The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 2 — Section 315

the moun~in. G~at wa.e the cont1'1lllt between the thing~ heavenly on which for forty days a~d fort)· nights his eyes had been uninterruptedly feasting, and the scenos he w1111 now t., w1tnesR. f:ven the light of common day could hardly seem otherwise than etmngo to him, emergmg from his ecstasy. His bodily 1111pect, too, would be considerably altered. But in hi~ spirit there is a stored-up energy, the product of his long rapture, which it on!)· needs the sight of Israel's sin to kindle into awful heat of wrath . . L THE BREAKING OF THE TABLES (vers. 15-19). The downwa.rd journey WAS a silent one. Moses refrains from communicating to Joshua the news he has received. He i~ absorbed in his own thoughts. And while he muses, the fire bums (Ps. xxxix. 3), &> soon e.i; they approach the camp, sounds of revelry are heard. Joshua, with his soldlor'.t instinct, thinks at once of war, but Moses can tell him that it is "not the voice of them that shout for mw,tery," nor yet" the voice of them that cry for being overcome" that he hears, but " the voice of them that cry" (ver. 8). Even Moses, however, is unpre- pared for the spectacle which present.& itself, as, pursuing the d88C8nt, some tum in the road at length puts before his eyes the whole scene of folly. The tables of testimony are in his hands, but these, in his hot anger, he now dashes from him, breaking them in pieces on the rocks (ver. 19). It WIMI an act of righteous indignation, but symbolic alao of the breaking of the covenant. Of that covenant the tables of stone were all that still remained, and the dBBhing of them to pieces was the final act in its rupture. Learn, l. The actual sight of wickedness is necessary to give us full sympathy with God in the not displeasure with which he regards it. 2. The deepest a.nd most loving natures are those most capable of being affected with holy indignation. Who shall compete with Moses in the boundlessness of his love for Israel? But the honour of Jehovah touches him yet more deeply. 3. It is right, on suitable occa.sions, to give emphatic expression to the horror with which the sight of great wickedness inspires us. II. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CALF (ver. 20). Returninp: to the camp, Moses brought the orgies of the people to a speedy termination. He had little difficulty in restoriog order. His countenance, blazing with anger, and exhibiting every sign of grief, surprise, a.nd horror, struck immediate dismay into the evil-doers. No one, apparently, had the courage to resist him. The idolaters slunk in guilty haste to their tents, or stood paralysed with fear, rooted to the spot a.t which he had discovered them. He, on his part, took immediate steps for ridding the camp of the visible abomination. " He took the calf which they ha.d ma.de and burnt it in the fire, a.nd ground it to powder, a.nd strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it." View this- 1. AF, a bitur humiliation. Wha.t could be more hum.ilia.ting to these idolaters than to see their god ground to powder, and its dust ma.de into a. nauseous mixture, which after- wards they were compelled to drink? But is not this the end of all sin? The instru- ments of our sin become the iDL'truments of our punishment. Our sin turns to bitterness. The golden sheen by which it a.t first allured us disappears from it. It ends in humiliation and degradation. 2. As a right,eous retribution. Why wa.s the calf thus ground to powder, and given to the Israelites to drink? It was no mere act of revenge on Moses' part. It was no he.sty doing of his anger. It wa.s a just retribution for a great sin. It was a method deliberately adopted of branding idol a.nd idolaters a.like with the print of the Almighty's judgm.ent. It suggests to us the correspondence between sin and its punishment; the certainty of our sins coming home to roost; the fact that sin will be paid ha.ck to us in its own coin. Sin a.nd retribution ha.ng together. We " receive the things done in the body" (2 Cor. v. 10). 3. As II proplie,cy of worse evil to come, Bitter as this humiliation was, it was not the whole. It wa.s but the mark put upon the deed by God, which told those who had co=itted it that they muei abide by it, and be prepared to eat the fruit of their doings. The drinking of the dust ha.d its sequel in the slaughter and the plagues (vers. 27, 35). Even so, the bitterness aud humiliation following from sins in this life do not exhaust their punishment. They warn of worae punishment in the world to come. ill AJJION's EXCUSES (vers. 21-25). The first duty was to destroy the ea.If. This accomplished, or while the work was p r ~ , MOlleS addresses himself to .Aaron. Bis words a.re cuttingly severe,-" What did th11 people unto thee?" etc. (ver. 21). .Aaron, on his side, is dspreca.ting and humble. He is a.fra.id of M0688' a.nger. He addresse6 Mose5 as " my lord," and proceedB to make excuses. His excuses a.re typioa.l, a.nd ~erve consideration. l. He falls ha.ck upon the old, old plea-as old as Eden- CTT. XltXIJ. Hi-32.] '!'TYE TIOOK OF EXODUS. 3:Ji