Last Sunday, for the second straight week, we left off right in the middle of our story. Ever since the golden calf, God and Moses have been working out what kind of future there can be, for God and Israel. Moses has been trying to persuade God that Israel is still his people. Moses still wants God to go up in their midst. He still wants Israel to be distinguished from every other nation. He still wants Israel to be a kingdom of priests.
And because Moses has God's favor, and because God knows Moses by name, God says "yes" to all of this. God will heed Moses' voice, and do what Moses wants.
That brings us up to last week's verses, in Exodus 33:18-23. When God gives Moses his "yes," and tells him that he has God's favor, Moses responds by asking to see God's glory. Again, that's last week's passage, Exodus 33:18-23.
Now, we'd maybe expect Exodus to tell us the story of that encounter, immediately after the request. But that's not what Exodus does. Exodus sandwiches the conclusion to that story, around something else-- around the covenant.
The covenant God made through Moses, at this point in Exodus, is still broken. The people still have the Abrahamic covenant. The promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are still in effect. But everything else, from Exodus 19 on, is no longer ratified in covenant. So that's a problem.
And there's one other thing that's still a huge problem. Israel is a stiff-necked people. Israel doesn't have God's favor, the way that Moses does. Israel is still stubborn, and rebellious.
Those are two outstanding issues that still need to be resolved-- the covenant, and the stiff-neck. And those two things don't go together very easily. How can God work with a stiff-necked people? How can He truly, fully commit himself to a people who rebel?
These are the things our passage today will resolve. And they will do that, against the background of Yahweh's goodness. Yahweh's goodness is the solution.
THAT is what Exodus is doing. THAT is why Exodus is written like it is.
Now, the only way we will really catch this, is by reading a huge chunk of Exodus 34. We need to make it all the way to verse 27, to hear the story the right way. So what I'm planning, mostly, is to keep my hands off the story, and let it speak for itself. As I read, think about three things: (1) Yahweh's goodness, (2) the people's stiff-neck, (3) and the covenant.
So let's pick back up at Exodus 33:18:
(18) and he (Moses) said,
"Show me, please, your GLORY,"
(19) and He said,
"I will cause to pass over all my GOODNESS before your face/presence,
and I will call/proclaim by the name of Yahweh before your face/presence,
and I will show favor to whom I show favor,
and I will show compassion/love to whom I will show compassion/love,"
(20) and He said,
"You aren't able to see my face/presence
because humans ("the adam/human") can't see, and live,
(21) and Yahweh said,
"LOOK! A place by me,
and you shall stand upon the rock,
(22) and then, when my GLORY passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock,
and I will cover with my hand over you until I have passed by,
(23) and I will take away my hand,
and you will see my back,
while my face/presence shall not be seen,"
(34:1) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Cut for yourself two stone tablets, like the first ones,
that I may write upon the tablets the words that were upon the first tablets that you broke,
and then, be ready for the morning,
and/that you may ascend in the morning to Mount Sinai,
and/that you may stand/present yourself before me there at the top of the mountain,
(3) while no one may ascend with you,
and, what's more, no one may be seen anywhere on the mountain.
What's more, the flocks and the cattle may not graze opposite of that mountain,"
So those are God's instructions. God will reveal his glory to Moses, just as Moses asked. And what is God's glory? [His goodness.] But God will reveal his goodness on the next day. In the meantime, God gives Moses a job to do-- to cut two stone tablets, exactly like the first.
What we see here, is that God is planning to recommit to the covenant. So as we keep reading, and we think about God revealing his goodness to Moses on the mountain, think about the two stone tablets.
Verse 4-6:
(4) and he cut two stone tablets like the first,
and Moses rose early in the morning, [he's as eager to do this, as the people were to sin]
and he ascended to Mount Sinai,
just as Yahweh commanded him,
and he took in his hand the two stone tablets,
(5) and Yahweh descended in a cloud,
and He stood with him there,
and He called (out) in/by the name of Yahweh,
(6) and Yahweh passed by in front of his face,
and He called (out),
"Yahweh [is?] Yahweh, a God (El) compassionate and gracious, long/slow of anger, and great in loyalty (hesed) and faithfulness, keeping loyalty (hesed) to the thousands, carrying sin/guilt and transgression and sin,
while He surely doesn't leave unpunished/ pardon, visiting/punishing the sin/guilt of the fathers upon the
sons and upon the grandsons, upon the third [generation] and upon the fourth [generation],"
Earlier, Yahweh had said that He shows favor to whom He will show favor, and He shows love/compassion to whom He will show love/compassion. And when He said that, we found ourselves wrestling with the question of whether that favor and love would be shown to Israel, or only to Moses.
What we see in these verses, is that God has reached a decision about how He will act toward his people (Exodus 33:5 is resolved). Yahweh will be a God who is compassionate, who shows grace, who is slow to anger, who is great in loyalty and faithfulness. He will be a God who carries guilt and transgression and sin.
That is who Yahweh is, fundamentally. Or, at least, that's the first half of who Yahweh is.
And then He adds a second half, in verse 7-- the "while." "While He surely doesn't leave unpunished."
When the fathers sin, God punishes, up to the third and fourth generation. This is often taken to mean something like "generational sin." Like, your grandpa was an abusive drunk, and God puts the guilt of that sin on his children, and on you. God punishes you, because your grandpa was a drunk.
What God is talking here, isn't anything like that. In Exodus, under the covenant God made with Moses, God relates to the people as a whole. And in that, it's the older generation who bears the most responsibility. It's the grandparents-- the elders-- who decide what direction the nation moves as a whole. Aaron, is the reason the golden calf happened. Aaron, is the reason the nation as a whole was led astray. Aaron, is the reason why the nation was punished, to the third and fourth generation.
Without trying to be funny, because it's not, think about Joe Biden. If the Israelite grandparents steer the nation of Israel toward idolatry, and sexual immorality, then God will punish the nation as a whole. And if we read the history of Israel, working our way through Joshua, Judges, and 1 and 2 Kings, we see this play out repeatedly. When the people sin, God sends drought, and disease, and foreign enemies against Israel. The people as a whole, through four generations, suffer, because of sin. Then, especially in Judges, the people cry out, and God rescues them. But lots of time goes by, and several generations suffer.
[Another example, on a smaller scale, is Numbers 16:25-34. There, specific fathers sin, and the families are punished. Achan is another good example-- he sinned, and he and his family were killed. There, his family was certainly aware of what he'd done.]
That's what God is saying in Exodus 34. And when the people in Ezekiel's time protest that this is unfair, God agrees to change how this will work from that point forward. In Ezekiel 18, God commits to making it so, that the one who sins, will be the one who dies.
Now, even after saying all of that, we still find ourselves wrestling with how the two halves of verses 6-7 go together. God says that He "carries" sin, and guilt, and transgression. At the same time, God "visits" the sins of the fathers upon the children.
How do we think about these two different responses to sin, together?
Let me use an analogy.
Many of you have been to a national park where there are steep drop offs-- the Grand Canyon, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the Badlands. In areas where it could be dangerous, especially for children, the government has put a rail in place. And you're supposed to stay on this side of the rail.
Now, many people know that there is an area of relative safety beyond that rail. It's a bit of gray area, so long as a park ranger doesn't see you. You can often go another five, or 10, or 20 feet, without consequences. But if you go 21 feet, there's a chance you'll die.
God has really clear expectations, OT and NT. There is a rail, and God expects his people to live inside of that rail. And inside that rail, is the place where you will find God's loyalty, and favor, and blessings.
At the other extreme, the drop-off, 21 feet out, is the place where you find yourself bowing down and worshipping a golden calf. That's the place that for sure completely breaks the covenant, and results in God's punishment.
In between these two extremes, is where we find a gray area of sorts. God's people can be stiff-necked, and rebellious. They don't always mirror God's loyalty, with their own. They struggle. They live a compromised life, in one area or other. Basically, they are on the wrong side of the rail. Sometimes God's people live in the gray area. Other times, they temporarily sneak under the rail, rebelling against God. And then, they find themselves wanting to come back.
How does God deal with his people, when they find themselves between the rail and the drop off?
Earlier in Exodus, we were told three times that Yahweh is not a God who forgives. He doesn't pardon. He expects total allegiance, and loyalty.
Here, God reveals to Moses that He is slow to anger. He is a God who shows favor, and grace. He is loyal. He forgives-- He "carries" sin and guilt. At the same time, somehow, He doesn't leave sin unpunished.
Is this new? Has something changed?
This is debated.
But I think this entire section is like an echo of the story about Noah and the flood. And let's turn to Genesis 8:20-21 (NIV, and I think the translation maybe matters-- you need one where the "ki" is translated concessively as "although" (NRSV) or "even though" (NIV):
20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
[I jumped the gun here, but the word "even though" is found in Exodus 34:9].
After the flood, God made the decision that He would show grace to humans, and to the ground/earth, from this point forward. He would change How responded to sin, so that the flood was a one-off act of judgment. And God did this, because of Noah. God decides that He will tolerate a great deal of sin in the world, because of people like Noah. God will take the bad with the good.
When we turn back to Exodus, I think we see something similar. Israel is a stiff-necked people. That hasn't changed. But what's different, compared to Exodus 19-23, is the stronger emphasis on forgiveness. Yahweh will be a God who forgives.
We can see this, in part, by comparing Exodus 34:6-7 with Exodus 20:5-6 (ESV no reason):
5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Now let's reread Exodus 34:6-7:
(6) and Yahweh passed by in front of his face,
and He called (out),
"Yahweh [is?] Yahweh, a God (El) compassionate and gracious, long/slow of anger, and great in loyalty (hesed) and faithfulness, keeping loyalty (hesed) to the thousands, carrying sin/guilt and transgression and sin,
while He surely doesn't leave unpunished/ pardon, visiting/punishing the sin/guilt of the fathers upon the sons and upon the grandsons, upon the third [generation] and upon the fourth [generation],"
What we see here, is that Yahweh has flipped around how he talks about his mercy, and his judgment. Here, on this side of the golden calf, the "emphasis and priority . . . are given to God's magnanimous qualities rather than to His judgmental actions" (Nahum Sarna, Exodus, 216).
So I think God here has made his decision. Earlier, He was still working out how He would respond to Israel. He was still working out what He would do with them (Exodus 33:5).
But what God has decided in these verses, is that He will be slow to anger, and loyal, and faithful, even though his own people will often sin. God will show grace, and make the relationship work.
So when you find yourself on the wrong side of the rail, and you come to your senses, you can come crawling back to God. You can be like the prodigal son, and God will take you back. OT and NT, God's people are in covenant relationship with a loving, forgiving Father.
At the same time, God also says that there can be (?) consequences to sin and rebellion. Sometimes, your sin will lead to God punishing you. God is slow to anger, but if you push the limits of that patience too long, and too far, He will get angry.
So again, when you find yourself on the wrong side of the rail, understand that it's not a truly safe place to live. It might seem like God's grace and patience gives you lots of margin. But that margin erodes (and that's the point of 1 Corinthians 10:13-- a badly misunderstood verse; see my sermon on that).
Probably the best way to think about that space between the rail and the edge, is that's a place of ambiguity, and uncertainty. When you live in this space, you can't know for sure how God will respond. You're on borrowed time-- but how much time? There's no way to know. You can't know how much you've pushed the limits of God's patience. You can't know when He's starting to get really angry. And since there's no way to know for sure, what should you do? Crawl back to God, while you still can.
So what see, in Exodus 34:6-7, is Yahweh reveals himself. And in this self-revelation, there is a strong focus on how God will respond to sin and rebellion from this point forward.
With this, we come to Moses' response, in verses 8-9:
(8) and Moses hurried,
and he knelt down toward the ground,
and he worshipped/bowed down,
(9) and he (Moses) said,
"If, please, I have found favor in your eyes, my lord (adonai), may my lord go, please, in our midst,
even though a people hard/stiff of neck, it [is], ["stiff-necked" is focused]
and forgive our guilt/sin and our transgression,
and take possession of us,"
Moses hears the ambiguity in God's self-revelation in verses 7-8. He knows that Israel, at this point, is in the gray area, and that things are unsettled. Has God fully forgiven Israel? Is God done punishing Israel? Is there a clear path forward?
So Moses asks God, very nicely, to do something that's maybe impossible. He wants God, somehow, to live in the midst of a stiff-necked people. He wants God to dwell in the tabernacle, inside of the camp.
And, He wants God to forgive their sin, and to take possession of them.
[I love this line. That's what it looks to be God's people-- for God to take possession of you.]
These are big requests. And the only thing Moses can appeal to, to persuade God to do this, is his own favor with God. Moses knows that he matters to God-- that God values him, and knows him by name.
Is this enough? Can God's favor be extended beyond Moses, to include Israel?
With this, we come to God's response, starting in verse 10. What God is doing here, is unilaterally (find a different word) restoring the covenant, and showing Moses and Israel a path forward. [I think it's like when your spouse cheats on you, and at that point, whether or not your marital covenant will continue, or if it's just done, is up to you. This is God's decision to make, and Israel has to accept either outcome.] I'm just going to read it, all the way up to verse 27. Much of this will hopefully be familiar from my past sermons. Much of it, is God repeating himself, because God is reinitiating the covenant.
But there's one big difference-- God spends a lot of time focusing on the importance of being faithful to God. You covenant with God, and not with outsiders. Verse 10:
(10) and He said,
"LOOK! I am cutting a covenant.
Before all your people, I will do wonders
that haven't been created in all the earth/land, and among all the nations,
that all the people-- who you are in the midst of-- shall see the work of Yahweh,
because frightful/awesome, it [will be],
what I am about to do with you.
[the participle here has the sense of 'about to do']
(11) Keep/guard yourself (singular) what I am commanding you today.
LOOK! I am about to drive out before you the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the
Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
Keep/guard yourself (singular), lest you cut a covenant with the ones dwelling in the land,
which you are about to go to it,
lest it [=the covenant with them?] be a snare in your midst,
(13) but rather their altars you shall tear down,
while their pillars you shall destroy,
while its asherah poles you shall cut [down],
(14) because you shall not bow down to another god (El),
because Yahweh, jealous, His name [is].
A God (El) jealous, He [is],
(15) lest you (singular) cut a covenant with the inhabitants of the land,
and they prostitute themselves after their gods (elohim),
and they sacrifice to their gods (elohim),
and he calls to you,
and/that you may eat of his sacrifice,
(16) and/that you may take from his daughters for your sons,
and/that their daughters may prostitute after their gods,
and/that they will cause your sons to prostitute after their gods.
(17) Gods of molten/cast metal (elohim) you shall not make for yourself.
(18) The feast/festival of unleavened bread you shall keep.
Seven days you shall eat [the] unleavened bread
that I have commanded you at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,
because in the month of Aviv you came out from Egypt.
(19) Everything breaking the womb (=the firstborn) is mine,
and/with all your livestock-- the male-- the firstborn of the ox and small livestock--,
(20) while the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a small livestock,
while if you don't redeem [it], you shall break its neck.
Every firstborn of your sons you shall redeem,
and they shall not appear before my face/presence empty-handed.
(21) Six days you shall work/serve,
while the seventh day you shall cease/rest.
In the plowing time and in the harvesting time you shall cease/rest,
(22) while the festival of weeks you shall do/observe for yourself-- the firstfruits of the harvest of wheat,
with the festival of the gathering of the harvest at the turning of the year.
(23) Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the face/presence of the lord (adonai) Yahweh, the God (Elohim) of Israel,
(24) because I will drive out the nations before you(r face),
and I will enlarge your territory,
and no one will desire your land when you go up to appear before the face/presence of Yahweh your God three times in the year.
(25) You shall not offer upon leaven the blood of my sacrifice,
and it shall not be left until morning-- the sacrifice of the feast/festival of the Passover.
(26) The first/best of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of Yahweh your God.
You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother,"
(27) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Write down for yourself these words,
because in accordance with these words I hereby cut with you a covenant and with Israel." ["hereby" is
probably a performative action here, using the qal].
Yahweh makes the decision, that His covenant with Moses, and with Israel, will be restored. Yahweh will show Israel favor, and love, and compassion, and be their God. He will be in their midst, and He will do amazing, frightful things through them. God He will do all of this, even though they are a stiff-necked people.
And God commits to this, and to Israel, in covenant. It's at this point, that Moses can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The covenant has been restored. God, Moses, and Israel, can move forward, and carry out God's plan for the world together.
And why did this happen?
In part, because Moses has God's favor.
But also, mostly, because Yahweh is a good God. Yahweh's goodness is what makes all of this possible. His goodness is the reason He shows mercy, and love, and patience, and faithfulness. His goodness, is why He renews his commitment to Israel.
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If there's one thing I could leave you with today, it would have to do with how God responds to our sin-- with how God responds, when we try to live between the rail, and the drop-off.
There are lots of reasons why we might find ourselves wanting to slip under the rail, and live in between. Perhaps you're single, and you fall in love with someone, and that someone worships a different god. Even if that person is right for you, in so many ways, that person is wrong in the way that matters most. That person will probably turn you from God, and you will find yourself outside of the rail.
Or perhaps you're a farmer, and one year there's just not enough rain. Your pagan neighbors worship a god who specializes in rain. They offer sacrifices to that god. And you find yourself thinking, Yahweh is a bit like a general practitioner. He's like a doctor, who is good at lots of things. But sometimes, you need a specialist. And so you find yourself hedging your bets, and worshipping two gods.
Or perhaps you want to enter into a covenant relationship with your pagan neighbor. He's a good guy, and life is easier if you're on good terms with your neighbor. And on a nice summer day, you go over to his house for a BBQ, and you eat a shared meal, that was first offered to a different god.
If you do these things, how will God respond?
On the one hand, in Exodus 34:6-7, God is slow to anger, rich in love, abounding in mercy, and God carries sin, and forgives.
On the other hand, Yahweh is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14). He is a God who by no means pardons, but He visits people's sins upon them. No longer on their kids, and grandkids. That's changed. But on them.
There is a deliberate ambiguity, and a tension, between these two hands.
And this tension should make you stop, and think about your life. Hopefully, we aren't a stiff-necked people. In Christ, God has given us soft hearts. He's given us a new spirit/Spirit. But if we want, we can still be a stiff-necked people. We can freely choose to live this way, if we want.
Are we?
This passage teaches that you can't build a compromised life, simply trusting in God's goodness and patience and grace and love. You can't safely live outside the rail. God is a jealous God. He's like a jealous spouse. And if you neglect him, or start seeing someone else, eventually it's going to be really bad for you (again, 1 Corinthians 10:13-- if you think you're standing firm, and can't "fall," understand that God has a history of making people "fall" [1 Corinthians 10:8; see anything other than an NIV] in the wilderness when they commit idolatry).
So when you find yourself outside the rail, copy Moses' example. Ask, very nicely, for God to forgive your sins. Submit to him, surrendering control of your life to him. Ask God to take possession of you, again.
This passage, read as a whole, should drive us to our knees in worship. Our God, is a good God. He's the kind of God who will be faithful to his people, even though we are sometimes stiff-necked. And it's right for us to celebrate God, and worship him, and thank Him for this.
But when we celebrate God's goodness, let's celebrate it from this side of the rail.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Include, or no?:
A second application would build off Exodus 34:10:
(10) and He said,
"LOOK! I am cutting a covenant.
Before all your people, I will do wonders
that haven't been created in all the earth/land, and among all the nations,
that all the people-- who you are in the midst of-- shall see the work of Yahweh,
because frightful/awesome, it [will be], ["frightful" is focused]
what I am about to do with you.
[the participle here has the sense of 'about to do']
The old covenant, was one where God does frightful, miraculous things in the full sight of the congregation, and the world.
From there, it's a short hop to John 14:12. God still wants to do frightful, awesome things through his people.
Translation:
(34:1) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Cut for yourself two stone tablets, like the first ones,
that I may write upon the tablets the words that were upon the first tablets that you broke,
and then, be ready for the morning,
and/that you may ascend in the morning to Mount Sinai,
and/that you may stand/present yourself before me there at the top of the mountain,
(3) while no one may ascend with you,
and, what's more, no one may be seen anywhere on the mountain.
What's more, the flocks and the cattle may not graze opposite of that mountain,"
(4) and he cut two stone tablets like the first,
and Moses rose early in the morning,
and he ascended to Mount Sinai,
just as Yahweh commanded him,
and he took in his hand the two stone tablets,
(5) and Yahweh descended in a cloud,
and He stood with him there,
and He/he called (out) in/by the name of Yahweh, [or, He/he called out by name "Yahweh"],
(6) and Yahweh passed by in front of his face,
and He called (out),
"Yahweh [is?] Yahweh, a God (El) compassionate and gracious, long/slow of anger, and great in loyalty (hesed) and faithfulness, keeping loyalty (hesed) to the thousands, carrying sin/guilt and transgression and sin,
while He surely doesn't leave unpunished/ pardon, visiting/punishing the sin/guilt of the fathers upon the sons and upon the grandsons, upon the third [generation] and upon the fourth [generation],"
(8) and Moses hurried,
and he knelt down toward the ground,
and he worshipped/bowed down,
(9) and he (Moses) said,
"If, please, I have found favor in your eyes, my lord (adonai), may my lord go, please, in our midst,
even though a people hard/stiff of neck, it [is],
and forgive our guilt/sin and our transgression,
and take possession of us,"
(10) and He said,
"LOOK! I am cutting a covenant.
In front of all your people, I will do wonders
that haven't been created in all the earth/land, and among all the nations,
that all the people-- who you are in the midst of-- shall see the work of Yahweh,
because frightful/awesome, it [will be],
what I am about to do with you.
[the participle here has the sense of 'about to do']
(11) Keep/guard yourself (singular) what I am commanding you today.
LOOK! I am about to drive out before you the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
Keep/guard yourself (singular), lest you cut a covenant with the ones dwelling in the land,
which you are about to go to it,
lest it [=the covenant with them?] be a snare in your midst,
(13) but rather their altars you shall tear down,
while their pillars you shall destroy,
while its asherah poles you shall cut [down],
(14) because you shall not bow down to another god (El),
because Yahweh, jealous, His name [is].
A God (El) jealous, He [is],
(15) lest you (singular) cut a covenant with the inhabitants of the land,
and they prostitute themselves after their gods (elohim),
and they sacrifice to their gods (elohim),
and he calls to you,
and/that you may eat of his sacrifice,
(16) and/that you may take from his daughters for your sons,
and/that their daughters may prostitute after their gods,
and/that they will cause your sons to prostitute after their gods.
(17) Gods of molten/cast metal (elohim) you shall not make for yourself.
(18) The feast/festival of unleavened bread you shall keep.
Seven days you shall eat [the] unleavened bread
that I have commanded you at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,
because in the month of Aviv you came out from Egypt.
(19) Everything breaking the womb (=the firstborn) is mine,
and/with all your livestock-- the male-- the firstborn of the ox and small livestock--,
(20) while the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a small livestock,
while if you don't redeem [it], you shall break its neck.
Every firstborn of your sons you shall redeem,
and they shall not appear before my face/presence empty-handed.
(21) Six days you shall work/serve,
while the seventh day you shall cease/rest.
In the plowing time and in the harvesting time you shall cease/rest,
(22) while the festival of weeks you shall do/observe for yourself-- the firstfruits of the harvest of wheat,
with the festival of the gathering of the harvest at the turning of the year.
(23) Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the face/presence of the lord (adonai) Yahweh, the God (Elohim) of Israel,
(24) because I will drive out the nations before you(r face),
and I will enlarge your territory,
and no one will desire your land when you go up to appear before the face/presence of Yahweh your God three times in the year.
(25) You shall not offer upon leaven the blood of my sacrifice,
and it shall not be left until morning-- the sacrifice of the feast/festival of the Passover.
(26) The first/best of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of Yahweh your God.
You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother,"
(27) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Write down for yourself these words,
because in accordance with these words I hereby cut with you a covenant and with Israel." ["hereby" is
probably a performative action here, using the qal].
