A Son’s Appeal; A Father’s Response; Summary

Following the day’s events, Moses looks to his younger siblings in their multitudes and makes a very important announcement…t hey had sinned a great sin and he was going to make atonement for this great sin. So as the big (but not oldest) brother, Moses makes his way up the mountain and appeals to God on behalf of Israel, offering himself and his salvation if God will not forgive the peoples’ sin. However God’s response is that of an understanding father when he replies, he says:

מִ֚י אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָֽטָא־לִ֔י אֶמְחֶ֖נּוּ מִסִּפְרִֽי׃

…”Who, which, he sinned, to me, I will blot him, from me book.”

God is stating to Moses that he will not let Moses be help accountable for Israel’s sins, that they must be disciplined if they are to learn. God releases Moses back to his people with this news and also that his angel will be coming to discipline them of their sin. And in this time God as the father of Israel plagues upon them for their sin (on a side not none are mentioned dieing here).

Overall Israel’s first communal sin is now done and has been disciplined for. And much like with a young toddler the discipline is swift and strong. It has to be both in order that a toddler will begin to learn that their parents will not tolerate disobedience. Sadly this will not be the last time Israel sins and definitely not the last time they will be disciplined accordingly.

This concludes the Golden Calf segment of Yes Sir.

A Son’s Rage

While God did relent from performing a mass genocide on Israel, there was still the matter of disciplining his wayward children. The text does not indicate any further conversation between God and Moses regarding how this would be done or any other topic. In the verse(s) following God’s act of compassion the reader follows Moses and Joshua’s journey back to the camp to confront Aaron and Israel. One could hypothesize that God did indeed give Moses some orders on what to do upon reaching the camp since surely discipline was meted out or it could just be Moses acting on what he thought was best (being he was both a prophet and judge). As the favored son enters the camp he becomes filled with rage, destroying both the God-graven tablets of the law and man-graven idol of the calf. Following these two violent acts Moses calls to the people asking who is “For the LORD” and the sons of Levi come forward. From there they are instructed to each slay his brother, friend, and neighbor culminating in approximately 3000 deaths in the camp. Do discipline was meted out indeed. In “The Complete Word Study Old Testament” (henceforth WSOT) a footnote regarding this section suggests that those who are slain are those who are still maintaing their rebellious status. Given the text it is possible that rebellious leaders could also be the Levites as the tribes tended to separate themselves into their own communities, resulting in why some of the levi’ came forward and had to slay their kinsmen according to the text. Also noted in WSOT is that God’s judgement and discipline was carried out and the sons of Levi were the means he was using to do so. Going back to whether or not Moses did this on his own or not, given the precise nature of the execution one could feel more comfortable that God may haven given this instruction to Moses before he departed.

Father and Son

There is something to be said when one child is more favored than the others. Especially in the case of Moses. He is present when God and Father vents His frustration regarding the younger rebellious children. No doubt Moses is both angry at the news of Israel’s transgressions and also scared to a degree of his Father’s anger. Still, Moses is a child and his love for his siblings is great. So when God is ready to remove Israel from the face of the Earth Moses intervenes on behalf his brothers and sisters in a rather wise and grand oration appealing to all the positive attributes of God. First he appeals to God’s recent victory asking him why God can be so angry after he has just delivered his beloved children from Egypt (Ex 32:11). Second he speaks to God’s reason, telling of how Egypt will blaspheme his mighty acts as deceptive and murderous, tainting the glory of their rescue (Ex 32:12). Finally Moses reminds God of his own faithfulness; primarily to his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob) to preserve and multiply them, culminating in a plea for compassion (Ex 32:13). n the end God ends up having compassion and relenting from pouring his wrath on his people (Ex 32:14).

I am going to take a moment to digress and address a common translation of וַיִּנָּ֖חֶם in v. 14. This form is commonly translated as “And he repented.” Personally, I find that I cannot get myself to see God repenting, as to me God cannot sin so hence he cannot repent. This could just be me, and I am willing to accept this. Instead I choose to use its other common translation of “to have compassion.” Both are on a literary level valid translations I feel, so I simply choose to go with the one I am most comfortable with.

A Father’s Frustration

It could be comfortably concluded that a parent must go through quite a bit of frustration when they watch their children deliberately disobey them. This compounded in that a parent’s system of rules are generally in place to protect and develop their children into responsible adults. No less does God get irate at the actions of Israel. He has observed Israel now in their unfaithfulness and found them already transgressing one fifth of the commandments. As with strong emotions their initial emergence is rather emphatic. Certainly God’s first reaction rests on the extreme.

וְעַתָּה֙ הַנִּ֣יחָה לִּ֔י וְיִֽחַר־אַפִּ֥י בָהֶ֖ם וַאֲכַלֵּ֑ם וְאֶֽעֱשֶׂ֥ה אֹותְךָ֖ לְגֹ֥וי גָּדֹֽול׃ Exodus 32:10 Westminster Leningrad Codex

And now, create space, to me, and my wrath will burn, with them, and will devour them, and I will make, to you, a nation, a great (one).

God’s initial peak reaction is fed up with the faithless and unfocused Israelites. And he is ready to destroy them all and start anew with Moses. In light of Israel symbolically abandoning God, He is about to let them know how extreme abandonment can get. Fortunately, Moses is there to plead on behalf his siblings.

Big Brother

Aaron may be Moses’ older brother, he is not the superior however. Aaron is the high priest, and his purpose is to facilitate the proper worship of God. It would appear though that when Moses is not around to back up Aaron, Aaron bends to the demands of the mob. At the group’s demands Aaron requests all the gold earrings belonging to the families of the group. After they provide these, Aaron fashions for them an idol, a molten calf of gold. Upon its creation the group proclaims to the rest of Israel that this is the representation of the gods that brought them out of Egypt (not what they told Aaron they wanted the gods for in the first place). Two things can be drawn from the context here. The first is that Aaron has a sense of humor. The only reason any Israelite would have a gold earring would be because they were used to identify slaves in Egypt. So to fashion them an idol of a calf (a similarly used idol in Egypt) was fairly mocking. The second thing that could be drawn from the text is that only a portion of Israel wanted an idol since after its creation they proclaim its deity to the rest of Israel. So perhaps not all of Israel is a lost cause. The remaining portion of the text including Aaron ends with him observing the reaction of the people and making an altar, as well as declaring the next day a feast to the LORD, which the people follow through with joyfully.

Shame, Fear, and a Broken Promise?

Returning to the situation at hand; God and Moses are having a meeting atop Mount Sinai, Joshua is just out of earshot, and Aaron is with Hur keeping and eye on Israel at the base of the mountain.  Now this is not short meeting, it is a 47 day trip, and Israel begins to be affected by the absence of the primary leadership.  Here is when a toddler does what it does best, it takes action.  In Exodus 32:1 the Hebrew puts it best.

וַיַּ֣רְא הָעָ֔ם כִּֽי־בֹשֵׁ֥שׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה לָרֶ֣דֶת מִן־הָהָ֑ר וַיִּקָּהֵ֨ל הָעָ֜ם עַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ אֵלָיו֙ ק֣וּם ׀ עֲשֵׂה־לָ֣נוּ אֱלֹהִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר יֵֽלְכוּ֙ לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ כִּי־זֶ֣ה ׀ מֹשֶׁ֣ה הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר הֶֽעֱלָ֙נוּ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְנוּ מֶה־הָ֥יָה לֹֽו׃

And he saw, (the people unit), that_he delayed (shamefully), (Moses), to come down, from_the mountain., And he gathered, (the people unit), unto_Aaron, and he said (people unit), to him, Arise!, Make!_for us, gods, which, they will go, before us, for_this, Moses, the man, which, he brought us, from the land, Egypt, not, we know, what_became, to him.

No word here is unimportant, however, one stands out more than the others. This is the trigger point for Israel taking the action they did.  The word is בֹשֵׁ֥ש loosely translated “he delayed.”  This word is event more interesting than that though.  The whole sentence is based on the subjective perspective of Israel.  A further study of this word indicates that it comes from the root word בֹוש meaning “be ashamed.” How does one get “delayed” from “ashamed?” Other contexts translate this word as “dispersed” or “disconcerted.” Taking all these into context one could infer that Israel was becoming disconcerted that God and Moses had abandoned them since they had both been gone so long and they felt they needed someone to become their new leadership.  This being said because they never specifically said they desired to worship these gods, but rather, they wanted a god(s) which would go before them to hold up the deity’s end of the covenant. The famous childish saying “but You promised!!” comes to mind.  And thus, Israel went to the last vestige of leadesrhip they knew around and made their demand to Aaron, who was afterall, the high priest.

Brothers in Arms

It happens to be that in some cases, when a parent has to leave on a business trip, the children will become less obedient.  The exact reasons are rarely known to explain this behavior.  However, it still happens.  And for Israel it is no different.  Following the establishment of the covenant God asks Moses to come up the mountain that they might talk in private and that God could provide Moses with the stone tablets of the Law and Commandments.  Moses brought Joshua along and left Aaron and Hur to keep the peace.  Now it is important to look at the relationship of Moses, Aaron, and Joshua in their context of family with Israel and God.  The basis of this writing places all Israel as children and God as their parent.  However these three individuals stand apart. For the reader it is best to think of these men as Israel’s big brothers.  Aaron as the eldest, Joshua as the youngest, and Moses as the middle, and it is no mistake that Moses is the closest to God; a thesis for another time though.  So it happens that when Israel needs guidance from God they go to these three, and when God goes on a business trip he leaves these three in charge.

The Nationwide Covenant

As mentioned previously, one of the age markers for coming out of infanthood is the ability to make an apparent, conscious decision. Israel, once free from their enslavers and now has the ability to speak for themselves.  it happens to be that at this juncture that God decides to his expectations explicitly clear. There is to be no misunderstanding when God lays out the initial laws and commandments in Exodus 19-23.  After God has given these words to his prophet and judge, Moses, is when Israel verbalizes their intent to go with what God has laid out for them.  The Hebrew reads as this in Exodus 24:7:

וַיִּקַּח֙ סֵ֣פֶר הַבְּרִ֔ית וַיִּקְרָ֖א בְּאָזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה נַעֲשֶׂ֥ה וְנִשְׁמָֽע׃

And he took (Moses did), a writing, the covenant, and he proclaimed, to the ears, the people, and they said (the people), “All, which he has spoken, the LORD, we will do, and we will obey.”

There are a couple key terms to identify in the text.  The first is הַבְּרִ֔ית which means “the covenant” and is the adjective for סֵ֣פֶר meaning “writing” or “book.” This comes across as the covenantal writing.  In this era of hisotry and more specifically the Israelite culture, a covenant was not taken lightly.  It was often a lifetime or even multigenerational contract.  This contract put forth a strict code of conduct and ethical boundaries that Israel would have to uphold an in return for obedience to the LORD and his Angels, Israel would see success and protection in the taking of their promised land. The second term is the final word in the verse: וְנִשְׁמָֽע which means “and we will obey” the root verb actually also including “hearing” as well as “obeying.” This is an important word to denote how seriously Israel is taking the covenant.  They are proclaiiming that yes they listened and heard what the LORD had to say, they will continue to listen and hear, and they will obey.  Israel with this statement has offically opted into covenant with the LORD.  Much as when a parent checks to make sure that a child understandings what they parent is saying, so has God insured His children have understood his expectations.

Toddlers and the Exodus

When a toddler comes to age there are a variety of age markers that become apparent.  A sense of independence being established, the concept of making a choice extending beyond reaction to the given environment, and the beginnings of coherent comuncation are some of these markers.  Israel reaches this stage in the book of Exodus.  here they come a nation now free of Egypt, they opt into covenants, and feel free to voice their wants and “needs” to their new leaders.  However being that Israel is only a toddler, they do not always know what is best, yet assume they do, tending to place them contrary or event puposely opposed to their father: God.  These events unfold not only in Exodus but all the way through Deuteronomy.  Some stand-out moments are their first covenantal affirmation (Exodus 24:7), their first covenantal transgression (Exodus 32), the consequences of faithlessness (Numbers 14), and eventually covenantal renewal (Deuteronomy 29-30). But all of these events will help to raise Israel into a faithful and obedient youth, or so one would hope.

God as Father of Israel

Since proper disciplinary action can only come from Someone who is in a position of true authority (mentor, rabbi, teacher, coach, etc.) it is important to place God in this spectrum.  Besides the obvious that God is the deity whom Israel worships, God is their parent as well.

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear Him.  Psalms 103:13 (ESV)

… for the LORD reproves him who he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.  Proverbs 3:12 (ESV)

It is worth mentioning that theologian Claus Westermann speaks to the Hebrew word MHR, meaning “mother’s womb” as a word that defines God’s love for Israel in a familiar sort. *  So as a parent his love for His children will elave room for God to take the necessary, even severe, actions in order that His children may learn to grow and become righteous before Him.

* Claus Westermann.  What does the Old Testament Say About God. John Knox Press. Atlanta, GA. 1979. p. 58.