The Golden Calf (Exodus): The idolatry of the Golden Calf nearly destroyed Israel, showing why God cannot simply ignore our sins and how their consequences are worse than we might think. However, it also foreshadows the forgiveness offered through Jesus Christ. Recorded on Feb 16, 2025, on Exodus 32 by Pastor David Parks.
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This message is part of our Exodus series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and led through the wilderness of life by God’s Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. Join us as we make this journey to find true and lasting freedom.
Sermon Transcript
We’re working through the book of Exodus in a sermon series called Journey to Freedom. And we’re starting to make our descent as we approach the end of the journey. After today, we only have three more weeks before starting a new series for Lent called Values of the Cross. So, for a few more weeks, we’ll remind you that Exodus is a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. And we’ve said that Exodus is the defining story for the people of Israel. It’s the most referenced story in the whole bible. But the Exodus story is also a wonderful picture of the gospel and the Christian life — of when God saved a people by his grace, freed them from captivity, and led them by his word and holy Presence in relationship to him through the wilderness of this broken world as they made their way to the Promised Land. The Exodus is our story in Christ. Today, we’ll return to expository preaching as we jump back into the story of the tragic golden calf incident. So far, we’ve seen the Israelites struggle and grumble and quarrel with God as they faced tests and battles in the desert wilderness. But we’ve seen nothing like the outright rebellion that took place with the golden calf. Have you ever done something you knew was really wrong? Some of us have more of a past than others. Some are lucky to be alive because of the foolishness we’ve participated in. But all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, from the biggest rebel to the quietest church mouse. So, every one of us should be able to think of a time when you thought/said/did something you shouldn’t have. But is that really that much of a problem? Can’t God just overlook those flaws in his great love for us? Our passage today reveals why God can’t just sweep our sin under the rug, how the consequences for our sin is far worse than we might think, but also the good news about the forgiveness of God offered because of the person and work of Jesus Christ. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 32:1.
Exodus 32:1–6 (NIV), “1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” 2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” These first few verses of chapter 32 record a major disaster in the Exodus story. As we’ve spent the last number of weeks considering the commands and instructions of God given to Moses on Mount Sinai, commands about the Law, Tabernacle, Priesthood, Sabbath, and more, Moses’ time on Mount Sinai stretched from days to weeks to over a month. At least some of the people started to doubt he would ever return. (“we don’t know what has happened to him.”) So they gathered around Aaron, the one Moses put in charge in his absence and Moses’ own brother, and started pressuring him to make an image or idol who would represent God and would go before them. It’s easier to follow a god you can see than one you have to follow in faith. Aaron should’ve shut this down immediately, but not only did he fail to stop this, but he was the one who made the golden calf! Even if Aaron didn’t have all the instructions for the priesthood yet, he and all the people had heard the Ten Commandments straight from the mouth of God. And the second commandment says, “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Ex 20:4-6) But even though Aaron said the idol he made represented Yahweh, the one who brought them up out of Egypt, what the people wanted and what he had done was expressly forbidden by God. Now, you might wonder, why a golden calf and not a different animal or object? Since Yahweh had led them to Mount Sinai in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, forming a golden pillar would’ve made more sense to me, although it would still have been directly disobedient to the second commandment. The answer is that a calf (young bull) was a common representation of the gods in Egypt. The people were drifting back to the land of their slavery. God had freed them from Egypt and, through the plagues, had demonstrated his absolute supremacy over their gods, who were no gods at all — but their sinful hearts longed to go back to what they were used to. They had solemnly agreed (twice!) to do everything God commanded as they cut their covenant with him. How would God respond?
Exodus 32:7-14 (NIV), “7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ 9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” 11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’ ” 14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.” This wasn’t the first time in Scripture that God shared his intent to punish evildoers only to relent when a righteous person interceded on their behalf. But here, the Lord was willing to destroy Israel for their unfaithfulness. As the psalmist writes in Ps 106, “They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.” In their theological forgetfulness, they immediately fell into gross sin. Yahweh knew exactly what they had done and the condition of their hearts that led to that tragic set of decisions. They were stiff-necked people who stubbornly refused to turn back to God in repentance. Interestingly, Moses had the opportunity to replace Abraham and be the father of a new people. (“Then I will make you into a great nation.”) Instead of cashing in on their failure, Moses interceded for Israel, saving them from total destruction. Moses appealed to Yahweh’s own glory, saying God’s reputation was on the line. Something like, “If you destroy the people you rescued, Egypt will get the wrong idea about who you are. They’ll think you’re evil and not good and faithful.” He also appeals to God’s repeated promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “You promised, Lord, and you’re faithful to keep your word.” Nothing in all creation is more valuable than the glory and reputation of its creator. It was a good approach! This is why God couldn’t merely overlook their sin, minimize, or justify what they had done. If God didn’t treat sin as the destructive cancer of his good and perfect world, God would fail to be just. But in this appeal from Moses, the Lord heard him and relented from the disaster he had threatened. Amazingly, God’s plan sometimes includes responding to the faithful prayers of his people. However, even in God’s mercy, it doesn’t mean this grave sin wouldn’t have consequences. How would Moses deal with the people?
Exodus 32:15-24 (NIV), “15 Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. 16 The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. 17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.” 18 Moses replied: “It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear.” 19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. 21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” 22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” Aaron had the opportunity to come clean — to confess what he had done, repent, and cast himself upon the mercy of God. Instead, he took the coward’s way out. He started shifting the blame and lying to cover up his sin. He immediately threw the people under the bus. “You know how prone these people are to evil.” It was their plan! That’s a lie. I had nothing to do with it! Another lie. I threw the gold into the fire and out popped this calf! Another lie. Idols like the golden calf were usually wood structures covered with gold or silver plating. They took days or weeks to craft. But beyond the calf, did the altar in front of it spring out of the ground by itself? Did the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings appear out of thin air? And what about the wild, drunken feasting, singing and dancing, and whatever other debauchery that happened under Aaron’s watch? This wasn’t a great start to Aaron being the first high priest of Israel. When Moses and Joshua returned, Joshua thought the camp was under attack; that was how out of control things had gotten. Now, aside from God’s glory and reputation, probably the second most valuable thing in the world would have been the tablets of the covenant written by God himself. What else would even come close? But when Moses saw this wild, pagan idolatry, he smashed the tablets as a deliberate and vivid picture of how Israel had broken their covenant with the Lord God Almighty.
Exodus 32:25-29 (NIV), “25 Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. 26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him. 27 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’ ” 28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. 29 Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.” Not everyone in the camp had participated in this wickedness. But no one stopped it either. It was time to come to terms with what they had done or allowed. Those who were still faithful to Yahweh rallied to Moses at the entrance to the camp. This was an opportunity for all people (including Aaron) to demonstrate true repentance. The camp’s entrance represented the dividing line between being in God’s camp and being outside. The Levites especially rallied to Moses. Now, the Levites weren’t randomly/indiscriminately killing people. They went back and forth through the camp; this was a systematic investigation to see who would turn back from this wicked idolatry and who wasn’t willing. The hard-hearted idolaters faced the death penalty. On that day, about three thousand people died because of their covenant unfaithfulness, and the Levites proved their allegiance to the Lord over everything/everyone else. This must’ve been heartbreaking, but this was a direct command from the Lord. But was this enough? Or would God change his mind about this whole Exodus project?
Exodus 32:30–35 (NIV), “30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31 So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.” 33 The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35 And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.” This is God’s word. Now, this is a sobering passage. We can mourn with Moses and the Israelites for the tragic destruction of life as a result of people turning away from God in disobedience. But we can also rejoice because the Lord didn’t finally abandon his people or totally destroy them despite their great sin. Moses again interceded for the people, praying for forgiveness for their great sin. He didn’t blame shift or lie about it. In fact, he even said he was willing to die with them if that was God’s will. God responded with a saying that is most severe. “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.” Meaning, I will remove them from the record of those who deserve life. For the wages of sin is death, as the Apostle wrote many years later. But then, surprisingly, in the very next verse, Yahweh says the Exodus project will continue. He will forgive the people. Moses didn’t have to die with them. He still needed to lead the people to the Promised Land. The angel of the Lord would continue to go before them (which, ironically, is what they said they wanted in the golden calf). But there would be a punishment for their sin. They were forgiven, but as is often the case, there would still be consequences for their sin. Punishment given by a loving parent can help turn a child from a path of destruction.
Now, it might seem insane that the people would fall so quickly into what seems like an obvious rebellion against God. And while we probably wouldn’t be tempted to make a golden idol to worship today, it’s often the case that Christians today sometimes fall back into the very sin they were saved from. Even when we’ve experienced God’s grace and goodness, even when we’ve personally seen God do things that only God could do in our lives, even when we have been set free from captivity to sin, even when we are moved to tears singing songs of praise on a Sunday, we might still be tempted on Monday to look back with fondness or even desire in the rearview mirror. We might be tempted to turn back from the way of righteousness, the path that leads to life, to follow the path that only ever leads to destruction and death. What a mess! Are we’re all in the same sinking ship. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In this passage, we’ve seen why God can’t just sweep our sin under the rug. His reputation is on the line, and he would be guilty himself of injustice. We’ve seen how the consequences for our sin is far worse than we might think. “For the wages of sin is death, but [and here is the good news of the gospel] the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Moses offered to die with his people. But to secure the forgiveness of sins, Jesus Christ died for his people; he died for us. So now, in Christ, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1Jn 1:9) Modern people are often confused about why the world is how it is today. They think it’s an economic/education/political problem. But the Bible says the main reason why the world is how it is today is because of sin. This ought to crush us when we realize we are all guilty. But the gospel reminds us of our own Exodus, our own journey to freedom from sin and death, made possible because of Jesus Christ. May we never look back, may we only ever take one step of faith at a time as we learn the freedom and joy and life in follow him. And may we be a church that never forgets this message of amazing grace until Jesus returns and finally puts an end to the problem of sin. Come quickly, Lord. Let us pray.
