The sad reality is that when God spoke with Israel directly, they asked Moses to speak on His behalf because they feared His presence would kill them.  That’s why Moses went up into Mount Sinai and got the tablets that we’re familiar with.  Now, God tried speaking directly and man didn’t want it.  When God gave into their demands and spoke only with Moses, they chose to turn away from the Lord and built a golden calf to be their god.  When Moses saw this calf, what judgments took place?

-The calf was ground into powder and put in the drinking water, the Levites killed the bad guys and God sent a plague-

-Fiery serpents bit a bunch of people and Moses had to make a brass serpent on a pole-

-There were no judgments-

-The ground opened up and swallowed the bad guys, and, boy, there was fire too!-