This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.

Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.

Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears. If you miss a day, you may contact us and request that devotion. Please send your request, along with $.50 (p&h) for each page to:

Bruce McGee,Pastor
205 Adams
Columbia, LA 71418

Bro. Bruce's commentary for the book of Genesis is
now available in hard copy for $7.50. Just mail your request for COMMENTARY ON GENESIS to the address above

EXODUS
CHAPTER 32

1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. 6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

Ah, how swiftly people turn to sin!! Here we should get some indicationof how
naturally depraved human beings are. Just forty days before (in Chapter 24:16-18),
moses was called higher into the mountain where God's visiple Presence was experienced
by these same people in an awesome display.
Moses was there (on the mountain) "forty days and nights" (24:18). These same people who
had witnessed the thick cloud and thundering and lightening from God's Presence were only
forth days later turning to idol worship and gross immorality!! (see Chapter 33:6)
How fast do you go from experiencing God to neglecting God?
Even Aaron, God's chosen High Priest for Israel, was swayed by the people in this sin.
One thing we must realize here. The people are the ones guilty of sin. Yes, the devil
has tremendous power. But even he cannot cause us to sin: only we ourselves.
More specifically, this applies to saved people!
Impatience and dissatisfaction lead us to the sin of gossip and eventually leads us to
focus on selfish desires rather than God's will.
Oh! How careful we must be to remain humble, remembering how great a sinner we were
and are, and that it cost the blood of Christ for our redemption.

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: 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

Is God indeed "afar off" (Ps. 10:1)? NO! "Though the Lord be high, yet He hath
respect unto the lowly: but the proud He knoweth afar off." (Ps. 138:6)
God sees and knows everything! Our sin is not hidden from Him.
Now notice God's choice of words here in verse 7: "..thy people, which thou broughtest..."
God is instilling in Moses a sense of personal responsibility. A man of God chosen for leadership
position cannot act without this. He must have a genuine compassion for people that supersedes their
sinfulness. And a man can only have that if GOD gives it to him.
Even then though, people will try a godly leader's patience.
Moses accepted the role God had given him. Notice that God is angry with these people and
calls them "stiffnecked." That means constantly rebellious!
God TESTS Moses here, saying that He will destroy the three million people and start over with
Moses and his family.
God could have done that. It would have been nothing to Him. But the point is, God is instilling in
Moses a personal compassion for people.

11 And Moses besought the LORD his God, 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? 12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. 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 for ever. 14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

Moses has indeed received the CALL of God, and the EQUIPPING for His ministry.
He shows it by falling on his knees and pleading for the people. Moses' response to God is two-fold.
First, the Egyptians would make fun of God; Second, God has revealed His promises to the Patriarchs
and must do that which He has promised.
Moses really KNEW God! He knew that God is faithful. The context of this thought
is important to understanding verse 14. God's repentence is not like man's repentance. God truly was
angry with them. He actually COULD have started over with Moses and still been true to His
promises. But God has given Moses "Carte Blanch" here. And Moses responds with the decision to ask
God to forgive Israel and to continue in the present plan.
So, God did not change His will, He willed a change.
And God brought about that change by instilling in His leader the compassion of God for people.

15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. 16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. 17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. 18 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

As Moses and Joshua returned to the camp, Joshua noticed the noise. He thought it sounded like "singing,"
or revelry. Notice verses 15-16.
The tables of stone were written of God, and written front and back.

19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. 20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. 21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? 22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. 23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

This great man of God had been given compassion and patience from God. Yet, when he saw what the people were
doing, he became so angry, he threw down the Word of God!
Can you imagine the conflict and contrast that was happening to Moses at that moment?
One minute he was in the holy Presence of God, and then the next moment he was in the presence of wicked people.
Deuteronomy 9 gives us more insight to this picture. Moses broke the tables of stone on purpose in the
sight of the people showing them that they had broken God's covenant. Then Moses turned to Aaron, the responsible
leader, and asked, "What did this people DO to thee?" (vs 21) They did not FORCE him, they did not TORTURE him.
Why then did Aaron bend to the pressure?
Just as Adam did when confronted with his sin, Aaron tried to shift the blame. Of course, he's right. People do have
a heart "set on mischief." (vs 22) But it is a shame and a disgrace when menof authority and leadership stoop to sin
because of menial pressure!! Aaron gave an awful flimsy excuse for the golden calf. He said he threw all the gold into
the fire and it "just happened" to turn into a calf! (vs 24)

25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) 26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. 28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 29 For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

Moses had made a public display of breaking the commandments, and had called for the people to return to God and
"consecrate" themselves (vs 29). But some of them refused and continued in the revelry. That's when Moses
called for those who would be faithful (vs 26), and the Levites responded. Notice that only 3,000 were killed (vs 28)
because they continued to practice the idolatry and revelry.
God is gracious and kind.

30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. 31 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. 32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. 33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 34 Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. 35 And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

The seriousness of the sin is pointed out by Moses on the next day. But he also promised to go and intercede
with God on their behalf.
Friends, a good spiritual leader oughta point out sin, and he should point people's hearts to the serious nature
of the sin. But he also oughta pray for the people!
Moses' prayer was just as serious as the sin! He prayed that God would forgive their sin. And he also told God that
if God could NOT forgive then He could blot Moses out of His book of salvation!!
Friends, THAT'S serious prayer!! But Moses KNEW God! He knew that God was merciful and kind, and that
God indeed has the capacity to forgive even such serious sin as IDOLATRY.
God told Moses though, that He would "blot out of my book" the ones who had sinned against Him.
Friends, God loves people! Those who HEAR the gospel of salvation and CONTINUE in sin will not be written down in
his "book of remembrance." However, God will not destroy the WHOLE - only the PART that sins!
But even though God did forgive them, the consequences of the sin was still to come. There were two parts to
the consequence: Immediate and Future. First, God plagued the people (vs 35). This consequence was like
gravity: What goes up must come down. Gravity is a FORCE that MUST alway apply.
There is a force of awful consequences that MUST apply to sin. Once a pebble is cast into the water, the ripples WILL
move until they reach the bank.
REMEMBER: God's forgiveness does not ALWAYS remove the consequences of sin. Sometimes God can and does remove the
consequences; but He does not ALWAYS.
Secondly, they would again face the anger of God when they rebel later in the wilderness. God is going to lead them
through Moses and by the "Angel" (vs 34), or God's visible presence. And they will come to the place that He promises
them - Canaan Land. There, they will refuse to believe that God is able to let them CONQUER the land. This sin of idolatry
will then be visited upon those who rebel in that day. You see, idolatry and unbelief are sisters in the same family.
Idolatry is trying to conform God to be the way WE want Him to be.
Unbelief is believing that God IS, but refusing Him the ability to be WHO He is - our MASTER.

Be careful that you do not try to make God be what YOU want Him to be.
Be careful also, that you allow God to be Who He IS.

Please continue to follow along in Bible study with us.