Exodus Chapter 34

(Exo 34:1 NASB) Now the LORD said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered.

Exo 34:1: What is going to take place in this chapter is a reinstatement of the covenant broken by Israel. The shattered tablets, which once testified to the reality of the covenant between Elohim and Israel, were to be reproduced.
Once again, the mistake made by many modern churches is that the covenant with Israel was Torah (the Law). That is not what the covenant is in reality. The covenant was an agreement between Elohim and Israel that they would walk according to His ways and do all that He commands them. If they do this, then He will be their Elohim and they will be His people (Ex. 19:15-19). This is the Covenant.

 

(Exo 34:2 NASB) “So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain.
(Exo 34:3 NASB) “And no man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that mountain.”

Exo 34:3: This time it is going to be a little different. Moses is to come up alone. No man is to come up with him. The last time, Aaron came up with him (Ex. 19:24).
Aaron was one of those responsible for the breech of the covenant. Therefore, he is excluded from ascending the mountain with Moses.

 

(Exo 34:4 NASB) So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand.
(Exo 34:5 NASB) And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD.

Exo 34:5: Moses ascends up the mountain and Elohim descends to the mountain. Moses had with him the two stone tablets in his hand.

 

(Exo 34:6 NASB) Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;
(Exo 34:7 NASB) who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

Exo 34:7: Elohim states that He has lovingkindness, mercy, and forgiveness for many. Yet He will not leave the guilty unpunished.
He says that he will visit the iniquity of fathers upon the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations. This is a quote from the commandment in Ex. 20:5-6.

 

(Exo 34:8 NASB) And Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.
(Exo 34:9 NASB) And he said, “If now I have found favor in Thy sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate; and do Thou pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Thine own possession.”

Exo 34:9: Moses is acting as mediator for the people. He is asking for Elohim to be among the people and be in their midst and to take them as His possession. He is asking that His punishment of Israel be rescinded (Ex. 33:3).

 

(Exo 34:10 NASB) Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth, nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the LORD, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.

Exo 34:10: Elohim is going to make the covenant again as He did earlier (Ex. 24:7-8).

 

(Exo 34:11 NASB) “Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite.
(Exo 34:12 NASB) “Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst.

Exo 34:12: Elohim is going to drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Israel is not to make any covenants with them at all. Elohim will drive them out and they are to keep their end of the bargain and not make any agreements with them.

 

(Exo 34:13 NASB) “But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim
(Exo 34:14 NASB) –for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God–

Exo 34:14: Verses 12-17 describe what His people are NOT to do. They are not to make agreements with the pagan people and they are not to worship their gods. They are to destroy their altars, pillars and Asherim. The Asherim is the Hebrew word referencing trees and also the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the Aphrodite of the Greeks, the Venus of the Romans. We are commanded to destroy these things in our midst and not acknowledge or embrace them.

 

(Exo 34:15 NASB) lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they play the harlot with their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invite you to eat of his sacrifice;
(Exo 34:16 NASB) and you take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods, and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods.

Exo 34:16: If these things are not totally removed from their midst, the people will embrace these false gods and intermarry with the people. We see this same problem today. The Christian Church has adopted pagan culture and ignored the clear commands of Elohim.

 

(Exo 34:17 NASB) “You shall make for yourself no molten gods.

Exo 34:17: This was a reminder that they were not to do what they had just done by making a molten god.
This was a short list of the things they were not to do. Then Elohim gives them a list of what they are to do.

 

(Exo 34:18 NASB) “You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
(Exo 34:19 NASB) “The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the first offspring from cattle and sheep.
(Exo 34:20 NASB) “And you shall redeem with a lamb the first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the first-born of your sons. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.

Exo 34:20: The Feast of Unleavened Bread is to be observed. The firstborn of every womb must be redeemed. The Levites were later appointed to service to Elohim instead of the first born.
Notice on this list that the things they were ordered against have been adopted by the Christian Church. The things that were ordered for the people to do have been discarded by the Christian Church.

 

(Exo 34:21 NASB) “You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest.
(Exo 34:22 NASB) “And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.

Exo 34:22: The Sabbath is to be honored year around. The Feast of Weeks is to celebrated with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest.

 

(Exo 34:23 NASB) “Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
(Exo 34:24 NASB) “For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the LORD your God.

Exo 34:24: Three times a year, all the males are to assemble at the place Elohim designates. This is regardless of where the men live. This was honored by Paul throughout his life (Acts 20:16).

 

(Exo 34:25 NASB) “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to be left over until morning.
(Exo 34:26 NASB) “You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.”

Exo 34:26: While some of these things cannot be done in this day because there is no place to present sacrifices to Yahweh, all of the commands are still applicable and are to be followed.

 

(Exo 34:27 NASB) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
(Exo 34:28 NASB) So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

Exo 34:28: It is in accordance with these words, or, it is according to their obedience, He has made the covenant with Moses and with Israel.
Moses was there with Elohim for 40 days and 40 nights. Forty seems to be a time of purging of sin or of purification. The flood was for this time period. As also was the time of temptation for Yeshua.

 

(Exo 34:29 NASB) And it came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him.
(Exo 34:30 NASB) So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.

Exo 34:30: The glow on Moses face is an afterglow as a result of being in the divine presence of Elohim. This is similar to what happened when Yeshua was transfigured on the mountain (Matt. 17:1-3).

 

(Exo 34:31 NASB) Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them.
(Exo 34:32 NASB) And afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the LORD had spoken to him on Mount Sinai.
(Exo 34:33 NASB) When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

Exo 34:33: Moses commanded the people, once again, to do everything Elohim spoke to him on Mt. Sinai.

 

(Exo 34:34 NASB) But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded,
(Exo 34:35 NASB) the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.

Exo 34:35: Whenever Moses would speak with Elohim, the radiance would essentially be “recharged.” When Moses would mediate the message to the people, this radiance would authenticate the message to the people.