Exodus, Chapter 32, verses 7-14
7 God is angered thereby, 11 At the entreaty of Moses he is appeasedJohn, Chapter 5, verses 31-47
17 He answereth for himself, and reproveth them, showing by the testimony of his Father, 32 of John, 36 of his works, 39 and of the Scriptures, who he is5
5:31 If I testify of myself - That is, if I alone, (which indeed is impossible,) my testimony is not valid.
5:32 There is another - The Father, Joh 5:37,and I know that, even in your judgment, his testimony in beyond exception.
5:33 He bare testimony - That I am the Christ.
5:34 But I have no need to receive, etc But these things - Concerning John, whom ye yourselves reverence, I say, that yemay be saved - So really and seriously did he will their salvation.Yet they were not saved. Most, if not all of them, died in their sins.
5:35 He was a burning and a shining light - Inwardly burning with love and zeal, outwardly shining in all holiness. And even ye were willing for a season - A short time only.
5:37 He hath testified of me - Namely at my baptism. I speak not of my supposed father Joseph. Ye are utter strangers to him of whom I speak.
5:38 Ye have not his word - All who believe have the word of the Father (the same with the word of the Son) abiding in them, that is, deeply ingrafted in their hearts.
5:39 Search the Scriptures - A plain command to all men. In them ye are assured ye have eternal life - Ye know they show you the way to eternal life. And these very Scriptures testify of me.
5:40 Yet ye will not come unto me - As they direct you.
5:41 I receive not honour from men - I need it not. I seek it not from you for my own sake.
5:42 But I know you - With this ray he pierces the hearts of the hearers. And this doubtless he spake with the tenderest compassion.
5:43 If another shall come - Any false Christ.
5:44 While ye receive honour - That is, while ye seek the praise of men rather than the praise of God. At the feast of pentecost, kept in commemoration of the giving the law from Mount Sinai, their sermons used to be full of the praises of the law, and of the people to whom it was given. How mortifying then must the following words of our Lord be to them, while they were thus exulting in Moses and his law!
5:45 There is one that accuseth you - By his writings.
5:46 He wrote of me - Every where; in all his writings; particularly Deu 18:15, Deu 18:18.
32 Here is,
and worshipping it, Exo 32:5-6.
and the sentence of his wrath against them, Exo 32:9-10.
and the prevalency of that intercession, Exo 32:14.
in detestation of which he broke the tables, Exo 32:19.
and burnt the golden calf, Exo 32:20.
and a reprieve granted thereupon, reserving them for a further reckoning, Exo 32:33-35.
32:8 They have turned aside quickly - Quickly after the law was given them, and they had promised to obey it; quickly after God had done such great things for them, and declared his kind intentions to do greater.
32:9 It is a stiff - necked people - Unapt to come under the yoke of the divine law, averse to all good, and prone to evil, obstinate to the methods of cure.
32:10 Let me alone - What did Moses, or what could he do, to hinder God from consuming them? When God resolves to abandon a people, and the decree is gone forth, no intercession can prevent it. But God would thus express the greatness of his displeasure, after the manner of men, who would have none to interceed for those they resolve to be severe with. Thus also he would put an honour upon prayer, intimating, that nothing but the intercession of Moses could save them from ruin, that he might be a type of Christ, by whose mediation alone God would reconcile the world unto himself.
32:11 And Moses besought the Lord his God - If God would not be called the God of Israel, yet he hoped he might address him as his own God.Now Moses is standing in the gap to turn away the wrath of God. Psa 106:23. He took the hint which God gave him when he said,Let me alone, which, though it seemed to forbid his interceding, did really encourage it, by shewing what power the prayer of faith hath with God.
32:12 Turn from thy fierce wrath - Not as if he thought God were not justly angry, but he begs that he would not be so greatly angry as to consume them. Let mercy rejoice against judgment; repent of this evil - Change the sentence of destruction into that of correction, against thy people which thou broughtest up out of Egypt - For whom thou hast done so great things? Wherefore should the Egyptians say, For mischief did he bring them out - Israel is dear to Moses, as his kindred, as his charge; but it is the glory of God that he is most concerned for. If Israel could perish without any reproach to God's name, Moses could persuade himself to sit down contented; but he cannot bear to hear God reflected on; and therefore this he insists upon, Lord, What will the Egyptians say? They will say, God was either weak, and could not, or fickle, and would not compleat the salvation he begun.
32:13 Remember Abraham - Lord, if Israel be cut off, what will become of the promise?
32:14 And the Lord repented of the evil he thought to do - Though he designed to punish them, yet he would not ruin them. See here, the power of prayer, God suffers himself to be prevailed with by humble believing importunity. And see the compassion of God towards poor sinners, and how ready he is to forgive.