Sin takes various forms, but its roots are always the same – putting something else in the place of God. When Moses went up on Mt. Sinai, into a cloud like looked like a devouring fire, and when he had been gone for 40 days (Exodus 24:17), the people simply gave up on him (Exodus 32:23). And so they turned away from what Moses told them, and turned back to the kind of worship they had seen in Egypt.
They asked Aaron to make an image of a calf, a symbol of youth and strength. They plated the calf with gold, indicating how much they valued material wealth (Exodus 32:4). And they proceeded to have a party, eating and drinking and dancing and singing, and called it a worship service (Exodus 32:6, 18-19). And people still tend to worship the same kinds of things, although perhaps in different ways. But as we can see, putting any of these things in the place of God, considering any of these things worthy of our worship is sin, the sort of sin that erases our names from God’s book (Exodus 32:33).
So, how should we deal with sin once we have identified it? The first thing Moses did was to burn the gold-plated wooden calf, put its ashes in water and make the people drink it. They were literally internalizing what they had done, owning it. We do the same sort of thing when we stop making excuses like Aaron did (Exodus 32:24), and admit our sin, confessing it without reservation.
The next thing Moses did was to make the people choose sides. When the faithful Levites said they wanted to stick with the Lord, Moses told them to go and kill those who were the closest to them who had not turned back to God (Exodus 32:26-27). In the same way, repentance must always follow confession. It’s not enough for us to admit our guilt – we must turn away from it. And that means if our friends or family members keep pulling us back into that sin, we have to turn away from them too, no matter how close they may be to us. We can’t let any of our relationships take precedence over our loyalty to God.
But once we’ve confessed our sin and repented of our sin, we still need to have a Mediator, One Who stands in our place before God and takes the guilt of our sin upon Himself. Moses modeled that behavior in Exodus 32:32: “But now, if you will forgive their sin – but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.”
Now, although Moses was willing to take the punishment due to the people, God didn’t make him do that. But Jesus took that punishment on the cross, taking upon Himself the pain and shame and death that all our sin deserves. So, could anyone or anything possibly be more worthy of our worship than He is? Could any sin possibly be more fulfilling than receiving such unconditional, self-sacrificial love?
Exodus 32:30-35 (ESV)
30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31 So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, if you will forgive their sin– but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.”
33 But the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. 34 But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”
35 Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.
