(1) "A very serious sin" was repeated twice in v.30, 31
32:30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a very serious sin, but now I will go up to the LORD—perhaps I can make atonement on behalf of your sin.”
v.31b Alas, this people has committed a very serious sin, and they have made for themselves gods of gold. 32:32 But now, if you will forgive their sin …,3000 people were killed already, why did Moses still needed to make atonement for the people?
(NAC) What the people had done was a very serious sin indeed;...The covenant had been broken, as symbolized by Moses’ own actions the prior day in smashing the precious tablets of testimony; a major sort of appeal was now Israel’s only hope for restoration.
In other words, the killing of the three thousand by the Levites was only the beginning of the process of regaining God’s favor and blessing. That action went only as far as to identify and eliminate those who resisted correction. The punishment of the general population who had originally gone along with the idolatry and now were presumably sorry they had awaited resolution at the summit of the mountain.
(2) God did not unfold His whole course of punishment to Israel. Instead, He told them to go to the Promised Land. However, He Himself would not go with them, but only His angel would go before them v.34, 33:1, 2, 3.
Why did He tell them to go?
I think it is related to what the people said to Aaron
32:1b “Get up, make us gods that will go before us. As for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!”
They wanted their own form of God so that they would go before them or helped them to go to the Promised Land.
Perhaps, God saw that their primary goal was to go to the Promised Land. Having God as their God was just to help them to fulfill this goal. Now, God punished them by letting them have their dream fulfilled but He would not be part of the picture.
Reflection: Is God just your tool to help you to achieve your goal? Do you see God as Someone who serves you? Or someone deserved your service?
Audrey
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