Chapter 28—Idolatry at Sinai
This chapter is based on
Exodus 32
to
34
.
While Moses was absent it was a time of waiting and suspense
to Israel. The people knew that he had ascended the mount with
Joshua, and had entered the cloud of thick darkness which could be
seen from the plain below, resting on the mountain peak, illuminated
from time to time with the lightnings of the divine Presence. They
waited eagerly for his return. Accustomed as they had been in Egypt
to material representations of deity, it had been hard for them to trust
in an invisible being, and they had come to rely upon Moses to sustain
their faith. Now he was taken from them. Day after day, week after
week passed, and still he did not return. Notwithstanding the cloud
was still in view, it seemed to many in the camp that their leader had
deserted them, or that he had been consumed by the devouring fire.
During this period of waiting, there was time for them to meditate
upon the law of God which they had heard, and to prepare their hearts
to receive the further revelations that He might make to them. They
had none too much time for this work; and had they been thus seeking
a clearer understanding of God’s requirements, and humbling their
hearts before Him, they would have been shielded from temptation.
But they did not do this, and they soon became careless, inattentive,
and lawless. Especially was this the case with the mixed multitude.
They were impatient to be on their way to the Land of Promise—
the land flowing with milk and honey. It was only on condition of
obedience that the goodly land was promised them, but they had lost
sight of this. There were some who suggested a return to Egypt, but
whether forward to Canaan or backward to Egypt, the masses of the
people were determined to wait no longer for Moses.
Feeling their helplessness in the absence of their leader, they re-
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turned to their old superstitions. The “mixed multitude” had been the
first to indulge murmuring and impatience, and they were the leaders
in the apostasy that followed. Among the objects regarded by the
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