[Golden] Calf Down the River!

I live by a philosophy that taking in a lot of Old Testament with the New Testament is a good thing. Years ago, at a Lamb concert, I remember one of them (Coghill or Chernoff, I can’t remember who) comparing the Bible to a cake. He said the New Testament is the icing on the cake, but you’re expected to eat the cake (i.e. the Old Testament) under the icing as well. And there’s a whole lot more cake than icing!

Anyway...

That brings me to this one passage in Deuteronomy:

And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.
Deuteronomy 9:21

After the Israelites had sinned against the Lord with the golden calf, Moses was angry and broke the original Ten Commandments tablets in their sight. He also took direct action with the object of their sin, the golden calf. In the first account, in the book of Exodus, we read, “And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.” (Ex. 32:20 ASV)

Now, this verse taken all on its own, may sound weird or even mean. I have seen old woodcut illustrations of this scene, with Moses pouring the dust of the golden calf into a pool of water and the disobedient Israelites surrounding it and being forced to drink this now gold dust-polluted water. And that would almost be a death sentence right there, because gold dust is poisonous to the human body. Or at best, these Israelites would have gotten very sick.

Well, after all, they deserved it! They had just sinned a great sin, one that virtually broke God’s heart so much, He was thinking of destroying them all and starting the redemption process for a Messianic line all over. “Leave me alone,” He said to Moses, like a wounded lover.

However, now that I read this line in Deuteronomy there is a different angle to think through, a different reason, perhaps.

First of all, there’s this water source to consider...

Where did it come from? This verse says it flowed from the mountain, Mount Horeb, or Sinai as we know it. Was it always there? Actually, in Exodus 17, there was water provided for the people from a rock at the base of Horeb early on in their desert journey, before the giving of the Ten Commandments. The elders of Israel went with Moses all the way to the base of Horeb and struck a rock there and the water flowed out from there to the camp of the people. This first camp for Israel must have been within sight of Horeb, so it wasn’t a far journey to get there.

So, anyway, the water that flowed from Sinai was from some kind of spring or stream. It was not standing water. Now what happens when something as “small as dust” lands in water running downstream—and the downstream speed needn’t even be very fast? You’re right! That stuff will flow out of sight within seconds. By the time the Israelites got down to lap up water from the stream, they would only be drinking fresh water flowing from the mouth of the rock, the source of the stream. In my mind, no dust from that Calf would have been left swirling at that spot.

An Object Lesson

So what was Moses’ reason for casting the dust of the Golden Calf into the water, and then making the Israelites drink from the stream? After all, if it was just to give them a time of refreshment, they could’ve gotten a drink at any time.

I believe Moses (or God via Moses) was trying to teach the people something very important: and that was a very big part of the whole idea of forgiveness. This event was a teaching opportunity, or object lesson, to show the Israelites that they needed to receive God’s provision for their forgiveness.

You see, their “sin,” as Moses called the Golden Calf, he ground down to powder, so that there would be no visible remembrance of that thing left for them. Are we keeping any “remnants” of our old sins around to give nostalgia or “take us back” to those events or practices? God is saying, here in His Word, to get rid of that. Another way to put this: Is our repentance complete? Have we renounced all known sin? Have we left anything around in our hearts in reserve, just in case this thing with Jesus doesn’t pan out, or just to keep a “little something” for ourselves? Is there something in our lives we know God is not happy seeing still hanging around?

Then Moses threw that dust into the stream so that it would flow away from the Israelite camp forever. You see, we need that kind of spiritual water that will wash our sins downstream, never to return! And what do you think that “water” is?

Here are a few possibilities:

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
John 4:14

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
John 7:38

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Ephesian 5:26

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
I Corinthians 10:4

Love is the Key

God, whose primary disposition is love, aims more at reconciling us to himself than to see that we suffer for our sin and rebellion. But our part is to acknowledge our sin with true repentance, and come to his source of forgiveness, which is through his Son, Jesus Christ. His invitation is true and sure:

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.