Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 32:7 - 32:14

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 32:7 - 32:14


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Moses Intercedes for the People

v. 7. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
The omniscient, omnipresent God saw the transgression of the people and stated this fact to Moses as the representative and the mediator of Israel.

v. 8. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them,
their guilt was increased by the great hurry which they displayed in choosing the ways of idolatry; they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. With the children of Israel engaged in wilful idolatry, it was impossible for the work on the mountain to continue, and the indignation of the Lord breaks forth like a flood.

v. 9. And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people,
have observed it very closely, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people, as rigid of neck as an unwilling draught-animal, Exo_33:3-5; Exo_34:9; Deu_9:6.

v. 10. Now, therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them
in revenge and punishment; and I will make of thee a great nation; of the entire people only Moses and his family were to remain, as the stock, or nucleus, of a new nation. It was an expression of just anger, a threat of righteous punishment.

v. 11. And Moses besought the Lord, his God,
he showed himself the real priestly advocate of the people. The prospect of being the progenitor of a great nation held no allurements for him, as he began to plead for his people, 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? Note how skilfully Moses parries the Lord's statement in v. 7. as he reminds Him that it was His, Jehovah's, great power, His mighty hand, that had effected the deliverance out of the land of Egypt.

v. 12. Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did He bring them out,
that is, for misfortune, for their destruction, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? This was an appeal to the honor of the Lord. Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people.

v. 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 forever.
This was a reminder of the faithfulness and truth, the trust in which had sustained the patriarchs during the long years when they were strangers in the land of Canaan. Note also that Moses omits all reference to himself; he does not think of urging his own work as a consideration to influence the Lord.

v. 14. And the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people,
although, as it seems, He did make known His change of mind at this time, as Exo_32:30-34 indicate. As Moses here acted in the capacity of advocate for the sinful people, so Jesus, at once the propitiation for our sins and our Advocate with God, pleads for us with His heavenly Father.