Exodus Chapter 34

¹  Now the LORD said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered. ²  ”So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. ³  ”No man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that mountain.”


1. Why was no one to come with Moses?
 This time the Israelites are represented only by Moses, and not by the seventy elders as before (cf. Exod. 24:1, 9). This time, there are no promises made by the people. Before, the people repeatedly affirmed, “All that the Lord has said, we will do” (19:8; 24:3, 7), but this time there are no promises made. And little wonder! Israel could not be counted on to keep her word, no matter how sincere her intentions at the time.

  ⁴  So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand.

2. Why new tablets?  
This is a renewal of the covenant.  Moses is noticeably more prominent in the renewal of the covenant than he was in the first ratification of the covenant. His level of involvement is considerably higher. In the first ratification of the covenant, God carved out the stones and wrote the commandments on them (cf. 31:18). In the renewal of this same covenant Moses cut out the stones and wrote the commandments on them (34:1, 27-28). Some would have us think that Moses had to cut out the stone because he had rashly broken the first pair of stones. I believe that Moses was given an even greater participation in the renewal of the covenant, so that now God can say that this is a covenant made between Him and Moses and Israel (34:27), a statement which was not previously made. 

There is no inconsistency here in the fact that we are told on the one hand that God wrote on the tablets (34:1), and, on the other, that Moses did (34:27-28). The account is informing us that God wrote on the tablets through Moses. This is no different than saying that one of Paul’s epistles, written by his own hand, is, at the same time, the Word of God. Moses’ role of mediator is thus enhanced. No wonder all of Israel stood at the doorway of their tents when Moses went out to meet with God at the tent of meeting (33:8).


 ⁵  The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. ⁶  Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; ⁷  who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 



3. What message is God trying to reinforce here?
The revelation of God’s goodness to Moses was a revelation of those aspects of God’s character which were the basis for Israel’s future, and thus Moses petitioned God to forgive this sinful people, and to dwell in their midst, not because they were righteous, but because He was gracious and forgiving. The grace of God is the basis for repentance and for restoration, and thus Moses requested that God forgive His people and make them His possession, as He had previously done. In Romans chapter 11 Paul sums up his argument with the words, “Behold then the kindness and severity of God” (Rom. 11:22). The kindness or goodness of God is that aspect of God’s person which Moses was enabled to see fully—he saw “all of God’s goodness” (Exod. 33:19). Moses saw some of God’s severity, too. He beheld the anger of God at the idolatry of Israel in the incident of the golden calf (cf. Exod. 32:10). He knew that God could easily have wiped this whole nation out, except for His promises to Abraham and his offspring (cf. Exod. 32:13). Moses reflected this anger in his own response to Israel’s revelry and rebellion (Exod. 32:20). He demonstrated this anger when he commanded the Levites to go about the camp, slaying those who had refused to pledge their allegiance to Yahweh (Exod. 32:25-29).


 ⁸  Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. ⁹  He said, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own possession.” ¹⁰  Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the LORD, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.
 

4.  “He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”  Is that fair?
steadfast love and forgiveness extends to thousands (probably of generations, cf.Deut. 7:9; and note on Ex. 20:5–6) in contrast to the few generations upon whom he visits iniquity. Moses will appeal to Israel’s need for the Lord’s gracious and merciful presence so that he might forgive them and take them as his inheritance (see 34:9). On visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, see notes on 20:5–6 and Deut. 5:9–10.
 This is not God punishing innocent children for up to four generations (see 7:10). Rather, up to four generations of those who hate God may suffer the effects of their ancestors’ sins or even continue in the same sins. See also Ex. 34:6–7. The view that innocent children suffer for their parents’ sins is opposed in Jer. 31:29–30 and Ezek. 18:2–4. Butcontrasts God’s treatment of those who hate him with his treatment of those who love him. God’ssteadfast love far outlasts the effects of sin on subsequent generations


 ¹¹  ”Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. ¹²  ”Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. ¹³  ”But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim
 

5. What’s the big deal? Shouldn’t the Israelites be good neighbors?
The first code of the covenant placed a great deal of emphasis on social matters, such as the treatment of slaves and just compensation for losses caused by negligence or theft. In this abbreviated “code of the covenant” the emphasis falls on Israel’s walk with God, which had so quickly been interrupted by Israel’s idolatry and apostasy. The prohibitions of verses 12-17 forbid those contacts with the Canaanites which might lead Israel to turn from God. The way Israel is to deal with pagan idols is even more severe in the second statement of the “code of the covenant.” The practices referred to in verses 18-26 are those which would enhance Israel’s worship and walk with God. Thus, without referring to Israel’s fall, this abbreviated statement of the previously given “code of the covenant” focuses on those commands which will keep Israel from falling again, if they are obeyed.


 ¹⁴  —for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God—


6. Isn’t jealousy bad?

 He is a jealous God and does not want to share His honor and glory with false gods. There is no reason to apologize for God’s being jealous either. I once heard a wife say, “My husband is not jealous of me.” She was boasting of that fact. But I could have told her that if her husband was not jealous, he did not love her. Anything or any person you love, you are jealous of, and do not like to share with others. You can be jealous in an evil way, but this is not what we are talking about. When you love a person, you have a concern and you care for them. JVM



  ¹⁵  otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, ¹⁶  and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. ¹⁷  ”You shall make for yourself no molten gods. ¹⁸  ”You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.



 7. What was the Feast of Unleavened Bread again?
The feast lasts seven days. It was one of the three feast to be physically attended by all male Jews physically able to do so. (Ex. 23:17, Deut. 16:16) Feasts of pilgrimage upon which the Jews were to return to Jerusalem was Unleaven Bread, Tabernacles and Pentecost.
Unleaven bread pictures the suffering of the Messiah. Isaiah 53 prophesied of the suffering of the Messiah. The unleaven bread used in the Passover and during the feast of the Unleaven Bread is called “Matzo or Matsoh”.

              Matzoh has stripes

            Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

            1 Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

            Matzoh has holes:

            Zech. 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

            John 19:37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

            Matzoh has no leaven:

            Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

            Hebrews 9:28 “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

            The bread is placed in the middle section of

the linen cloth with three pockets. Most Jews have no idea why the Matzoh Tosh (Tash) has three pockets. Some rabbis teach that these represent Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; others say they portray the unity of worship — priests, Levites and congregation; still others say they stand for the crowns of learning, priesthood and kingship. But there’s no explanation for breaking and hiding  the middle one. Christians have a better explanation; it involves the “bread of heaven,” spoken of in John 6:32-59.He was beaten, crucified, buried and then raised. Now we can see why the middle matzoh is broken during the Passover, then hidden or buried. Jesus’s body was broken for us, He died, and was buried. But He didn’t stay dead — He came back to life, came out of the tomb! That is represented by bringing out that matzoh later in the ceremony. It is then broken into pieces, and passed out to each person. And this is the exact spot during the Last Supper, when Jesus said, ”This is my body which is given for you.”


  ¹⁹  ”The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the first offspring from cattle and sheep. ²⁰  ”You shall redeem with a lamb the first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None shall appear before Me empty-handed. ²¹  ”You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. ²²  ”You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.


8. What did these Feasts represent?
  ²³  ”Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel. ²⁴  ”For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the LORD your God. ²⁵  ”You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to be left over until morning. ²⁶  ”You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” ²⁷  Then 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.” ²⁸  So 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.
 

 Shavuot, or Pentecost (Feast of Weeks). 

Celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover, Shavuot is traditionally a joyous time of giving thanks for the new grain of the summer wheat harvest in Israel. The name “Feast of Weeks” was given because God commanded the Jews in Leviticus 23:15-16, to count seven full weeks (or 49 days) beginning on the second day of Passover, and then present offerings of new grain to the Lord as a lasting ordinance.

The celebration is also tied to the giving of the Ten Commandments and thus bears the name Matin Torah or “giving of the Law.” Jews believe that it was at this time that God gave the Torah to the people through Moses on Mount Sinai.  Just as there was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that Jewish people heard and accepted Jesus in a supernatural way on Pentecost, so an even greater outpouring is predicted by the prophet Zechariah: “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

Yes, there will be mourning when all of Israel finally realizes who Jesus is, but after the mourning and the repentance there will be great joy. Y’shua said this regarding the end-time harvest of souls:

The Feast of Tabernacles is a week-long autumn harvest festival. Tabernacles is also known as the Feast of the Ingathering, Feast of the Booths, Sukkoth, Succoth, or Sukkot (variations in spellings occur because these words are transliterations of the Hebrew word pronounced “Sue-coat”). The two days following the festival are separate holidays, Shemini Atzeret and Simkhat Torah, but are commonly thought of as part of the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Feast of Tabernacles was the final and most important holiday of the year. The importance of this festival is indicated by the statement, “This is to be a lasting ordinance.” The divine pronouncement, “I am the Lord your God,” concludes this section on the holidays of the seventh month. The Feast of Tabernacles begins five days after Yom Kippur on the fifteenth of Tishri (September or October). It is a drastic change from one of the most solemn holidays in our year to one of the most joyous. The word Sukkoth means “booths,” and refers to the temporary dwellings that Jews are commanded to live in during this holiday, just as the Jews did in the wilderness. The Feast of Tabernacles lasts for seven days and ends on the twenty-first day (3×7) of the Hebrew month of Tishri, which is Israel’s seventh month.

This holiday has a dual significance: historical and agricultural (just as Passover and Pentecost). Historically, it was to be kept in remembrance of the dwelling in tents in the wilderness for the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert.


9. Who else was 40 days and night without eating or drinking?
  ²⁹  It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. ³⁰  So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹  Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. ³²  Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the LORD had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. ³³  When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. ³⁴  But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, ³⁵  the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him. 


10. Why was Moses’ face radiating?
 The people were at first frightened by the brightness of Moses’ countenance, but then eventually were able to draw near enough to hear Moses speak and to accept his words as from God Himself. Moses began to employ a veil. He would remove the veil when he went to speak with God and would leave it off until he had conveyed God’s words to the people. Then, the veil would be put on until the next time he spoke with God. The text seems to indicate that Moses did this on a number of occasions, with some degree of regularity. I believe that this occurred when Moses entered into the tent of meeting.

The greater intimacy of Moses with God is apparent by the people’s actions here. In the past, the manifestations of the glory and majesty of God were more distant, so that the people wanted to keep their distance from God, and Moses to be their intermediary (cf. 20:18-20). Now that Moses’ face radiated with the glory of God, the people were reluctant to get too close to him (cf. 34:30).

What function did the “beaming,” radiant face of Moses play here? First, I believe that it further elevated Moses, showing him to be the one who God had chosen to be the mediator of His people. It also gave great force to the words which he spoke. When Moses came from the tent of meeting after having spoken with God everybody knew that what Moses was about to convey to them was a word directly from God. When Moses’ face was aglow, the words which Moses spoke were the very words of God. The radiant face of Moses gave testimony to the divinely inspired utterances which he spoke to the people.The meaning of this periodic transfiguration of Moses is not pressed in our passage, other than to imply that Moses’ words, which were spoken with this shining face, would likely be taken very seriously by the Israelites. It is not until the New Testament that this unusual phenomenon is taken up more thoroughly. CN

• NIVSN……………….NIV Study Notes. 
• JVM ………………….J Vernon McGee,
• ACC ………………… Adam Clarke’s Commentary
• BN ……………………Barnes Notes
• WBC………….…….Wycliffe Bible Commentary
• CN ……….…………..Constables Notes 
• IC……………….…….Ironside Commentary
• NET…………….…….Net Bible Study Notes.
• JFB……………………Jamieson Fausset  Brown Commentary
• VWS………………….Vincent Word Studies
• CMM………………..Commentary on Matthew and Mark
• BDB……………..….Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
• Darby……………….John Darby’s Synopsis of the OT and NT
• Johnson……………Johnson’s Notes on the New Testament.
• NTCMM…………..The New Testament Commentary:  Matthew and Mark.
• EHS………………….Expositions of the Holy Scriptures
• CPP…………………The Complete Pulpit Commentary
• SBC…………………..Sermon Bible Commentary
• K&D…………………Keil and Deilitzsch Commentary on the OT
• EBC……………….…Expositors Bible Commentary
• CBSC……………….Cambridge Bible for Schools and College
• GC……………………Guzik Commentary
• RD…………………..Robert  Deffinbaugh
• NSB …………………The Nelson Study Bible
• MHC…………………Matthew Henry Commentary
• ESVN……………..….ESV Study Bible Notes 
• MSBN……………….MacArthur NASB Study Notes
• CSTTB………………..Chuck Smith Through the Bible
  

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