Exodus by Elder Vernon Johnson

Exodus Chapter 32, Verses 15-18

:15 “And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. 16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. 17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. 18 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.”

“And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. 16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.” At God’s command that he go down, Moses obeyed and started his downward journey. He had in his hands the two tables of stone which contained the testimony of God. These two tables which contained the Ten Commandments were written on both sides with the writing of God and were graven upon the tables. That man would have something that was written by the very finger of God is remarkable and shows the condescension of God towards man.

As Moses and Joshua drew near the camp Joshua said, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” This young soldier who would later be the leader and captain of the children of Israel as they entered the land of Canaan and fought to possess that land was fooled by what he heard. To him it sounded like the noise of war in the camp. However, as Moses pointed out it was not the noise of war: “And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.” Sometimes the drunken licentious dancing and singing can sound like the noise of war, but truly it was the sound of gross wickedness.

Verses 19-24

:19 “And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. 20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strowed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. 21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? 22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. 23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.”

“And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.” Moses had had one of the most glorious events in that he had been in communion with God for 40 days and nights. Now he comes back down the mountain and the people that God has blessed through miraculous means have polluted themselves with gross idolatry and licentiousness. It is no wonder that his anger waxed hot. However, the danger is when our anger waxes hot that we ourselves break the laws of God. Notice, that Moses in his hot anger broke the two tables by casting them out of his hand upon the ground.

“And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strowed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.” One of the lessons we learn from this is that sometimes we have to eat the effects of our own sins. How many times have people sinned and their sin led to great distress and trouble in their lives.

“And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?” Aaron had been left as leader of the people when Moses went up on the mountain. Leadership implies leading and not following. A leader is to lead. Through Aarons’ action of following the stated desire of the people, he was responsible for what transpired. Had Aaron showed leadership, then the people may have been persuaded not to commit the gross sins that they committed. This is a great lesson for us in our families and churches and in our actions in our communities. As leaders we should lead and not follow the whims of those that we are supposed to lead.

“And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.” Aaron, did what is so typical of us in our human nature, tried to shift the blame and responsibility away from himself. He placed blame upon the people and ultimately upon Moses for having delayed to come down out of the mountain. While it is true that the people were set on mischief and it is true that they said, “make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him,” Aaron cannot blame his actions on the people or upon Moses. We are responsible for our own sins.

“And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.” Aaron is saying here that once he was given the gold and cast it into the fire, that it just somehow miraculously came out a calf. In essence Aaron is saying that God somehow fashioned it while it was in the fire to be a calf. However, it is obvious that Aaron fashioned the gold into a calf to which the children of Israel worshipped an idol. Aaron is trying to blame the making of the idol upon God. Corrupt human nature tries to lay blame upon others and upon God to justify its sins.