Exodus 32:34

_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._ Lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee (see the note at Exodus 23:20 ): behold, mine Angel shall go before thee. Though the Israelites should still continue an elect people, and the promise of their settlement in Canaan be fulfilled, they were threatened, as a punishment of their heinous offence, with a privation of their most distinguished honour-the presence and guidance of their covenanted Lord and King. [The term _ MAL'AAKIY_ (H4397), indeed, is used here, which has already occurred in various passages (Exodus 14:19;...

34._Therefore now go, lead the people _In these words God shews that He is appeased, for it was a sure sign of His reconciliation that His angel is appointed to guide them during the rest of their way. The exposition which some give, that an angel is now promised to take care of them, such as Daniel testifies to have been sometimes assigned even to heathen nations, and an instance of which we shall see in the next chapter, is but a poor conjecture; besides, God declares that though the people have departed from the faith, still He stood firm to His agreement as to their enjoyment of the promised inheritance. His postponement of their punishment is an indirect reproof of the people’s wickedness, as though He had said that they were of so perverse a nature that they would hereafter give many fresh occasions for it. If any object that, whenever God afterwards punished other sins, He did not...

30-35 Moses calls it a great sin. The work of ministers is to show people the greatness of their sins. The great evil of sin appears in the price of pardon. Moses pleads with God for mercy; he came not to make excuses, but to make atonement. We are not to suppose that Moses means that he would be willing to perish for ever, for the people's sake. We are to love our neighbour as ourselves, and not more than ourselves. But having that mind which was in Christ, he was willing to lay down his life in the most painful manner, if he might thereby preserve the people. Moses could not wholly turn away the wrath of God; which shows that the law of Moses was not able to reconcile men to God, and to perfect our peace with him. In Christ alone, God so pardons sin as to remember it no more. From this history we see, that no unhumbled, carnal heart, can long endure the holy precepts, the humbling tru...

Verse Exodus 32:34. _LEAD THE PEOPLE UNTO_ THE PLACE] The word _place_ is not in the text, and is with great propriety omitted. For Moses never led this people into that place, they all died in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb; but Moses led them _towards_ the place, and thus the particle אל _el_ here should be understood, unless we suppose that God designed to lead them _to_ the borders of the land, but not to take them _into_ it. _I WILL VISIT THEIR SIN_] I will not destroy them, but they shall not enter into the promised land. They shall wander in the wilderness till the present generation become extinct....

The faithfulness of Moses in the office that had been entrusted to him was now to be put to the test. It was to be made manifest whether he loved his own glory better than he loved the brethren who were under his charge; whether he would prefer that he should himself become the founder of a “great nation,” or that the Lord’s promise should be fulfilled in the whole people of Israel. This may have been especially needful for Moses, in consequence of his natural disposition. See Numbers 12:3; and compare Exodus 3:11. With this trial of Moses repeated in a very similar manner Numbers 14:11, may be compared the trial of Abraham Genes

EXPOSITION MOSES ONCE MORE INTERCEDES WITH GOD FOR THE PEOPLE—GOD ANSWERS HIM. No distinct reply seems to have been given to the previous intercession of Moses (Exodus 32:11-2). He only knew that the people were not as yet consumed, and therefore that God's wrath was at any rate held in suspense. It might be that the punishment inflicted on the 3000 had appeased God's wrath: or something more might be needed. In the latter case, Moses was ready to sacrifice himself for his nation (Exodus 32:32). Like St. Paul, he elects to be "accursed from God, for his brethren, his kinsfolk after the fle

THEREFORE NOW GO, LEAD THE PEOPLE [UNTO THE] PLACE OF WHICH I HAVE SPOKEN UNTO THEE,.... That is, to the land of Canaan, which he had promised to their fathers and to them, and had directed Moses to bring them to: BEHOLD, MINE ANGEL SHALL GO BEFORE THEE: and not I, as Jarchi interprets it; not the Angel of the covenant, and of his presence, as in Exodus 23:20 but a created angel, which, though a favour, was a lessening of the mercy before promised and granted; and which gave the people a great deal of concern, though Moses by his supplications got the former blessing restored, Exodus 33:2: NEVERTHELESS, IN THE DAY WHEN I VISIT, I WILL VISIT THEIR SIN UPON THEM; that is, when he should visit them in a way of correction for other sins, he would visit them in like manner for

Exodus 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._ What a terrible speech to be made by the people whom God had chosen to be his own! «Make us gods. Make our Creator.» How could that be? Exodus 32:2. _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._ Poor Aaron! He never had the backbone of his brother Moses. He was a better speaker; but oh, the poverty of his heart! He yields to the will of these idolatrous peo

ANGEL (_ See Scofield) - (Hebrews 1:4). _...

4. ISRAEL ‘S SIN AND REBELLION CHAPTER 32 _ 1. The people in rebellion (Exodus 32:1)_ 2. Jehovah threatens his wrath (Exodus 32:7) 3. Moses beseeches Jehovah (Exodus 32:11) 4. Moses descends and in the camp (Exodus 32:15) 5. Moses' offer and failure (Exodus 32:30) This chapter records the breaking of the covenant by Israel ‘s sin, rebellion against Jehovah, and idolatry. Here we find man's heart fully uncovered, that wicked heart of unbelief. What manifestations of God's power they had seen! Their eye