(Exodus) Exodus 34:1-7 — J. Vernon McGee

Now, friends, as we come today to this 34th chapter, you'll notice it, and I trust that those of you going through with us will read along as you go. You'll find that it'll make the study more interesting to you, I'm sure.

All Scripture Is Profitable, Even Difficult Old Testament Passages

You will wonder how in the world it could ever have any application for us today, and yet all Scripture is profitable, and this Scripture is also. So, and I'm reading now at verse 1,. And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone, like unto the first, and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou breakest.

And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount, neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.

Moses Receives the Second Stone Tablets

And he hewed two tables of stone, like unto the first, and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up into Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him, and he took in his hand the two tables of stone.

Now you have here actually the second tables of the Law, the first you'll recall when Moses went down at the time they made the golden calf and worshipped it. After breaking those, he now comes back to the mountain, and he has with him these blank tables now.

God Proclaims His Name to Moses

Verse 5,. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And this is very important to see, for this is a tremendous advance for both Moses and the children of Israel.

He's proclaiming now his name. A name has a meaning, and I do not mean by that like you find in the Old Testament that so many names have a certain meaning, but that a name always conjures up in the thinking of people certain things.

When you hear the name of Caesar, what do you think of? When you hear the name today of Nazi, the Nazis, what do you think of? What do you think of when you hear the name Egypt or the name Israel? Well, God's proclaiming now his name, and it comes out of the experience that these people have already had since they left the land of Egypt.

God’s Mercy, Grace, Goodness, and Truth

Now, will you listen to this? This is a glorious revelation of God, and the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed the Lord, that is, Jehovah. And now he says, Jehovah God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.

God’s Justice and the Need for Forgiveness

Now God does not extend mercy by shutting his eyes to the guilty or by just saying, well, we'll forget it. He doesn't. Sin must be punished. There must be the penalty paid. And he by no means clears the guilty, but what happens?

He's keeping mercy, and he forgives iniquity, and how does he do it? Well, because a sacrifice has been provided, and every sacrifice they made in that day didn't take away sin, but it pointed to the one who did when he came 1 ,900 years ago.

So this is still a marvelous revelation of God.