Exodus 32:29
For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
Consecration on that day meant answering the call to stand on the Lord's side by cleansing the camp of persistent idolatry, with those who had kept themselves clear commanded to execute divine judgment from gate to gate without regard to son or brother or friend. It required placing God's claims above kindred and feeling in the painful duty of opposing sin, without selfish motives and while seeking the salvation of the erring. The severity was justice upon open treason and blasphemy at the foot of Sinai, where love no less than justice cut off determined rebels that they might not lead others to ruin and bring greater evils. Even then mercy was shown in granting freedom of choice and sparing all who repented and humbled themselves, so that sinful Israel was pardoned and not destroyed. That faithful loyalty was accepted as consecration and honored with blessing, setting Levi apart for the service of the sanctuary in place of the firstborn and turning the sentence to scatter Levi into a blessing.
Setting and Meaning
The command stands in Israel's apostasy at Sinai while Moses was forty days in the mount receiving the written law Israel had pledged to obey. While waiting the people grew impatient to reach the promised land, the mixed multitude led in murmuring and impatience, and Israel turned back in heart to Egyptian idolatry. They made and worshiped a golden calf as a visible image to represent God and to go before them in the place of Moses. Moses destroyed the idol and called the people to take their stand on the Lord's side, and the command belongs to what followed, associated with Moses pleading with God for the people.
Aaron, left in charge while Moses was on the mountain, failed to restrain the people and joined them in idolatry. His first allowance of reveling and disregard for God's commands opened the way to idolatry, and the course could not be stopped until stern, decisive measures were taken. His compliance with the people's desires and the calm assurance with which he carried out their plans emboldened them to go to greater lengths in sin than had before entered their minds. He could have checked the evil if he had stood for the right irrespective of consequences, maintained unswerving allegiance, cited the people to the perils of Sinai, and reminded them of their solemn covenant to obey God's law. He would have been slain if Moses had not interceded for him, and the episode brought God's displeasure and losses among Israel from which the people should have learned but did not.
Consecration meant the sons of Levi answering Moses' call, Who is on the Lord's side, taking their stand with God to cleanse away idolatry and rebellion. Those free from idolatry stood at his right hand, those who had joined the idolatry but repented stood at his left, while a large company, mostly the mixed multitude who instigated the calf, stubbornly refused to stand with him. Only those at his right who had taken no part and kept themselves clear, refusing to join in worshiping the calf, were commanded in the name of the Lord God of Israel to gird on swords and go from gate to gate slaying those who stubbornly persisted in rebellion. That execution was without regard to position, kindred, friendship, companion, or neighbor, by divine authority and not by human judgment. About three thousand men fell that day, while all who repented and humbled themselves were spared.
Consecration required obeying God and standing for what was right even in the painful, unpleasant duty of opposing sin and executing His justice, even upon son and brother and against close friends and relatives. It was done contrary to their own feelings, without personal or selfish motives, placing God's claims above loyalty to friends and kindred, while seeking the salvation of those gone astray. In doing it they showed true abhorrence and rejection of the high crime of idolatry and rebellion and consecrated themselves more fully to the sacred worship and service of the only true God. Their obedience distinguished those who served the Lord from those who did not.
Justice and Mercy Displayed
The judgment that followed the consecration was upon treason against a King who had loaded Israel with benefits and whose authority they had voluntarily pledged to obey, so that maintaining divine government required justice upon traitors. The defiance was a daring insult and blasphemy, bowing before a golden image in open defiance of the commands at the very foot of Sinai while the written law was being received, led by Satan to cause their ruin, divorce from God, and destruction. That satanic design aimed at the extinction of the seed of Abraham that was to preserve the knowledge of the living God and through whom the true Seed was to come to conquer Satan.
Love no less than justice demanded judgment, because God as guardian as well as sovereign cuts off those determined upon rebellion that they may not lead others to ruin. The punishment of the few to save the many was mercy, preventing the corruption seen after sparing Cain and before the Flood, when long forbearance did not repress wickedness and the earth became corrupt as in the days of Noah, and had the transgressors been spared greater evils would have followed. By casting off allegiance the people had forfeited divine protection and were exposed to powerful enemies, so prompt punishment was for Israel's good and a lesson to all succeeding generations that crime must be promptly punished. It was even mercy to the sinners themselves to cut them short in their evil course, lest the same rebellious spirit break out in hatred and strife among themselves until they destroyed one another, so the swift and terrible severity was in love to the world, in love to Israel, and in love to the transgressors.
Even here mercy was displayed, for while God maintained His law He granted all freedom of choice and opportunity for repentance, and only those who persisted in rebellion were cut off. Those who stubbornly ranged themselves on Satan's side were cut off, but sinful Israel was not destroyed, and the humbled and repentant people were mercifully pardoned. The history of this sin stands as perpetual testimony to the guilt and punishment of idolatry and to the justice and long-suffering mercy of God.
Blessing and Faithful Example
Moses linked the Levites' decisive loyalty and obedience on that day with God's promise to bestow a blessing upon them that very day. Their willingness to perform the painful duty was itself their consecration, for consecration meant taking their stand with God to cleanse away idolatry and rebellion and to carry out His command to execute His justice. That obedience required standing for what was right even when it was unpleasant and contrary to their own feelings, even to the point of acting against son and brother and against close friends, companions and neighbors. In doing so without personal or selfish motives they showed true abhorrence and rejection of the high crime of idolatry, distinguished those who served the Lord from those who did not, and consecrated themselves more fully to the sacred worship and service of the only true God. The Lord honored their faithfulness by bestowing special distinction upon the tribe of Levi, approving those who performed it.
Because of this loyalty and refusal to join in worshiping the calf, the Levites were set apart for the Lord's service and honored with service at the tabernacle. Their faithfulness in answering the call and carrying out God's judgments against the idolaters was the reason they were accepted for sanctuary service in place of Israel's firstborn. Levi proved faithful to Jehovah when the other tribes apostatized, and that fidelity secured Levi's appointment to the sacred service of the sanctuary. That appointment changed Jacob's curse to divide and scatter Levi in Israel into a blessing, even though Levi received no land inheritance except forty-eight cities scattered in different parts of the land.
There are periods when God's people are called to consecrate themselves to the Lord by taking their position decidedly on the right side, placing themselves openly on the Lord's side as the highest power in the universe. Such consecration means taking a firm stand against sin and wrong, without personal or selfish motives, while seeking the salvation of those who have gone astray, and such faithfulness brings God's blessing.