"God tells Moses to cut two new stone tablets like the 1st ones and to ascend Mt. Sinai so that He can give Moses the Ten Commandments again. Moses does as God commands. God comes down in a cloud and says this to Moses: "Yahweh--Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the father's wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation." After this, Moses bows and worships God asking forgiveness for Israel's sins. God reminds Moses and the Israelites of their covenant obligations. They are to never bow down to another God because the Lord, being jealous by nature, is a jealous God. God tells them not to make treaties with the inhabitants of the land God has promised for them (the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites). Moses was with the Lord on the mountaintop of Mt. Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights. He did not eat bread or drink water. He wrote down on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments. Moses descends the mountain to tell the Israelites what God had commanded. His face shown like a radiant light from being with God for so long."
Exodus 34 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Footnotes: Exodus 34:4 Some expositors suggest that the two tablets of stone were small enough to be easily carried. The pictures of Moses carrying large tombstone-size tablets are the result of an artist’s rendering, and are not supported in the Bible.
- THE GOD OF 2ND CHANCES. And many, endless chances.. Personally, I could not count how many times the Lord has saved me, forgiven me, helped me, and delivered me from my sins.. At this point, God was restoring the (rather symbolic) two tablets of stone because the previous one was broken (by Moses) due to Israelites' sin of idolatry (Golden Calf). God continues to use Moses mightily as a 'mediator' to his fellow Israel brothers.
"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
- THE ROCK THAT IS JESUS. The 2 Tablet of Stones contains the written commandments of God, and it is God Himself who wrote it. Does the 'stone' somehow foreshadow Lord Jesus and who He is? He is often called the Cornerstone and the Rock of ages.
"having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." Ephesians 2:20-22
"The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone." Psalm 118:22
- GOD OF ALL COMPASSION. God was full of compassion, that He only not saved Israel numerous times, but also, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17) Jesus, the Son of God, is the complete expression of God's COMPASSION! When He walked the earth, He showed so much compassion to many people, and He ultimately gave up His life for the salvation of the world.
"And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way." Matthew 15:32
"Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd." Matthew 9:36
"When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick." Matthew 14:14
10 Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will do wondrous works (miracles) such as have not been created or produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live shall see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful and awesome thing that I am going to do with you.
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 so that you do not make a covenant (solemn agreement, treaty) with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a [dangerous] trap among you. 13 But you shall tear down and destroy their [pagan] altars, smash in pieces their [sacred] pillars (obelisks, images) and cut down their [b]Asherim 14 —for you shall not worship any other god; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]— 15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the prostitute with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you [c]to eat his sacrifice (meal), 16 and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters would play the prostitute with their gods and cause your sons also to play the prostitute (commit apostasy) with their gods [that is, abandon the true God for man-made idols]. 17 You shall make for yourselves no molten gods.
18 “You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover). For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
19 “All the firstborn males among your livestock belong to Me, whether cattle or sheep. 20 You shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb; but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None of you are to appear before Me empty-handed.
21 “You shall work for six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; [even] in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest [on the Sabbath]. 22 You shall observe and celebrate the Feast of Weeks (Harvest, First Fruits, or Pentecost), the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the year’s end. 23 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord [d]God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out and dispossess nations before you and enlarge your borders; nor shall any man covet (actively seek for himself) your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times a year.
25 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover (Unleavened Bread) be left over until morning.
26 “You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not [e]boil a young goat in his mother’s milk [as some pagans do].”
27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Footnotes: Exodus 34:13 Symbols of the mother-goddess Asherah, usually a tree or pole dedicated to her and placed near her many shrines.
Exodus 34:15 Lit and you would eat. It was commonplace in ancient cultures to invite friends to a sacrifice to a pagan deity. Aside from its religious implications, at the end of the ceremony the sacrifice became a meal for all present and served as a social occasion.
Exodus 34:23 Heb YHWH (Yahweh), usually rendered Lord.
Exodus 34:26 This may have been a pagan practice, perhaps a fertility rite.
- COVENANT RELATIONSHIP. God repeated or re-affirmed His covenant upon Israel once again! And it was truly awesome, as God promised that He will do "wondrous works (miracles) such as have not been created or produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations." But the Israelites needed to do their part too, by obeying all of God's commandments. It will be an ultimate test of faith, endurance, and trusting/hoping in the Lord for them.. We all know that the generation of Israelites that were rescued from Egypt wandered for 40 years in the wilderness (with Moses), because of their sins, stubbornness, and disobedience.. But, despite all that, God was TRUE AND FAITHFUL to His covenant-- through the (chosen, firstborn) people of Israel, God sent His one and only Son Jesus to redeem and save us, and that's the GREATEST MIRACLE of all.💖
- WHY OBEY AND FOLLOW GOD? Because God seeks to protect the Israelites, God seeks to protect us from the deception, trap, and slavery from the enemy, from our sins. God wants to have a personal relationship with us, through our Mediator Jesus-- He wants to fulfill His great plans and purposes in our lives, too. And if we love God, we should follow and obey Him.
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face was shining [with a unique radiance] because he had been speaking with God. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to approach him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him; and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites approached him, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had said 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, [f]he would take off the veil until he came out. When he came out and he told the Israelites what he had been commanded [by God], 35 the Israelites would see the face of Moses, how his skin shone [with a unique radiance]. So Moses put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with God.
Footnotes: Exodus 34:34 The apostle Paul refers to this incident when he says that we all may, with unveiled faces, behold the glory of the Lord, and be transformed (2 Cor 3:13-18). That ability to personally approach God was once given only to the great leader of Israel, but it is now within reach of each individual believer. The gospel has no boundary keeping people at a distance from God; all believers may reverently approach Him.
- SHINING BECAUSE OF GOD'S GLORY. Moses spent another 40 days and 40 nights with the Lord, to be able to finish the making of two tablets of Testimony. Our faces and our lives will shine and brighten as well when we spend more time with the Lord, praying and listening to God.
"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16
"For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." 2 Corinthians 4:6
After reading, I always check out the Study Guide Commentary from David Guzik (very helpful!):
e. By no means clearing the guilty: If His love and forgiveness are rejected, God will punish and that punishment will have repercussions through the generations that hate Him (Exodus 20:5).
i. His loving, gracious, and giving character do not cancel out His righteousness. Because of the work of Jesus, the righteousness of God is satisfied and the grace and mercy of God are righteously given.
a. I will make a covenant: This was God’s covenant, that Israel was invited to join. He did not negotiate the terms with Israel. Instead He dictated the terms to the people of Israel through Moses.
b. I will do marvels…all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord: God’s plan was to glorify Himself to all the nations (all the people) through Israel, and to show His glory through the great things He did among them.
i. Israel had a choice regarding those great things. Either the great things would be blessings so impressive that every nation would know that God alone had blessed Israel (as was the case with Solomon). Or, the great things would be curses so horrible that every nation would know God had chastised Israel and yet kept them a nation (as was the case with the exile). Either way, God would glorify Himself through Israel among the nations.
iii. I will do marvels: “This seems to refer to what God did in putting them in possession of the land of Canaan, causing the walls of Jericho to fall down; making the sun and moon to stand still, [and so forth].” (Clarke)
(Exo 34:12-16) Israel must be separate from the Canaanites in worship, politics, fellowship and marriage.
b. And they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods: There was a definite connection between the worship of the Canaanite gods and sexual immorality. Many of the Canaanite gods were fertility gods and were worshipped with ritual prostitutes and sex.
a. The Feast of Unleavened Bread: First mentioned in Exodus 12:14-20, this feast spoke of the purity God desired among Israel before Him, when all leaven – a symbol of sin – was put away and Israel walked in a symbolic purity.
b. So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water: This was a completely unique and supernatural fast. It is definitely possible (yet remarkable) for someone to live without food for 40 days, but by any account it is a miracle to go without water for this long. This kind of fasting is never repeated or recommended in the Scriptures.
a. Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him: Close communion with God physically affected Moses. His face had a shining appearance that was so noticeable that both the leaders and the people of Israel were afraid to come near him.
i. After such a remarkable fast we would expect that Moses looked pale and sickly. Apparently not; instead his face shone with a radiance and glory so great that it made others hesitant to come near him.
ii. It is true that a life lived with God affects physical appearance, especially the face. The peace, joy, love, and goodness of God should be evident on the face of the one who follows Jesus. Yet what Moses experienced seems beyond that general principle, and a direct result from his remarkable communication with God (his face shone while he talked with Him).
b. Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone: Wonderfully, Moses did not know this. He was unaware of the greatness of his own spiritual radiance. This was because Moses was a genuinely and deeply humble man (Numbers 12:3).
ii. We read of only two men in the Bible whose faces shone like this: Moses and Stephen (Acts 6:15). Both were humble men. “I am afraid, brethren, that God could not afford to make our faces shine: we should grow too proud. It needs a very meek and lowly spirit to bear the shinings of God.” (Spurgeon)
b. He put a veil on his face: It is easy to think that Moses wore the veil so the people would not be afraid to come near him (Exodus 34:30), or that the purpose of the veil was to protect others from the glorious radiance of Moses’ face. Yet the Apostle Paul explained the real purpose of the veil: not to hide the shining face of Moses, but so that the diminishing glory of his face would not be observed because the glory was fading.
i. Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away (2 Corinthians 3:13). The Old Covenant had a glory, but it was a fading glory. God didn’t want people to see the fading glory of the Old Covenant, and lose confidence in Moses.
ii. The Old Covenant was great and glorious – but it looks pretty pale in comparison to the New Covenant. A bright autumn moon may look beautiful and give great light, but it is nothing compared to the noonday sun.
Reference and credits to https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Exd/Exd-34.cfm ©2013 David Guzik
No comments:
Post a Comment