Exodus 34:1 – 9 “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready in the morning, and come up on Mount Sinai to present yourself before Me on the mountaintop. No one may go up with you; in fact, no one may be seen anywhere on the mountain—not even the flocks or herds may graze in front of the mountain.”
So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the originals. He rose early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hands, he went up Mount Sinai as the LORD had commanded him.
And the LORD descended in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name, the LORD. Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out:
“The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness, maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means excuse the guilty; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
How many mothers over the years have told their kids, “You break something, you replace it!” Here God is doing the same thing. God orders Moses to chisel out two stone tablets like the originals “which you broke” and return to Mount Sinai. Is God angry with Moses? Perhaps, but I prefer to think that God was smiling at Moses as He gave these instructions. After all, Moses only threw the original stone tablets on the ground because he was so shocked/angry/disappointed/frustrated with the Israelites. God wants Moses to have to work a little, but He is still inviting Moses to come up onto Mount Sinai where He will show Moses His glory and will re – write His commandments on the stone tablets. This time, Moses is to come alone without even Joshua to accompany him. And God demands that nothing and nobody come anywhere near the mountain! God is taking no chances that some curious shepherd is going to herd his sheep to the foot of the mountain and then swat them on the rumps with his staff to encourage them to climb up the mountain, giving the shepherd the excuse to watch when God shows up.
v. 6 -7 “And the LORD descended in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name, the LORD. Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out:
“The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness, maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means excuse the guilty; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
APPLICATION:
Here God lists nine distinct characteristics:
1. Compassionate – the word in Hebrew for compassionate comes from the word for “womb,” indicating that God has the feelings of a mother for her children.
2. Gracious
3. Slow to anger – Thank heavens, literally, that God is slow to anger! Otherwise, we would all have been reduced to cinders a long time ago.
4. Abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness – again, the Hebrew indicates a form of extraordinary kindness
5. Abounding in faithfulness – The Hebrew word here literally means “truth.” Prager observes, “God is true to His word, promises, bows, and standards. One of God’s attributes is truth because goodness cannot exist without truth. Indeed, most great evils are based on lies.”
6. Maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations – WOW! God wants His people to understand how much He cares for them and how eternal His loving devotion is.
7. Forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin
8. Not excusing the guilty – God is still a just God, and there is ultimate justice.
9. He will visit (remember) the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations. Does God hold grudges? No. Contrast this with God’s assertion that He maintains loving devotion for a thousand generations. God is not keeping score of all the wrongs that people do, but consider how many children follow their parents’ examples, whether good or bad. This verse is not so much a threat as a warning to parents: be careful about the example you leave for your children. You may be blighting your family for several generations.
When God actually shows His glory to Moses, God hides Moses in a small cave and then shows Moses as much of His glory as Moses can handle. In the picture at the beginning of this devotional, Moses is looking down, not because he is about to smash the tablets, but because God is inscribing His commands on them again, and Moses is turning his face away because of the incredible glory of God shining around him.
Does God hold grudges? So many times when things don’t go the way we wish they would, we throw around all kinds of accusations. But in fact, God does not hold grudges; instead, God gives us all kinds of new opportunities to do well. We are the ones who mess up our lives, not God. Sometimes people will complain that God should have stopped them from making bad choices; however, this is a foolish statement that ignores the fact that we are created with free will and can choose to do good or bad things.
The next time you are frustrated with God, try looking at God’s description of Himself and then examine your own life. All your life, God has been working, even though you might not have realized it.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for your wonderful attributes! Help us to trust you and to believe you when you tell us of your love and faithfulness and your grace and forgiveness. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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