If you’ve ever wondered, “What’s the greatest need for my LDS friend?”, you’re in luck. Exodus 32 has an answer. It tells the story of Israel’s Golden Calf, God’s wrath, and Moses’ intercession. Let’s bring ourselves up to speed, examine Israel’s folly, understand Moses’ intervention, and make modern application.
Getting Up to Speed
Exodus is a book about deliverance. God rescues His people from Egyptian slavery (3–12), drowns Pharaoh’s murderous chariots (14), provides miraculous water (15, 17), wards off starvation with daily manna (16), and delivers the nation from military ruin (17). After bringing the people to the foot of Mount Sinai, God had to deliver them yet again, but this time from His own, terrible voice (20:19–20; see Deuteronomy 5)!
In response to all this deliverance, the people pledge themselves to obedience on at least three separate occasions (19:8, 24:3, 24:7). From there, God publicly celebrates their newfound covenant, summons Moses to the top of the mountain for further instruction, and leaves Aaron and Hur in charge (24:14). What should have been a six-week sabbatical for rest and refreshment ended in catastrophe.
Israel’s Folly
The people of Israel itched for action (more sordid motivations will later come to the fore). And, so, their first act was to turn the knowledge of God upside down. You see, prior to Exodus 32, Israel learned God’s name, God’s character, and God’s ways directly from God Himself. Now, the people take charge of their religion – they will decide who God is and what He’s done.
They gang up on Aaron, their hapless leader,1 and demand a polytheistic pantheon who will lead them from this day forward.2 For rationale, they flippantly dismiss Moses as a dead-man and ignore God’s role in their deliverance. And for financing, they sacrifice generously. At Aaron’s behest, the people donate vast numbers of gold rings acquired from their former Egyptian owners (12:36). What’s worse, Israel chose to live in a known fiction. Their newly created pantheon would guide them! Thanks be to Aaron’s golden bull!3
Aaron, for his part, was caught in a pickle. He seems distressed by Israel’s polytheism and, I think, tried to pull the nation back to monotheistic idolatry. To do so, he marries Yahweh-ordained offerings with the Yahweh-forbidden idol. As far as Aaron was concerned, the finer points of Golden Bull theology might need some revision in the future, but it was time to party. And as a final insult to the LORD above, the celebration turned into a scene more resembling Woodstock than anything God had specified in His Word.4
Israel seemed quite proud of themselves. They had never experienced this level of religious unity, fervor, and zeal. Everyone was thrilled with Aaron’s leadership – he was the great high priest and prophet for this newer version of Yahweh’s religion. The cult of the Golden Bull began by the will of the people, conformed to the idolatrous culture around them, attempted to make Yahweh easier to explain, and allowed previously forbidden sexual behavior. And unbeknownst to all who celebrated their great religious achievement, the wrath of God boiled against them.
Moses’ Intercession
God’s condemnation of Israel is ruinous – He compares their corruption to the pre-flood world of Noah.5 He recounts Israel’s transgressions to Moses in staccato fashion, each crime as appalling as the next. And then, the hammer drops, “Now, then, let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you” (32:10).
Commentators note how the statement, “let me alone” is less a command and more an invitation to intercede, which Moses takes. But far from defending the nation, Moses makes a compelling case for clemency based on God – God’s actions, God’s reputation, and God’s promises. Would God consider the miracles performed so recently on Israel’s behalf? Would God allow the nations to accuse Him falsely? Would God consider how national destruction fulfills the promises that God had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
Underneath Moses’ plea was the bedrock conviction that God shows steadfast love to thousands of generations (Exodus 20:6). God had shown Moses the mercy seat for just such occasions of national guilt (Exodus 25:17–26). The mercy seat rested proximally above His law (Exodus 26:34), thus visually demonstrating God’s heart for mercy to cover a multitude of sins.
God heard. And God relented. The debauched idolaters below knew nothing of the danger and even less of their deliverance. While Aaron basked in revelry and public acclaim, Moses privately pled for the life of the nation.
Modern Application
It’s not hard to draw parallels between Mormonism and the Religion of the Golden Bull. When born-again Christians talk to their LDS friends and see the similarities, frustrations can build. Once exasperated, born-again Christians tend to err in one of two ways – and the Lord knows I am guilty of both.
First, we can cast ourselves in the role of Moses-the-Smasher, who broke the tablets and powdered the Bull. In a similar manner, we lash out verbally to awaken the LDS conscience. We can steadily increase the volume to an angry shout or cut with belittling jabs. It’s well-intended and theologically accurate but skips a big step.
Second, we can do nothing. We retreat into our small but stable biblical communities. We never say aloud, “let them be accursed,” but our evangelistic inaction shouts it from beneath our cross-studded steeples.
In either case, we’ve forgotten Moses’ first act – he interceded on behalf of people who had twisted God’s ways and deserved God’s wrath. Yes, a time for confrontation would come, but not before standing in the gap to pray for people entirely undone.
What’s the great need for Latter-day Saints? Born-again intercessors. Our LDS friends are ignorant of the dangers they face and may never know the prayer being made for them. And if you think I’m taking an Old Testament passage out of context, consider 1 Timothy 2:1: “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.”
Beloved, let us pray.
Footnotes
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In Exodus 32:1, the word translated “to” (ESV), “unto” (KJV), or “around” (NIV) is often translated elsewhere as “against.” If Moses intended to communicate a more friendly gathering to, unto, or around, he had other, softer prepositions at his disposal. ↩
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The word “Elohim,” translated “gods,” is plural. In most contexts, the word “Elohim” is translated by the singular, “God.” In the cases of singular translation, the author is employing a common literary device called the “plural of majesty” or “the majestic plural.” In ancient times, great people often took plural titles to communicate their individual glory. In the case of Exodus 32, due to the plural verb, most commentators believe that the people were not using the plural of majesty but were demanding multiple gods. ↩
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Commentators note the Hebrew word translated “calf” can mean a male cow up to three years old. The nations surrounding Israel had many different bull-gods and all depict a bull at the height of his youthful powers. It’s unlikely, therefore, that Israel’s bull depicted a newborn calf. ↩
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The verb translated “play” has sexual connotations in other passages that Moses wrote – see Genesis 26:8 and 39:14–17. ↩
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Commentators point out similar language between Genesis 6 and Exodus 32. ↩