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Israel Worships a Golden Calf
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The same is true at Sinai. If sin had not been speedily punished,
the same results would have appeared again. The earth would have
become as corrupt as in the days of Noah. Evils would have followed,
greater than those that resulted from sparing Cain’s life. It was the
mercy of God that thousands should suffer, to prevent the need for
visiting judgments on millions. To save the many He must punish
the few.
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Furthermore, as the people had forfeited divine protection, the
whole nation was exposed to the power of their enemies. They would
soon have fallen prey to their many powerful foes. It was necessary
for the good of Israel that crime should be promptly punished.
And it was no less a mercy to the sinners themselves to be
stopped in their evil course. If their lives had been spared, the same
spirit that led them to rebel against God would have resulted in hatred
and strife among themselves. They would eventually have destroyed
one another.
Moses’ Christlike Love for Israel
As the people began to see how great their guilt was, they feared
that every offender was to be cut off. Moses promised to plead with
God for them once more.
“You have committed a great sin,” he said. “So now I will go
up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” In his
confession before God he said, “Oh, these people have committed
a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now,
if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your
book which You have written.”
The prayer of Moses directs our minds to the heavenly records
in which the names of everyone are inscribed, and their deeds, good
or evil, are written. The book of life contains the names of all who
have entered the service of God. If by stubborn persistence in sin
any of these become finally hardened against His Holy Spirit, in the
judgment their names will be blotted from the book of life.
If the people of Israel were to be rejected by the Lord, Moses
wanted his name to be blotted out with theirs; he could not bear to
see the judgments of God fall on those who had been graciously
delivered. Moses’ intercession on behalf of Israel illustrates Christ’s