Êxodo 34

Êxodo 34

Meyer says this law was meant “to inculcate a tender appreciation of the natural order, and of the relation subsisting between the mother and her offspring. It was against nature to make the mother an accomplice in the death of her child.” John Currid - The second statute of the verse is repeated in the Torah in Exodus 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21. Its basis is as a polemic against a Canaanite ceremony connected with a fertility cult. In the Ugaritic Texts, we read about an idolatrous custom of boiling a kid in its mother’s milk as part of a festival. One text, called The Birth of the Gods Fair and Beautiful, says, ‘Cook a kid in milk, a lamb(?) in butter.’ The Hebrews were not to celebrate fertility in the same way as the pagans. So end the laws of the Book of the Covenant. Rayburn - The prohibition against cooking a young goat in its mother’s milk illustrates the importance of reading the Bible in its historical context. The rabbis never agreed on the reason for this law but nevertheless spun out regulations forbidding the eating of meat and dairy products in the same meal. Among the ultra orthodox Jews different crockery and cutlery must be used for meat and milk, and, where practicable, separate kitchens and refrigerators. [Ellison, 134] But this prohibition, archaeological evidence now almost certainly has shown, was, in effect, a command not to worship as the pagans did. It was a commandment requiring God’s people to be separate in their worship. Like the commandment in Deut. 14:1 against cutting oneself or shaving the front of one’s head for the dead, or the commandment against getting a tattoo, the objection is not to the act itself – which separated from its historical context in Canaanite usage is entirely unobjectionable – but to the act as part of pagan worship. An Ugaritic poem, describing a Canaanite rite, reads: “Cook a kid in the milk, a lamb in the cream.” This was apparently part of a fertility rite thought to have some magical power, the kind of magic forbidden already in 22:18. Bush- 28. And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. Being of course miraculously sustained by the power of God without food or drink, as in the former case, ch. 24:18. ‘It was not long since Moses’ former fast of forty days. When he then came down from the hill his first question was not for meat; and now going up again to Sinai, he takes not any repast with him. There is no life to that of faith. ‘Man lives not by bread only.’ The vision of God did not only satiate, but feast him. What a blessed satiety shall there be when we shall see him as he is, and he shall be all in all to us; since this very frail mortality of Moses was sustained and comforted but with representations of his presence! I see Moses, the receiver of the law, Elias, the restorer of the law, Christ, the fulfiller of the old law, and author of the new, all fasting forty days; and these three great fasters I find together glorious in mount Tabor. Abstinence merits not, but it prepares for good duties. Hence solemn prayer takes ever fasting to attend it, and so much the rather speeds in heaven when it is so accompanied. It is good so to diet the body, that the soul may be fattened.’ Bp. Hall. In Deut. 9:18, this second sojourn is thus alluded to; ‘And I fel-down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.’ If we enquire into the design of this second forty days’ withdrawment and seclusion, the passage now cited seems to disclose one at least of the grand ends which were to be answered by it; viz., to convey to the people a deeper impression of the guilt of their recent iniquitous proceedings. What must they think of the heinousness of their conduct when a period of forty days’ earnest intercession, on the part of Moses, accompanied by fasting and prayer, was none too much in which to deprecate the deserved vengeance of heaven? Could they ever after venture to deem sin a light matter? Could they delude themselves with the idea that God was very easily pacified in view of a highhanded transgression? Alas, how little aware are most men of the aggravated nature of sins committed against covenant vows and engagements! It is only those who live very near to the light of the throne, and gaze like Moses upon the burning brightness of the divine purity that can appreciate it aright! They see the awful turpitude of rebellion against God, and how difficult it is to recover the lost tokens of his favor. This lesson was now to be taught to the sinning congregation, and nothing would do it more effectually than this long period of fasting and prayer. Again, the same honor was to be secured for the second tables as for the first, and though the thunders and lightnings that marked the first delivery of the law were not repeated, yet the forty days’ fasting of Moses was, and the tables were to be brought forth, in that respect, ‘as at the first.’ All the circumstances, in fine, were to be so ordered that the deepest moral impression should be produced upon the general mind of the people. The remarks of Calvin upon this passage are well worthy of being appended in the present connexion. ‘Moses was exempted from the common lot of men that he might usher in a law evidently from heaven. Had he been detained but a few days upon the mount, his authority would not have been sanctioned by so illustrious a miracle. The forty days, therefore, thus spent gave a full attestation to his commission as a divine legate for the endurance of so long a fast evidently exceeded the powers of human nature. In order that the majesty of the law might be unquestioned, its minister was distinguished by an angelical glory. He expressly asserts of himself that he neither drank water nor tasted of bread, that by being thus distinguished from ordinary mortals his official dignity might he superior to exception. We are to understand the fast, therefore, here mentioned not as one of mere temperance or sobriety, but of singular privilege, in which a temporary immunity from the infirmity of the flesh was granted, that his condition might be shown to be super-human. He was unconscious of thirst, nor did he struggle any more with the appetite for food than one of the angels. Therefore this abstinence was never drawn into a precedent by any of the prophets, nor did any one think of imitating what all knew was not intended for themselves. I except the case of Elijah, who was sent to renew the law which had almost perished from Israel, and who, as a second Moses, abstained from food and drink for forty days.’ Exodus 34:27 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." NET Exodus 34:27 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." NLT Exodus 34:27 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down all these instructions, for they represent the terms of the covenant I am making with you and with Israel." ESV Exodus 34:27 And the LORD said to Moses, "Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." NIV Exodus 34:27 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." KJV Exodus 34:27 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. LXE Exodus 34:27 And the Lord said to Moses, Write these words for thyself, for on these words I have established a covenant with thee and with Israel. ASV Exodus 34:27 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. CSB Exodus 34:27 The LORD also said to Moses, "Write down these words, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words." NKJ Exodus 34:27 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." NRS Exodus 34:27 The LORD said to Moses: Write these words; in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. YLT Exodus 34:27 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Write for thyself these words, for, according to the tenor of these words I have made with thee a covenant, and with Israel.' Write : Ex 17:14 Ex 24:4,7 De 31:9 I have : Ex 34:10 De 4:13 31:9 Exodus 34 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries WRITE DOWN THE TEN WORDS Related Passages: Exodus 24:3, 4; 7 Then Moses came (CAME DOWN FROM SINAI AFTER MEETING WITH GOD) and recounted to the people all the words of the LORD and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the LORD has spoken we will do!” 4 Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel....7 Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!”...18 Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Exodus 31:18 When He (YAHWEH) had finished speaking with him (MOSES) upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God. Exodus 32:15-16 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other. 16 The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets. In the related passages note (1) Moses went up the mountain, came down and recounted all the words of Yahweh. (2) Then he wrote them down in the book of the covenant. (3) Then he went back up for 40 days and nights. (4) Then after the 40 days and nights Yahweh gave him the tablets written by the finger of God. It is these tablets that he smashed (Ex 32:19) when he came down and saw the Israelites worshiping and idol Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words - What words? The words Jehovah gave him, not Moses' words. The principle of verbal plenary inspiration is evident here. Stuart has an interesting note - Making permanent the covenant by reducing it to writing constituted a sign of its reinstitution, the very thing Moses had been appealing to God for throughout the last two chapters, ever since he had to acknowledge the abrogation of the first covenant by his destruction of its symbolic tablets (Ex 32:19). So Moses had to write down all the words of the covenant, not just the Ten Words/Commandments, which would be recorded separately and personally on the two tablets by God himself (Ex 34:1). What did Moses write? Everything from Ex 20:18 to the present point in the narrative that constitutes covenant commands that he had not written down already, specifically the content of Exodus 25–31 minus strictly narrative portions thereof and at least Ex 34:10–26. for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel - For the second time God emphasizes these words. In Ex 34:10 "God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant." And now He reiterates the cutting of this covenant. Note the phrase with you and with Israel, that is with Moses and Israel. We need to remember that his renewed covenant (like the original covenant) was not like a contract men often make with one another. It was far more solemn and binding that men's contracts. The related resources below will help give you a better understanding of just how serious this covenant was which Jehovah had cut with His people Israel. See especially the short discussion on How Serious is the Old Covenant (note also the notes that follow). SHORT EXCURSUS ON SOLEMN NATURE OF COVENANT - Covenant is the most solemn, binding, intimate contract known in the Bible. The Hebrew phrase for "make a covenant" is the idiom "Karath beriyth" which more literally is translated "cut a covenant". The noun Berit/berith/beriyth (word study) is a contract or agreement, one made by passing between pieces of cut flesh. The verb Karath means to divide or cut in two or to make a covenant. Covenant was considered a binding agreement among the ancients, and so was not entered into lightly. After pieces of the sacrificial animal were laid opposite one another, the individuals who were cutting covenant would walk between the flesh. This walk represented the so-called "walk into death" indicating their commitment to die to independent living and to ever after live for their covenant partner and to fulfill the stipulations of their covenant. Furthermore, this "walk into death" was a testimony by each covenant partner that if either broke the covenant God would take their life, even as had been done to the sacrificial animal. In short, we see the gravity of entering into and then breaking covenant. Covenant is a pledge unto death. Covenant represents a pledge cut in blood. In covenant the shedding of blood demonstrates as nothing else could the intensity and solemn nature of the commitment (cp Lev 17:11). By cutting covenant the two parties were bound for life. Thus the shedding of blood in the cutting of covenant symbolized the solemn, binding nature of this transaction. And both the Old and the New Covenants were inaugurated with blood. As Trumbull notes, the practice of cutting covenant is found throughout history with traces or remnants of covenant truth in every quarter of the globe, and in those remnants we can see that even the pagan world understood the gravity and binding nature of entering into covenant with another party. Believer's Study Bible - The Lord spoke and Moses wrote, and the result is described as the Lord's own words. There is no contradiction here with Ex 34:1. Moses had an unusually intimate relationship with God. The result of all methods of biblical inspiration is the same: the written words of man are properly viewed as the Lord's own words (2 Pe 1:20, 21). Related Resources: Covenant: Why Study It? Covenant: Introduction Lesson 1 Covenant: Summary Table Lesson 2 Covenant: The Exchange of Robes Lesson 3 Covenant: The Exchange of Armor and Belts Lesson 4 Covenant: Solemn and Binding Lesson 5 Covenant: A Walk Into Death Lesson 6 Covenant: The Oneness of Covenant Covenant: Oneness Notes Lesson 7 Covenant: Withholding Nothing from God Lesson 8 Covenant: Abrahamic versus Mosaic Lesson 9 Covenant: New Covenant in the Old Testament Lesson 10 Covenant: Why the New is Better Lesson 11 Covenant: Abrahamic vs Old vs New Exodus 34:28 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. NET Exodus 34:28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. NLT Exodus 34:28 Moses remained there on the mountain with the LORD forty days and forty nights. In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water. And the LORD wrote the terms of the covenant-- the Ten Commandments-- on the stone tablets. ESV Exodus 34:28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. NIV Exodus 34:28 Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments. KJV Exodus 34:28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. LXE Exodus 34:28 And Moses was there before the Lord forty days, and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water; and he wrote upon the tables these words of the covenant, the ten sayings. ASV Exodus 34:28 And he was there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. CSB Exodus 34:28 Moses was there with the LORD 40 days and 40 nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. He wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of the covenant, on the tablets. NKJ Exodus 34:28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. NRS Exodus 34:28 He was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. YLT Exodus 34:28 And he is there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; bread he hath not eaten, and water he hath not drunk; and he writeth on the tables the matters of the covenant -- the ten matters. forty days : Ex 24:18 De 9:9,18,25 he wrote : Ex 34:1 31:18 32:16 De 4:13 10:2-4 2Co 3:7 Exodus 34 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries THE TABLET OF THE TEN WORDS Related Passages: Exodus 24:18 Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Deuteronomy 9:9 “When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD had made with you, then I remained on the mountain forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water.....18 “I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger.....25 “So I fell down before the LORD the forty days and nights, which I did because the LORD had said He would destroy you. So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights - This is the second period of 40 days and 40 nights. He did not eat bread or drink water - He fasted during both 40 day periods and this is clearly supernatural for the human body cannot survive 40 days without water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments (literally "ten words") - He did just as Jehovah had commanded him in verse 27. Stuart - The antecedent for “he wrote” is not Moses but Yahweh, the nearest grammatical antecedent in the verse. Moses had already made clear that it was God, not he, who wrote the Ten Words/Commandments on these tablets (34:1); so from the point of view of the narrative, there is no ambiguity about who “he” refers to in the statement. Note also that the term used for what God wrote is, once again, literally “the Ten Words, Currid on the Ten Commandments - The ‘ten words’ are the Decalogue (see Deut. 4:13; 10:4). It is Yahweh who inscribes them on the two stone tablets (see 34:1). This act of writing is clearly distinguished from what Moses is writing; there is no reference to either the ‘tablets’ or the ‘ten words’ in the command to Moses. This writing is God’s work. Exodus 34:29 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. NET Exodus 34:29 Now when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand– when he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. NLT Exodus 34:29 When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn't aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the LORD. ESV Exodus 34:29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. NIV Exodus 34:29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. KJV Exodus 34:29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. LXE Exodus 34:29 And when Moses went down from the mountain, there were the two tables in the hands of Moses,-- as then he went down from the mountain, Moses knew not that the appearance of the skin of his face was glorified, when God spoke to him. ASV Exodus 34:29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. CSB Exodus 34:29 As Moses descended from Mount Sinai-- with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain-- he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the LORD. NKJ Exodus 34:29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. NRS Exodus 34:29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. YLT Exodus 34:29 And it cometh to pass, when Moses is coming down from mount Sinai (and the two tables of the testimony are in the hand of Moses in his coming down from the mount), that Moses hath not known that the skin of his face hath shone in His speaking with him, Two tables : Ex 32:15 did not know : Ex 16:15 Jos 2:4 8:14 Jdg 16:20 Mk 9:6 14:40 Lu 2:49 Joh 5:13 Ac 12:9 23:5 the skin : Mt 17:2 Lu 9:29 Ac 6:15 2Co 3:7-9,13 Rev 1:16 10:1 Exodus 34 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries MOSES SHINING FACE 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 - There is no record of Moses' face shining after his first 40 days on Mount Sinai. Moses writes that his face shone because (term of explanation) he was speaking with Jehovah. Note the fact that Moses did not know indicates the glory of God could not be felt or sensed but only seen. Also his not knowing the glorious appearance (if rays shone forth he could have held his hand up and perceived something) is surely another reason God inspired him to write "the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face (interesting "pun") of the earth." (Nu 12:3). And remember that Moses had been fasting for 40 days! What would most of us look like if we fasted 5 days? This was totally supernatural! F B Meyer points out that as "people become conscious of their superiority to others, and boast of it, it is certain that they have never really seen the beauty of God’s holiness, and have no clear knowledge of the condition of their own hearts.” The face of Moses shone because he had long looked upon the face of God. --C H Spurgeon THOUGHT - Paul picked up on this concept of radiating glory in 2 Cor 3:17-18 where saints who behold the glory of the Lord (today most clearly in His Word) are being transformed by a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit from one degree of glory to another degree of glory into the image of Christ. Is this not another way to describe the believer's progressive growth in Christ-likeness? A synonym for this progressive sanctification. Given the truth of 2 Cor 3:18+, what should be our daily desire and delight? Clearly the answer is to sit at Jesus' feet, in His Word of Truth and Life. Recall Jesus' gentle rebuke of busy Martha who had just rebuked Mary for sitting at Jesus' feet while she bustled around the kitchen. To Martha Jesus declared "Only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”" (Lk 10:42+). Dear busy disciple of Christ, have you chosen the one thing necessary to have a "face like Moses"? Have you consciously set aside time each morning to bow before Jesus in His Word, listening to His voice? If you have, you have given the Spirit the "material" with which He can use to supernaturally transform you from glory to glory, making you more and more like Christ. If you have neglected regular intake of His Word, the Spirit has nothing to use to transform you from glory to glory. The choice is yours. Stay busy like Martha and miss the good part that shall not be taken away or sit at the Master's feet, the one thing that is necessary! Tablets of the Testimony - This term is used 3x in the Bible, all in Exodus- Ex 31:18, Ex 32:15, Ex 34:29 and "would eventually be placed, according to God’s command, in the ark of the testimony/covenant (Ex 25:15, 21; cf. Dt 10:5; 1 Ki 8:9; Heb 9:4) as symbolic documents confirming the covenant between Yahweh and his only special people on earth." (Stuart) Criswell - No man approaches God without being affected. Moses was noticeably changed, and being near the Lord will always lead to a change for the better in any man (cf. Mt. 17:1-8; Acts 4:3; 2 Cor. 3:7-16). This passage reminds me of the only other human whose face was described in a similar way. When Stephen who was called before the Sanhedrin... They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law; 14 for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us.” 15 And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel. (Acts 6:13-15+) COMMENT: Oh, to shine like Stephen for the glory of Jesus. Amen. Stephen was a man who was filled with the Spirit (Acts 6:3,5, 8+) and surely had spent time in the presence of the Lord, which accounts for his radiant countenance. He would soon spend time with Him forever, face to face eternally (Acts 7:55-60+)! Hallelujah! NET Note - Now, at the culmination of the renewing of the covenant, comes the account of Moses’ shining face. It is important to read this in its context first, holding off on the connection to Paul’s discussion in 2 Corinthians. There is a delicate balance here in Exodus. On the one hand Moses’ shining face served to authenticate the message, but on the other hand Moses prevented the people from seeing more than they could handle. The subject matter in the OT, then, is how to authenticate the message. The section again can be subdivided into three points that develop the whole idea: I. The one who spends time with God reflects his glory (29–30). It will not always be as Moses; rather, the glory of the LORD is reflected differently today, but nonetheless reflected. II. The glory of Yahweh authenticates the message (31–32). III. The authentication of the message must be used cautiously with the weak and immature (33–35). Stuart notes that "Moses reviewed the story of his radiant face here in considerable detail because it had important implications.(the following are abbreviations of his 6 implications) it confirmed—even reestablished—his leadership and role as intermediary with God on behalf of the people it confirmed Yahweh’s presence, the very thing sought so assiduously by Moses in his various appeals in chaps. 33–34 it confirmed Yahweh’s greatness. What pagan worshiper ever glowed with the reflection of an idol’s glory? it reminded all those who seek constantly for an ever-closer relationship with God that one can actually have so close a connection with the only true and living God that one may not even notice the extent of the effect as Paul explained in his discussion of this passage in 2 Cor 3:7–18 (see notes), the “glory that lasts” from the New Covenant was in fact much greater than the Old Covenant glory on Moses’ face that faded over time NET Note - The word קָרַן (qaran) is derived from the noun קֶרֶן (qeren) in the sense of a “ray of light” (see Hab 3:4). Something of the divine glory remained with Moses. The Greek translation of Aquila and the Latin Vulgate convey the idea that he had horns, the primary meaning of the word from which this word is derived. Some have tried to defend this, saying that the glory appeared like horns or that Moses covered his face with a mask adorned with horns. But in the text the subject of the verb is the skin of Moses’ face (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 449).