Last time we studied about the ten commandments that God gave to the children of Israel. He first did it by speaking it to them. And then shortly after that God called Moses up the mountain to speak with him and eventually give him the ten commandments written in stone.

Exodus 24:12, 18
12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. 18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

• Moses would be gone for forty days. He would be absent from the camp of Israelites for that amount of time.
• However, though he was absent, the Israelites had clearly seen him go up to the mount to be with God, and they could still clearly see fire and clouds all surrounding the mountain. God’s presence was still there.

From Exodus 25 up till Exodus 31, those chapters describe the time that Moses would spend with God.

• God would give the sanctuary to the children of Israel and also the ten commandments in stone.
• Exodus 31:18
  And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

But meanwhile, whilst Moses was up on the mount with God, what has happening in the camp below?

• Exodus 32:1
  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.
• Wow, can you imagine them saying that? They didn’t know what had happened to Moses?
• Yes, it had been forty days already since they last saw Moses. That was over a month! However, the visible presence of God was still before them.
• The people got impatient with Moses and with God and just wanted to move on to the land that had been promised to them.
• So they came to Aaron who was second in command to make them gods to lead them on.

Upon hearing that, what did Aaron do?

• Exodus 32:2-6
  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 earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. 6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
• They took the gold that they had, Aaron went and melted it all and made a golden calf out of it.
• Then he built an altar and got them to worship this idol!
• Just forty days before, when they heard the voice of God, they entered into a covenant with Him to be His people. They all cried out saying that all that God had said, they would do and be obedient.
• How quick we are to change our minds and our commitments, especially when it comes to God. Just a delay and we are ready to worship other Gods or give up on our faith.

Moses is unaware of the situation but God reveals it to him while he is speaking to Him on the mount.

• Exodus 32:7-10
  7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
  • God is ready to destroy them and just make of Moses a great nation! This people were just so rebellious!
• But how does Moses respond?
• Exodus 32:11-14
  11 And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? 12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. 14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
  • Moses reminds God of the covenant that He made with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
  • He is always jealous for God’s honour and His reputation. The Egyptians would start to speak against Him saying that He simply brought them out of Egypt to kill them.
• And ultimately, God repents of the evil that He was going to do to them. Moses managed to change the mind of God.
• And this was probably more so a test for Moses rather than a God that was ready to simply destroy.
• What a temptation it must have been for Moses. All this while the Israelites were complainers and murmurers. They were disobedient at every turn, and always ready to blame Moses for every problem. What would you have done if you were in Moses’ shoes?

So Moses goes down the mountain to assess the situation. And when he gets down, the situation is worse than he had imagined in his mind when God had told him about it. What does Moses do?

• Exodus 32:19-20
  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 strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
  • He throws the tables of stone out of his hands on which God had written the ten commandments. A symbolic act that not only had they broken their covenant with God, but that God is about to disown them as His people and break His covenant with them.
  • And not only that, Moses grinds up the golden calf and make the children of Israel to drink it, as if to show them the helplessness of this god that they were worshipping.
• Then Moses turns and confronts Aaron.
  • Exodus 32:21-24
    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.
• What does Aaron basically do? He shuns any responsibility. He makes it sound like he threw the gold in and miraculously out jumped this golden calf and it had nothing to do with him.
• Remember earlier on we read that it was actually Aaron that fashioned this image for everyone to worship!
• Nevertheless, the damage had already been done.
• But Aaron was not brave enough to stem the tide of evil when the children of Israel came to confront him, and not he is not brave enough to own up to his fault of being the principle leader in this rebellious worship.

So how does Moses respond?

• Exodus 32:25-29
  25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) 26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. 28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 29 For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
• Moses would ask who would stand up and be on the Lord’s side. Basically, he was asking who would repent of this grievous sin that had just been committed.
• And who was it that stood up to stand with Moses? It was the tribe of Levi. This was the tribe that Aaron and Moses were a part of.
• Then they would go out and slay those that were still rebellious. And three thousand would perish that day.
• And even though Aaron was the leader in forming the golden calf, even though he was standing in Moses’ stead as a leader while he was gone, Aaron would repent from his sin and as a result he would not be held accountable and be among the number that was killed. God would forgive all those who stood up and repented.

After the punishment had been exacted, Moses goes up the next day to plead with God on their behalf.

• Exodus 32:30-32
  30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. 31 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. 32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
• It is evident, the love that Moses has for God’s people. To the extent that he was willing to be blotted out of the book of life on their behalf. Clearly, he understood the heart of God and the love that God has for each of us.
  • John 15:13
    Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
  • This is obviously referring to the love that God and Jesus have for each of us. But Moses understood it. He was willing to die for them.
  • Of course, it was not possible as no sinner can die for another sinner.
• What is God’s response to Moses’ plea?
  • Exodus 32:33-34
    33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 34 Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.
  • God told Moses that would not be necessary. Whoever sinned, they will be responsible for their own sins.

However, God is not done speaking to Moses yet.

• Exodus 33:1-3
  1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: 2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: 3 Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.
• God tells Moses to lead the people forward to the land that He had promised to Abraham and his descendants.
• But He would not lead them because they were stiffnecked and rebellious. They needed to renew their covenant with Him again.

What was the first step of coming back to God?

• Exodus 33:4-6
  4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. 6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.
• They were instructed to remove their ornaments, their jewelry. Why? Because out of that they had made it into the idol that they had worshipped.
• They needed to humble themselves and come back to God. They needed humiliation of heart and it started with taking away the extravagance and the unnecessary from their lives and from off their bodies.
• Just as when Jacob’s two sons, Simeon and Levi, killed a whole town because of their sister, Jacob was afraid and wanted to make sure that God’s presence would go with them and continue to protect them, what did he instruct his family to do?
  • Genesis 35:2-4
    2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: 3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. 4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
  • They were to remove their earrings and jewelry which the Bible called strange gods.
• Just as back then, so now God is calling us to live simply and not have outward extravagance but humility of dress and humility of heart.

What was the second step of returning back to God?

• Exodus 33:7
  And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.
  • The tabernacle was pitched away from the camp, showing God’s displeasure and how He could not dwell with them because of their sin.
• Yet, the tabernacle was called the Tabernacle of congregation, the covering of the people. And if they wanted to repent and have full restoration, they needed to go and seek the Lord themselves. They needed to make the effort to come back to Him.
• As a result, how did God respond and how did the people respond?
• Exodus 33:10
  And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.
  • God showed that His presence was still with them with the pillar of cloud standing over the door of the tabernacle. And when the people saw that they worshipped God.

In similar fashion today, if we truly repent, there will be clear evidence in our lives.

• First, there will be a change in the outward appearance and conduct. The putting away of the ornaments.
• And secondly, there will be a seeking after God again, a confession of sin and coming back to worship at His tabernacle, at His church.

When God sees their repentance, how does He respond?

• Exodus 33:14
  And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
  • First God promises that He would go with them and give them rest. Rest from their sin and rest from their enemies.
• What else does God do?
  • Exodus 34:1
    And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
  • God is renewing His covenant with them. He is about to write His commandments on stone again, similar to the one that was broken earlier by Moses.
• And finally.
  • Exodus 34:10-11
    10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. 11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
  • God promises to give them the land of Canaan again.
• What an amazing God of mercy. If we are willing to confess and repent of our sins, God is willing and ever ready to forgive us and make us His people again.
• There is a part for us to play. We need to seek Him.
• He has already come to earth to fulfill the plan of salvation.
• But now we need to do our part. God will not force us to confess. He will not force us to repent. It has to come from a willing heart of love for Him. We have to be willing to want to follow Him and to turn from our wickedness of the past.

Because of the sin of the children of Israel, Moses was in the mount with God again for another 40 days (Exodus 34:28) receiving the 10 commandments, receiving an assurance from God that their sins were pardoned and also renewing the covenant that God had made with them earlier.

After forty days, when Moses came back to the camp, how did the children react to him?

• Exodus 34:29-30
  29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
• Because he had been in the presence of God for so long, he was reflecting the light from God’s glory and this made them all afraid.
• There is fear in guilt. But the soul that is free from sin, it will not wish to hide from the light of heaven.
• Exodus 34:33
  33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.
• As a result, Moses would put a vail on his face when he spoke with the Israelites but would take it off when he came into the presence of God.
• Moses was a type of Christ.
  • He interceded on behalf of God’s children as Christ did for the world.
  • He was ready to be blotted out of God’s book for the Israelites as Christ would for us as He died on the cross.
  • And just as he put a veil on to speak to the children of Israel, Christ would veil the glory of His divinity with human flesh to save us.

This brightness from Moses’ face, God wished to impress upon the people the brightness of His excellence and glory, and the sacred and exalted character of His law. God wishes for us to be the lights to this world also. Shining the light of the gospel to the whole world. But we can do this only if we have spent time communing with Christ and allowing His light and glory to shine into our hearts first.

So let us come back to God today in confession and repentance. Let’s not delay it for a moment. But don’t just stop there. Let’s pause in His presence and allow His glory to be fully reflected in each of our lives that truly we can become partakers of that divine nature, that we can live the life that Jesus wants us to live today for others. May God help each of us today to overcome every sin that so easily besets us, that through our lives it might testify to the closeness of the communion that we have with Christ.