Exodus 34:1–7
Because of Israel’s great sin with the Golden Calf, Moses sought the Lord relentlessly on behalf of the people outside the camp in the tent he built God said to him all that he asked for God would do. So, God relented and promised He would go with Moses and the people and lead them where before, God said that He would send and angel to lead them because if He was in their midst, He would consume them.
Because God is Yahweh, the covenant God He will show mercy and grace to Moses and because of Moses, He would also show the same to the stiff-necked people.
The covenant that God made with the people on the mountain that first time went like this:
“If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5–6).
But instead of resting in the value of God, the people became restless and craved the value of their own workmanship. So, they exchanged the glory of the invisible God for the image of their own glory—a golden cow.
1. A Broken Covenant Renewed by Yahweh (34:1-4)
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3 No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” 4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone.
The first thing we see is that Moses had to cut two new tablets of stone to replace the first two, the ones he broke.
Exodus 32:19 (ESV)
19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
Remember, Moses broke the tablets as a visual because they had broken God’s Law…the first two commandments were quickly broken…You shall have no other gods, shall not make a graven image.
Even after their great sin of worshipping the Golden Calf, God still wanted the Israelites to have His Law.
The fact the Exodus 34 is in the Bible is proof that God’s name is Yahweh…the Gracious and Merciful God of the Bible.
We also see the continued warning for Israel and the flocks to not come near the mountain when God descends to give Moses the Ten Commandments…
3 No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.”
One fact that we should notice is that the first tablets were given to Moses by God and God had written the Ten Commandments with His own hand…literally by the finger of God. This second edition Moses had to provide the tablets and write on them what God told Him. So, even though the covenant between God and the people was renewed, it was not quite the same. They broke God’s Law.
Exodus 34:27 (ESV)
27 And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
One OT Scholar compared it to a couple who had gotten a divorce and then years later gets remarried. They may take the exact same vows again but it is not quite the same.
The Hebrews in general would prove to be stiff-necked and evil in God’s sight. However, there would be the remnant and through that remnant would come our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, the big picture here is that God raised up Moses to intercede for the people that God would not destroy them thereby keeping the promise He made with Abraham…that through Abraham God would bless the world with the savior, Jesus Christ. God spared Israel for Christ’s sake. Moses was the instrument God used for that purpose.
2. Yahweh, Yahweh (34:5-6)
5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
But there is something even more amazing than the sheer fact that God is willing to meet Moses again and renew the covenant: namely, the content of what he reveals. Exodus 34:5 says “The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with Moses there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.”
God cries out in verse 6, “Yahweh! Yahweh!” And then he spells out the meaning of that name in words whose sweetness has never been surpassed, not even in the New Testament: “A God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.”
Exodus 33:17–20 (ESV)
17 And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
God’s glory, we learned last time is His name. His name is literally, His characteristics or attributes. He is free to show grace and mercy to whomever He chooses. God is self-existent, self-sufficient.
Yahweh is the sacred name of God…we saw this at the burning bush…
Exodus 3:14–15 (ESV)
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
It’s here where God’s glory is even further defined and Moses given a more complete definition of God’s goodness…I will make My goodness pass before you.
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
What a wonderful God we serve…Yahweh is His name and look with me at His attributes…
Here God defines Himself. Whatever your view of God is, if it is different than what is presented here, then you must conform your definition of God to His or choose to remain worshipping a false god. No matter what your theology is, you must arrive at these conclusions or your theology is faulty.
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious-
God is Merciful– this is His attribute that draws Him to us. It’s a word of sympathy. God cares about our situation. He cares that we are born in sin. He cares that we are by nature alienated from Him. He is sympathetic toward us and our weaknesses.
Psalm 103:13–14 (ESV)
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
God is Gracious- This is a word that means undeserved mercy. This is God’s exception to His justice. For some whom He chooses, He shows grace to. Back to His first claim.. I will show grace to whom I will and mercy to whom I will. Our salvation is not based on our good works or merits but based on God who is gracious, giving us what we do not deserve.
Ephesians 2:4–5 (ESV)
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
God is slow to anger- He is patient. He is longsuffering. He does not forget sin but is slow to mete out judgement.
2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
God abounds in love and faithfulness- The meaning of these two words being connected here is that God is always faithful when He promises to extend love to His creation.
God is forgiving- The Hebrew word here translated as forgiving is NASA which means a lifting off. God takes our sins and lifts them up off of us. The heavy burden of guilt is also lifted off.
This is God.
3. Yahweh, Steadfast and Forgiving (34:7)
7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
I want to address this verse by itself because there are those who have been troubled by it in the past.
On the one hand God tells us that He keeps steadfast love for thousands, forgives iniquity, transgressions, and sin. Yet on the other hand He tells us that He will in no way clear the guilty. The steadfast love and forgiving sin and He will not clear the guilty. What does God mean here?
Joel 2:12–13 (ESV)
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
Here, Joel quotes from Exodus 34:7 and shows us the meaning. We are encouraged to repent
and turn to God. We are encouraged to seek forgiveness… for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
In other words, Joel uses Exodus 34:6 to encourage the people that if they return to the Lord, he will turn away from the evil he is about to bring on them. So the assumption is that the people whom the Lord will not forgive are the unrepentant people who will not return to God with all their heart. That’s the way Joel understood Exodus 34:5–7. Forgiveness is for the repentant. The refusal of forgiveness is for the unrepentant.
Jonah sees things the same way. After he preaches to the Ninevites, they repent, God spares them, and Jonah is angry with God for being so merciful.
Jonah 3:10–4:2 (ESV)
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
Here Jonah quotes Exodus 34:6 to explain why God had turned his wrath away from a sinful people who repented from their evil way. This is God’s nature. It is his name. But notice that Jonah agrees with Joel that whether God forgives the Ninevites or not depends on whether or not the Ninevites repent and turn from their evil ways.
God Forgives Guilty People Who Are Repentant.
Joel called the people to repent of their sins because…“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
Jonah knew God’s character. He knew that if he preached and if they repented God would forgive them.
The same God offers us forgiveness today through the sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus Christ. “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
We see the same attributes in Jesus our Lord…He too is willing to forgive sin.
Luke 7:48–50 (ESV)
48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
We too must come to God repenting of our sins and when we do, He will forgive. That’s who He is…that’s His name.
Resources Used:
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-lord-a-god-merciful-and-gracious
Exodus by Phillip Ryken
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