금송아지 사건
Ultimately, it is only when God, through Christ, resides in the human heart by the power of the Spirit that we are enabled to live by the covenant.
Throughout the Old Testament, one of the common synonyms for “trust” is “wait” (Isa 30:18; 40:31). It is only when we lay aside our timetables and plans, refusing to run ahead of God that we have really learned to trust him. When we define the need, the means to meet it, and the time when it shall be met, this is not trust at all but merely manipulation.
The choice of a bull for the object of worship reflects not only Egyptian religion, where the high god, Amon-Re, was represented by a bull, but also the other religions of the ancient Near East. The bull represented the power, domination, and fecundity that were believed to reside in nature and that the worshipers hoped to capture for themselves. But these qualities are not inherent in creation; they are gifts given by the Creator. To confuse gift and Giver is to make ultimate what is derivative and to make a person dependent on what is strictly limited and cannot reproduce itself.
32:6 got up early. The parallel with 24:4, where it is said that “early the next morning Moses got up” on the day of the sealing of the covenant, is almost certainly an intentional contrast. See also 34:4 and the commentary there.
pagan revelry. This is a probable interpretation. The text says lit., “they rose up to play.” Very possibly sexual activity was involved (cf. Gen 26:8, where the same word is used).