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. To be angry at a time like that would not be righteous anger; instead, it would be sin. We should rather be ready to forgive such a person and love him, even if he is 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.
Smashing the Tables of Stone
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 earning 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 such an awful judgment. We shall see later how the people were put under a mixture of law and grace instead of just pure law. We must remember that grace is never the passing over of sin, since 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.
Complete Destruction of the Calf
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, so that it does not become a snare to you in the future, which it may do unless 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 (Galatians 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 about 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.
Further Meditation
1. Why did Moses break the tables of stone?
2. What else does the Bible have to say on the subject of making a complete break with sin?
3. How Can the Tyranny of Sin Dwelling in the Body Be Overcome? Practical Deliverance, Romans 5-8 by C. Crain might be worth listening to (it’s in audio format) to deal with the essential subject of not letting sin reign in our lives.