What did Joshua hear when he and Moses came down the mountain?
When Moses and Joshua came down from the mountain, Joshua heard music and laughter. Moses corrected him, saying there was more: the Israelites were dancing in lewd, lascivious, naked pagan worship around the golden calf. The scene was not mere celebration but idolatrous worship of the calf Aaron had made.
Les teaches that while Moses was up in the mountain for a total of thirty days, the children of Israel asked Aaron to make them a god, because since leaving Egypt they had not had any gods and did not know what had happened to Moses. Aaron threw some gold into the fire, and out came a calf, and they began worshiping that golden calf. When Moses and Joshua came down off the mountainside, Joshua asked, “Moses, do I hear music? Do I hear laughter?” Moses soon caught on and said it was more than that: they were dancing. Les explains it was not just dancing; they were in lewd, lascivious dancing, naked, in pagan worship around the golden calf. This sets up what God had every right in His righteousness to do with Israel.