3,000 Israelites Killed – by Israelites!
Exodus 32:25-29: Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control – for Aaron
had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies – then
Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come
to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. And he said to them,
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon
his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every
man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’” So the
sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the
people fell that day. Then Moses said, “Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord –
for every man has been against his son and against his brother – in order that
He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”
There is no way to avoid this
passage of Scripture even though I do not recall ever hearing a sermon on it; I
am sure there have been many. Either way
you cut it, it’s a difficult passage to deal with. Let’s dissect it carefully.
The human author (Moses) sees
the people out of control. In fact, some
versions of this text actually say “naked” rather than “out of control”. There
are different opinions as to whether this referred to the fact that the people
were indeed reveling in a way that was not controllable or descent, or they
were in fact stripped of their clothes mimicking those non-Israelites who used
to perform some of their religious rituals naked, or whether it meant they had
been made ‘naked’ of their adornments (ear-rings and such) as they had given
them to Aaron to make the golden calf. [I remember, humorously, the days of my
youth when I always wanted my wife to wear earrings as I felt that a woman was
never fully dressed without them – I never knew then that my subconscious
thinking on the matter may have come from this verse.]
Aaron had let the people get out
of control “to be a derision among
their enemies”. The word derision can
be translated as mockery or ridicule or victim of disrespect. Other versions
translate this phrase as “shame, weakness, amusement, laughingstock”. Of
course, Aaron did not have this outcome in mind, but the consequence of what he
abetted certainly pointed to that kind of possible reaction from the Israelite
enemies. We, too, often engage in, or lend our hand to, activities for which we
do not in advance consider the consequences. How many times do we say to our
children or other adults in our lives, “Did you ever stop to think of the
implications of that action before you did it?”
And often the sheepish answer is “No, I did not.” I think that one of
the marks of maturity both as simply a human being, but especially as a
Christian, is that we take the time to stop and consider the implications of
not only our actions, but our words. And admittedly, we cannot do that easily
by ourselves and without practice and even correction from the Holy Spirit.
Henry Kissinger in his 2015 book, World Order, refers to the
fact that, in this age of technology we live in, we seem to be missing the
wisdom in all the knowledge that we possess or have ready access to. As people
of God, we need to realize and take advantage of the fact, that this true
‘wisdom’ that others lack, is available to us.
So Moses stood at the ‘gate’ of
the camp. Some may wonder why the Israelites in the middle of a desert had a
‘gate’ to their camp. Commentator Robert
Jamieson answers that for us by indicating that the camp is supposed to have been protected by a rampart
after the attack of the Amalekites who are mentioned in Numbers but relating to
events prior to this one recorded here in Exodus 32.
If you are a leader and you have
a declaration to make, then you have to go to a place where you will be heard –
you have to get to the gateway of the community. Interestingly, the word ‘gate’
occurs 275 times in 220 verses in the New American Stand Bible (NASB). This
makes for a most interesting study. Much of Biblical history takes place at the
various city or camp gates. And Jesus Himself in the New Testament speaks
metaphorically of His people entering His Kingdom and gaining our salvation by
going through a “narrow gate”.
So at the gate of the Israelite camp,
Moses instructs them to go towards him if they are truly for the Lord and to
stay away from him if they are not. Can you picture the scene? Can you sense
the feelings of the ringleaders? Perhaps it was anger. Can you imagine the
shame of the those that were truly sorry for what they had done? Can you feel
the confusion of those that were caught in the middle of the argument, not
knowing now which way to move? This is indeed a position that many have found
themselves in over the centuries – circumstances in which they have to choose
between one leader and others, between one thing and another, between a friend
and a brother, between a parent and sibling, and so on. There are seldom any easy choices. The only
thing we have going for us is to stick to the higher principles involved – to
our beliefs about God and His characteristics which He etched into our hearts
at creation.
And yet somehow, many manage to
push those higher moral values aside at times like this, and opt for what is
immediately more convenient, easier, safer, more socially acceptable. And so it
was with the Israelites. Of the twelve
tribes in the camp, only the Levites gathered towards Moses. All the others
kept their distance. It seems to be a common theme in life that only a minority
get it right no matter what the issue is. Those who are indeed on the Lord’s side
are almost always fewer in number.
[The thought occurred to me that
had Moses asked, “Who is on my side?” instead of what he
did ask, “Who is for the Lord?”, he may have had more
people join him. It is easier for people
to gather around a human leader they can see and hear, than God who is Spirit
and must be worshipped in spirit. So it is with political leaders today –
people rush to vote for them because of how well they come across in their
personality rather than the principles they stand for. This was the case of Dr.
Ben Carson in the 2016 American Republican Nomination race – while his ideals
for America were perhaps the godliest of the bunch, many people, while liking
him as an individual, felt he did not have the personality to be president.
Calling men (and women) to follow God is a most difficult task; one in which
Christ Himself did not score one hundred percent as many rejected even His
message.]
And now we come to where one can
be greatly flummoxed by the text. Moses tells the Levites to go throughout the
camp with swords at their sides and kill their brothers, friends, and neighbors
– assumedly those that did not declare being for the Lord. Wow. It seems when
God’s laws have indeed been violated, there is a time to take up the sword
figuratively if not literally. One example of this is Franklin Graham’s speaking
out boldly against the decision by the Charlotte, North Carolina council to
push transgender washrooms in the city and indicating that the fight is not
over yet. He called the ordinance ‘wicked and filthy’ – strong words for an
evangelist these days, yet exactly what needed to be said.
Robert Jamieson suggests that in
actual fact the non-Levites were separated
into two divisions, and those who were the boldest and most obstinate in
vindicating their idolatry were put to death, while the rest, who withdrew in
shame or sorrow, were spared. The great number of Israelites that were in the
wilderness gives some credence to this possibility. In support of this,
commentator David Guzik adds, “It
seems that the sin of Israel at the golden calf involved more than these 3,000
people. Yet these were undoubtedly those most flagrant in their idolatry and
immorality, or these were the leaders of the sinful conduct.”
Nevertheless, as Jamieson points out the “zeal and courage
of Moses was astonishing, considering he opposed an intoxicated mob”. Guzik
says, “In this case, siding with the LORD meant siding against some
people. Those who were more interested in siding with all people could never do
what these Levites did.”
Moses chose to deal with the sin
of his people publicly as a testimony against such sin. And as Matthew Henry
believes, whenever the issue came up again with respect to the Israelite sin of
worshipping a golden calf, at least they could say justice was executed on the
evildoers. Henry also goes on to say that this difficult task of killing their
neighbors and brothers was given to the Levites as a punishment to them as well
for not stepping in earlier to prevent the sin. Guilty by association is
sometimes indeed the case.
The question may arise as to the
number that were actually killed that day – why only 3,000 when many more were
likely involved in the ‘golden calf reveling’? Matthew Henry suggests that the
key to that question is that Moses directed them to go “through the camp”
implying up and down the streets of the camp, and not in the actual tents the
Israelites were living in. He posits
that “it might be hoped
that those who had retired into their tents were ashamed of what they had done,
and were upon their knees, repenting.” The implication being that those who are
marked for ruin and punishment are only those who persist in their sin and not
ashamed. An interesting thought, but the fact is that we do not know for sure
if that was the case or not.
The other thing we do not know and some may wonder is how
did the Levites manage to pull this off against a crowd that may have been so
enraged at the idea of their ‘golden calf idol’ being burned as it was by
Moses? That is indeed a valid concern.
Why did they not fight back and why was there no record of Levites being
killed in opposition? Again Henry theorizes that “a sense of guilt disheartened
the delinquents, and a divine commission animated the executioners.” The
Levites may have been charged up by Moses’ direction to “Consecrate
yourselves to day to the Lord, that he may bestow a blessing upon you.” This Henry contends, intimates to them “they
now stood fair for preferment and that, if they would but signalize themselves
upon this occasion, it would be construed into such a consecration of
themselves to God, and to his service, as would put upon their tribe a perpetual
honor.” All they had to do was rise to the opportunity given them to claim it.
And we remember too that the Levites were the ones who were to assist in the
offering of sacrifice to God and now this included services of divine justice. Henry
concludes, “Those that are to minister about holy things must be not only
sincere and serious, but warm and zealous, bold and courageous, for God and
godliness. Thus all Christians, but especially ministers, must forsake
father and mother, and prefer the service of Christ and his interest far
before their nearest and dearest relations; for if we love our relations better
than Christ we are not worthy of him.”
There is no doubt that being a
true servant and worshiper of the Almighty sometimes requires us to break bonds
with those that are otherwise very close to us. We need to remember that God
did not intend it that way nor does He rejoice in the need for this to happen.
He would much prefer all mankind – including those brothers, friends, neighbors
of yours and mine – to love and serve Him. But with our free will, mankind is
free to choose to do so or not. And when others make the choice to be ‘contrary’
or ‘anti-God’, we as believers are required to be on the Lord’s side. All of
us, at various points in our lives, and with varying degrees of intensity, will
be required to set aside relationships and even perhaps take action against
those that, in the absence of our godly responsibility, we would prefer not to
oppose.
How does one prepare for that?
The concluding part of the passage, provides the answer. We are to dedicate ourselves
to the Lord. We are to be aware of our responsibility and service and loyalty
to Him. We are to see such occurrence not so much as what it means for those
who oppose God, but what it means for us and our own relationship to God. We
are to see this is an opportunity to serve God; perhaps a test about our own
faith and preparedness for greater service and in preparation of a greater
blessing to be bestowed upon us. And at the same time, because we now live after
the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, we are to take any such
action with love towards those who do oppose Him. That’s a tall order, but it
is doable.
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