Does God sometimes require a do over after we have broken things? How great is God’s mercy? Do we let our light shine from within? Let's look at Exodus 34.
Were the previous tablets “the work of God?“ Was Moses to chisel a copy of the stone tablets himself this time, for God to write on?
The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.” So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. (Exodus 34:1-4 NIV)
How much greater is God’s mercy than His punishment?
Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh. The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:5-7 NLT)
What was Moses’ prayer about this time? Do we also need God’s pardon? Do we desire His inheritance?
So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.” (Exodus 34:8-9 NKJV)
Did God make a covenant to drive out six corrupt and perverse nations?
He said, “Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of Yahweh; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you. Observe that which I command you today. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. (Exodus 34:10-11 WEB)
What did God have to say about international agreements or treaties between Israel and foreign nations?
Don't make treaties with any of those people. If you do, it will be like falling into a trap. Instead, you must destroy their altars and tear down the sacred poles they use in the worship of the goddess Asherah. I demand your complete loyalty—you must not worship any other god! (Exodus 34:12-14 CEV)
Is idolatry like prostitution? Were ritual sex acts part of pagan worship?
Don’t make a covenant with those who live in the land. When they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, they may invite you and you may end up eating some of the sacrifice. Then you might go and choose their daughters as wives for your sons. And their daughters who prostitute themselves with their gods might lead your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods. Don’t make metal gods for yourself. (Exodus 34:15-17 CEB)
What festival season were they to keep? What about the firstborn?
You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed. (Exodus 34:18-20 ESV)
What weekly and other annual festival seasons were they to observe?
You are to labor six days but you must rest on the seventh day; you must even rest during plowing and harvesting times. Observe the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the agricultural year. Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory. No one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God. (Exodus 34:21-24 HCSB)
What other stipulations did God require of Israel under this covenant?
You are not to offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, nor are you to allow the sacrifice of the Festival of Passover to remain until morning. You are to bring the best of the first fruits of the ground to the house of the Lord your God. You are not to boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. (Exodus 34:25-26 ISV)
How long was Moses on the mountain this time? What were the words of the covenant?
And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. (Exodus 34:27-28 KJV)
Why were people afraid to come near Moses after he came down from the mountain?
Now it happened when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. Then Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. (Exodus 34:29-30 LSB)
What did Moses do to his face when he finished speaking with the people?
Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. (Exodus 34:31-33 NASB)
What did Moses do with the veil when he went in to speak with the Lord?
But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord. (Exodus 34:34-35 NIV)
What light does Jesus expect to shine from our lives?
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 NKJV)
What internal light does Jesus expect to find in us? Does where our eyes are focused have anything to do with that light?
Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is filled with darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light. (Luke 11:34-36 NLT)
Does God sometimes require a do over after we have broken things? How great is God’s mercy? Do we let our light shine from within? You decide!
