Exodus 32:30-35

MOSES' RENEWED INTERCESSION

"And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin, and now I will go up unto Jehovah; peradventure, I shall make atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin; and, if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. And now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine angel shall go before thee; nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. And Jehovah smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made."

"Yet now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin ..." We are amazed at the scholars who make an elipsis (an incomplete sentence) out of this. All it needs is proper punctuation, just as we have taken the liberty of rendering it here. Punctuation is altogether a human thing, anyway, and we have as much right to punctuate it accurately, as others do to make an ellipsis out of it by leaving out a comma!

We also reject the frequent "explanations" of this "book" mentioned here as being a human record of the children of Israel. It was no human roll at all, but a book which God had "written" (Exodus 32:32), as revealed by the apostle Paul, who called it "the book of life" (Philippians 4:3). For extended comment on the "Book of Life." see my comments on Hebrews 12:23, and also go to my comments on Revelation 3:5. Thus, what Moses actually requested here was not, merely that he might suffer physical death for Israel, but that he might be removed even from the book of life upon their behalf. It was exactly this same sentiment that resided in the bosom of the apostle Paul in Romans 9:1-3.

Most significantly, Moses, mighty in righteousness though he was, could not provide an atonement for Israel, only the Son of God Himself, in the fullness of time, would be able to accomplish such an atonement as that. Note also, that although God spared the nation of Israel, instructing Moses to lead them "to the place." Nevertheless, their sins were not thereby forgiven, for God promised to visit their transgression upon them. Just how this was done we cannot be sure. Exodus 32:35 mentions a plague that came upon the people, and that was surely a part of God's visitation, but there came the day when that entire generation were told that they would never see the promised land. The generation that entered into Canaan would be one that had never danced around the golden calf!

Moses' exceedingly beautiful intercession, even offering himself up for eternal death before God on behalf of the people, must stand as a high mark of unselfish love in all the ages of human history, making Moses indeed a fit type of "him who tasted of death for every man (Christ)!" Scholars cannot agree when "the day" came of which God spoke here; some suppose it came with the plague mentioned in Exodus 32:35, and others make it to be the day when God informed that generation that they would never see Canaan. We have found no way to discover when the day came, but one thing is certain, "God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he has appointed, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead" (Acts 17:31). The final judgment, therefore, is the day when all people must stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of the deeds done in the body. Whatever sins and excesses of people may be apparently "overlooked" by God throughout history, the final and just reckoning is certain to be executed! Rebellious and sinful people shall know at last what a terrible mistake is their failure to know, to love, and to worship God. Twice, that day is mentioned in the N.T. as a day, "when all the tribes of the earth shall mourn" (Matthew 24:30 and Revelation 1:7). That, alas, will be the occasion when these sinful Israelites, along with the sinners of all generations shall suddenly and eternally know that a just and righteous God will not compromise with evil.