The book of Joshua moves along pretty quickly and there is much that could be written. In our reading for today the people cross the Jordan and set up stones of remembrance. They conquer Jericho. But one of my favorite passage is found in chapter 5.

13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. (Joshua 5:13–15 ESV).

I think the force of this comes out a bit more in the ESV when Joshua asks this man standing before him - “Are you for us, or for our adversaries.” And the response is beautiful: “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord…”

The Lord is not to be co-opted. The Lord is perfectly and perfectly sovereign, yet he graciously condescends to save a people for himself. Joshua has it made clear to him that he serves the Lord, the Lord is not serving his interests (even though the Lord will work for his best interests).

We also see in this the confirmation of Joshua as Moses’ successor in the command to take off his sandals for the place is holy ground.

Reading today’s text consistently takes me back roughly 27 years to when I was on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ (now CRU). I was in the midst of a fast and the first bit of that time was rough. I truly felt like in my prayers I was talking with a brick wall. And my reading plan was in Deuteronomy at the time. As I read chapter 28 it was verses 47 & 48 that hit me hard. At the time I’m sure I read them in the New American Standard Bible so that’s what I’ll quote from here:

“Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.“ (Deut. 28:47,48 NASB)

I was convicted by the Spirit of God as I read those words that I had been serving the Lord because it was the thing I was supposed to do - this was what a good Christian young man ought to do. But that wasn’t a great motivation. I am (and you are) called to serve the Lord with joy and a glad heart because of who He is and his greatness and the greatness of his mercy and grace. It’s good to be reminded consistently that I serve the Lord because his grace and goodness have enabled me to do just that. My call is to trust him, to rest in him completely and to serve him because of who He is.

Today is not a reflection on our reading, but an excerpt from Richard Sibbes. He reflects on how ugly and odious sin is. Also consider looking at the Westminster Larger Catechism Question 76.

“How to discern the ugliness of sin. 1. In what glass to look upon the ugly thing, sin, to make it more ugly unto us. Beloved, if we would conceive aright of sin, let us see it in the angels tumbled out of heaven, and reserved in chains of darkness for offending God, Jude 6; see it in the casting of Adam out of paradise, Gen. 3:23, 24, and all us in him; see it in the destruction of the old world, and the Jews carried to captivity, in the general destruction of Jerusalem, &c. But if you would indeed see the most ugly colours of sin, then see it in Christ upon the cross, see how many sighs and groans it cost him, how bitter a thing it was to his righteous soul, forcing him to weep tears of blood, and send forth strong cries to his Father, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ If sin but imputed to Christ our surety, so affected him that was God-man, and lay so heavy upon his soul, what will it do to those that are not in Christ? Certainly, the wrath of God must needs burn to hell; he will be a ‘consuming fire,’ Heb. 12:29, to all such. See sin therefore chiefly in the death of Christ. How odious it is to God, that it could be no otherwise purged away than by the death of his beloved Son. All the angels in heaven, and all the creatures in the world could not satisfy divine justice for the least sin. If all the agonies of all creatures were put into one, it were nothing to Christ’s agony; if all their sufferings were put into one, they could not make satisfaction to divine justice for the least sin. Sin is another manner of matter than we take it to be. See the attributes of God, his anger against it, his justice and holiness, &c. Beloved, men forget this. They think God is angry against sin indeed, but yet his justice is soon satisfied in Christ. Oh, we must think of the Almighty as a holy God, separated from all stain and pollution of sin whatsoever, and so holy that he enforced a separation of his favour from Christ, for becoming our surety, and Christ underwent a separation from his Father, because he undertook for us. So odious is sin to the holy nature of God, that he left his Son while he struggled with his wrath for it; and so odious was sin to the holy nature of Christ, that he became thus a sacrifice for the same. And so odious are the remainders of sin in the hearts of the saints, that all that belong to God have the Spirit of Christ, which is as fire to consume and waste the old Adam by little and little out of them. ‘No unclean thing must enter into heaven,’ Rev. 21:27. Those that are not in Christ by faith, that have not a shelter in him, must suffer for their transgressions eternally, ‘Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,’ Mat. 25:41; so holy is God that he can have no society and fellowship with sinners.”

Sibbes, R. (1862). The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes (A. B. Grosart, Ed.; Vol. 1, pp. 358–359). James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson.

Deuteronomy 4:9: Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. (ESV)

There is much in the reading for today that deals with our carefulness to observe the ways of the Lord. Take some time and re-read (or re-listen to) the text and note how many times that concept appears. Why is there so much emphasis on our carefulness in observing the ways of the Lord? What is the result of carefulness and what is the result of a slack attitude? Where else in Scripture do you see this call to be careful?

In Numbers 27 Moses is given the chance to see the land of promise, but he is not allowed to enter due to his not honoring the Lord as holy before the people. There could easily have been bitterness on the part of Moses, but that’s not the reaction we get. Instead we see a tremendous heart for the people of God.

15 Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” (Numbers 27:15–17 ESV).

This is such a beautiful plea to the Lord. Moses does not want the people to be shepherd-less. Obviously this replacement was Joshua, but we cannot miss the clear pointing to Jesus. Jesus looked out over the people with compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd (cf. Matthew 9:36). But even further, this Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep.

Take some time a read through John 10:1-18 and meditate on our Good Shepherd.

Just a very short reflection this morning, and it is on Balak, not Balaam. Balak’s desire is for God to serve him. He wants to control God and for God to do his biding and he is utterly frustrated when that does not happen. He is not really a theist, he is more of a man looking for a personal magician to fulfill his own desires. If God (or gods) don’t serve him well, then he is angry and frustrated.

I think we can have the same temptation to try and control God and ask him simply to bless what we want blessed and to curse what we want cursed. But that’s not the way of the Christian life. We are called not to conform God to our image, but rather to be conformed to his.

The start of chapter 20 is a bit discouraging. We begin with the death of Miriam. And then the people complain again. This time it is a bit more understandable as water is a very essential element for survival. Yet the language of the congregation betrays a lack of accurate memories or understanding of what had taken place:

3 The people blamed Moses and said, “If only we had died in the Lord’s presence with our brothers! 4 Why have you brought the congregation of the Lord’s people into this wilderness to die, along with all our livestock? 5 Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us here to this terrible place? This land has no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates, and no water to drink!” (NLT)

Moses and Aaron then turn to the Lord and his glorious presence appeared to them. Moses is told: 8 “You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community. As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock.” (NLT)

Moses does grab the staff as commanded, but then he falls at the point where is probably strongest - humility. Instead of humility he acts in anger and rash words and actions.

10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. (ESV)

Moses clearly had had enough of the complaining, but he also has become bitter towards the people. It’s not difficult to understand, but it is what happened. His visible display of trust in God was not there and God was not honored as holy. The Lord’s response to Moses, and to Aaron, is quite sad.

12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” 13 These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy. (ESV)

Notice what God did not say to Moses. He did not say that Moses did not “obey” enough, but that he did not believe (or trust) enough. Certainly he disobeyed, but that flows from something deeper.

I’ve been reading again Thomas Brooks’ “Precious Remedies Against Satan Devices” (a very insightful, pastoral, and practical work) and he wrote this about the result of sin:

“…consider that sin will usher in the greatest and the saddest losses that can be upon our souls. It will usher in the loss of that divine favor which is better than life, and the loss of that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory, and the loss of that peace which passes understanding, and the loss of those divine influences by which the soul has been refreshed, quickened, raised, strengthened, and gladdened, and the loss of many outward desirable mercies, which otherwise the soul might have enjoyed.”

Moses sinned in his words, actions, and in his heart. And the consequence was a massive loss. Not that Moses isn’t with the Lord now, but he did feel the consequence of his disobedience. This causes me to reflect on how easy it is to sin and to not believe/trust the Lord. I’m so thankful for the work of the Holy Spirit in my life (and the lives of all believers) to convict of sin and to lead in the path of righteousness. The Law can never save nor transform, but the Gospel and the Spirit at work in us does that beautiful work of conforming us more and more to the image of Christ. And let us also simply give thanks for the forgiving nature of God. We all sin, but there is more grace in Christ than there is sin in you and me.

There is a great deal in our reading for today. It starts off rather poorly and sets the tone for much of the reading: Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the LORD heard everything they said. Then the LORD’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp (11:1 NLT).

There is a strain of complaint throughout this section. We see Miriam and Aaron complain about Moses. The majority of spies complain about the inhabitants of the land. What is at the heart of this complaint? It’s hard to nail that down, but certainly there is ungratefulness to the Lord and a lack of trust in his goodness and grace. Complaining centers the story on ourselves rather than having eyes to see the bigger picture.

But, is it ever right to complain? We do see complaints in Scripture that the Lord responds to differently. There is a different tone about the whole situation. The reality is we can face difficult times and turning to the Lord is right and proper, yet we must never accuse the Lord of any wrong (see this article from R.C. Sproul for more). Going to God in prayer is the right response because it acknowledges his sovereignty and keeps us from trying to fix everything on our own. Exercise your faith and take your worries and your cares to God for he is good and he cares for his own.

22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

24 The Lord bless you and keep you;

25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

27 “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”  (ESV)

To state the obvious, this is a very God-centered section of Scripture. It is the Lord who blesses. From God’s great bounty his people receive. In God’s great strength his people are kept (cf. Psalm 121). God will guard and protect his people. Consider the prayer the Lord taught us - and let us not into temptation but deliver us from. evil (Matthew 6:13; cf. John 17:15). This is a prayer to be kept, to be protected by the Lord.

Further we have the blessing of the shining face of the Lord. This is an idiom that asks for God to look upon his people with great favor (cf. Psalm 31:16; 80:3,7, 19; 119:135). If we do not have the favorable disposition of God upon us, we have little hope.

John Calvin wrote: “…nothing is more desirable for the consummation of our happiness, than that we should behold the serene countenance of God;…that the people may perceive and taste the sweetness of God’s goodness, which may cheer them like the brightness of the sun when it illumines the world in serene weather.”

Then finally we have the Lord lifting up his countenance and giving us his peace. Here is God’s favor and acceptance and the goodness that flows from that. Ultimately our peace is found in God, and we have it through Christ Jesus who has brought us peace (Isaiah 53:5; Luke 2:14; John 14:27).

Let the truth of this great blessing fill your hearts this morning.

Today is a day off or a day to catch up depending on where you find yourself in the readings.

So for your reading enjoyment, here is a short devotional from Jack Miller:

We see this morning the very detailed duties of the Levites. And one may wonder why so much detail. But, when you consider it, the worship of the Lord is important. We have seen that already with Nadab & Abihu offering “strange fire” and feeling the immediate consequences. But there is another aspect that is worth considering here in regard to every Levite being given a very specific assignment. This takes away competition amongst duties (which we are apt to do as humans). Everything is important and significant in the worship of the Lord according to what he has set forth.

Today we don’t have the same duties, but we do have the Spirit of God who has given to the people of God various gifts. We are called to use those gifts for the benefit of the body of Christ. We are not to be jealous of the gifts of others, but to be thankful for the gifts we have been given and we are to be good stewards of those gifts.

How can you use your gifts to serve the church?

In these chapters it would be easy to get bogged down with all the rules, but you can’t miss the repeated idea or phrase - I am the LORD. The end of chapter 19 has these words:

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the LORD (19:36, 37 ESV).

At the beginning of chapter 18 you read these words:

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their stattues. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God (18:1-4 ESV).

• Why were the Israelites called to live in a certain way?

• How does this actually speak to grace?

• Compare this idea with Ephesians 4:1 and others like it.

• Consider now the words of 1 John 2:15-17.

Today is a bit of a mixed bag in our reading. It starts with cleansing of a house and moves to laws regarding cleanliness of men and women in detail that you wouldn’t normally expect to read about. But then we come to Leviticus 16 and the Day of Atonement. There is a great deal here, and it’s what we are going to take time to look at more closely in our community groups this weekend.

But for now read and meditate upon Hebrews 13:8-16

And further - enjoy this excellent hymn from Horatius Bonar

I was struck when reading the NLT with the phrase over and over of “scabby sore.” I’m a bit more used to “infectious skin disease” or an “itch” or simply “leprosy.” All of this came in the midst of what feels like tedium with all the rules. We’ve already come across a great deal, and now we come to rules and detailed instructions given to determine the nature of a skin issue (or of mold and mildew - leprous disease in a garment). it all feels so burdensome.

But it does point us to reality…to unclearness and sin. And it directs us to the sin and impurity in our lives that naturally separate humanity from the holy Lord. In Leviticus and the old covenant there were very detailed means of being declared clean once again. But those same instructions are not what we find ourselves under today. Rather we live in a time where the touch of the Savior deals with our impurity and uncleanness (cf. Mark 1:40-45) and it goes much much deeper. And when you consider how the man with leprosy responded to being cleansed by Jesus, how much more should all who have been cleansed of sin respond with thankfulness on a daily basis?!

Today we come across the tragedy of Nadab & Abihu. These were the eldest sons of Aaron. They had been with Moses and the seventy elders of Israel who were privileged enough to see a manifestation of God on Mount Sinai (cf. Exod. 24:1,10). But what happens in Leviticus 10 is shocking.

1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ ” And Aaron held his peace. (Levitcus 10:1–3 ESV)

To many of our ears this seems harsh. It is not as though these men were worshiping a false god or defiling the altar in another manner. Yet they were struck down immediately by the Lord. Why? Consider all we have read. All the instructions on how to approach the Lord…to do just as he commanded because he is holy and we are sinful creatures. All the sacrifices that were needed to purify, to atone for sin. God brought his people into covenant relationship with him and he set forth the parameters for coming into his presence. And what did Nadab & Abihu do after it had been made undeniably clear? They went in a manner not commanded by the Lord - they sinned.

We need to better understand the nature of our sin. There is too much to reflect upon in this, but let me quote from R.C. Sproul and his book The Holiness of God.

“Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself. Have you ever considered the deeper implications of the slightest sin, of the most minute peccadillo? What are we saying to our Creator when we disobey Him at the slightest point? We are saying no :o the righteousness of God. We are saying, "God, Your law is not good. My judgment is better than Yours. Your authority does not apply to me. I am above and beyond Your jurisdiction. I have the right to do what I want to do, not what You command me to do.

The slightest sin is an act of defiance against cosmic authority. It is a revolutionary act, a rebellious act in which we are setting ourselves in opposition to the One to whom we owe everything. It is an insult to His holiness. We become false witnesses to God. W1 .en we sin as the image bearers of God, we are saying to the whole creation, to all of nature under our dominion, to the birds of the a it and the beasts of the field: "This is how God is. This is how your Creator behaves. Look in this mirror; look at us, and you will see the character of the Almighty." We say to the world, "God is covetous; God is ruthless; God is bitter; God is a murderer, a thief, a slanderer, an adulterer. God is all of these things that we are doing."“ (Sproul, p. 116)

Let us pray that we would understand sin more by grasping more of God’s holiness. All that we have read recently, though it may seem laborious, it reinforces the nature of God’s holiness and our sin. We need One to mediate for us. Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ!

There is a bit of a repeated idea in the text today, and it is that of sinning without necessarily knowing you have sinned. You read something along the lines of “if anyone sins unintentionally” frequently through this reading. But one thing you don’t read is that it’s no big deal. Unintentional sin is still sin. And when someone realized their guilt they were still to bring the appropriate offering to deal with that sin.

Almighty and most merciful Father,

we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep.

We have followed too much the devices and desires

of our own hearts.

We have offended against your holy laws.

We have left undone those things which we ought to have done,

and we have done those things which we ought not

to have done;

and apart from your grace, there is no health in us.

O Lord, have mercy upon us.

Spare all those who confess their faults.

Restore all those who are penitent, according to your promises

declared to all people in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake,

that we may now live a godly, righteous, and sober life,

to the glory of your holy Name. Amen.

This is a very common and well known prayer of confession. I love how it addresses things done and things left undone. I think you can apply that to things done knowingly and things done unknowingly (unintentionally). But I also love that this is a prayer for the mercy of Jesus and an appeal to his sacrifice that was once for all for the sins of his people. Sin is nothing to take lightly and reading of all these sacrifices and the entire system should direct our hearts to the worth of Christ’s single and ultimate sacrifice. Let us praise him and let us seek to walk in a way that is worthy of our calling. May He cleanse us from all sin and help us to put it to death that we may walk in the newness of life we have in Christ.

Today we come again to the giving of the Levites and their dedication. There are a great many details in Numbers 8, but the reasoning and the result is what we want to look at this morning. The Levites serve as a substitute for the firstborn. This clearly has its roots in the Passover and the death of the firstborn of all of Egypt (of any who did not have the blood of the lamb covering their doorposts).

17 For all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, 18 and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel. 19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.” (Num 8:17–19 ESV).

The Levites became as substitute for the firstborn of all of Israel. They were given to do the service of the tent of meeting. And in a sense, they were given to serve the entirety of the nation. They were purified and set apart to work in service to the Lord for the people.

How would this relate to us today? Consider the context. The people have not been freed from Egypt for long; the Exodus has just taken place in a dramatic rescue out of slavery. I was directed by some resources to turn to Ephesians 4:7-16.

Here, Christ, by his death and resurrection, led captives and gave gifts to mankind. What are those gifts? Look at Ephesians 4:7 - we are his gifts given back to the church. God has poured out his grace on each of his children to serve in various ways so that we would grow to maturity. We are saved from slavery to sin to serve as gifts.

The tabernacle is finished. Moses had inspected all the work and found that all of it had been done just as was commanded by the Lord (cf. 39:43 - and there is a good principle in that statement alone). What we see as the culmination is the presence of the Lord covering the tent of meeting. It was so strong at first that even Moses could not enter. Israel is about to embark into the wilderness, but yet God is with them. They have a visible reminder daily that the Lord is their God and he is with them.

Meditate on the presence of God:

• Psalm 23:6

• Psalm 73:28

• John 1:14

Here are some thoughts from Richard Sibbes that I read this morning. It’s not a perfect parallel, but the idea of Christ dwelling with his people is a beautiful truth and worthy of praise.

“Where his Spirit is, there is holiness. If we consider what a sweet guest Christ is, where he is there is all beauty, work, comfort, strength, and all. And where he is, he is for ever. He never forsakes his lodging, he never forsakes his house and temple. He had two temples built with stone; one by Solomon, and another after the captivity. Both lie now in the rubbish, and are demolished for ever, and shall never be repaired again. But his spiritual temples he never leaves wholly; for whose souls he now dwells in, he will take them by that Spirit that dwells in them, and carry them to heaven, to be where he is. The divine Spirit, that dwells in our souls now, shall quicken our dead bodies, and make them like to his glorious body.

What an excellent honour and happiness is this, to entertain such an one as will rule, govern, and adorn our souls while we live, and carry them to himself and to his Father in heaven, and will quicken our bodies likewise! An everlasting inhabitant he is. If Christ be in us, therefore, we may comfort ourselves.”

Sibbes, R. (1863). The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes (A. B. Grosart, Ed.; Vol. 6, p. 406). James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson.

There has been a great deal of detail written over the past few days. Sometimes it’s hard to think of why this is important. But some of this detail shows the vast importance of this whole system for the Israelites. This all related to meeting with the Lord and the relationship the people of Israel had with their covenant Lord. It’s not something to be taken lightly or according to our own ideas; this is something that is to be followed with what the Lord has set forth.

Taken from the ESV Study Bible

In looking at the work on the priests garments it is impressive what Bazelel was able to make. We were already introduced to these garments in chapter 28 and there we were told a little bit more of the why and less about the how (which is what we came to today).

Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. 4 These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. 5 They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. (Ex 28:1–5 ESV).

The people needed mediation between themselves and God. Aaron and his sons were chosen. They were identified with the people and would represent them, in all their weakness. They wore holy garments to cover their own sinfulness. The garments would be made of the same materials as the tabernacle itself showing the character of the work that the priest would undertake. We read of the inscription for the turban - “Holy to the LORD.”

In thinking through all these preparations and the intricacies of erecting the tabernacle and the altar and the lampstand and on and on. Take time and read Hebrews 9:1-28 and reflect on what we now have through Christ and give thanks for the great privilege we have as new covenant believers.

These chapters are absolutely full, and yet they fall on a Sunday morning when providentially I have less time to write. So here is a wonderful reflection from D.A. Carson on chapter 32.

“exodus 32 is simultaneously one of the low points and one of the high points in Israel’s history.

Only months out of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites prove so fickle that the delay of Moses on the mountain (a mere forty days) provides them with all the excuse they need for a new round of complaining. Moses’ delay does not prompt them to pray, but elicits callous ingratitude and disoriented syncretism. Even their tone is sneering: “As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him” (32:1).

Aaron is revealed as a spineless wimp, unable or unwilling to impose any discipline. He is utterly without theological backbone—not even enough to be a thoroughgoing pagan, as he continues to invoke the name of the Lord even while he himself manufactures a golden calf (32:4–5). He is still a wimp when, challenged by his brother, he insists, rather ridiculously, “Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” (32:24). Despite the covenantal vows they had made (24:7), many in the nation wanted all the blessings they could get from Yahweh, but gave little thought to the nature of their own sworn obligations to their Maker and Redeemer. It was a low moment of national shame—not the last in their experience, not the last in the confessing church.

The high point? When God threatens to wipe out the nation, Moses intercedes. Not once does he suggest that the people do not deserve to be wiped out, or that they are not as bad as some might think. Rather, he appeals to the glory of God. Why should God act in such a way that the Egyptians might scoff and say that the Lord isn’t strong enough to pull off this rescue (32:12)? Besides, isn’t God obligated to keep his vows to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (32:13)? How could God go back on his solemn promises? His final appeal is simply for forgiveness (32:30–32), and if God cannot extend such mercy, then Moses does not want to begin a new race (as angry as he himself is, 32:19). He prefers to be blotted out with the rest of the people.

Here is an extraordinary mediator, a man whose entire sympathies are with God and his gracious salvation and revelation, a man who makes no excuses for the people he is called to lead, but who nevertheless so identifies with them that if judgment is to fall on them he begs to suffer with them. Here is a man who “stands in the gap” (cf. Ezek. 13:3–5; 22:29–30).”

Carson, D. A. (1998). For the love of God: a daily companion for discovering the riches of God’s Word. (Vol. 1, p. 106). Crossway Books.