of golden calves and broken commandments

Exodus 32

What a disturbing passage. First, Aaron just readily complies with the people's rebellion. Then the rebellion is described in v. 6 as "the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play". God determines to destroy the people, but Moses intercedes for the people - pleading the covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob (well done Moses). And the LORD relented. Then Moses' anger burned hot and he breaks the tablets of God's commandments. Aaron responds stupidly to Moses' burning anger, saying that he threw the gold that the people gave him "into the fire, and out came this calf." Finally, Moses not only grinds up the calf, mixes it with water and makes the people drink it, but he calls people the "the LORD's side" and then has them slaughter their fellow Israelites.

Moses says that the Levites, of which tribe he and Aaron belonged, were ordained to their ministry because of they sided with the Lord and killed their brothers, companions, and neighbors... However, the text says that they did "according to the word of Moses" - not the word of the Lord.

I'm not convinced that Moses is acting on behalf of the Lord in this passage, or according to the word of the Lord. This action is attributed to Moses' burning anger and not to the direction of God. The text is silent about it. Though, of course, the Bible is not silent about the wicked rebellion of the people (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:7-8).

The chapter ends with this note: "Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made." My sense (and my hope) is that God had this situation under control, and that he did not ordain that they break a commandment from the second tablet (do not murder) to deal with a broken commandment from the first tablet (no graven images). While God did give laws that called for the death penalty, the mob nature and the motivating anger in this event does not sit well with me and leads me to see this event more as murder than any kind of just implementation of divine law... a group of priests acting stupidly in their anger (always a bad thing).

Lessons to learn today??
- Be angry, but do not sin...
- Remember that vengence is the Lord's...
- Don't go along with the crowd...
- Don't act like an idiot

And, seriously,
- Wait for the Lord, and love him alone with all your heart. And when you think you can't, look to the One who was put to death by this very priestly line as a sacrifice to put away the wrath of God because of our idolatry and sin.