Exodus 34

Exodus 34 details the renewal of the covenant between Yahweh and Israel following the golden calf incident, focusing on the revelation of God's character and the re-establishment of His laws. It emphasizes that while the people had failed, God provides the means for reconciliation and continued presence through the mediator, Moses.

• God commands Moses to prepare new stone tablets (vv. 1-4).
• Yahweh descends in a cloud and proclaims His name and attributes (vv. 5-7).
• Moses intercedes and petitions God to dwell among the people (vv. 8-9).
• God establishes the covenant, issuing specific commands regarding worship and holiness (vv. 10-27).
• Moses returns with the written law, his face shining with the glory of God (vv. 28-35).

• Two tablets of stone
• Mount Sinai
• The proclamation of the Name: merciful, gracious, longsuffering
• The exclusion of idol worship
• The veil on Moses' face

This passage is the climax of the Sinai narrative, demonstrating that God is gracious to forgive yet just in His holiness, and establishing the mediator as the necessary bridge between a holy God and a sinful people.

God initiates covenant renewal not based on human merit, but on the revelation of His own character—merciful, gracious, and holy—which demands exclusive devotion from His people.

The chapter moves from the preparation for covenant renewal to the intimate revelation of God's nature, then to the practical outworking of that nature in law, concluding with the visible transformation of the mediator.

• I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables (v. 1)
• I make a covenant (v. 10)
• I drive out before thee the Amorite... (v. 11)
• Neither shall any man desire thy land (v. 24)

• Hew thee two tables of stone (v. 1)
• Be ready in the morning (v. 2)
• Observe thou that which I command thee (v. 11)
• Thou shalt worship no other god (v. 14)
• Thou shalt make thee no molten gods (v. 17)

• Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land (v. 12)
• Lest it be for a snare (v. 12)
• Lest thou make a covenant... and they go a whoring after their gods (v. 15)

• The setting is post-golden calf crisis (Exodus 32-33), where the original tablets were destroyed. This context of failure highlights the necessity of God's initiative in renewal.

• Near Eastern suzerainty treaties between a great king and a vassal often involved writing the treaty stipulations on tablets to be stored in a temple or ark; here, the Decalogue serves as the constitution of the covenant.

• The chapter follows Moses' plea in chapter 33 to see God's glory and for His presence to go with the people, directly leading to this revelation of God's name.

• Matthew Henry observes that the moral law continues to bind believers; though Christ has redeemed the believer from the curse of the law, He has not removed the command to live in holiness. This passage bridges the gap between the broken covenant and the re-giving of the law, prefiguring the New Covenant.

• Exodus 34:6-7 is one of the most cited verses in the Old Testament, appearing in Numbers 14:18, Psalm 86:15, 103:8, 145:8, Joel 2:13, and Jonah 4:2, serving as a core creedal definition of God's character.

• לוּחַ (luwach, H3871): Often translated 'tablet', signifying a polished stone used for inscription.
• פָּסַל (pacal, H6458): 'To carve', specifically used here for preparing the stone.
• שֵׁם (shem, H8034): 'Name', representing not just a label, but reputation, authority, and the essence of the person.
• אָמַר (amar, H559): 'To say', used here repeatedly to signify the authoritative speech act of God.

• Moses is commanded to 'hew' the tablets himself (v. 1), but God writes upon them (v. 1, 28), showing that the mediator provides the receptacle but God provides the law.
• The people were terrified of the reflection of God's glory on Moses' face, necessitating the veil.

• The exact mechanism of the 'visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children' (v. 7) is debated: historically, some see this as the compounding of generational consequences for persistent sin, while others emphasize that individual accountability is not erased, as seen in Ezekiel 18.