Only a few days had passed since the Hebrews had stood trembling before Mount Sinai, listening to the words of the Lord, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” The glory of God still hovered above the mountain in the sight of the congregation; but “they made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molded image. Thus they changed their glory into the image of an ox” (Psalm 106:19, 20).
On the mountain, Moses was warned of the apostasy in the camp. “Go, get down,” were the words of God; “your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them.”
God’s covenant with His people had been broken, and He declared to Moses, “Let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and that I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.” The people of Israel, especially the “mixed multitude,” would be constantly inclined to rebel against God, complain about their leader, and bring sorrow to him by their unbelief and stubbornness. Their sins had already lost the favor of God for them.
If God had decided to destroy Israel, who could plead for them? But Moses saw ground for hope where there appeared only discouragement and divine fury. The words of God, “Let Me alone,” he understood not to forbid but to encourage him to plead their case—if he asked earnestly, God would spare His people.
God had implied that He had disowned His people. He had spoken of them to Moses as “your people whom you brought out of Egypt.” But Moses disclaimed the leadership of Israel. They were not his, but God’s—“Your people whom You have brought out ... with great power and with a mighty hand.” “Why,” Moses urged, “should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains?’”
During the few months since Israel had left Egypt, the report of their amazing deliverance had spread to all the surrounding nations. Terrible dread rested on the heathen. All were watching to see what the God of Israel would do for His people. If they were now to be destroyed, their enemies would triumph. The Egyptians would claim that their accusations were true—instead of leading His people into the wilderness to sacrifice, He had caused them to be sacrificed. The destruction of the people whom He had honored would bring a slur on His name. How great is the responsibility on those whom God has highly honored, to make His name a praise in the earth!
As Moses interceded for Israel, the Lord listened to his pleadings and granted his unselfish prayer. God had proved his love for that ungrateful people, and Moses had nobly endured the trial. The well-being of God’s people was more important to him than becoming the father of a mighty nation. God was pleased with his faithfulness and integrity, and committed to him the great responsibility of leading Israel to the Promised Land.
As Moses and Joshua came down from the mountain and were nearing the camp, they saw the people shouting and dancing around their idol—a scene of heathen riot, an imitation of the idolatrous feasts of Egypt. How different from the solemn and reverent worship of God! Moses was overwhelmed. He had just come from the presence of God’s glory, and he was unprepared for that dreadful display of Israel’s degraded condition. To show his horror at their crime, he threw down the tablets of stone, and they were broken in view of all the people, a sign that as they had broken their covenant with God, so God had broken His covenant with them.
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