Why did Moses discipline the calf worshipers?
As I was reading chapter thirty two of Exodus, I was confused about why Moses had forced the people to drink the melted gold and ordered for the people to be killed before God sent a plague on them. Did God want Moses to have these people treated this way or was Moses acting on his own? This is the question that stuck out most in my mind throughout the chapter. There were some hints given in the text but there was no direct answer. I wonder if this a story about how Moses acted against God or how he carried out God's will on the sins of the calf worshipers. I even find myself asking if Moses was breaking a commandment himself by ordering for these people to be killed. This is such an important story of Exodus because it shows the first example of when a group of people broke a commandment of God. God continued the people's punishment and sent a plague on the calf worshipers after Moses' discipline. This story shows the extent to where God will go if a commandment is broken.
The way I answered this question to myself was that Moses acted on his own. God seemed to have his own plan for them no matter what Moses could have done. Before Moses disciplined the calf worshipers, God said "that My wrath would burn hot against them." He did not specifically tell Moses to do these things or to do anything at all. This is what made me wonder if Moses was actually breaking a commandment himself if he was only acting on his own without orders from God. But if this is true then why did God let his sins go? In my research I found a website that had the same idea that I was having. It also talked about the wrath from God without telling Moses to discipline the people himself. (www.enduringword.com) In another article that I found in my research, it only talked about Moses ordering the people to be killed. Their reason for Moses giving this order was that he claimed killing each other was the only way to gain God's forgiveness. (www.sacredtexts.com) The third site that I found talked about why Moses made the calf worshipers drink the melted gold from the calf. I had not thought about why until reading this article, but the opinion that it gave was that Moses did this to defile the gold. After the gold came back out it would be unclean and defiled so that they would not be able to use it again. (www.bible.org) After my research, my final thoughts on the answer to my question is Moses acted on his own without the direction from God.
http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0232.htm
http://bible.org/seriespage/israel-and-aaron-hand-moses-exodus-3215-35
http://bible.org/seriespage/israel-and-aaron-hand-moses-exodus-3215-35
The way I answered this question to myself was that Moses acted on his own. God seemed to have his own plan for them no matter what Moses could have done. Before Moses disciplined the calf worshipers, God said "that My wrath would burn hot against them." He did not specifically tell Moses to do these things or to do anything at all. This is what made me wonder if Moses was actually breaking a commandment himself if he was only acting on his own without orders from God. But if this is true then why did God let his sins go? In my research I found a website that had the same idea that I was having. It also talked about the wrath from God without telling Moses to discipline the people himself. (www.enduringword.com) In another article that I found in my research, it only talked about Moses ordering the people to be killed. Their reason for Moses giving this order was that he claimed killing each other was the only way to gain God's forgiveness. (www.sacredtexts.com) The third site that I found talked about why Moses made the calf worshipers drink the melted gold from the calf. I had not thought about why until reading this article, but the opinion that it gave was that Moses did this to defile the gold. After the gold came back out it would be unclean and defiled so that they would not be able to use it again. (www.bible.org) After my research, my final thoughts on the answer to my question is Moses acted on his own without the direction from God.
http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0232.htm
http://bible.org/seriespage/israel-and-aaron-hand-moses-exodus-3215-35
http://bible.org/seriespage/israel-and-aaron-hand-moses-exodus-3215-35