June 1, 2025
Ex 32:1 – 33:6
“Stiff-Necked People, Steadfast God”
Service Overview: When God seems distant, people often reach for something they can control. In Exodus 32–33, Israel turns from the living God to a lifeless idol—and faces the consequences. This passage exposes the danger of forgetfulness, the pull of counterfeit worship, and the mercy of a God who still pursues.
Memory Verse for the Week:
1 John 5:21 – “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.”
Background & Technical Insights:
- Chapter 32 opens with a very different mood among the people and goes on to tell the story of an act of disobedience and rebellion that threatened to destroy and nullify all that the story of God has been about to this point. (Christopher J.H. Wright, The Story of God Bible Commentary: Exodus, 548)
- In the light of God’s plan to live among the people, the events narrated at the start of chapter 32 are highly ironic, for the Israelites manufacture a golden calf, believing that God’s presence will be manifest in it. Their actions demonstrate that they have not yet grasped clearly and fully who God is and how he is to be known. Moreover, by making an idol, they break one of the primary obligations of the covenant, thus endangering their special relationship with God. (T. Desmond Alexander, Exodus, 279)
- At least three times during the months at Sinai, the Jewish people had promised to obey whatever God told them to do (Ex. 19:8; 24:3, 7; and see 20:19). The Lord knew that it wasn’t in their hearts to keep their promises (Deut. 5:28–29), and the tragedy of the golden calf proved Him right. (Warren Wiersbe, Be Delivered: Exodus, 193)
- Idolatry is an act of adultery. In Exodus 24, the people had entered into a covenant with God. God had become their husband. They had made covenant vows that were not unlike wedding vows: “When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, ‘Everything the Lord has said we will do’” (24:3). Now, in chapter 32, it is as if a husband has found his wife in bed with another man while they still on their honeymoon. (Tim Chester, Exodus for You, 218)
- Making the Israelites drink the cocktail of their sin (20) should be understood in the light of the ceremony formalized in Num. 5:11–31. The instances are not completely parallel, but in each case the drinking stands for bringing home to the accused the judgment of God upon what has been done. (J. Alec Motyer, The Message of Exodus, 291)
- After making an attempt to honor the Lord with their offerings, the people satisfy their own desires and proceed to “indulge in revelry.” The verb ṣāḥaq signifies drunken, immoral orgies and sexual play (“conjugal caresses,” BDB, 850; cf. Ge 26:8; 39:14, 17). (Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Exodus, Location 7505)
What does Exodus 32 reveal about the danger and deception of idolatry?
- Idolatry happens when one grows impatient with God and His timing.
(v. 1 | Ps. 27:14; 37:7; Is. 40:31; Lam. 3:25-26; Rom. 8:25; Col. 3:12; Heb. 6:12; Ja. 5:7-8)
Notice the reason for their idol making. They grew frustrated with Moses’ extended absence. Instead of trusting in God’s purposes, they moved on. Failure to trust God is sin, and it leads to countless other sins. (Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Exodus, 193)
The Israelites in their impatience are about to exchange the promised presence of the living God “camping” in their midst for the pretended presence of a no-god that threatened to bring about the absence of the very God to whom they owed their lives and freedom. (Christopher J.H. Wright, Exodus, 550)
- Idolatry often disguises itself as worship.
(vv. 4-5 | 1 Sam. 15:22-23; Is. 29:13; Am. 5:21-24; Mat. 15:8-9; 2 Cor. 11:13-15; Rev. 2:5)
The human tendency to pervert all that is good extends even to the worship of God. (T. Desmond Alexander, Exodus, 278)
Idolatry may not involve explicit denials of God’s existence or character. It may well come in the form of an over-attachment to something that is in itself perfectly good… An idol can be a physical object, a property, a person, an activity, a role, an institution, a hope, an image, an idea, a pleasure, a hero, anything that can substitute for God. (Os Guinness, No God but God, 32-33)
An idol is anything, any attitude, any belief, or any god that so captures a person’s attention and allegiance that God does not have pre-eminence. (Richard Mayhue, First and Second Thessalonians, 57)
- Idolatry distorts our understanding of who God is.
(v. 4 | Deut. 4:15-19; 2 Ki. 17:15; Ps. 115:4-8; Is. 40:18-25; 44:9-20; Jer. 10:1-10; Hos. 4:6; Acts 17:29-30; Rom. 1:21-23)
Worship is not just an emotional exercise but a response of the heart built on truth about God. “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth” (Psm. 145:18). Worship that is not based on God’s Word is but an emotional encounter with oneself. (Erwin Lutzer, Pastor to Pastor, 81)
“Idolatry” is the practice of seeking the source and provision of what we need either physically or emotionally in someone or something other than the one true God. It is the tragically pathetic attempt to squeeze life out of lifeless forms that cannot help us meet our real needs. (Scott Hafemann, The God of Promise and the Life of Faith, 35)
- Idolatry invites God’s judgment and disrupts our fellowship with Him.
(vv. 7-10, 19-20, 35 | Deut. 6:14-15; Ps. 106:19-23; Is. 59:1-2; Jer. 2:13; Ez. 14:6-8; Rom. 1:24-25; 1 Cor. 10:6-11; Heb. 10:26-31)
Sin is always costly, and Israel’s sin had not only led to the death of thousands of people, but it had robbed the nation of the presence of the Lord in the camp and on their pilgrim journey to the Promised Land. As Charles Spurgeon said, “God never permits His people to sin successfully.” (Warren Wiersbe, Exodus, 198)
Sooner or later God will confront our sin, just as Moses confronted the Israelites. Out of his great mercy, and on the basis of his covenant, God had already decided not to destroy the Israelites. However, their sin still needed to be dealt with in a godly way, and this meant that they were going to have to face its consequences. This is always necessary. Forgiveness removes the guilt of sin but not its consequences. Nor should it. God uses the consequences of our sin in a sanctifying way, teaching us never to do the same thing again. (Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word: Exodus, 997)
Conclusion… How should we respond to the real dangers of idolatry?
- We must repent of misplaced worship.
(2 Chr. 7:14; Is. 30:15; Joel 2:12-13; Mat. 4:10; Acts 3:19; Ja. 4:7-10; 1 John 1:9; Rev. 2:5)
Anytime we long for something apart from God, fear something more than God, or trust in something other than God to make us happy, fulfilled, or secure, we worship a false god. (Ken Sande, The Peacemaker, 109)
All too often Christians try to do deal with their idolatries by putting them in the closet rather than taking them out with the trash. (Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word: Exodus, 1000)
God…is our “audience” in worship. It is His approval that we are to seek. (Ron Owens, The Worship Service, Revival Commentary, v. 2, n. 2)
- Build your life around God’s Word and purposes, not your preferences.
(Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:1-3; Mat. 7:24-27; Luke 9:23; John 15:7-10; Col. 3:16-17; Rom. 12:1-2)
Some people want the benefits of being part of the church, but they do not want to relate to God on his terms. Or they want the blessings of God along with the pleasures of indulgence. They want forgiveness from God, but they do not want to obey his will. (Tim Chester, Exodus for You, 220)
Like Adam and Eve, most of the time the real object of our worship isn’t some creature out there, it’s this creature right here. In the end, my idolatry centers on me. What’s more, if I can persuade you or bully you or manipulate you, my idolatry will include you worshiping me as well. (Michael Lawrence, Biblical Theology, 135)
Gospel Connection…
We traded God for idols, but Jesus traded His life for ours—bearing our sin, restoring our worship, and bringing us back to the Father.
(Is. 53:5-6; John 10:11; Rom. 5:8; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 1:3-4; Eph. 2:13-18; Col. 1:19-22; Titus 2:14; Heb. 9:24-26; 1 Peter 2:24)
The message of the gospel is that God has given us a mediator. When he saw our sin, he wanted to save us; so he sent his Son to intercede for our salvation. As the Scripture says, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). It is as if God said, “Go down, Jesus, go down. Go down because your people — the ones I gave you from all eternity — have become corrupt. They are living in sin. They have turned away from my law to worship other gods. And unless you intercede for them, they will surely be destroyed by my wrath.” (Ryken, Exodus, 993)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- Can you identify areas in your life where impatience with God has led to poor decisions?
- What are some modern-day “golden calves” that can masquerade as worship?
- How can we tell the difference between true worship and something that’s become an idol?
- In what ways does idolatry distort your view of who God is and how He works?
- What disciplines help you re-center your life on God’s Word and purposes?
- How does Jesus’ role as our Mediator change how we relate to God after failure?
Quotes to note…
The term “sacred cow” comes from this story—your sacred cow is whatever you cannot give up because you believe your security, identity, approval, fulfilment or satisfaction depends on it. Your sacred cow is your idol. (Tim Chester, Exodus for You, 217)
God’s repentance or “relenting” (v. 14) is an anthropomorphism (a description of God in human form) that aims at showing us that he can and does change in his actions and emotions toward human beings when given proper grounds for doing so, and thereby he does not change in his basic integrity or character (cf. Ps 99:6; 106:45; Jer 18:8; Am 7:3, 6; Jnh 3:10; Jas 5:16). (Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Exodus, Location 7564)
In many ways, this event is Israel’s “fall”, their version of Genesis 3. Israel has been brought out of slavery. They have escaped death through the Passover. They have been birthed anew through the Red Sea. They have been constituted at Sinai as God’s covenant people. Israel is a new humanity. But tragically, the old humanity lurks in the heart of the new humanity. And so here, Israel behaves like humanity in Adam. They reject God. (Tim Chester, Exodus for You, 215)
Why did Israel commit such an evil act at such a glorious time in their history? To begin with, they were impatient with Moses, who had been on the mount with God for forty days and nights (vv. 11–12), and impatience is often the cause of impulsive actions that are sinful. (Warren Wiersbe, Be Delivered: Exodus, 194)
To whatever we look for any good thing and for refuge in every need, that is what is meant by “god.” To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in him from the heart… To whatever you give your heart and entrust your being, that, I say, is really your god. (Martin Luther , Luther’s Large Catechism)
We are all worshipers, and whatever we worship we rely upon and serve. For many men, success is the god they worship and serve. For others, it is fame or pleasure. Women often worship beauty or falling in love. Whatever it is, we worship it because we think it will make our lives work. It will secure us against a hostile world, it will give us satisfaction – in short, it will be our Savior. Thus, when an idolater says, “I love you, “what he means is, “You are a means for getting what I want. You are serving my needs and securing my hopes (Richard and Sharon Phillips, Holding Hands and Holding Hearts, 59)
We were made in His image, but we must not think of Him existing in ours. (J.I. Packer, Knowing God, 47)
To identify your own idols, ask questions like these: What things take the place of God in my life? Where do I find my significance and my confidence? What things make me really angry? Anger usually erupts when an idol gets knocked off the shelf. (Philip Graham Ryken, Courage to Stand, 90)
This whole chapter points us to one great reality: we need a perfect substitute. And we have One! (Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Exodus, 204)