Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
Exodus
Book: Exodus
Chapter: 32
Overview:
The people cause
Aaron to make a
Golden Calf.
(1-6) God's
displeasure, The intercession of
Moses.
(7-14) Moses breaks the
Tables of the
Law, He destroys the
Golden Calf.
(15-20) Aaron's
excuse, The idolaters slain.
(21-29) Moses prays for the people.
(30-35)
1-6 While
Moses was in the
Mount, receiving the
Law from
God,
the people made a tumultuous address to
Aaron. This giddy
multitude were weary of waiting for the return of
Moses.
Weariness in waiting betrays to many temptations. The
Lord must
be waited for till he comes, and waited for though he tarry. Let
their readiness to part with their
Ear-rings to make an
Idol,
shame our niggardliness in the service of the true
God. They did
not draw back
On account of the cost of their
Idolatry; and
shall we grudge the expenses of religion?
Aaron produced the
shape of an
Ox or
Calf, giving it some finish with a
Graving
tool. They offered
Sacrifice to this
Idol. Having set up an
image before them, and
So changed the
Truth of
God into a
Lie,
their sacrifices were
Abomination. Had they not, only a few days
before, in this very place, heard the voice of the
Lord God
speaking to them out of the midst of the
Fire, Thou shalt not
make to thyself any
Graven image? Had they not themselves
solemnly entered into
Covenant with
God, that they would do all
he had said to them, and would be obedient? ch. 24:7. Yet
before they stirred from the place where this
Covenant had been
solemnly made, they brake an express command, in defiance of an
express threatening. It plainly shows, that the
Law was
No more
able to make holy, than it was to justify;
By it is the
knowledge of
Sin, but not the cure of
Sin.
Aaron was set apart
By the Divine appointment to the office of the priesthood; but
he, who had once shamed himself
So far as to build an
Altar to a
Golden Calf, must own himself unworthy of the honour of
attending at the
Altar of
God, and indebted to free
Grace alone
for it. Thus pride and boasting were silenced.
7-14 God says to
Moses, that the Israelites had corrupted
themselves.
Sin is the corruption of the sinner, and it is a
self-corruption; every
Man is tempted when he is drawn aside of
his own
Lust. They had turned aside out of the way.
Sin is a
departing from the way of duty into a
By-path. They soon forgot
God's
Works. He sees what they cannot discover, nor is any
wickedness of the world hid from him. We could not
Bear to see
the thousandth part of that evil which
God sees every
Day.
God
expresses the greatness of his just displeasure, after the
manner of men who would have none to plead for those they resolve
to be severe with. Nothing but the
Prayer of
Moses could save them
from ruin; thus he was a
Type of
Christ,
By whose mediation
alone,
God would reconcile the world to himself.
Moses pleads
God's
Glory. The glorifying
God's name, as it ought to be our
first petition, and it is
So in the
Lord's
Prayer,
So it ought
to be our great plea. And
God's promises are to be our pleas in
Prayer; for what he has promised he is able to perform. See the
power of
Prayer. In answer to the prayers of
Moses,
God showed
his purpose of sparing the people, as he had before seemed
determined
On their
Destruction; which change of the outward
discovery of his purpose, is called repenting of the evil.
15-20 What a change it is, to come down from the
Mount of
Communion with
God, to converse with a wicked world. In
God we
see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing
but what is sinful and provoking. That it might appear an
Idol
is nothing in the world,
Moses ground the
Calf to
Dust. Mixing
this powder with their
Drink, signified that the backslider in
Heart should be filled with his own ways.
21-29 Never did any
Wise Man make a more frivolous and foolish
excuse than that of
Aaron. We must never be drawn into
Sin By
any thing
Man can say or do to us; for men can but tempt us to
Sin, they cannot force us. The approach of
Moses turned the
dancing into trembling. They were exposed to shame
By their
Sin.
The course
Moses took to
Roll away this reproach, was, not
By
concealing the
Sin, or putting any false
Colour upon it, but
By
punishing it. The Levites were to slay the ringleaders in this
wickedness; yet none were executed but those who openly stood
forth. Those are marked for ruin who persist in
Sin: those who
in the morning were shouting and dancing, before night were
dying. Such sudden changes do the judgments of the
Lord
sometimes make with sinners that are secure and jovial in their
Sin.
30-35 Moses calls it a great
Sin. The work of ministers is to
show people the greatness of their sins. The great evil of
Sin
appears in the price of
Pardon.
Moses pleads with
God for
Mercy;
he came not to make excuses, but to make
Atonement. We are not
to suppose that
Moses means that he would be willing to perish
for ever, for the people's sake. We are to
Love our neighbour as
ourselves, and not more than ourselves. But having that mind
which was in
Christ, he was willing to lay down his
Life in the
most painful manner, if he might thereby preserve the people.
Moses could not wholly turn away the wrath of
God; which shows
that the
Law of
Moses was not able to reconcile men to
God, and
to perfect our peace with him. In
Christ alone,
God So pardons
Sin as to remember it
No more. From this history we see, that
No
unhumbled,
Carnal Heart, can long endure the holy precepts, the
humbling truths, and the spiritual
Worship of
God. But a
God, a
Priest, a
Worship, a doctrine, and a
Sacrifice, suited to the
Carnal mind, will ever meet with abundance of worshippers. The
very
Gospel itself may be
So perverted as to suit a worldly
taste.
Well is it for us, that the
Prophet like unto
Moses, but
who is
Beyond compare more powerful and merciful, has made
Atonement for our souls, and now intercedes in our behalf. Let
us rejoice in his
Grace.