Exodus 32:20
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. 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.
Moses seized the calf the people had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it upon the stream coming down from the mount, and made Israel drink it. This was done in the midst of Israel's worship of an Egyptian-like calf-god at Sinai while Moses was absent forty days in the mount receiving the law, when the people grew impatient without a visible leader and demanded an image to represent God and go before them. He destroyed it thus to expose its utter worthlessness and powerlessness, showing it could be burned and drunk without harm and could do neither good nor evil, in contrast to the living God of unlimited power and glory. The act marked the fearfulness of their great sin and broken covenant and stood as part of God's punishment after the apostasy had fully come to light. The apostasy grew because Aaron yielded to the clamor instead of standing firm, yet God did not arbitrarily destroy Israel but defeated Satan's plot to cause their ruin, pardoning the repentant and cutting off persistent rebels in justice and mercy.
The Idol Destroyed at Sinai
The verse belongs to Israel's idolatry at Sinai during the forty days Moses, the visible leader, was absent in the mount communing with God and receiving the law, while the cloud of the divine presence still rested in sight before the camp. In that waiting the people, led by the mixed multitude, grew impatient to move toward the promised land, became careless, inattentive and lawless, and determined to wait no longer for Moses. Feeling helpless without their leader, they fell back to old superstitions, lost faith, became discontented with unbelief revealing itself in a marked manner, and demanded a visible image to represent God and to go before them in his place.
At the suggestion of those who had practiced it in Egypt, they made and worshiped a calf in imitation of the ox or calf regarded by Egyptians as symbols of deity, turning back in heart to the idolatry of Egypt and representing the glory of the invisible God by the similitude of an ox. This was done though God had given no similitude of himself and had prohibited any material representation for such a purpose. The miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea were meant to establish faith in him as the invisible, all-powerful Helper, the only true God, and desire for a visible manifestation of his presence had been granted in the pillar of cloud and of fire and in the revealing of his glory upon Sinai, yet with the cloud still before them they turned back.
Moses came down with the two tables of the testimony written on both sides by the work and writing of God, and with Joshua heard a noise that was not war but singing. Seeing the calf and the dancing, his anger waxed hot and in utter discouragement and wrath he cast the tables out of his hands and broke them beneath the mount. That breaking was not sin, for he acted in jealousy for God's glory, and although warned by God that the people had corrupted themselves and made an idol and sacrificed to it, he was in a measure unprepared for what he witnessed. The eating and drinking and dancing and singing around the calf was an excited exhibition of degradation in imitation of idolatrous Egyptian feasts and idol-worshipers, so unlike reverential worship of God.
Moses then entered through the revelers, seized the idol they had made, burnt it in the fire, ground it to powder, strewed it upon the water, the stream that descended from the mount, and made the children of Israel drink of it. The act marks the seriousness of their fearful sin and great sin and broken covenant. He did this to demonstrate that the idol they worshiped was utterly powerless and worthless. Men could burn it, grind it up, and drink it without harm or injury therefrom, so it could not save them nor do them either good or evil. This stood in contrast to the living God whose unlimited power, glory, and majesty they had witnessed, who showed his glory and greatness and spoke with his voice out of the midst of fire and darkness from the burning mountain, and Israel lived.
Apostasy, Judgment, and Leadership
Moses burning the calf, grinding it to powder, scattering it upon the water, and making Israel drink it marks the seriousness of a fearful sin, a great sin and broken covenant with God. The act belongs to God's punishment of the transgression after the leaders' shameful apostasy had fully developed and been allowed to come to light. That punishment brought God's displeasure and loss of people from their ranks, which should have left a lasting lesson leading Israel to obey faithfully.
The apostasy could have been prevented if Aaron, left in charge as guardian of the church and as magistrate, had stood unswervingly for the right irrespective of consequences. Unswerving allegiance, setting the perils of Sinai before the people, reminding them of their solemn covenant to obey, and faithfully opposing the clamor would have checked the evil. Instead in weakness he yielded to the demand for gods to lead them because they knew not what had become of Moses, joined their plans, and made the molten calf. His compliance and the calm assurance with which he carried out their plans emboldened the people to greater lengths in sin than had before entered their minds.
His desire to please the people weakened his authority at the very first permission to go contrary to God's commands in the least particular, even at the sacrifice of principle. That first beginning of wrong in permitting a spirit of reveling and commonness to come into the camp brought in the spirit of idolatry. It was the same defective administration he showed with his children in his home. The current set in motion could not be stayed until stern, decisive measures were taken.
When Moses came down he confronted Aaron with bringing so great a sin upon the people. Aaron excused himself by blaming the people's bent to mischief and claiming he cast their gold into the fire and the calf came out. He had betrayed his sacred trust and incurred the penalty of death, and God declared he would have been slain had Moses not interposed and interceded for him. The holding of Aaron to blame warns sentinels and leaders of the churches to be very careful lest they encourage anything savoring of idolatry, for God will charge the sin upon them when they permit a course that divorces souls from God.
God would not arbitrarily destroy Israel for worshiping the calf but gave them a chance to return if they would place themselves on the Lord's side. Behind the apostasy was Satan's plan, carried forward from heaven while God was writing His law, to excite doubt, apostasy, and rebellion. Its aim was to cause God to divorce Israel and devote them to destruction and thus extinguish the seed of Abraham, the promised seed meant to preserve the knowledge of the living God and through whom the true seed was to come to conquer Satan. The plot was defeated: sinful Israel was not destroyed, those who stubbornly ranged themselves on Satan's side were cut off, while the humbled and repentant were mercifully pardoned. God's swift judgment on persistent rebellion upheld justice and also served mercy by cutting off rebels to prevent further corruption, protect Israel from its enemies, and spare many from greater harm. The history stands as perpetual testimony to the guilt and punishment of idolatry and to the justice and long-suffering mercy of God, teaching that crime must be punished promptly and that prolonged life is no blessing to those who persist in sin.