Exodus34

God commands Moses to hew new stone tables, promising to re-inscribe the covenant words upon them. The LORD descends, proclaiming His merciful yet just character, and renews the covenant with Israel, reiterating laws concerning idolatry, feasts, and firstborn. Moses descends from Sinai after forty days, his face shining from God's presence, necessitating a veil when speaking to the people.

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Preparation for Covenant Renewal

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

Be ready in the morning, and come up on Mount Sinai to present yourself before Me on the mountaintop.

No one may go up with you; in fact, no one may be seen anywhere on the mountain—not even the flocks or herds may graze in front of the mountain.”

So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the originals. He rose early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hands, he went up Mount Sinai as the LORD had commanded him.

The LORD Proclaims His Name

And the LORD descended in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name, the LORD.

Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,

maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

Moses immediately bowed down to the ground and worshiped.

“O Lord,” he said, “if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our iniquity and sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”

Renewal of the Covenant Stipulations

And the LORD said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will perform wonders that have never been done in any nation in all the world. All the people among whom you live will see the LORD’s work, for it is an awesome thing that I am doing with you.

Observe what I command you this day. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.

Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.

For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.

And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.

You shall make no molten gods for yourselves.

You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, you are to eat unleavened bread as I commanded you. For in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

The first offspring of every womb belongs to Me, including all the firstborn males among your livestock, whether cattle or sheep.

You must redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb; but if you do not redeem it, you are to break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed.

Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.

And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.

Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.

For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the LORD your God.

Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to Me along with anything leavened, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning.

Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

The LORD also said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

Moses’ Shining Face and the Veil

So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD.

Aaron and all the Israelites looked at Moses, and behold, his face was radiant. And they were afraid to approach him.

But Moses called out to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them.

And after this all the Israelites came near, and Moses commanded them to do everything that the LORD had told him on Mount Sinai.

When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded,

and the Israelites would see that the face of Moses was radiant. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

Study Notes for Exodus 34

Verse 1

God commands Moses to prepare new stone tablets, emphasizing that the covenant relationship is being restored despite Israel's recent failure (the Golden Calf incident).

Verse 5

This is a pivotal moment (a theophany) where God reveals His character, not just His power. The cloud signifies God's majestic presence and mystery.

Verse 6

This passage (v. 6-7), often called the 'Creed of Yahweh,' is the most quoted theological self-description of God in the Old Testament, emphasizing mercy, grace, and faithfulness.

Verse 7

The tension between forgiving sin and judging the unrepentant highlights God's perfect justice and holiness balanced with his love. The visitation of iniquity across generations refers to the societal consequences of persistent corporate sin, not individual eternal damnation.

Verse 8

Moses’ immediate response to God’s self-revelation is humble worship, demonstrating the appropriate reverence when encountering divine holiness.

Verse 9

Moses intercedes again, basing his plea for forgiveness not on Israel’s worthiness, but on God’s revealed character (v. 6-7) and the recognition that Israel is indeed a 'stiffnecked people.'

Verse 10

The covenant renewal is marked by a promise of divine intervention ('marvels') in the land conquest, confirming the LORD’s commitment to Israel despite their rebellion.

Verse 12

The prohibition against making covenants with the inhabitants of Canaan is central to maintaining Israel's distinct religious identity and holiness in the Promised Land.

Verse 13

The requirement to destroy foreign religious objects (altars, pillars, Asherah poles) emphasizes that Yahweh worship must be exclusive and intolerant of syncretism.

Verse 14

The name 'Jealous' (Hebrew: *qanna*) describes God's righteous demand for exclusive loyalty from His covenant people, not personal envy.

Verse 16

The prohibition against intermarriage is tied specifically to the danger of religious assimilation and apostasy, stressing the priority of theological separation over cultural integration.

Verse 17

This reiterates the second commandment, essential immediately following the recent sin of the Golden Calf (Exod 32).

Verse 18

This section (v. 18-26) restates several key laws and festival requirements often referred to by scholars as the 'Ritual Decalogue,' focusing on proper worship practice.

Verse 20

The redemption of the firstborn (human and animal) commemorates God sparing the Israelite firstborn during the final plague in Egypt (Exod 13).

Verse 21

The command for Sabbath rest is so absolute that it applies even during crucial agricultural periods ('earing time and in harvest'), underscoring its theological importance over economic urgency.

Verse 22

The three annual pilgrimage festivals—Unleavened Bread/Passover, Weeks (Pentecost), and Ingathering (Tabernacles)—structure the religious calendar and connect worship to the agricultural cycle.

Verse 24

This verse contains a remarkable promise of divine protection: God assures Israel that their land will not be coveted or seized by enemies while all the men are away performing their required pilgrimage duties.

Verse 26

The final dietary law, 'Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk,' likely prohibits an ancient Canaanite fertility rite, emphasizing humane treatment and separation from pagan practices.

Verse 27

God instructs Moses to write down these specific stipulations, confirming they form the binding terms of the renewed covenant.

Verse 28

Moses spends another forty days fasting in God's presence. The text clarifies that the Ten Commandments were written on the tablets, either by God directly or by Moses under divine command.

Verse 29

Moses was unaware that his face was radiating glory (*qaran*), a physical manifestation of having been intimately in the presence of God (the *Kavod*).

Verse 30

The fear of the Israelites demonstrates the awe and distance between divine holiness and human sinfulness that Moses’ reflected glory represented.

Verse 33

The veil served as an intermediary, protecting the people from the intense divine glory reflected on Moses' face, which was temporary and faded over time (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:13).

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Exodus34

Preparation for Covenant Renewal

The LORD Proclaims His Name

Renewal of the Covenant Stipulations

Moses’ Shining Face and the Veil

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