EXODUS LESSON 57


    We will begin this lesson in Exodus 34:1 "And the LORD said unto
Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will
write upon [these] tables the words that were in the first tables,
which thou brakest."

    We spoke in the last lesson, that the Lord had forgiven the people
for their sins. The covenant He had made with these people had to do
with them keeping the law. Moses had broken the first two tables of
stone when he saw the sins of the people. God had the first two stones
ready for Moses. Even the stones were provided by the Lord the first
time. We see, here, that the Lord required Moses to hew these stones,
because he broke the others. The Lord would write on the stones that
Moses provided. The words would be the same as the first stones.

    Exodus 34:2 "And be ready in the morning, and come up in the
morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top
of the mount."

    The Lord told Moses to have the stones ready the next morning.
Moses, once again, was to go to the top of mount Sinai and commune with
the Lord.

    Exodus 34:3 "And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any
man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds
feed before that mount."

    This whole mountain had been made a very holy place, because of the
presence of God. This was why the restriction was made not to allow
anyone, or any animals to touch the mountain. Had they touched the
mountain, they would die. Moses was the only one who could go to the
top of the mountain.

    Exodus 34:4  "And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the
first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount
Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two
tables of stone."

    We see in verse 4, here, that Moses obeyed to the letter.  He lost
no time heading up the mountain the next morning.  Moses carried the
two tables to the Lord to be written on.

    Exodus 34:5 "And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with
him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD."

    The Lord left the tent "tabernacle" after meeting with Moses and
went out of sight of the people. When Moses went up the mountain, the
presence of God came down. Just as the Lord had promised, He revealed
the Lord's name to Moses.

    Exodus 34:6 "And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed,
The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and
abundant in goodness and truth,"  Exodus 34:7 "Keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will
by no means clear [the guilty]; visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third
and to the fourth [generation]."

    Here, we see the personality of God.  All goodness, all grace, all
truth, all mercy, and even long-suffering in all of this.  At the very
same time that we see all of this goodness, we also see justice.  The
Lord is the Judge of all the world.  They had known God until this
time as Jehovah. The Self-Existant One.  This name "Jehovah" had shown
the power, and greatness of God. Now, we see the Lord revealing to
Moses more of Himself in His dealings with man.  We are told by Jesus
that He is the Truth, Word, and Light. The name that tells all about
God is the one that I believe He revealed Himself to Moses here.
This name is not to be spoken or written by mere man. We will not know
this name until we hear it in heaven. Most people want the Lord to be
all the good things, and want to forget that He is, also, the Judge, and
that He is just. Forgiveness is the only way to get to heaven. Jesus
is the door we must go through. There is no other way. Without Jesus'
shed blood, we would be judged and found guilty as charged. We have
been pardoned, and justified; just as if we had never sinned.

    Exodus 34:8 "And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the
earth, and worshipped."

    Moses, even though he was God's friend, knew that God is the Lord.
Moses bowed and worshipped. Moses knew better than anyone else what
reverence should be shown. Moses knew that he was not equal with God.
He knew that he was the servant, and he knew to let God alone be God.

    Exodus 34:9 "And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight,
O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it [is] a
stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us
for thine inheritance."

    Moses repeated the prayer of the previous day and asked God afresh
to forgive His people, even though they did not deserve it.  Moses
feels sure at this point that he had found favor ("grace") with the
Lord. God had said the day before that He would do this, so we know
that Moses prayed more than once.  Sometimes it is difficult to
believe that God has answered our prayer. I believe this was the case
here.

    Exodus 34:10  "And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all
thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the
earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou [art]
shall see the work of the LORD: for it [is] a terrible thing that I
will do with thee."

    We had already seen some miracles, but in this, He was speaking of
miracles like the walls of Jericho which would fall down before them
and crossing the Jordan on dry land.  Just the fact that they walked
forty years in the wilderness, and never wore their shoes out is a
fantastic miracle in itself. I really believe that the most
unbelievable miracle of all was that God forgave them over and over, and
truly did lead them to the land of promise. We see in all of this
(speaking of the terrible things) these were not terrible for the
children of Israel who God brought through victoriously, but terrible
for their enemies. The surrounding people would greatly fear and would
avoid any trouble at all, because God would remove everyone who got in
the way of His people.

    Exodus 34:11 "Observe thou that which I command thee this day:
behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and
the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite."

    God promised to move all these people out so that the children of
Israel could inhabit the land with no problems. God would do this, if the
Israelites followed His commands.

    Exodus 34:12 "Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with
the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare
in the midst of thee:" Exodus 34:13 "But ye shall destroy their
altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:" Exodus 34:14
"For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name [is]
Jealous, [is] a jealous God:"

    The believers are warned all through the Bible not to be yoked
with those of unbelief. Compromise is not in God's plan.  God wants
our devotion, 100%.

    In II Corinthians 6:14 "Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?"
II Corinthians 6:15 "And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what
part hath he that believeth with an infidel?"

    God will not allow His people to worship with those who worship
false Gods. In fact, in these Scriptures (Verses 12 and 13) we see
that these Israelites were to destroy the altars of these false gods
and break their images. They were to aggressively destroy these items
of false worship. Agreements with these people would include tolerance
of their false religion which God would not allow.  This was the reason
God told them not to make a covenant with them. God would remove His
blessings, so this would certainly be a snare to these people. These
altars, images, and groves were all used in false religion. We find,
here, that God is not only jealous, but that one of His names is
Jealous. This, also, is the first of the Ten Commandments, as well. God
will not under any circumstance allow the worship of other gods.

    Exodus 34:15 "Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of
the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice
unto their gods, and [one] call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;"
Exodus 34:16 "And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and
their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a
whoring after their gods."

    God has always called unfaithfulness to Him "going a-whoring".
The Christians are the bride of Christ. The book of Hosea actually
deals with Israel being unfaithful to God. Hosea's wife, who is spoken
of as a "whore", is symbolic of the church that is not faithful to
God. This whoredom, spoken of above, is spiritual adultery. God does not
want His people to fellowship with those who worship other gods. He
has commanded His people to be faithful to Him alone.  This
intermarriage of those of different faiths is a real problem in our
society today. God will not permit His people to worship, or even
attend church in false religions.

    Exodus 34:17 "Thou shalt make thee no molten gods."

    This is a terrible blight on our society today.  Many people have
Buddhas, totem poles, and other items associated with false religion
in their homes. God is Jealous.  He will not allow this.  "Molten
gods" fall into the category of the created, and should not be in any
Christian's possession. God will not overlook this spiritual adultery.

    Exodus 34:18  "The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep.
Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in
the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from
Egypt."

    We dealt with the feast of unleavened bread more than once
before. This was the feast in April ("Abib") that closely coincided
with the passover. This eating of unleavened bread symbolized the body
of Jesus Christ which was completely free of sin. The eating of
unleavened bread for these Israelites was in remembrance of the flight
from Egypt, and of God delivering them, Himself.
























                          Exodus 57 Questions


1.  Who was to make the two stones for the Commandments?
2.  What had happened to the first two tablets?
3.  What was the condition of the covenant God made with these people?
4.  Who would write on the stones?
5.  Where was Moses to go to meet with God?
6.  Who should come with Moses?
7.  The mountain had been made what while the presence of God was on
    it?
8.  When did Moses go?
9.  What did God proclaim to Moses, when He descended on the mountain
    top?
10. What was a common name for the tabernacle?
11. What were some of the adjectives which described God in V-6?
12. If not forgiven, how many generations will the sins of the people
    affect?
13. These people had known God by what name up until this time?
14. What did God do for Moses, that we will have to wait for heaven to
    find out?
15. What would happen to us, if we did not have Jesus' blood protecting
    us?
16. What are three things Jesus called Himself?
17. What did Moses make haste to do?
18. What did Moses call the people?
19. What type of marvels was the Lord speaking of in V-10?
20. What was meant by the terrible thing in V-10?
21. Who did God promise to drive out of the land before the people?
22. What were these Israelites warned not to do with these strangers
    in the land?
23. What three symbols of false religions were to be destroyed by the
    Israelites?
24. We are told that God's name is -------------------in V-14.
25. In II Corinthians chapter 6 verses 14 and 15, what are believers
    told not to do--------------?
26. What does God call following other gods?
27. What was the book of Hosea about?
28. In V-17, what were we not to do?
29. What is a blight on our society today?
30. What was the seven day feast they had to celebrate?
31. What month on our calendar is similar to Abib?