TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR C

First Reading: Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14.

The Lord relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.

The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ I see how stiff-necked this people is,” continued the Lord to Moses. “Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation.”

But Moses implored the Lord, his God, saying, “Why, O Lord, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand? Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, “‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’” So the Lord relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.

GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIS COVENANT

--Rev. Linh N. Nguyen 

Exodus, from the Greek word, means Departure. The first event narrated in the Book of Exodus is the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. God had emancipated his people from slavery in Egypt and brought them to the wilderness. At Mount Sinai, God declared his love to them: “…I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself. Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people…You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation” (Exodus 19:4-6).

God desired his people to comply with his commandments. In turn, they would obtain God’s promises of being his people and obtaining a great land. The people made good on a promise to God, “All that the Lord has said, we will heed and do” (Exodus 24:7). The Lord established the covenant of proprietary relationship with his people. He commanded, “You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves…For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:3-5).  

The first reading on this Sunday records the terrible infraction of trust by God’s people. Moses was on the Mount of Sinai forty days with God to receive the instructions for the Tabernacle. Put it in another way, Moses was receiving instructions for the true worship of Israel from God himself. The number forty in Scripture is the number of testing. This forty-day absence of Moses was a test for Israel regarding their trust in God. Unfortunately, they failed the test miserably.   

While Moses was still on the mount, Israel became impatient. Although Moses carefully instructed them to “wait here for us until we return to you” (Exodus 24:14), their patience was short, for they were walking according to the flesh, not by faith. So they hankered after the old days again. They longed for the easily accessible idols of Egypt. 

They demanded Aaron to make them gods that would lead them on their way to Canaan. Aaron, Moses’ brother, was supposed to hold things together while Moses was away. But amazingly, he surrendered himself to the demand of his people by making a calf idol from their gold.

Calf worship was customarily practiced by the Egyptians. According to the Nelson’s new illustrated Bible manners & customs (page 226), the Egyptians worshiped the whole bovine family in the cow, the calf, and the bull. They worshiped Hathor as the cow-goddess, daughter of the sun-god Re and symbolic mother of pharaoh. They worshiped the bull as Apis (the Ptah of Memphis); Mnevis (the sun-god of Heliopolis); and Ptah, the creator god. A calf was simply on the way to becoming a cow or bull.

Here, the people of Israel were not irreligious. They were intensely religious. They wanted religion, and they wanted it here and now. They were keen on developing their own spirituality. They wanted a religion that worked for them on their own terms. They wanted a god who met their immediate needs rather than a God who demanded their obedience. 

This type of religion seems to be alive today and to occur anywhere. Many Christians desire a religion that promises health, wealth, and success as immediate rewards of serving God. Sometimes, fund raising is easily successful, as people willfully donate their big money with the promise that God will bless them. They want the sense of entertainment in worship. Preaching is always positive and in keeping with their wishes. In addition, they want to degrade God as a spiritual helper. They don’t hesitate to proclaim, “I like to think of God as…” whatever features that happen to fit the longings of their own mind.

Looking at the reality in any church nowadays, what would we see? People want a church that meets their needs. Church programs have to be flexible enough to add a little spirituality into the average family’s already bloated schedule.  In worship, people want upbeat, contemporary music that appeals to their taste. Homilies must be short, but still relevant. They may appreciate if preachers could give them some tips for daily living in the workplace or home. They want Masses or services to end within an hour, so that they can get the kids to the soccer field on time or go to all types of entertainment.

Back to the reading, the Israelites reneged on a promise to glorify God. They were extremely unthankful for all that God had done for them from Egypt. God said to Moses, “They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them” (Exodus 32:8). It had only been a few months since Israel had been miraculously delivered from Egypt. They had escaped through the Red Sea by the power of God. They had experienced miracles of water supply for them at Marah and Rephidim. They had been given the manna. It had only been a few weeks since God revealed himself on Mount Sinai and gave to the people the Ten Commandments. And they said they would do all that God commanded them.

But now, they were willing to bow down before a calf as their god. They intentionally gave themselves up to idolatry. And it is no surprise that God urged Moses to go back to them because “they have become depraved” (Exodus 32:7).

The fact about Israel worshiping before the golden calf was defiling before God. In God’s sight, this comportment was depraved. Many people would not call this conduct desecrating, but God does. God calls a lot of things evil that human being refuses to call evil or calls evil by nice names. This fact does not stop evil from corrupting mankind. It only causes more people to be corrupted.

God said directly to Moses, “[they have made] for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” (Exodus 32:8). In a great deal, Israel dishonored God by ascribing to the calf idol their great deliverance from Egypt. They knew that God had done so much for them. But they did not give credit where credit is due. They deluded themselves, grossly attributing all this great work to a calf idol. And they called it religion.

In the same way, many Christians give thanks to the god of luck, the god of money, talisman, or their own strength for their blessings instead of thanking God. And this dishonors God as much as attributing to an idol Israel’s deliverance from Egypt.   

God continued to Moses, “I see how stiff-necked this people is” (Exodus 32:9). This stiff-necked problem was not a physical problem. It was a spiritual one. The stiff-neck represents an attitude that will not bow before God. Israel’s sin was willful and pertinacious, not accidental. They willfully refused to bow down to God’s way. It was a terrible attitude that would only bring a curse upon them. 

When God announced to Moses what Israel was evilly doing and that he wanted to “consume them; and …make of you a great nation,” (Exodus 32:10), Moses protested. He pled for compassion for the people based on God’s Word. Moses said, “Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage’” (Exodus 32:13). Moses argued that God’s Word had promised a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and that to destroy the Israelites would go against the Word of God.

Moses’ intercession on the mount for the Israelites was effective; for Scripture says, “The Lord relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people” (Exodus 32:14). May humankind have more intercessors who can plead God’s mercy and compassion like Moses.