Sin and God's Desire to be the God of His People - God Leads Israel Out of Egypt
Israel's Exodus from Egypt
After God killed the firstborn of Egypt, not only did Pharaoh release them, he drove them out, but not before Israel found favor with Egypt and plundered them as commanded by God (Exodus 11-12).
After 430 years of being enslaved to Egypt, 600,000 Israelites, not including children, as well as "a mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds - a great deal of livestock" (Exodus 12:40-41; 12:37-38). In other words, millions of people, including those who were not of Israel, and A LOT of livestock, left Egypt and its bondage to them. But it wasn't long before God again hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he changed his mind, and Egypt pursued them (Exodus 14:5-9).
Israel Grumbles Against God
When Israel was still in Egypt, Moses instructed Pharaoh to allow them to leave Egypt so they could go and worship their God. Because of this, Pharaoh penalized Israel by increasing their labor while keeping the same quota of bricks made (Exodus 5:1-23). Therefore Israel complained to Moses:
Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
Exodus 5:20-21
Their response was similar when they learned that Pharaoh was pursuing them after they left Egypt:
And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”
Exodus 14:10-12
The people of Israel had witnessed the power of God through the ten plagues. They had witnessed God's protection of their first born when all of the firstborn of Egypt were slaughtered. They had witnessed the favor of the Egyptians because of the power of God. God was among them in their presence as He led them through the wilderness as a cloud by day and fire by night. Despite all the miraculous events that Israel witnessed, they still did not trust Moses, or God for that matter, so they grumbled against Him (Exodus 13:17-14:12).
They finally feared God and believed Him and Moses after God destroyed Pharaoh and his army at the Red Sea:
So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.
Exodus 14:30-31
However, just three days after God saved Israel from the Egyptians at the Red Sea, they again complained to Moses because they had no water to drink (Exodus 15:22-24), and they continued to do so throughout their 40 year journey through the wilderness.
Israel at Mt. Sanai
Three months after leaving Egypt, the children of Israel camped at Mt. Sanai where God came down upon the mountain in the sight of all the people. God instructed them to not even touch the mountain or else they would die, and they were terrified:
You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.”
Exodus 19:12-13
Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Exodus 19:16-20
Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”
Exodus 20:18-20
Mt. Sanai is where God made a covenant with the children of Israel and they agreed to the terms. But when God called Moses up the mountain to give him the laws that they must keep as His people in order for the covenant to be binding, the children of Israel convinced Aaron to make them "gods" that they could worship. They said that the "god" they made from their own hands was the god that delivered them from Egypt, and Aaron built an altar and they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings to it.
The ink of the covenant was not even dry when Israel broke it. When God saw what was happening, He wanted to destroy them, but Moses interceded on their behalf, so God relented of the harm that He wanted to do to them. However, God commanded Moses to gather to himself all who were on the LORD'S side, and to kill whoever was not. So 3,000 men died that day.
Afterwards, Moses rebuked the remaining people and went to God to make atonement for their sin, but God said that whoever sinned against Him will be blotted out of His book, and that He will punish them for their sin:
Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.” So the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.
Exodus 32:31-35
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