Exodus 32:1
Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!"
Now when the people saw
The Hebrew word for "saw" is "ra'ah," which means to perceive or consider. This indicates a shift in the Israelites' perception, as they were no longer focused on faith but on their immediate circumstances. Historically, this reflects a common human tendency to rely on visible leadership and tangible signs, especially in times of uncertainty.

that Moses delayed
The word "delayed" comes from the Hebrew "bosh," which can mean to be ashamed or to hesitate. This suggests that the people interpreted Moses' absence as a failure or abandonment. In a broader scriptural context, this highlights the challenge of waiting on God's timing, a recurring theme throughout the Bible.

to come down from the mountain
The mountain, likely Mount Sinai, is a place of divine encounter and revelation. Moses' prolonged stay signifies the depth and importance of his communion with God. Archaeologically, Mount Sinai is a significant location, though its exact historical site is debated. The mountain represents a place where heaven meets earth, emphasizing the sacredness of Moses' mission.

they gathered around Aaron
The act of gathering around Aaron indicates a collective movement and pressure. Aaron, Moses' brother, was left in charge, and this moment tests his leadership. The Hebrew root "qahal" for "gathered" often refers to an assembly, which can be for good or ill, depending on the context. Here, it foreshadows a negative outcome.

and said to him, 'Come, make us gods
The request to "make us gods" reveals a deep-seated inclination towards idolatry, a sin repeatedly condemned in Scripture. The Hebrew word "elohim" can mean gods or God, depending on context. This reflects the Israelites' struggle to remain faithful to the invisible God who delivered them, contrasting with the tangible idols of surrounding cultures.

who will go before us
This phrase indicates a desire for guidance and protection, roles that God had already fulfilled. The Israelites' demand for physical representation shows their lack of trust in God's unseen presence. Biblically, God often goes before His people, as seen in the pillar of cloud and fire, symbolizing His guidance and protection.

As for this Moses
The phrase "this Moses" suggests a dismissive or derogatory tone, indicating a loss of respect or confidence in their leader. It reflects the people's fickle nature and their quickness to forget Moses' role in their deliverance. This attitude is a cautionary tale about the dangers of ingratitude and forgetfulness in spiritual life.

who brought us up out of the land of Egypt
This acknowledges Moses' role in the Exodus, yet it also subtly shifts the credit from God to Moses. The Hebrew "alah" for "brought up" emphasizes the act of deliverance, a central theme in Israel's history. This misattribution underscores the people's misunderstanding of God's sovereignty and Moses' role as His servant.

we do not know what has happened to him
The uncertainty about Moses' fate reveals a crisis of faith. The Hebrew "yada" for "know" implies a lack of understanding or relationship. This reflects a broader spiritual truth: when believers lose sight of their leaders or God's presence, they are prone to doubt and disobedience. Historically, this moment sets the stage for the golden calf incident, a profound lesson on the consequences of impatience and idolatry.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The leader of the Israelites, who is on Mount Sinai receiving the Law from God. His absence leads to the people's impatience.

2. Aaron
Moses' brother and the high priest, who is approached by the Israelites to make an idol.

3. The Israelites
The people of God, recently delivered from Egypt, who become impatient and demand an idol.

4. Mount Sinai
The mountain where Moses is receiving the Ten Commandments from God.

5. The Golden Calf
The idol that Aaron makes at the request of the Israelites, symbolizing their departure from faithfulness to God.
Teaching Points
The Danger of Impatience
Impatience can lead to poor decisions and a departure from faithfulness. The Israelites' impatience with Moses' delay led them to idolatry.

Leadership and Responsibility
Aaron's failure to stand firm in his leadership role resulted in sin for the entire community. Leaders must remain steadfast in their convictions.

The Temptation of Idolatry
Idolatry is not just the worship of physical idols but can be anything that takes the place of God in our lives. We must guard against modern forms of idolatry.

The Importance of Faithfulness
Despite God's past faithfulness, the Israelites quickly turned away. We must remember God's past works and remain faithful, even in times of uncertainty.

Community Influence
The collective pressure of the community led to sin. We must be cautious of the influence of others and strive to influence our communities positively.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does the Israelites' request for an idol reveal about their understanding of God and His promises?

2. How can we apply the lesson of Aaron's leadership failure to our own roles in leadership or influence?

3. In what ways might impatience lead us away from God's will in our lives today?

4. How can we identify and combat modern forms of idolatry in our personal lives?

5. Reflect on a time when community pressure influenced your decisions. How can you ensure that your influence on others aligns with God's will?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 24:18
This verse describes Moses entering the cloud on Mount Sinai, where he stayed for forty days and nights, setting the stage for the events of Exodus 32:1.

Deuteronomy 9:9-12
Moses recounts the events of the golden calf incident, emphasizing the people's rebellion and God's anger.

Acts 7:39-41
Stephen references the Israelites' idolatry in his speech, highlighting their rejection of God's appointed leader, Moses.

1 Corinthians 10:7
Paul warns the Corinthians against idolatry, using the example of the Israelites and the golden calf.
The Golden CalfAlexander MaclarenExodus 32:1
A Disappointing Development of CharacterScientific Illustrations, etcExodus 32:1-6
A Sermon on PlayA. Macleod, D. D.Exodus 32:1-6
Aaron's Flexible DispositionW. M. Taylor, D. D.Exodus 32:1-6
Aaron's SinGeorge Breay, B. A.Exodus 32:1-6
Epicurism Described and DisgracedT. Taylor, D. D.Exodus 32:1-6
IdolatryJ. B. Brown, B. A.Exodus 32:1-6
Lack of Decision of CharacterExodus 32:1-6
Lessons from the Worship of the CalfW. Whale.Exodus 32:1-6
MakeshiftsW. Birch.Exodus 32:1-6
On RecreationT. Taylor, D. D.Exodus 32:1-6
That Most Men have Their Weaknesses, by Which They May be TakenOwen Felltham.Exodus 32:1-6
The Golden CalfE. N. Packard.Exodus 32:1-6
The Golden CalfD. Young Exodus 32:1-6
The Golden Calf of Aaron and the Lamb of GodHomiletic MonthlyExodus 32:1-6
The Right Use of AmusementsT. De Witt Talmage, D. D.Exodus 32:1-6
We Must not be Persuaded to SinExodus 32:1-6
The Sin of the Golden CalfJ. Orr Exodus 32:1-7
People
Aaron, Egyptians, Isaac, Israelites, Joshua, Levi, Levites, Moses
Places
Egypt, Sinai
Topics
Aaron, Arise, Assemble, Assembled, Collected, Delayed, Delaying, Egypt, Fellow, Gathered, Gods, Idea, Mount, Mountain, Rise, Themselves, Wot
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 32:1

     4648   goad
     4925   delay, divine
     5418   monotony
     8723   doubt, results of

Exodus 32:1-4

     5211   art
     5376   law, purpose of
     7324   calf worship
     8410   decision-making, examples

Exodus 32:1-5

     5072   Aaron, spokesman

Exodus 32:1-6

     4269   Sinai, Mount

Exodus 32:1-8

     5377   law, Ten Commandments
     8764   forgetting God

Exodus 32:1-10

     7135   Israel, people of God

Library
The Golden Calf
'And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, 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. 2. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3. And all the people brake off the golden
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Swift Decay of Love
'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
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
THE ISRAELITES IN THE LAND OF CANAAN: THE JUDGES--THE PHILISTINES AND THE HEBREW KINGDOM--SAUL, DAVID, SOLOMON, THE DEFECTION OF THE TEN TRIBES--THE XXIst EGYPTIAN DYNASTY--SHESHONQ OR SHISHAK DAMASCUS. The Hebrews in the desert: their families, clans, and tribes--The Amorites and the Hebrews on the left bank of the Jordan--The conquest of Canaan and the native reaction against the Hebrews--The judges, Ehud, Deborah, Jerubbaal or Gideon and the Manassite supremacy; Abimelech, Jephihdh. The Philistines,
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 6

Threefold Repentance
'And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 2. Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 3. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. 4. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall he overthrown. 5. So the people of Ninoveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Covenant of an Everlasting Priesthood
"That My covenant might be with Levi. My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips; he walked with Me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity."--MAL. ii. 4-6. ISRAEL was meant by God to be a nation of priests. In the first making of the Covenant this was distinctly stipulated. "If ye will obey My voice, and keep My covenant,
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

How those who Use Food Intemperately and those who Use it Sparingly are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 20.) Differently to be admonished are the gluttonous and the abstinent. For superfluity of speech, levity of conduct, and lechery accompany the former; but the latter often the sin of impatience, and often that of pride. For were it not the case that immoderate loquacity carries away the gluttonous, that rich man who is said to have fared sumptuously every day would not burn more sorely than elsewhere in his tongue, saying, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Seasons of Covenanting.
The duty is never unsuitable. Men have frequently, improperly esteemed the exercise as one that should be had recourse to, only on some great emergency. But as it is sinful to defer religious exercises till affliction, presenting the prospect of death, constrain to attempt them, so it is wrong to imagine, that the pressure of calamity principally should constrain to make solemn vows. The exercise of personal Covenanting should be practised habitually. The patriot is a patriot still; and the covenanter
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Letter xxii (Circa A. D. 1129) to Simon, Abbot of S. Nicholas
To Simon, Abbot of S. Nicholas Bernard consoles him under the persecution of which he is the object. The most pious endeavours do not always have the desired success. What line of conduct ought to be followed towards his inferiors by a prelate who is desirous of stricter discipline. 1. I have learned with much pain by your letter the persecution that you are enduring for the sake of righteousness, and although the consolation given you by Christ in the promise of His kingdom may suffice amply for
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Ninth Sunday after Trinity Carnal Security and Its vices.
Text: 1 Corinthians 10, 6-13. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

The Prophet Micah.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Micah signifies: "Who is like Jehovah;" and by this name, the prophet is consecrated to the incomparable God, just as Hosea was to the helping God, and Nahum to the comforting God. He prophesied, according to the inscription, under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We are not, however, entitled, on this account, to dissever his prophecies, and to assign particular discourses to the reign of each of these kings. On the contrary, the entire collection forms only one whole. At
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Instruction for the Ignorant:
BEING A SALVE TO CURE THAT GREAT WANT OF KNOWLEDGE, WHICH SO MUCH REIGNS BOTH IN YOUNG AND OLD. PREPARED AND PRESENTED TO THEM IN A PLAIN AND EASY DIALOGUE, FITTED TO THE CAPACITY OF THE WEAKEST. 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.'--Hosea 4:6 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This little catechism is upon a plan perfectly new and unique. It was first published as a pocket volume in 1675, and has been republished in every collection of the author's works; and recently in a separate tract.
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

How those are to be Admonished who Decline the Office of Preaching Out of Too Great Humility, and those who Seize on it with Precipitate Haste.
(Admonition 26.) Differently to be admonished are those who, though able to preach worthily, are afraid by reason of excessive humility, and those whom imperfection or age forbids to preach, and yet precipitancy impells. For those who, though able to preach with profit, still shrink back through excessive humility are to be admonished to gather from consideration of a lesser matter how faulty they are in a greater one. For, if they were to hide from their indigent neighbours money which they possessed
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Purity and Peace in the Present Lord
PHILIPPIANS iv. 1-9 Euodia and Syntyche--Conditions to unanimity--Great uses of small occasions--Connexion to the paragraphs--The fortress and the sentinel--A golden chain of truths--Joy in the Lord--Yieldingness--Prayer in everything--Activities of a heart at rest Ver. 1. +So, my brethren beloved and longed for+, missed indeed, at this long distance from you, +my joy and crown+ of victory (stephanos), +thus+, as having such certainties and such aims, with such a Saviour, and looking for such
Handley C. G. Moule—Philippian Studies

How those that are at Variance and those that are at Peace are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 23.) Differently to be admonished are those that are at variance and those that are at peace. For those that are at variance are to be admonished to know most certainly that, in whatever virtues they may abound, they can by no means become spiritual if they neglect becoming united to their neighbours by concord. For it is written, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace (Gal. v. 22). He then that has no care to keep peace refuses to bear the fruit of the Spirit. Hence Paul
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Moses the Type of Christ.
"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken."--Deut. xviii. 15. The history of Moses is valuable to Christians, not only as giving us a pattern of fidelity towards God, of great firmness, and great meekness, but also as affording us a type or figure of our Saviour Christ. No prophet arose in Israel like Moses, till Christ came, when the promise in the text was fulfilled--"The Lord thy God," says Moses, "shall
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

Solomon's Temple Spiritualized
or, Gospel Light Fetched out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let us More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths. 'Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Isreal;--shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out hereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof.'--Ezekiel 43:10, 11 London: Printed for, and sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgate,
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The True Manner of Keeping Holy the Lord's Day.
Now the sanctifying of the Sabbath consists in two things--First, In resting from all servile and common business pertaining to our natural life; Secondly, In consecrating that rest wholly to the service of God, and the use of those holy means which belong to our spiritual life. For the First. 1. The servile and common works from which we are to cease are, generally, all civil works, from the least to the greatest (Exod. xxxi. 12, 13, 15, &c.) More particularly-- First, From all the works of our
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Old Testament Canon from Its Beginning to Its Close.
The first important part of the Old Testament put together as a whole was the Pentateuch, or rather, the five books of Moses and Joshua. This was preceded by smaller documents, which one or more redactors embodied in it. The earliest things committed to writing were probably the ten words proceeding from Moses himself, afterwards enlarged into the ten commandments which exist at present in two recensions (Exod. xx., Deut. v.) It is true that we have the oldest form of the decalogue from the Jehovist
Samuel Davidson—The Canon of the Bible

Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage,
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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