israel. In doing so he moves off one ground and onto another.
In verse 13 we have a third thing of great significance. Moses was the servant of God through whom the law was given. Yet he falls back, not on the law covenant — all was lost on that basis — but on the unconditional covenant made much earlier with Abraham, Isaac and Israel. He uses that name, and not Jacob, the name after the flesh. By an instinct given him by God, Moses in his plea left law for grace. On that ground his plea prevailed.
His prayer wins its case because it agrees with God about the guilt.
Moses stood in the place of righteous judgment, but he was also in the very atmosphere of grace. There he could take the place of intercession and prevail, because his plea was the honour of the Lord Himself. This must always be a prevailing plea, because it admits that God's judgment is righteous. Moses can neither excuse nor lessen the people's sin. It is not the place of intercession to do this, because everything before God must be truthful. What comfort for us to know of Christ that "He is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us"! He knows the righteous judgment of God. He knows too the evil of our sin. But His intercession rests on this: He Himself has vindicated the righteousness of God by putting away our sin.
The last phrase of the verse asks God to turn back from what He has said. Older translations read "repent of this evil." The ESV has "relent from this disaster." Commentators are careful about what that does not mean.
God is not a man, that He should repent of His eternal and unchangeable counsels and unconditional promises. Those "are irrevocable." But in His grace He may repent of — that is, not carry out — a threatened judgment, as in the case of Nineveh. We must remember that the Spirit of God stoops to speak in the human way, because of our weakness.
- Cause. God offered Moses greatness at Israel's expense. Moses passed it by and pleaded for the honour of the Lord instead.
- Gift. He handed the people back to God — they were the Lord's people, not his own. When God links Himself to a people, His character is bound up with what becomes of them.
- Reach. His concern ran as far as Egypt. The judgment would have been right — but would it have looked right to those who had just seen God's power save them?
- Ground. The law had nothing left to give, so Moses fell back on the promise sworn to Abraham, Isaac and Israel. That is why the plea won.
- Result. God relented. That is not a change in His eternal purpose. It is grace not carrying out a threatened judgment. And it points to Christ, who intercedes without ever excusing our sin.
Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thyself, and saidst to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall possess [it] for ever!
Israel had just made the golden calf, and God offered to destroy them and make Moses a great nation instead. Moses answers with three names and an oath sworn long before — a plea Israel's own record could never support.
Moses does not argue that Israel deserves sparing. He points to something older than the law they had just broken.
Look at the ground Moses took — the unconditional promises of God's mercy, the grace assured to the fathers. It was impossible for Jehovah to set aside such a plea.
Naming Abraham, Isaac and Israel is not sentiment. One writer treats this prayer as the key to how the whole Bible speaks about Israel's future.
Having followed the references to this covenant, there is one very important remark to make. The prayer Moses made at the time of their sin in making the golden calf gives rise to it. It is this: whenever the Spirit of God speaks of the true hopes of Israel, He points to the unconditional covenant made with Abraham.
Two arrangements stand side by side in Israel's history. Only one of them depends on Israel.
God's covenant to take away Israel's sins is sure… As far as the gospel goes, they are enemies — the nation is rejected for now. But as far as God's election goes, they are loved as a people, always and without change. That love is tied not to law, but to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The law offered blessing on a condition: "if you will indeed obey my voice… you shall be my treasured possession." With Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, it was purpose, and unconditional gift and calling. This difference runs through Scripture… The final restoration of Israel will be on the ground of the promises made to the fathers, "for his steadfast love endures forever."
Three pictures describe Abraham's offspring: stars, dust and sand. Moses picks the stars, and one writer thinks the choice was deliberate.
As pointed out earlier, the "stars" were connected with Isaac, the son who guaranteed the unconditional promise God made to Abraham. Both the "dust" and the "sand" go with Jacob, the man who stands for human responsibility. Isaac was the son of promise… Might not these servants have had enough light to see this? If God was going to bless Israel, it had to be on the ground of His unconditional promise, and not on the ground of their responsibility.
God had just offered to make Moses himself into a great nation. Moses hands the offer back and holds God to the older promise.
God had said to Abraham, "I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven"… Moses had taken hold of that promise and remembered it. After Israel's sin of the golden calf, God says: "let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you." Moses replies, in effect, "Lord, in that case You will have to take back what You said to Abraham."… Moses had no thought for himself. He was devoted to God's interests and to Israel's blessing as His people. Otherwise he would have said, This is a fine chance for me. But look at that man. He declines his own advancement, and reminds God of the promise He had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Moses draws every argument from God's own character and promises. Not one comes from Israel's record, and he never pretends the sin is small.
The prayer of Moses was based upon the character of God — a most important matter in true mediation between God and man. He pleaded for God's people, because they were His. He pleaded because God had redeemed them, and had brought them out from their bonds with His powerful hand. He pleaded because of God's promise to the fathers. He pleaded because the nations might otherwise say that Jehovah was not true to His word. And he pleaded because they were His inheritance, despite their sin and their stubbornness, since He had made them so. Such were his arguments, and he used them while fully admitting the depth of Israel's sin.
- Remember. Moses asks God to remember, not Israel to repent — the prayer rests on what God had already said.
- Sworn. God swore this promise by Himself. Setting it aside would cost Him His own word, and writers treat that covenant as the anchor of Israel's hope.
- Unconditional. Sinai promised blessing if Israel obeyed. The promise to the fathers gave blessing outright, and the stars picture that side of it.
- Self-forgetful. Moses was offered a nation of his own. He turned that offer into an argument for sparing the people who had just disgraced him.
- Forever. The plea rested on those promises, and so does Israel's final restoration — not on Israel's performance.
And Jehovah repented of the evil that he had said he would do to his people.
Israel had just made a golden calf while Moses was on the mountain. God announced that He would consume them. Moses pleaded, and verse 14 tells what followed. It raises a hard question: how can God, who never changes, change His mind?
The break came from the very people who had agreed to the covenant. One writer traces the whole scene:
They begin with an act of full apostasy, which the seed of Abraham commit while Moses was in the mountain. This forfeited all the blessing promised to them on the terms of their own covenant. So the Lord at once stands against them, disowns them, and prepares to carry out consuming judgment on them. But Moses just as quickly stands for them. As mediator, he pleads the Lord's ancient promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And the Lord repents when He hears the voice of the mediator this way.
Someone once asked how this verse fits with another statement in Scripture: God is not a man, that He should change His mind. The answer draws a line between two things God does:
The word is similar in both cases, but carries the meanings given to it, and the context decides which one fits best. In the one case it is the Lord in government. The intercession of Moses turns aside His thought of cutting off part of the nation and making Moses (the faithful remnant) into a great nation. In the other it is God in purpose, which is unchangeable.
So the change is in the threatened judgment, never in the promise. Another writer adds why Scripture speaks this way:
God is not a man, that He should change His mind about His eternal and unchangeable counsels. Nor does He change His mind about His unconditional promises, which "are irrevocable." But in His grace He may repent of a threatened judgment — that is, not carry it out. Nineveh is one such case. We must remember that the Spirit of God stoops to speak in a human way, because of our weakness.
Moses reached past the covenant they had just broken to an older one:
In verse 13 we have something of great significance. Moses was the servant of God through whom the law came. Yet he does not fall back on the law covenant, for all was lost on that basis. He falls back on the unconditional covenant made much earlier with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. He uses that name, not Jacob, the name that speaks of nature. By an instinct God gave him, Moses in his plea left law for grace. On that ground his plea prevailed.
Moses argued from God's side, not from Israel's record:
The Lord had said He would make a great nation of Moses. But Moses loves his people greatly. He loses sight of himself and sets aside what might be called his own interests. He thinks only of the Lord's glory and the misery of Israel… He does not for one moment excuse the sin of the people — this he could not do. Nor does he plead for mercy, for there was no room for mercy in the covenant of Sinai. So he throws himself upon God — upon what His glory required in connection with the people He had redeemed.
God called Israel your people when He spoke to Moses. Verse 14 calls them something else.
The pleading of Moses is most beautiful and instructive. It is so because in it he was a picture of the great Mediator… The mediation of Moses prevailed. God intended it to prevail… God said to Moses, "your people." Yet the Holy Spirit, in writing this record, says, "His people." Is that not worth noticing? It tells us that the counsels of grace stand firm despite the sins of that people.
One writer turns the scene into a question for the reader:
We might pause here to ask ourselves how we would have reacted in Moses' place. He had no involvement at all in the people's sin. We might expect him to say that he shared God's righteous indignation… Instead of condemning, he intercedes for this stiff-necked people. This must be a puzzle to anyone honest enough to admit how easily we condemn fellow Christians. In taking the place of an intercessor, Moses became a striking picture of Christ interceding for His people.
- Sin. Israel's idolatry lost everything the covenant promised them. God stood against them and prepared to consume them.
- Mediator. Moses refused the offer to become a great nation himself. He stood between God and the people — a picture of Christ interceding for His own.
- Ground. His plea rested not on the broken law but on the unconditional promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. On that ground it prevailed.
- Turning. "Repented" means God set aside a threatened judgment. It does not mean His purpose changed, for His purpose never changes. Scripture speaks in human words because we are weak.
- Standing. God said "your people"; the record says "His people." Grace still holds the people God had chosen. We can intercede the same way for those who fail.