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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 34:1 - 34:9
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The Glorious Vision
v. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, which the Lord Himself had fashioned: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. Moses was familiar with the form and workmanship of the original tables, and could therefore make the second set after that pattern.
v. 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 covenant relation between God and the people having been restored by the Lord's pardon, the giving of the covenant ordinances could now be resumed.
v. 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 the mount, that Isaiah anywhere in its neighborhood. The entire mountain was again shut off to the people, as before the giving of the Law. Exo_19:12-13; Exo_19:20-23.
v. 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, all ready for the engraving by the hand of God.
v. 5. And the Lord descended in the cloud, in the pillar in which His glory usually was hidden, and stood with him there, outside the cloud, and proclaimed the name of the Lord, called out and explained the name Jehovah. All this while He covered Moses with His hand. as the latter stood in the cleft of the rock.
v. 6. And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, delivered His great sermon on the name of the Lord, as Luther says. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
v. 7. keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. That is the one side of the Lord's essence: Jehovah, the mighty God. the same yesterday and today and forever. whose loving-kindness is shown in compassion on the miserable. in grace toward the repentant sinners, in patience toward human weakness. in truth and faithfulness in the keeping of His gracious promises. But the other side is also brought out: 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. To those that reject His mercy the Lord proves Himself a stern Judge, who does not let the least offense go unpunished, but avenges the insults to His holiness not only upon the fathers. but also upon the children that follow in the footsteps of their wicked parents. and that down to the great-grandchildren. Cf Exo_20:5. This proclamation of the goodness, the mercy, the grace, the truth and faithfulness of God continues throughout the period of the New Testament; it is a testimony of the living God, who, however, states, on the other hand, as well: He who rejects His grace will receive everlasting condemnation.
v. 8. And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped, overcome by the glory of the vision. What he saw is not described in detail, for it is beyond human understanding, even as Paul heard words which no man can utter. God here gave to Moses a taste of the future glory which will be revealed to all those who remain faithful to the end.
v. 9. And he said, If now I have found grace in Thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; he pleaded for the personal presence of God in the midst of the people; for it is a stilf-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance. Note that Moses includes himself with the people, placing himself under their guilt, in order to make his prayer all the more fervent. The Lord should once more regard Israel as His peculiar people, to consider and to treat them as His own. He wanted to make assurance doubly sure, for the sake of the Messianic promise. Such clinging trust should be found in the Christians at all times, for that is the power which vanquished even the Lord.