Exodus 32:17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.”
Commentary says that Moses’s anger was righteous and that his breaking the tablets written by the hand of God was fitting since the Israelites broke the covenant of God with their behavior, but I can’t help but see Moses’s reaction as a bit of a toddler’s temper tantrum, where he let his anger control him and he broke what was handy (the literal word of God) to express his anger.
Exodus 32:18 Moses replied: “It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear.”
And I wonder if such grandiose displays (breaking the tablets, burning the idol, then grounding it to powder, then making the Israelites drink it) were even necessary. The Israelites seem to know their actions aren’t ok. No one stops Moses in his tirade. No one tries to claim innocence. They made the idol to fill a really scary void that Moses left. Now he’s back.
Exodus 32:19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.
Precious Savior, Moses was livid. I get that. The Israelites were afraid and at loose ends. I also get that. But it seems like both acted inappropriately in the situation and it seems like their anger and their fear led them into even more trouble. I can be shackled by anger and fear as well, Lord. It can make me do crazy things, too. Help me to cling to You always, Lord. Always. Amen.
Exodus 32:20 And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
Have a blessed day.