Exodus 32.25-29-The Tribe Of Levi Responds To Moses Call To Loyalty To The Lord And Executes The Unrepentant Idolaters In Israel
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday August 26, 2012
Journey Through The Bible Series: Exodus 32:25-29-The Tribe Of Levi Responds To Moses Call To Loyalty To The Lord And Executes The Unrepentant Idolaters In Israel
Lesson # 49
Please turn in your Bibles to Exodus 32:25.
This morning we will study Exodus 32:25-29, which records the Levites demonstrating their loyalty to the Lord by responding to Moses’ call to stand with the Lord.
In response to Moses’ order, the Levites kill those who were unrepentant in worshiping the golden calf.
Exodus 32:25 Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies— 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27 He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’” 28 So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, “Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.” (NASB95)
Aaron’s failure to lead the nation of Israel has resulted in a desperate situation in the Israelite camp.
Moses reveals his concern that Israel would be vulnerable to attack by its enemies if the nation continued to be out of control.
Moses’ statement in verse 25 indicates that Moses was concerned that Israel’s enemies would consider them a laughingstock meaning they would think Israel as a fighting force was a joke.
Therefore, to get things under control, Moses rallies those in Israel who were not involved in the activities of the mob.
Moses’ challenge to the nation was an opportunity for those guilty of committing the sin of idolatry to repent.
The tribe of Levi responded, which is understandable since Moses and Aaron both were from the tribe of Levi.
However, their true motivation was that they were loyal to the Lord since the Lord would not have bestowed upon this tribe the blessing of being the priestly tribe in Israel if their motivation for coming forward was not loyalty to Him.
In Exodus 32:10, the Lord threatens to destroy the entire nation and make a new nation of out Moses, which indicates that the entire nation was either involved in this idolatrous worship or was condoning it by inaction in rebuking those committing the idolatry.
When Moses arrived in the camp, some must have stopped their partying especially when they saw the anger of Moses but some did not stop their carousing and were the ones Moses had the Levites execute.
Moses’ command in verse 27 is shocking and repulsive to the “sentimentalism of Western liberal thinking” (Stuart, page 680).
However, Moses understood clearly that the rebels in the Israelite camp who were engaged in idolatry would ultimately lead the nation to destruction.
Later in Israel’s history, the Lord disciplined the nation for its idolatry by sending the Assyrian and Babylonian armies and Roman armies to destroy the nation and deport the people.
If Moses did not intervene with the Levites, the nation would have been severely disciplined by God as they were later on in her history.
Also, the nation of Israel’s witness before the heathen nations would be severely damaged if Moses permitted and tolerated the idolaters.
The nation of Israel was to represent the Lord but if idolatry were permitted to continue, they would no longer be a witness to the nations.
By Moses purging the Israelite camp of the rebel idolaters he would also be reflecting God’s holiness and respecting that holiness.
When Moses tells the Levites in verse 27 to go back and forth throughout the camp to kill their fellow Israelite, he was not ordering them to randomly and indiscriminately kill any Israelite.
Rather, the language in the original indicates that Moses was ordering them to carefully and systematically approach everyone to find out if they intended to repent and return to being obedient to the Lord and abandon their idolatry or not.
Those who were unrepentant and continued in their idolatry were to be executed whereas those who stopped and were repentant were to be spared.
Numbers 25 records a parallel situation that occurred later during the Exodus at Baal-Peor in which the Israelites were committing idolatry once again and the Lord ordered Moses to order the execution of those who were guilty.
In this passage, a prominent Levite, whose name was Phinehas, killed a man and woman in the midst of pagan religious prostitutional “revelry” (Num 25:8).
Numbers 25 makes clear to the reader that only those engaged in committing idolatry were put to death and thus not everyone was indiscriminately put to death, which is the case here in Exodus 32.
Here in the church age, no such action with respect to idolatry is to be taken by the church since unlike Israel, the church is not a theocracy or a nation representing God but rather the church is distinct from Israel and is composed of both Jew and Gentiles, slave and free, male and female.
Moses’ action to purge the idolaters from the Israelite camp was appropriate since the nation of Israel was a theocracy with God Himself leading the nation and residing in their camp along with the Israelites.
God cannot tolerate such gross sin without responding with judgment since He is holy.
The term “holiness” refers to the absolute perfection of the character of God, expressing His purity of character or moral perfection and excellence, thus making God totally separate from sin and sinners.
He is totally separate from sin and sinners unless a way can be found to constitute them holy and that way has been provided based upon the merits of the impeccable Person and Finished Work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross.
The presence of evil, sin and injustice is totally absent in the character of God, thus God does not tolerate evil or sin because it is contrary to His character, i.e. His inherent moral qualities, ethical standards and principles.
Also, we must remember that the citizens of the nation of Israel are at this time in the narrative believers since by means of faith each of the families of Israel put the blood of the lamb on the doorpost and lintel of their homes and their firstborns were spared.
The apostle Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 10:1-8 that the Israelites were all believers describing them as eating the same spiritual food and drinking from Christ who was their spiritual rock and were identified with Moses.
Therefore, since the Israelites were believers, Moses’ action in ordering the execution of unrepentant idolaters in the Israelite camp and the Lord sending a plague among the Israelites was all divine discipline and not a judgment of unbelievers.
There are three categories of divine discipline (punishment) for the disobedient child of God: (1) Warning (Rev. 3:20; James 5:9) (2) Intense (Ps. 38:1; 2 Th. 2:11). (3) Dying (Jer. 9:16; 44:12; Phlp. 3:18-19; Re. 3:16; Ps. 118:17-18; 1 Jo. 5:16).
In Exodus 32, God’s punishment of those Israelites involved in idolatrous worship was severe discipline because of the seriousness of their offense.
Three thousand died at the hands of the Levites whereas others were executed later on by the Lord through a plague according to Exodus 32:35.
This discipline of the Israelites was actually a manifestation of His love for the nation since the Lord loves those whom He disciplines.
If He didn’t discipline the nation, this would have been a manifestation that the Israelites were not His covenant people.
The fact that He did severely discipline them demonstrated they were His covenant people.
This severe discipline was merciful since the Lord could have destroyed the entire nation as He had threatened.
The fact that He didn’t is a demonstration of His mercy and grace which are expressions of His attribute of love.
It was also a demonstration of His faithfulness to His unconditional promises to the patriarchs of the nation, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, thus by not destroying the nation completely, He was being faithful to His covenant with these men.
The willingness of the Levites to execute the unrepentant idolaters in Israel regardless if they were Levites, or family members or friends demonstrated their devotion to the Lord.
It demonstrated that they did not put love for family and friends ahead of their obedience to the Lord.
In Exodus 32:29, Moses commands the Levites to consecrate or dedicate themselves to the Lord, which means that they were to set themselves apart from the rest of the Israelites in order to carry out the Lord’s purpose to discipline the unrepentant idolaters in Israel with the death penalty.
Undoubtedly, this must have been difficult but they were obedient nonetheless since they considered their relationship with the Lord and their obedience to Him more important than love for family and friends and fellow countrymen.
The church age believer would do well to follow the example of the Levites.
Moses tells the Levites that they will receive a blessing for their loyalty to the Lord and this blessing came in the form of being selected by the Lord to be the priestly tribe of Israel (see Numbers 1:50-53).