Tyndale Open Study NotesExodus 34

God granted the request of Moses (33:18). He showed Moses his goodness (34:1–9). He renewed the covenant (34:10–35).

This renewal was a statement made by God alone. God promised to stay with his people, keeping his covenant promises even though they had broken the covenant and deserved death and abandonment (32:1–6).

God called Moses to come back up Mount Sinai with two new stone tablets. The restrictions for the rest of the people are like those made at first (see 19:12–13, 21–25).

the LORD: This represents the personal name of God, Yahweh. This name appears five times in this passage. By repeating this name, God emphasizes his personal name. This shows that he is speaking and acting as the covenant God (the God who makes promises) of his people.

Moses experienced God’s presence in a revelation of the name, or character, of God. As God had promised (33:19), he showed Moses the glory of his goodness.

compassionate and gracious (see 20:5–6; 33:19 and study notes): The Creator who was revealing himself to the Israelites, and through them to the world, is a God of grace. Neither his justice nor his sovereignty are underlined here, as true as those attributes are. If God were merely just, the Old Testament would have ended at this point, or it would have picked up and started again with an entirely new family.

This did not happen because God, in his unique character, is slow to anger and full of unfailing love and faithfulness. These qualities were the basis for his renewal of the covenant.

• God’s unfailing love and his generous desire to forgive are not weakness or indecisiveness, nor are they reason to sin. Sin will have its effects, because God created a world of cause and effect. The murderer may repent, be forgiven, and lead a new life, but the effects of previous choices will continue to play out. We should not sin just because we know that God will forgive (see study note on 20:5–6).

• a thousand generations: See Deuteronomy 7:9–11. 

• He will visit the iniquity of the fathers: Our sins affect future generations, but God limits the effects to three or four generations. See also Exodus 20:5–6.

Since the Lord had already twice promised to go with them (33:14, 17)this renewed request seems to show a lack of faith. It may also be that God’s presence had driven home to Moses how absolutely holy God is and how very different he is from this stubborn and rebellious people.

Here, Moses took his request a step further and asked God to travel with the people and make them his own treasured possession (see 19:5–6). Moses asked for the complete restoration of the relationship.

God promised to miraculously care for his people as he brought them into Canaan. This care depended on their obedience. In Hebrew, the word translated as observe also means "obey" (34:11). Unlike English, Hebrew does not separate hearing a command from obeying it.

Some of the terms of the covenant are restated, particularly those that prohibit the worship of other gods and that describe the proper worship of the Lord.

Worship of idols was prohibited, particularly the idols of the peoples into whose lands the Israelites were going. A key part of this restriction was the ban on treaties, or covenants, with these idol-worshiping peoples. Making a treaty would mean acknowledging their gods, as ancient treaties often called upon gods as witnesses (see study note on 20:1–23:33).

The treaties would also tempt the Israelites to adopt the customs of their treaty partners (34:12, 15–16).

• Asherah was a Canaanite fertility goddess who would continue to be a temptation throughout Israel’s history (see, for example, Judges 6:25; 1 Kings 14:15; 2 Kings 23:15).

• The Aherah poles seem to have been fertility symbols.

Marriage with people who worshiped other gods was a problem throughout the Old Testament. God warned His people not to marry those who followed other gods (see Genesis 24:3; Ezra 9:1–2; compare 2 Corinthians 6:14–18).

Feast of Ingathering: See study notes on 23:16; Leviticus 23:15–21, 34–43.

three times: See 23:14–17.

no one will covet your land: If Israel would trust God and obey him, he would protect them.

Moses wrote down these repeated instructions that explained the main terms of the covenant (34:27).

The Ten Commandments, which summarize these terms, were written on the new stone tablets (34:28).

Moses, who had asked to see the glory of God, was not aware that his own face reflected that glory.

he put a veil over his face: While Moses was reporting what God had said to him, he left his face unveiled. Then he covered it, perhaps because of the fear its brightness caused during normal conversation (34:30; see 2 Corinthians 3:7–18 for the apostle Paul's thoughts on this event).