Exodus 34:1-14 – God Renews His Covenant

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

Exodus 34 shows us a great deal about how God is through His own proclamation. God is a God of second chances, and He must be faithful to that.

Introduction

God’s faithfulness to us is unmatched!  You will not find one who is more faithful to you, yet we do not truly appreciate what it means that God is faithful to us.  Where would we be without God’s faithfulness?

We as believers should always take time to consider where we would be without the Lord so that we can truly appreciate Him.  In our lesson this week, we are going to look at God’s proclamation to Moses as He passed before him on the mount.  From His proclamation, we will see that God truly is faithful to both His word and to us.  This week’s Sunday School commentary will cover scripture from Exodus 34:1-14. 

What we will focus on learning in this week’s Sunday School commentary:

1. Being in fellowship with the Lord.
2. The mercy of God and what it means for us.
3. Obedience and the consequences of disobedience.

The Law Broken

Our lesson this week opens with God instructing Moses to cut out two tablets of stone, “like the first ones”, and that He would then write on them what was written on the first (Ex. 34:1).  The opening verse of this chapter is a reminder of what took place in Exodus 32, so, let’s take a moment to cover what had taken place for a fuller undrestanding of this scripture.  

Israel’s sin at Mount Sinai

After the children of Israel entered into their covenant with the Lord, God called Moses up Mount Sinai so that He could give Moses His law to then give to the people (Ex. 24:16-18).  During the forty days and nights that Moses was on the mountain, Exodus 32:1-4 shows us that the children of Israel desired for Aaron to make them a god to worship.

Rather than rebuke the people, Aaron made a molded calf, fashioning it in the gold that he had received from the people.  The people then celebrated and worshiped the molded calf, proclaiming that it was their god, which brought them out of Egypt.

At this sight, Exodus 32:7-10 shows us where the Lord grew angry at the children of Israel.  The Lord called the children of Israel a stiff-necked (stubborn) people.  The Lord had also said to Moses, “Let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”

God said a very similar thing to Moses, as we saw in last week’s commentary – Moses Prays for Mercy – when the children of Israel refused to enter the Promised Land.  For those of you who may not understand God’s anger, I will reference the Ten Commandments, which the children had just agreed to keep at that time.

In Exodus 20:3, you will see that the first of the Ten Commandments is:  “You shall have no other gods before Me.”  Exodus 20:4, the second of the Ten Commandments is:  “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.”

The children of Israel had disobeyed both of the first two commandments during the forty days after that they had agreed to do what God had commanded of them (Ex. 19:7-8)!  

Think whatever you will of those who had sinned so quickly at Mount Sinai, but our sin is no different than there sin.  You and I can say a prayer to the Lord, read scripture, attend church service, and immediately after doing those things, sin.  That is just how quick and easy it is for us to transgress God!  We are like Paul, who spoke of being so wretched because of the law of sin being present in him, warring against what he wished to do (Rom. 7:21-24). 

After Moses had interceded for the people on Mount Sinai (Ex. 32:11-14), he came down the mountain and saw their sinful act.  Upon seeing their sin, Moses threw to the ground the two tablets of stone that God had hewn out of rock and written on (Ex. 32:19).  So, Israel had broken the law through their actions, and Moses, being angry, literally shattered the stones that the law was written on.

Example of Obedience Through Moses

I want to briefly highlight Exodus 32:4, just to highlight Moses’ obedience.  Along with having to cut out two stone tablets like the first pair, God had also given Moses instructions in Exodus 32:2-3.  The task of cutting out the two tablets of stone needed to be done by morning because Moses needed to present himself before God, by himself, in the morning.

Exodus 32:4 highlights that Moses did as God had instructed without grumbling or complaint.  I don’t want to make light of this to you, so let me point out that Moses cut out stone tablets in a single day!  We know that he did because he rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai with the two stone tablets in hand.

I can’t imagine that was a quick and easy thing to do – cutting on stone tablets!  How many of us are of such obedience?  I have to be honest with all of you: I would likely have groaned at the idea of cutting out the stone tablets and complained the whole time doing it!  

Moses, completing the task and standing before God the next morning without complaint, showed how great his devotion was to God, especially in comparison to the rest of Israel, who had grumbled, complained, and eventually sinned.  

I am going to speak more on this in a moment, but I want to say to you that such devotion is what the Lord loves.  Moses was a man who, like the rest of us, was far from perfect.  Yet, what set him apart from most was his devotion to the Lord.  When we walk by faith, let us not walk half-heartedly, as the children of Israel had done; let us walk wholeheartedly.

God’s Proclamation to Moses and Mankind

The meat of our lesson takes place from Exodus 34:5-7, where God passed before Moses proclaiming who He was.  God, in His proclamation, tells us who He is, and by His actions, we can take Him at His word.

God is faithful

Before we even get into the proclamation, I want to point out that God was showing Himself to be faithful to His word.  In Exodus 33:12-17, Moses had asked the Lord to continue with him and the people when they would leave Mount Sinai, to which God said that He would continue with the people, though they had sinned.

Then, in Exodus 33:18, Moses asked God to show him His glory.  To that request, the Lord told Moses that he would be unable to see all of his glory because it would overwhelm him.  However, the Lord made it so that He would pass before Moses and shield him so that he could get a glimpse of God.

So, before God even began with His proclamation to Moses, He was showing His faithfulness to Moses by passing before him.  In like manner, whatever we ask, the Lord has promised to do for us so that He may be glorified (John 15:7-8).  If you are a child of the Lord, you have likely seen the Lord move mountains for you!  I certainly have seen God move mountains for me, and I am truly grateful for His faithfulness.

God is merciful and gracious

In the opening of His proclamation, in Exodus 34:6-7, let us note that the Lord first spoke of His love, stating that He is merciful, gracious, and longsuffering (patient) for thousands (or generations after generations).  

I often wonder whether or not we truly appreciate the Lord’s love towards us.  What do you think?  Do you think we appreciate God’s love?

God is a God of second chances.  Notice that I used the plural of “chance” because God does not simply offer us one more.  If God were the God of only one more chance, all of us would be long gone!  Yet, God has made promises to us that require Him to give us chance after chance after chance.

Beginning with the making of mankind, God made mankind in His image, according to His likeness, so that He may dwell in fellowship with us, and we with Him.  Yet, Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, becoming that which the Lord will never dwell with – sin.  Did God destroy them after their sin? 

Genesis 3:21-24 shows us that God made tunics for Adam and Eve and sent them out of the garden.  Sure, they had to put forth hard labor because of their sin, but God did not destroy them.  

You see, in the garden, the Lord made a promise, promising the defeat of the serpent (Satan) and sin (Gen. 3:14-15).  As it is said in Hebrews 6:13, when God makes a promise, He can swear by no greater because there is nothing and no one who is greater than Him, so He swears to Himself.  Because He is righteous, God cannot fail, which locks Him into being faithful to what He promises.  

Now, I want you to really think about that statement for a moment.  God cannot slip up or back track one time because that would mean that He has failed.  If God fails, how could He dare proclaim to be a righteous God?  So, God has to be faithful, not simply to us, but He has to be faithful to Himself first!

So, in His faithfulness, God gave His only begotten Son so that we may have a second chance at everlasting life.  He gives all people repeated chances at everlasting life, and the reason why that is the case is because God desires to dwell with all people for everlasting life! 

If God did not care, if He did not love mankind, He would have never given His only begotten Son, let alone given us repeated chances to make corrections in our lives.  Without His mercy, mankind would be lost down a path that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Prov. 14:12).  Without His mercy, mankind would have completely destroyed itself a long time ago!

I genuinely believe that all of us should take time to consider where we would be today if God weren’t so patient with us.  I know for a fact I wouldn’t be here today without God’s mercy.  God’s mercy is something we should be thankful for so long as we have breath in these bodies of ours.

God is a just God

At the same time, while the Lord is merciful and gracious, at the end of Exodus 34:7, the Lord said that He will not clear the guilty by any means.

We should never think that the wicked and evil are getting away with their crimes.  Sure, in the world, we know that the wealthy, the wicked, the corrupt often get away with their crimes, but they do so because mankind’s integrity is a joke.  Because integrity, especially today, is a joke, mankind’s idea of justice is also a joke.

In this proclamation, God proclaims not only to be a God of justice, but a God who loves doing what is just.  The guilty of whom the Lord spoke of in His proclamation are those who choose not to seek His mercy and grace.

In Ezekiel 18:1-18, the Lord made clear how He is just in His judgments.  The Israelites had come up with a proverb that God refuted.  Their proverb said, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”  

In other words, they spoke a proverb that essentially said sin is generational.  To them, if one’s parents were sinners, then their children would be sinners also.  Such a proverb is something that still gets passed around today when children are judged for who they are, or will be, because of who or what their parents were.

Now, such a proverb is not fair for a child.  In His refuting of their proverb, the Lord simply said this:  “The soul who sins shall die.  But if a man is just and does what is lawful and right … He shall not die for the iniquity of his father; He shall surely live.”

To Nicodemus, Jesus said that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have everlasting life (John 3:16).  Jesus’ teaching to Nicodemus was just God saying what He has said repeatedly about being a God of mercy and grace.

In 1 John 1:9, John reiterated the proclamation of God and the teaching of Christ when he said that God is both faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse all unrighteousness.  

However, one ought not think that the guilty sinner won’t be held accountable or will escape the Lord.  To Nicodemus, Jesus also said, “He who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).”

Walking in Fellowship With God

After His proclamation, Exodus 34:8-9 shows us that Moses, interceding for the children of Israel again, asked God to go with them.  

Benefits of fellowship with God

I want to point out that this was the third time that Moses, in a manner of speaking, had asked the Lord to be in fellowship with him and the people after their sin at Mount Sinai.  Now, I am pointing this out to you because I want you to see how much Moses valued being in fellowship with the Lord.  Fellowship is something I don’t believe we value today because we hardly value being in fellowship with each other when we need to!

Moses understood the benefit of God not only being with him, but being with the people as well.  Consider this:  Who can threaten or overcome you when God is with you?  

Some of you may dare to answer that question by saying ‘the devil’, yet even Satan knows that he isn’t on equal footing with his Maker.  The devil tried to overthrow the Lord, but Revelation 12:7-9 shows us that he failed miserably to get by Michael and was cast out.  Revelation 20 shows us that in his final stand, he will, once again, fail miserably and swiftly.

When one dwells in fellowship with the Lord, as David said, God becomes their refuge.  Does that mean that life will get any easier?  

Well, the children of Israel still faced the hardships of the journey to the Promised Land.  For example, there was a time when they had very little food, and the children of Israel complained (Ex. 16).  There was a time when, after their exodus from Egypt, the Amalekites crept in from behind and attacked the children of Israel (Ex. 17:8-13).  On both occasions, the Lord sustained the children of Israel, providing them with manna and delivering them from the Amalekites.

Let’s be clear about this:  God has never said that you will not experience hardships on the journey.  In fact, Jesus spoke of how we will have tribulation in the world (John 16:33).  Yet, when you walk in fellowship with the Lord, you shouldn’t fear because God will make a way out of no way in those hard times.

Obedience in fellowship

Finally, Exodus 34:10-14 shows us all that God desires from us when we choose to walk in fellowship with Him.  

When we walk in fellowship with the Lord, all He desires from us is to walk in obedience to His way, heeding His instructions.  Now, does this mean that we are to be perfect in our walk?  May I suggest to you that there is a reason that God is a merciful God?  

The Lord knows that you cannot be perfect in your walk, and He doesn’t ask for you to be perfect.  IF we could be perfect, there would be no reason for Him to be merciful.  IF we could be perfect, He wouldn’t have had need to give His only begotten Son.

What the Lord desires is our faithfulness.  Again, I say, do not mistake faithfulness for being perfect because such a mindset leads to self-righteousness, and that is sinful.  

In our faithfulness, the Lord desires for us to lean on Him, depend on Him, come to Him, and walk with Him.  Moses, again, is an example of this because he was an imperfect man who would go to the Lord seeking mercy.  The Lord loves those who seek His mercy, as shown in Jesus’ Parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee.

When we seek the Lord’s mercy, it helps us to remain upright in our walk of faith, rather than being weighed down by the guilt of our sin.  When we seek God’s mercy, we actually live by the covenant that has been made to us through the shed blood of Jesus.  Jesus died so that we can obtain mercy and find favor in times of our sin.

So, let us choose not to break the covenant that God has made with us through Christ, by believing ourselves to already be perfect.  We aren’t perfect!  We live in God’s mercy!  Moreover, God is willing to show us mercy and forgive us of our sins.