Exodus 34:1-271And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. 2And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. 3And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount. 4And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. 5And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. 9And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. 10And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. 11Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: 13But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: 14For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: 15Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; 16And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. 17Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. 18The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt. 19All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male. 20But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty. 21Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest. 22And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end. 23Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year. 25Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning. 26The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. 27And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. (Exodus 34:1‑27)
GOD had said to Moses, “And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover thee with My hand while I pass by: and I will take away Mine hand, and thou shalt see My back parts; but My face shall not be seen.” Exo. 33:22,2322And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen. (Exodus 33:22‑23).
Dear young Christian, we may not always understand God’s ways in the trials He may allow us to pass through, but in it all we are safe in His hand, and how good to know and feel that the “Rock” is under our feet. We cannot always trace Him, but we can trust Him.
Then the “afterward” of each trial is blessed indeed — we see His “back parts.” May we always trust His long hand, for He will never send a trial or sorrow except for our good.
God then told Moses to make two new tables of stone, like the first two that he had broken, and to come up into the mount again the next morning. Moses did so, but he did not bring these second tables of stone into the camp. When the tabernacle was built he put them into the ark type of Christ. There the holy commandments of God were in safe keeping. He could say, “Thy law is within My heart.”
“And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth...” This was the character of the new covenant God made with His people in order to bring them into the promised land. Under pure law and left to their own responsibility they had already forfeited everything through their sin. But now it is a mixture of grace and law.
However, we must not suppose that this proclamation of divine goodness here is the gospel. They make a great mistake who in this sense quote “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin,” and stop there. God did not stop there, for He adds, “and by no means clearing the guilty,...” — this awaited the glorious and perfect work of redemption the Lord Jesus would accomplish on the Cross.
The Lord proclaimed His name as Jehovah in His relationship with Israel, but this was not the revelation of the Father which we as His children now enjoy. This proclamation of His name characterized His dealings with Israel all the way from Sinai until the death of Christ. In contrast how sweet the words of the blessed Lord: “I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou Nast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:2626And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:26).
God then told Moses He would bring the people into the land (in grace) but warned them they were to walk in separation from the people of Canaan and must not make any covenants with them.
When they entered the land they were to appear before the Lord three times a year. While they went up to keep those feasts they might have feared that the enemy would come and possess their land, but God would watch and keep any one from even wanting it. What an encouragement, for He will do the same for us now. If we put Him first He will take care of our interests. He is too rich to be any one’s debtor. He loves to take care of His own while they lay up treasures in heaven.
ML-03/28/1971