Ex. 34: More of Who God Is; Mo-Glow

Well, since Moses smashed the tablets into tiny bits, the law was history. But it wasn't actually history. The law still was. But it was only a concept, and had to be physically re-created. So God calls Moses back up on the mountain for another forty days and forty nights. Moses chiseled out some new tablets to bring up Mount Sinai for God to write on, and the LORD came down in His cloud, and made quite a proclamation. Him or His hype man/angel.

And this is a pretty amazing thing to say about oneself (Ex. 34:6-7).

"The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

Wow. That's a lot. This is definitely a power I want on my side, a personality I want to get to know, and doler out of punishments I would like to avoid. All of the above, God has already proven in just Genesis and Exodus. There's nothing in there that I would say is a contradiction of any character God's previously demonstrated. I believe that someone can be forgiving and punishing. You can forgive a wrong, but still deliver consequences for that wrongdoing.

And you might say, "Why do the kids have to be punished for something dad and grandpa did?" I don't know. I suggest that Grandpa demonstrated his affinity for a certain son to junior. Junior picks up on it, and passes it along to his son. All three generations must face consequences for this sin. Junior and III and IV are not innocent.

God then repeats what He is going to do for Israel. As he said in Exodus 3:8, 3:17, 23:23, and 33:2. So why hasn't God done this yet? They haven't gotten there yet. So why would God do this? Why does God need these people back in this promised land, when it was God who dispersed the people at Babel in Gen. 11:8? I don't know. God wanted people to spread out to enjoy this earth, as I previously postulated. To go throughout the earth and subdue it. Lets not forget the attitude of the people at Babel. In their own power, they attempted to reach God...essentially to become like Him. God destroyed this vain attempt, and in doing so, scattered the people. God now undertook the task of bringing the people back to Him on His own terms. A lot fewer people, to be sure as those not speaking Israelese are not welcome in the promised land.

God's desire to give the Israelites this land is not without condition. A condition of common sense. Of protection. God tells Israel again not to make treaties with the current residents...rather to destroy their idols and Asheral poles, or else Israel will fall into idolatry. It only took forty days apart from Moses last time. If they marry daughters from other religions, they will be seduced into these other false religions.

God says his name is Jealous. Is that bad? What's jealousy? Is there such a thing as righteous jealousy? In jealousy, there is simply no room for any peers.

God is giving the law a second time to Moses, he makes the following commands:

• Don't make any other gods
• Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread
• Consecrate the firstborn
• Redeem donkeys with lambs. No one should appear before God empty handed
• Work six days, rest the seventh
• Celebrate the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Ingathering
• No blood offerings with anything containing yeast
• Consume everything from the Passover Feast
• Bring the best firstfruits of the soil to the tabernacle
• Do not cook a young goat in it's mothers milk.

Moses was with God for forty days and forty nights...didn't eat bread or drink water. He wrote on the tablets the ten commandments. So...were the commandments enumerated in Exodus 34:17-26 put in place of those in Exodus 20? What happened to obey your parents, murder, steal, covet, etc?

Then Moses came down from the mountain, everyone was looking at him, and was afraid to come near him. Moses is like...what's the deal. He was unaware that his face was radiant. This was because he had just finished speaking with God. What was different this time than the times before where his face wasn't radiant? Was it because he didn't have to lose his mind over the Israelites being idolatrous? What was the new revelation from God? Was it because this was a second law? Maybe he wrote the original ten on the tablets. Not sure why this second set is completely different from the first set.

In order not to freak people out, Moses put a veil over his face when he wasn't in the tabernacle talking to God.