Thoughts on Exodus 34

At the moment we are reading through the small prophets. And I assume that for some of us, those speeches of judgement over sinful people have been uncomfortable for us, maybe it has challenged your view of God. Maybe the question has come up in your heart: “how can a loving God be so severe in his anger?”

Today I want to look with you at a text that I think will help us in understanding the prophets better and in understanding the heart of God better. We are going to exodus 34.

Before I read the text, I want to give some backstory:

God has elected Israel as is people and Moses as their leader. God rescued them from slavery in egypt and is leading them to the land he promised them. Throughout this whole time, God has shown again and again his power, his love and faithfulness to his people. He has shown them that he cares and provides for them. Yet the israelites remain unloyal, unthankful and they don´t trust that God can provide for them.

Then there is a situation in which God makes a covenant with the israelites. He promises them his provision, his faithfulness, his grace and to lead them to the promised land. But he also makes clear, that they have to be obedient to him.

There is a whole set of chapters which describe the ordinances God gives to Moses on the mount sinai, while the people are waiting at the foot of the mountain. So while Moses is in the presence of God, God gives him the ten commandments. They describe the life God intends to give his people.

But when Moses comes down the mountain he finds the israelites worshipping some golden calf they made for themselves, dancing around it. That leads Moses to breaks the tablets with the commandments on them. What this means is, the Israelites have already broken the covenant which God just made with them.

God´s reaction to that is: He tells Moses that he is sick of them, that he wants to eradicate them and instead make Moses to a people. But Moses pleads for the people and God listens to him and doesnt kill them.

After that God had the tent meeting moved outside the israelite camp because if he stayed in their midst, he would kill them because of their sin.

So the community with God is disrupted by the sin of the people. God shows himself so be absolutely intolerant towards sin. His righteous wrath is enkileled over sin. And people have to die because of their sin, they cannot come into the presence of God.

Then in chapter 34 something astonishing happens.

After Moses insensely prays for God to come back to his people, to not forsake them, God has pitty. And he renews the covenant that the people have broken.

And so, moses prepares new tablets for the ten commandments, goes up the mount sinai and there encounters God.

Ex. 34,5-10k

God shows his heart to moses. He is a God best described with which attributes? Mercy, Graciousness, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, faithfulness. He is a God who forgives. He is also a God, who does not let even a single sin unpunished.

What becomes clear, is that God is not some angry child screaming at everyone for not getting what it wants. He is not a grumpy old man who cannot control his temper. He is holy, he is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, loving, faithful, just.

He loves mercy more than judgement. He is the one who has chosen Israel - not the other way around. He is the one who is reestablishing his covenant with them, even though they have never had any claim to the promises of God, especially after bathing themselves in sin and contiously rebelling against the goodnes of God.

And yet he has mercy over them, he does not eradicate them, but instead he begins a work of renewing them.

And that is what God does in this broken world in a people we call church. He makes broken, wicked, evil, helpless people new cretaures.

It becomes clearly visible if we look to the cross. There Jesus paid for the sins of his people to cleanse them and to redeem them. He carried the fullness of the wrath of God so that me might receive Jesus and with him life in the presence of God.

-> I am making a covenant -> Ezekiel 36 -> the blood of Christ.

Christ made a new and better covenant and he sealed it with his own blood.

So when we read these hard passages in the prophets, how do we engage with them? We must see, and we see it in the prophets too, that God intends to dwell among his people. So if the punishes sin, he always intends to redeem and forgive them again. He brings humans back into fellowship with him.

I want to close with Spurgeon:

“Are you mourning over your own sins and failings? Look to your perfect Lord, and remember, you are complete in him.”