It was necessary that this sin should be punished as a warning to surrounding nations of God’s displeasure against idolatry. Whenever the Israelites would later condemn idolatry, their enemies would throw back the charge that the people who claimed Jehovah as their God had made a calf and worshiped it in Horeb. Though they had to acknowledge the disgraceful truth, Israel could point to the terrible fate of the transgressors as evidence that their sin had not been excused.
Love no less than justice demanded that judgment be given. God cuts off those who are determined to rebel, that they may not lead others to ruin. In sparing the life of Cain, God had demonstrated the result of permitting sin to go unpunished. His life and teaching led to the corrupt conditions that demanded the destruction of the whole world by a flood. The history of the pre-Flood people testifies that God’s great patience and restraint did not keep back their wickedness.
The same is true at Sinai. If sin had not been speedily punished, the same results would have appeared again. The earth would have become as corrupt as in the days of Noah. Evils would have followed, greater than those that resulted from sparing Cain’s life. It was the mercy of God that thousands should suffer, to prevent the need for visiting judgments on millions. To save the many He must punish the few.
Furthermore, as the people had forfeited divine protection, the whole nation was exposed to the power of their enemies. They would soon have fallen prey to their many powerful foes. It was necessary for the good of Israel that crime should be promptly punished.
And it was no less a mercy to the sinners themselves to be stopped in their evil course. If their lives had been spared, the same spirit that led them to rebel against God would have resulted in hatred and strife among themselves. They would eventually have destroyed one another.
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