Oct 22
16
Old Testament Reading: Exodus 34
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.’ So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, ‘If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.’ And he said, ‘Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods. You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed. Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel. For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year. You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. 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.’ 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. 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. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the LORD had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.” (Exodus 34, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Romans 9
“I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: ‘About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.’ And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea, ‘Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’’ ‘And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.’ And as Isaiah predicted, ‘If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.’ What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’” (Romans 9, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
There is a lot of repetition found in the book of Exodus in chapters 34 through 39. Next Sunday, Lord willing, I will tell you about the repetition found in Exodus 35 through 39 regarding the building of the tabernacle according to the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain. Today our focus is on chapter 34. Here the covenant that the LORD entered into with Israel is renewed. In fact, a better word would probably be reinstated. The covenant was so badly broken when Israel forgot the Lord and ran full speed into idolatry in the worshipping of that golden calf that Aaron had made, it was not restoration that was needed, but total reinstatement. The covenant was broken, as signified by the breaking of the stone tablets which contained the Ten Commandments. Here the covenant is reinstated, as signified by the making of new tablets. So as I have said, there is a great deal of repetition here as key elements from earlier in Exodus from the original making of the Old Mosaic Covenant are stated yet again. The repetition is crucial. It makes it very clear that this is not a new or different covenant, but a gracious reinstatement of the one that had just been made, which Isarel had broken through their corporate idolatry. Here also in this reinstatement of the covenant we see the mercy and grace of God put on display. And really, I think that is the main point of it all.I suppose the repetition in the text might tempt some to tune out, but that would be a great mistake, brothers and sisters. There is much for us to learn from this text. There is much application to be made.
For the sake of clarity, I will present this text to you under three headings: One, The Covenant Reinstated. Two, The Name Of The LORD Further Revealed. And three, The Leadership Of Moses Reestablished.
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The Covenant Reinstated
First, let us consider that the LORD graciously reinstated the covenant he had previously made with Israel through Moses at Sinai after the people had quickly obliterated it through their corporate idolatry.
That the LORD graciously reinstated the very same covenant that he had not long before made with Israel is made abundantly clear in verse 1 of Exodus 34. “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.’” (Exodus 34:1, ESV)
In this text, we learn that Moses was invited to come back up the mountain into the presence of God. He was there again for forty days and forty nights. He neither ate nor drank, but the LORD sustained him. And while there, the LORD wrote on these tablets of stone with his own “finger” the very same words that were written upon the first set, which Moses threw to the ground and broke when he found the people in idolatry.
So what exactly was written on these stone tablets? Verse 28 is very clear that it was the Ten Commandments, or the Ten Words – the very same commandments that are recorded for us in Exodus 20:2-17. These ten moral laws written on stone functioned as the foundation for all of the other laws given to Israel. These ten moral laws written on stone stood for the whole of the covenant that God had made with Israel at Sinai. As you know, other laws were added to these. The Old Mosaic Covenant contained civil laws and ceremonial laws too. We call these civil and ceremonial laws positive laws, for they were added to the moral law, and they were uniquely binding on Old Covenant Israel. But these civil and ceremonial laws were not written on the stone tablets – only the Ten Commandments were.
This is an important observation to make. It will help us to answer the question, which law has been written on the hearts of the New Covenant people of God in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah 31? Answer: not the civil or ceremonial, but the moral law only. Just as the LORD wrote the moral law on stone for Old Covenant Israel, so too has the LORD written the moral law on the hearts of the New Covenant people of God through the regenerating power of his Holy Spirit.
One question we should ask concerning the stone tables is this: why two tablets, and not one?
Were two tablets needed so that the LORD would have enough space to write the words which we have recorded for us in Exodus 20:2-17? I think not. The Ten Commandments do not take up more than half a page in my English translation of the Bible. Space was not the issue. Or was it so that the Ten Commandments could be divided into two sections, the first tablet containing commandments one through four, which pertain to the proper worship of God, and the second tablet containing commandments five through ten, which pertain to the proper treatment of our fellow man. That’s possible. After all, we see that the scriptures themselves do recognize this division. Christ himself summarized the whole law according to this division when he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37–40, ESV). This is why we use the phrase “the two tables of the law”. By this, we refer to this obvious division within the moral law, the first four commandments having to do with our love for God, and the last six commandments having to do with our love for man.
But I do not think this is the reason for the two tablets either. Instead, it is my view that both tablets had all Ten Commandments written on them. In other words, they were identical copies. One tablet was Israel’s “copy” of the covenant law, and the other tablet was YHWH’s “copy”. Indeed, in those days, this is how kings would enter into covenants or treaties with each other. When a great king entered into a covenant with a lesser king, the great king would establish the terms of the covenant. These terms would be agreed to before witnesses. The terms would be written down, and each party would receive a copy. In this way, the terms of the relationship would be clearly communicated and ratified through a formal covenant. That is what is happening here. YHWH, the King of kings and Lord of lords, is graciously entering into a covenant with Israel. The Ten Commandments written on stone by God summarize the terms of it. One tablet is Israel’s, and the other is the Lord’s. Both were to be kept in the ark of the covenant in the most holy place in the tabernacle, where the LORD would meet with his people, Isarel.
So then, it is clear that YHWH is here reinstating the same covenant that he made with Israel earlier, which they had broken through their corporate idolatry. And this fact becomes even more clear when we see that in this text many other laws were restated too. Earlier in Exodus, we learned that to the moral law summarized in the Ten Commandments, God added civil laws and ceremonial laws. We were told all about the giving of these civil and ceremonial laws in Exodus 21 through 31. These additional (positive) laws were not written by the finger of God on the stone tablets, but they were written down by Moses. This book (or scroll) that Moses wrote was a record of all of the laws which the LORD revealed to him for Isarel. In Exodus 24:7 this book is called “the book of the covenant.” In Deuteronomy 29:21 it is called the “book of the law”. And in that Deuteronomy text we learn that once this “Book of the Law” was completed, the Levites were “put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD” (see Deuteronomy 31:26–27, ESV).
Here is the thing that we must notice: when the LORD reinstated the Old Covenant after Israel’s idolatry, he did not only provide them with a new set of stone tablets containing the moral law. He also restated some of the positive laws too. And this was to make it clear that everything that was said before was still in force. I will not take the time to show you this in detail, for that would be too tedious to accomplish in the time we have remaining. I think it will be sufficient for me to say that, according to this text, Israel was still to observe the feasts the Lord had commanded earlier. They were to worship as God had prescribed earlier. You will notice in this text that a very strong emphasis is placed on the laws governing worship. And very strong warnings are issued concerning the threat of idolatry. This makes perfect sense given Israel’s recent rebellion. This also makes sense given what Israel was about to do, namely, construct the tabernacle according to the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain.
So here in Exodus 34 the covenant that God made with Israel at Sinai is restored or reinstated. This covenant was a covenant of works. This meant that its blessings had to be earned by the people through their obedience. It also meant that it could be broken, which would make the people liable to its curses. In the Exodus story, we learn that the people broke it only almost as soon as it had been made. They deserved judgment. But for his namesake, and for the sake of the unconditional promises he previously made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob concerning the possession of Canaan and the blessing of the nations through their offspring, the Messiah, the LORD showed mercy and grace.
This really is the truth that is put on display in this episode in the history of redemption: the LORD was merciful and gracious to Israel. Though they deserved his judgment because they broke his covenant, he was patient with them. He passed over their transgressions so that he might fulfill the promises he made to Abraham concerning the Messiah. Brothers and sisters, it should be clear to you that for God to relate to man at all after Adam’s fall into sin requires mercy and grace from God.
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The Name Of The LORD Further Revealed
This brings us to the second heading of the sermon: The Name Of The LORD Further Revealed.
Do not forget the request that Moses made when he previously interceded for Israel as recorded in chapter Exodus 33. In verse 13 Moses we hear Moses speak to the Lord, saying, “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight” (Exodus 33:13, ESV). In 33:18 he says, “Please show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18, ESV). Indeed, the LORD did at that time show Moses his glory and reveal his name and ways to him. And what did the LORD reveal concerning his ways? In 33:19 the LORD proclaimed his name, YHWH, saying, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19, ESV). In this statement, the LORD revealed something to Moses concerning his ways. He is a gracious and merciful God. And he has the right to show mercy and grace to whomever he wills. The Apostle Pual interprets this passage this way when he quotes it in Romans 9 and then says in verse 16, “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Romans 9:16, ESV). And a little later he says, “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Romans 9:18, ESV).
You will notice that here in Exodus 34 the LORD further reveals his name to Moses as he reinstitutes the covenant. In 34:6 we read, “The LORD passed before [Moses] and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped” (Exodus 34:6–8, ESV).
Notice that the LORD cited five attributes that characterize him. First, he is “merciful”. This Hebrew word can also be translated as compassionate. Secondly, he is “gracious”, meaning that he does things for people that they do not deserve. Thirdly, he is “slow to anger”, or patient with those who sin against him. Fourthly, he is “abounding in steadfast love”. This means that God is overflowing with covenant loyalty. And fifthly, he is abounding in faithfulness. This means that God is true. He keeps his word.
These unchanging perfections of God are what produce his gracious actions toward us as described in verse 7: “…keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” The phrase, “keeping steadfast love” could be translated as keeping covenant loyalty or faithfulness. That is the meaning. And the phrase, “for thousands” could be translated, to the thousandth generation. I believe that is the meaning. But then we have this word of clarification: The LORD “will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:7, ESV).
Let us now put it all together.
Here the LORD further revealed his name to Moses. This means that he further revealed his character or his attributes. YHWH is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…” This is YHWH’s character. This is who he is. These are his attributes.
And what are his ways? What is he doing amongst the children Adam who have fallen into sin and rebellion? What is he doing, in partaicular, with the Hebrews? He is keeping covenant faithfulness to the thousandth generation. He is “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” But do not forget about his justice, brothers and sisters! He “will by no means clear the guilty” of the sins they commit in every generation.
I think it is important to recognize that this revelation of the divine name and of the attributes of God, along with the revelation of the ways of the LORD, agree perfectly with what God has done to bring about our redemption in Christ Jesus? Stated differently, what the LORD has done to bring about our redemption in Christ Jesus in history agrees perfectly with his character. He did not judge Adam fully and finally when he broke the Covenant of Works that God had made with him, but showed mercy. He gave Adam a promise concerning salvation through the Covenant of Grace. That promise was intrusted to Abraham and to Israel. But in order to bring the Christ into the world through Isarel in fulfulmment to the promises preveiouly made, it was necessary for the LORD to merciful. He would have to be patient with sinners and pass over their sin for a time. He would have to withhold his wrath lest the children of Adam and Abraham be consumed by him. Indeed, this is what the LORD has done. He has, to use the language of Paul in Romans 9, “has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?”
Here in Exodus 34 the LORD further reveales himself to Moses, and through him to Israel and to the world, saying , ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped” (Exodus 34:6–8, ESV). May our response be the same as his. When we consider the LORD’s mercy, and his sovereign right to show mercy to whomever he wills, may we bow our heads toward the earth and worship. How sad it is to see that many who claim to be followers of Christ and worshippers of YHWH in our day and age do the opposite when they hear of the LORD’s sovereign right to show mercy to whomever he wills. Instead of worshipping him they rage against the LORD and complain, saying, this is not fair! They error in that they do not comprehend what our sins deserve. God would be right and fair and just to cut us all off and to without his blessed presence from us for all eternity! He would do no wrong to judge us all for our sins. That he is patient with rebel sinners, and that he has determined to save some by the merits of Christ imputed to us and received by faith, is astonishing. His grace is amazing. And if you do not agree, I wonder if you know YHWH, for he has revealed himself as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.” He has revealed himself as the LORD, saying, “And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19, ESV).
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The Leadership Of Moses Reestablished
So then, in our passage we see that the covenant that God made with Israel at Sinai was reinstated after the Israelites had broken it. We have also considered further revelation of the Divine name. Thirdly, let us consider that Moses’ leadership over Israel was in this episode firmly reestablished.
Here is what I mean. Moses was again on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. What happened the last time he was away? The people dismissed Moses as their leader and sought to control Aaron, saying, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (Exodus 32:1, ESV). The question is this: what will happen when Moses comes down the mountain this second time with new tablets? Will the people have rebelled? Will they be engaged in idolatry once more? No, in this instance Moses returns to a people who have been humbled. They maintained their reverence for the LORD in his absence, and they even possed greater respect for the man Moses.
In verses 29 and following we learn that the LORD did something for Moses to assist with this. “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. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.” (Exodus 34:29–30, ESV)
This radiance that was set upon Moses by the LORD functioned as a sign that he had indeed communed with the LORD. This was a sign that Moses was indeed the servant of the LORD and was sent by him to function as the mediator of the Old Covenant. And so in this way the leadership of Moses was reestablished.
But do not miss this very significant point. The radiant glory that was placed upon Moses did quickly fade. And this was to signify that though Moses was a faithful servant in God’s house, he was not the Messiah, the LORD of glory come in the flesh. And though the Old Covenant which he mediated was good so far as it fulfilled the purposes that God had for it, it was not meant to be permanent, but would in the fulness of time fade away in the face of Christ and the New Covenant ratified in his blood.
Do you remember that episode recorded for us in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke wherein Jesus went up onto the mountain with Peter, James, and John? He “led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them” (Mark 9:2–3, ESV). And who else appeared there on the mountain except for Moses, the mediator of the Old Covenant, and the great prophet Elijah? At this moment God was signifying that he had set his favor upon Jesus to be the mediator of the New Covenant and that Moses and Elijah were happy to see his day, to give way to him, and to fade in the background. Indeed, they would have agreed with John the Baptist, who was the greatest of the Old Covenant prophets, who spoke of Jesus, saying, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30, ESV).
The radiant glory that fell upon Moses signified his favor and close communion with the LORD, but it faded. It faded, not because of something that Moses had done, but because he, and the covenant of which he served as mediator, was designed to fade. The Old Covenant was glorious, but it was designed to give way to the far surpassing and never-fading glory of the New, with Christ as mediator. If you wish to have a text in support of this, you may go to 2 Corinthians 3 some other time.
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Conclusion
Let me now conclude with three brief suggestions for further contemplation.
One, let us contemplate God, his names, and his ways as revealed to us in Jesus Christ and in Holy Scripture. Remember the words of Christ in his high priestly prayer: “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3, ESV). If you wish to know God and Christ truly and to have eternal life in him, then you must submit to God’s word. You must “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21, ESV). Many people claim to know God and Christ and to love them, but they will not surrender to divine revelation. Instead, they make a god and savior for themselves after their image and according to their desires and reason. If we wish to know God and to contemplate him truly, then we must surrender to his word. He is LORD. And he has said, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19, ESV).
Two, let us contemplate the mercy and patience of God. Here I am not referring to the mercy he has shown to us in Christ Jesus to save us from our sins, but the mercy that he shows to all men living in all times and places. It is incredible to consider the patience of the LORD. He has for millennia restrained the outpouring of his wrath. He even gives good gifts to men – even to those who hate him. Have you ever looked out upon the city and thought to yourself, our God is so very patient? Indeed, he is merciful. He does not immediately give men what they deserve. He is patient. And this is to leave room for the full accomplishment and application of salvation to all of his elect. We must give praise to God for his mercy.
Three, let us contemplate and give thanks to God for the way of salvation he has provided for the world, that is to say, for people from every tongue tribe, and nation. As we continue in our study of Exodus we must not lose sight of the fact that he entered into a covenant with Israel, was patient with them for many hundreds of years, and was faithful to preserve them so that he might bring the Messiah into the world through them, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty…”
Praise be to YHWH for his abundant mercy and grace.
