Exodus 34

Moses sees God’s glory, God proclaims His name

And the LORD said to Moses, “Cut two stone tablets like the first, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3 And no one is to come up with you, and do not let anyone be seen throughout the whole mountain, and do not let flocks or herds feed in front of the mountain”.

4 And he cut two stone tablets like the first. And Moses got up early in the morning, and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two stone tablets. 5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.

34:5 His name means His nature and attributes. See Ex 33:19; John 17:6. He did more than simply state the name Jehovah (which Moses knew anyway – Ex 3:14-15). He revealed His character and ways.⚜

6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, slow to get angry, and abundant in goodness and truth,

34:6 These are key verses in the O.T., revealing the name of Jehovah, that is, the nature of the one true God.⚜

7 maintaining mercy for thousands, forgiving wickedness and transgression and sin; yet not leaving sin unpunished; visiting the wickedness of the fathers on the children and on the children’s children, to the third and to the fourth generation”.

8 And at once Moses bowed his head toward the ground and worshipped.

34:8 Such a revelation of God’s nature calls for worship, adoration, awe, love, and a lifetime of faithful service.⚜

9 And he said, “If now I have found grace in your sight, O Lord, I pray you let my Lord go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our wickedness and our sin, and take us for your inheritance”.

34:9 See how Moses includes himself in this confession – “our wickedness”, “our sin” (see also Isa 64:6-7; Jer 3:25; Dan 9:5-6, 9, 20).⚜

God gives further instructions

10 And he said, “See, I will make a covenant. In the presence of all your people I will perform miracles such as have not been done in all the earth, not in any nation. And all the people among whom you live will see the working of the LORD; for it is an awe-inspiring thing that I will do with you.

34:10 A promise God now adds to the covenant He made with Israel at Ex 19:5; 24:7-8. He promises He will do astounding miracles for them and with them, not seen among any peoples on earth. (See the fulfillment in Josh 6:20; 10:11; 10:12-14; 24:12. See also Ps 72:18; 136:4.)⚜

11 Observe what I command you this day. Look, I will drive out before you the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

34:11 Note at Ex 33:2.⚜

12 Watch yourself so that you do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going; it would be a snare among you. 13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their sacred groves.

34:13 See Ex 23:24; Num 33:52; Deut 7:5; 12:3; Jud 2:2. It was exceedingly important that Israel not defile itself with the idol worship of Canaan. So the command to destroy their idols was often emphatically repeated.⚜

14 For you shall worship no other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

15 “Watch that you do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest when they prostitute themselves to their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, and make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods.

17 “You shall make no cast metal gods for yourself.

The Three Appointed Feasts

18 “You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat bread made without yeast for seven days, as I commanded you, in the time of the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt.

19 “All the first offspring of the womb is mine, and every firstborn male of your livestock, whether ox or sheep. 20 But the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. And no one is to appear before me empty-handed.

21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. Even during plowing season and during harvest you shall rest.

22 “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. 23 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out nations before you, and enlarge your borders, nor will anyone covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.

25 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifices with yeast, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to be left until morning.

26 “The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk”.

27 And the LORD said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel”.

34:27 Observe that Moses himself wrote down what God said. See Ex 24:4; Num 33:2; Deut 31:9.⚜

28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights. He did not eat bread, or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

34:28 This is the second time Moses spent 40 days in the mountain. The ten commandments are given in Ex 20:3-17.⚜

Moses’ face shines

29 And it came about that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (when he descended from the mountain the two tablets of testimony were in Moses’ hand) Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had talked with the LORD. 30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel looked at Moses, seeing the skin of his face shining, they were afraid to come near him. 31 And Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32 And afterwards all the children of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the LORD had spoken to him on Mount Sinai.

33 And Moses put a veil on his face until he had finished speaking with them. 34 But whenever Moses went in to the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he took the veil off until he came out. And he would come out, and speak to the children of Israel what he was commanded. 35 And the children of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, and Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with him.

34:29-35 In 2 Cor 3:6-18 Paul contrasts the glory of the old covenant with the glory of the new covenant. Though the old had glory it is as nothing compared with the glory of the new.⚜