After Moses came down from the Mt. Sinai, he broke the tablet with the Ten Words of God on them. But later, Moses asked God to look with mercy on the Israelites. And so, Moses went back up Mt. Sinai where God would tell him to write down His Words on the two tablets of stone that Moses had brought with him.
We now find Moses still on Mt. Sinai with God ready to renew the covenant with His people.
God Renews the Covenant
Read Exodus 34:10
– What again does God affirm that He is doing?
Excursus: What’s going on in Exodus 34:10?
Verse 10 has so much taking place within it that we need to take a few minutes to “get it.”
Bara: After God had said His words of censure concerning Israel, we find in this verse an exuberant response from God on renewing the Covenant with His people. God doesn’t simply say that He will make (cut) a covenant with Israel. He will “do” marvels. The word for “do” is from the Hebrews word bara. That’s the same word in Genesis 1 for “create.”
A good Hebrew listener was to “catch” that and be hurled back to the creation account. But this time, God was doing something no less marvelous. In the beginning, when God spoke, He brought life into being through His words. By His use of bara, God was making known that He was also giving life in His covenant with Israel. This time, however, it was spiritual life where only spiritual death held sway because of our fall into sin.
God is the Doer of the Verbs: Not only is God the doer behind bara, that He would “do marvels,” but He is also the doer of the other verbs in this verse. God is the one who is “cutting” a covenant with the people of Israel. He is the One who will “do” an awesome thing with the people of Israel.
The use of three verbs with God as the doer emphasizes that God is the One who makes them His people. God is even the doer when they gather on the Sabbath, the day of rest. Worship is not their work for God but God’s work for them.
Distinct: In Exodus 33:16, in last week’s lesson, the ESV translated the Hebrew word palah as “distinct.” Normally, we would find a word such as holy (kadosh), meaning “set apart,” being used there. But, instead, we find palah. Its use there specifically connects to pala in this verse (translated as “marvels”).
What does this mean? By using two different words that have the same sounds, God is emphasizing that the “marvels” that will take place with the Israelites are because of God. Israel’s distinctiveness is because of God’s presence among them and that He is the One behind the “marvels.”
Read Exodus 34:11-16
– What does God promise to do to those in the land that God had promised to the Israelites?
– Why?
Read Exodus 34:17
– As if what God had just stated wasn’t clear enough, what does He say in this verse (remember “gods” is elohim)?
– How does this again affirm the grievous sin the Israelites had committed by choosing to worship Yahweh based on their preferences of doing so through the Golden Calf?
Read Exodus 34:18-20
– God commands that Israel keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. What else does that entail?
Exodus 22:29: [God told Moses,] “The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me.”
– What is different this time with the firstborn sons?
– Again, why must they be redeemed, or brought back to the Lord?
Read Exodus 34:21-24
The Feast of Weeks was celebrated seven weeks after the spring harvest began (Leviticus 23:15-21). It is later called “Pentecost” (Acts 2:1). The Feast of Ingathering was celebrated after the late summer harvest was completed (Leviticus 23:33-43). It was also called “booths” (Deuteronomy 16:13) or “Tabernacles” (John 7:2).
– What does God again repeat concerning the Sabbath Day?
– What does He command that all the males are to do three times a year?
– Why did God command that when He just mentioned the seventh day as a day set apart for the Sabbath (rest) of worship?
– What does this mandate for coming to the Tabernacle/Temple three times a year hint about what will happen once Israel does live in the land that God will give them?
Read Exodus 34:25-26
– Again what type of bread is to be used during Passover? (Exodus 34:18)
– Earlier, God mentioned the firstfruits of the wheat harvest (Exodus 34:22). What does God command that to be done with the best of those firstfruits?
– What principle does this set in place for our giving to God’s house?
The boiling a young goat in milk: This was a fertility rite of the Canaanites. That act was an appeal to the gods for one’s flock to prosper in health and increase in numbers (Deuteronomy 14:21). Jewish tradition later extended this command of God into a general prohibition against mixing meat with dairy products and storing them in separate containers.
Read Exodus 34:27-28
– What does God command of Moses?
– What did Moses do when he was on the mountain?
– How long was he there? Why do you think it was that number of days?
The Shining Face of Moses
Read Exodus 34:29-30
– Although unstated, what did Moses not find when he returned from the mountain after 40 days?
– What was going on with Moses’ face? Why?
Read Exodus 34:31-36
– Moses’ face shone because he had seen God “face to face.” When would Moses unveil his face?
– What two things were taking place when Moses veiled his face?
- Moses was before whom?
- What was he not doing?
– When Moses was speaking for God, he did not wear the veil. When Moses was speaking for himself, he wore the veil. Discuss the function of such ecclesiastical clothing?
Click here to go to Lesson 32, the final lesson on Exodus.
