Exodus 32:15 - Meaning and Application

Here is, first, the favor God showed Moses by trusting him with the two tablets of the testimony. They were only made of common stone, but they were far more valuable than all the precious stones on Aaron’s breastpiece. The topaz of Ethiopia could not match them (Exodus 32:15, 32:16). God himself wrote the ten commandments on these tablets, without the help of either man or angel, so far as we can tell. He wrote on both sides, with some commandments on one tablet and some on the other, so they were folded together like a book and placed in the ark.

Second, notice the close friendship between Moses and Joshua. While Moses was in the cloud, as in the king’s private room, Joshua stayed as near as he could, like someone waiting in an outer room, ready to serve when Moses came out. He was alone for forty days, and it is likely that he was fed with manna, yet he did not grow tired of waiting, unlike the people. When Moses came down, Joshua came with him, and not before. We are also told how they understood the noise they heard in the camp (Exodus 32:17, 32:18). Even after Moses had spent so long speaking directly with God, he did not think it beneath him to speak freely with his servant Joshua. God lifts up those he uses, but he does not let them become proud. Moses also did not think it beneath him to talk about the camp’s affairs. Paul was no less concerned for the church on earth after he had been in the third heaven and heard things too deep to repeat. Joshua, being a soldier and in charge of the troops, thought the sound might be the noise of battle. But Moses, having been told by God, knew it was the sound of people singing. Still, it does not appear that he told Joshua the reason for their singing, for we should not be quick to spread people’s faults. They will be found out soon enough.

Third, Moses showed great and righteous anger against Israel for their idolatry. He knew what to expect, so he quickly saw the golden calf and the people’s wild dancing around it. He saw how cheerful they could be without him, how quickly they had forgotten him, and how little they thought about his return. He could rightly take this as an insult to himself, but that was the smallest part of the offense. He was angry because they had sinned against God and brought shame on his people. It is a serious thing to come down from fellowship with God and then deal with a world lying in wickedness. In God, we see what is pure and pleasing. In the world, we see pollution and constant provocation. Moses was the meekest man on earth, yet when he saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned hot. It is not a break in meekness to show displeasure at wickedness. Those are angry without sin who are angry only at sin, not because it hurts themselves, but because it offends God. Ephesus was known for patience, yet it could not tolerate evil people (Revelation 2:2). We should be calm when our own interests are at stake, but warm and earnest when God’s honor is at stake.

Moses showed his anger in a very strong way, both by breaking the tablets and by burning the calf, so the people would feel how serious their sin was. Without such clear signs, they might have treated it lightly. First, to show them that they had lost God’s favor, he broke the tablets (Exodus 32:19). God already knew their sin before Moses came down, but he did not tell Moses to leave the tablets behind. He gave them to Moses to bring down in his hand, so the people could see how ready God had been to bring them into covenant with himself, and how only their own sin stood in the way. Then, when the sin of Ephraim was uncovered, God put it in Moses’ heart to break the tablets before their eyes (as in Deuteronomy 9:17), so the sight would strike them more deeply and fill them with shame as they saw what blessing they had lost. In this way, because they had openly broken the agreement being made, the written covenant was torn up even before it was sealed. The greatest sign of God’s displeasure against any person or people is taking away his law from them. Breaking the tablets was like breaking the staff of beauty and union (Zechariah 11:10, 11:14), leaving a people without a church and without hope. Some think Moses sinned by breaking the tablets, and they note that when people are angry, they may be tempted to break all God’s commands. But this seems more like an act of justice than a burst of temper, and Moses later did not speak of it with regret (Deuteronomy 9:17).

Second, to show them that they had turned to a god that could not help them, he burned the calf (Exodus 32:20). He melted it down and ground it into dust. Then, so the powder would be noticed throughout the camp, he scattered it on the water they all drank. In this way he showed that an idol is nothing in the world (1 Corinthians 8:4). He reduced it as close to nothing as possible. He also showed that false gods cannot save those who worship them, because this one could not even save itself (Isaiah 46:1, 46:2). And to teach us that every trace of idolatry should be destroyed, and that even the names of the Baals should be removed, he scattered the very dust into the water. Gold filings are valuable, and people carefully gather them up. But the filings of the golden calf were hateful and had to be thrown away in disgust. In the same way, the idols of silver and gold must be cast to the moles and the bats (Isaiah 2:20; Isaiah 30:22), and Ephraim should say, “What do I have to do with idols anymore?” By mixing that powder with their drink, Moses showed them that the curse they had brought on themselves would mix with all their pleasures and sour them. It would go into their bodies like water and into their bones like oil. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, and he will drink what he has brewed. These were indeed waters of bitterness.