Exodus 32:13

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. 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. Here, I. God acquaints Moses with what was doing in the camp while he was absent, v. 7, 8.

32:7-14 God says to Moses, that the Israelites had corrupted themselves. Sin is the corruption of the sinner, and it is a self-corruption; every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust. They had turned aside out of the way. Sin is a departing from the way of duty into a by-path. They soon forgot God's works. He sees what they cannot discover, nor is any wickedness of the world hid from him. We could not bear to see the thousandth part of that evil which God sees every day. God expresses the greatness of his just displeasure, after the manner of men who would have prayer of Moses could save them from ruin; thus he was a type of Christ, by whose mediation alone, God would reconcile the world to himself. Moses pleads God's glory. The glorifying God's name, as it ought to be our first petition, and it is so in the Lord's prayer, so it ought to be our great plea. And God's promises are to be our pleas in prayer; for what he has promised he is able to perform. See the power of prayer. In answer to the prayers of Moses, God showed his purpose of sparing the people, as he had before seemed determined on their destruction; which change of the outward discovery of his purpose, is called repenting of the evil.

32:7-14 God says to Moses, that the Israelites had corrupted themselves. Sin is the corruption of the sinner, and it is a self-corruption; every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust. They had turned aside out of the way. Sin is a departing from the way of duty into a by-path. They soon forgot God's works. He sees what they cannot discover, nor is any wickedness of the world hid from him. We could not bear to see the thousandth part of that evil which God sees every day. God expresses the greatness of his just displeasure, after the manner of men who would have prayer of Moses could save them from ruin; thus he was a type of Christ, by whose mediation alone, God would reconcile the world to himself. Moses pleads God's glory. The glorifying God's name, as it ought to be our first petition, and it is so in the Lord's prayer, so it ought to be our great plea. And God's promises are to be our pleas in prayer; for what he has promised he is able to perform. See the power of prayer. In answer to the prayers of Moses, God showed his purpose of sparing the people, as he had before seemed determined on their destruction; which change of the outward discovery of his purpose, is called repenting of the evil.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants,.... The covenant he made with them, the promise he had made unto them, with an oath annexed to it: to whom thou swarest by thine own self; which he did, because he could swear by no greater; and for the confirmation of his covenant and promise, see Genesis 22:16. and saidst unto them; for what was said to Abraham was repeated and confirmed to Isaac and Jacob: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven; multitudes of which are out of sight, and cannot be seen with the naked eye, nor numbered: and all this land that I have spoken of; the land of Canaan, then inhabited by several nations: will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever; as long as they are a people, a body politic, and especially while obedient to the divine will; but should they be now cut off, this promise would become of no effect: this is the great argument Moses makes use of, and the most forcible one.

Remember {g} 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. (g) That is, your promise made to Abraham.

13 . to whom , &c.] See Genesis 22:16 (the only place in Genesis where the covenant is confirmed with an oath ). I will multiply , &c.] Genesis 22:17 ; cf. also Exodus 15:5 ; Exodus 26:4 . and all this land , &c.] Genesis 12:7 ; Genesis 13:15 ; Genesis 15:7 ; Genesis 15:18 ; Genesis 26:4 ; Genesis 28:13 (all JE). Exodus 32:13

10. make of thee a great nation—Care must be taken not to suppose this language as betokening any change or vacillation in the divine purpose. The covenant made with the patriarchs had been ratified in the most solemn manner; it could not and never was intended that it should be broken. But the manner in which God spoke to Moses served two important purposes—it tended to develop the faith and intercessory patriotism of the Hebrew leader, and to excite the serious alarm of the people, that God would reject them and deprive them of the privileges they had fondly fancied were so secure.

"And Moses besought the Lord his God." יי את־פּני חלּה, lit., to stroke the face of Jehovah, for the purpose of appeasing His anger, i.e., to entreat His mercy, either by means of sacrifices ( 1 Samuel 13:12 ) or by intercession. He pleaded His acts towards Israel ( Exodus 32:11 ), His honour in the sight of the Egyptians ( Exodus 32:12 ), and the promises He had made to the patriarchs ( Exodus 32:13 ), and prayed that for His own sake, and the sake of His honour among the heathen, He would show mercy instead of justice. בּרעה ( Exodus 32:12 ) does not mean μετὰ πονεερίας, or callide (Vulg.), but "for their hurt," - the preposition denoting the manner in which, or according to which, anything took place.

[Bible] 32:9. And again the Lord said to Moses: I see that this people is stiffnecked: 32:10. Let me alone, that my wrath may be kindled against them, and that I may destroy them, and I will make of thee a great nation. 32:11. But Moses besought the Lord his God, saying: Why, O Lord, is thy indignation enkindled against thy people, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand? 32:12. Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech thee: He craftily brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains, and destroy them from the earth: let thy anger cease, and be appeased upon the wickedness of thy people. 32:13. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thy own self, saying: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven: and this whole land that I have spoken of, I will give to your seed, and you shall possess it for ever: 32:14. And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had spoken against his people. 32:15. And Moses returned from the mount, carrying the two tables of the testimony in his hand, written on both sides, 32:16. And made by the work of God; the writing also of God was graven in the tables. 32:17. And Josue hearing the noise of the people shouting, said to Moses: The noise of battle is heard in the camp. 32:18. But he answered: It is not the cry of men encouraging to fight, nor the shout of men compelling to flee: but I hear the voice of singers. 32:19. And when he came nigh to the camp, he saw the calf, and the dances: and being very angry, he threw the tables out of his hand, and broke them at the foot of the mount: 32:20. And laying hold of the calf which they had made, he burnt it, and beat it to powder, which he strewed into water, and gave thereof to the children of Israel to drink. 32:21. And he said to Aaron: What has this people done to thee, that thou shouldst bring upon them a most heinous sin?

[Reformed Biblical] them; when I shall punish them for their other sins, which I foresee they will commit, I will remember and punish this also. Exodus 32:35 This relates either to the destruction of three thousand of them by the Levites, or rather to the future plagues, in which God also reckoned with them for this sin. ## Because they made the calf ; they made it because they urged ## Aaron to make it, as Judas is said to purchase the field, Act_1:18, which was purchased by his money; and Aaron made it, by giving command to make it. The Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Samaritan render the words thus, ## they worshipped or sacrificed to the calf which Aaron made . And the word which signifies to make, is oft used for worshipping or sacrificing, as Exo_10:25 Jud_13:15 1Ki_18:26. ## Exodus 33:1 EXODUS CHAPTER 33 God refuseth to go with the people as formerly, Exo_33:1-3. The people mourn, Exo_33:4. God’s command what to say to the children of Israel, Exo_33:5. They mourn, and lay by their ornaments, Exo_33:6. Moses pitcheth the tabernacle without the camp, Exo_33:7; and going in, God speaks to him, Exo_33:8,9. A cloudy pillar descendeth on it, Exo_33:10. God speaks to Moses face to face, Exo_33:11. He prays for his guidance and presence, Exo_33:12-16. God promises him, Exo_33:14,17; proclaims his name, Exo_33:19. His face can be seen by no man, Exo_33:20-23. Exodus 33:2 Exodus 33:3 ## I will not go up in the midst of thee by my own special