Exodus 32:19, 2019And 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. 20And 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. (Exodus 32:19‑20)
When Moses saw the people eating and dancing around the golden calf which Aaron had made, he was righteously angry. This was one of the times when it was right to be angry, for the Scripture says, “Be ye angry, and sin not.” Eph. 4:2626Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: (Ephesians 4:26). Of course we should never be angry when someone harms us or hurts our feelings, for to be angry at a time like that would not be righteous anger at all—it would be sin. We should rather be ready to forgive such a person and love him, even if he were our enemy. But when someone speaks evil of the Lord we should feel it keenly, and show our disapproval of such conduct, for the Word of God says, “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Eph. 5:1111And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. (Ephesians 5:11). This would be righteous anger— not against the person, but against the evil itself—and it was in this way that Moses was angry here, for the people had turned their backs on the Lord.
At this time Moses had in his hand the two tables of stone with the ten commandments written upon them by the finger of God. He immediately threw them on the ground right at the foot of the mount and smashed them to pieces. To a careless reader this might seem like a strange thing to do, but it was the only right thing to do at such a time as this. The children of Israel had undertaken to keep God’s holy law, and already they were breaking the first commandment by worshiping this golden calf. Now if Moses had brought the law, written with the finger of God, into the camp it would have meant certain judgment to everyone there. God’s holy law cannot be broken without incurring its curse, and this was solemn indeed, so Moses did not bring it in. The people had broken the commandments themselves, and so Moses broke the stones on which they were written and went into the camp without them. In this way the people were spared so awful a judgment. We shall see later how the people were put under a mixture of law and grace instead of just pure law, for the sacrifices were instituted. We must remember, of course, that grace is never the passing over of sin—for God never passes over sin; He must judge it. And so in type sin was judged in the animal victims which were offered in sacrifice, until Christ—the true Victim—accomplished the work of redemption on the cross.
Moses then took the golden calf and put it in the fire and ground it to powder. When we know a thing is wrong it is a good thing to be done with it completely. Halfway measures are no use. Moses did not set the calf away in some corner and tell them not to worship it—he ground it to powder so that it could never be used again. This is the only way to treat something we have found to be wrong. Do not set it away in some corner and then explain to others that you are not using it. Get rid of it—burn it—grind it up—or something, for it may become a snare to you in the future, hut it cannot if you have destroyed it.
There is another remark here which has a lesson for us. We are told that Moses took this miserably burned-and-ground-up golden calf, put it in water, and made the people drink it. What an unpleasant thing to have to drink! But this is a solemn reminder that we have to reap what we sow. (Gal. 6:77Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7).) Oh, how careful we should be what we sow, for although God may graciously deliver us from some sin, as He delivered the children of Israel, we may still have to reap the results of it with sorrow.
ML 05/14/1950