Exodus 31-32

Intro-

V.1-5 - God reveals to Moses the he had chosen men who would be the ones to construct all of the details he had previously commanded.

V.6 - God said that he had given to ALL men, ability to do His work.

Exodus 31:12–13 ESV

12 And the Lord said to Moses, 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you.

One of the most important commands in the eyes of God in the OT was to keep the sabbath.

The sabbath was supposed to be a sign for them, and for future generations.

Exodus 31:17 ESV

17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ”

Exodus 32:17 ESV

17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”

This wasn’t simply an arbitrary sign, it was a sign of God being the creator and Israel serving Him.

How many days were they supposed to work? Why?

We need to simply let the Bible speak, after all, it is God’s word ()

Exodus 32:1 ESV

1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Moses was up on the mountain for a little while, (since chapter 19).

Since he had been gone for so long, the people decided they needed to make new gods

Exodus 32:4 ESV

4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

Moses’ brother, Aaron fashioned the idol out of melted gold, and then proclaimed, “these are your gods.”

God told Moses in V.7 that the people had turned against him and that he needed to go down to them.

V.9 God called the Israelites a “Stiff-necked” people

Stiff necked -

God had told Moses that he was going to destroy the people in His anger. Moses, pleaded on Israel’s behalf, and then God relented.

Exodus 32:19 ESV

19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.

We see the famous scene of Moses coming down from Sinai and throwing down the tablets.

Exodus 32:20 ESV

20 He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.

Aaron had a ridiculous excuse-

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Exodus 32:24 ESV

24 So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

In , Moses asks one of the most important questions ever asked, “Who is on the Lord’s side?”

He had those who were on the Lord’s side come to him, take up their swords and to go out and strike down the ones who turned from the Lord.

V.28 says that on that day, 3,000 people fell.

V.33- God made clear that those who sinned against Him, He would blot out from His book.

Application

Just as God told Moses in that He had given the people the ability to do the things that he had required of them, God has give each of us abilities that we ought to use for the glory of Him.

Moses came down from mount Sinai and broke the 10 commandments in rage. Just a few verses earlier God revealed He was burning with anger. If something makes God angry, it should make us angry.

One of the biggest points in this whole account is often overlooked.

Why did the Israelites build false gods? - Their faith was never in God to begin with