Moses Meets With God (Exodus 34:1-8)

We all know what it is like to meet with an important person. Sometimes, the meeting is pre-arranged and we have to prepare for it because it is an important occasion. Moses had been instructed to meet with God on a very important occasion. It was the renewal of the covenant with God as expressed in the Ten Commandments. It was a renewal because the Israelites had spoiled the previous attempt by their false worship connected to the golden calf.

Nevertheless, we should remind ourselves that the Lord had told Moses when he called him to be the leader that there would be a great worship gathering at Mount Sinai. We might think that the sin of the Israelites would have caused that prediction to be nullified, but here we see that was not the case. The Lord wanted to have a covenant relationship with his people in which they would serve him and he would bless them. 

Moses acted as a go-between. He represented the Israelites as their leader and he represented God to them as his agent. It was a very privileged role because it meant that he had many meetings with the Lord. Obviously he would discover a great deal about who God is. Inevitably, some meetings would say more to him than other meetings. The one he was about to have gave many fresh insights to Moses about his God.

What did God and Moses do?

To put it simply, Moses ascended and God descended. Moses ascended with the tablets he had made and God descended in the cloud of glory. Although Moses ascended, he remained Moses, and although God descended, he remained God. There is a basic lesson there for us. No matter how high we go, we remain inferior to God. No matter how low he descends, he remains infinitely superior to us. A meeting with God is always a meeting between a creature and the Creator, between the delivered and the Deliverer, between the pardoned and the Forgiver. We should never forget the greatness of God when we approach him.

What did God say?

The Lord spoke about himself and revealed several of his gracious features. To begin with, he repeated his name, the Lord, the new name he had told to Moses at the Burning Bush. This name stressed the eternity of God, his endless existence, his bigness, his incomprehensibleness. This description means that he is unique, that there is nothing or no-one we can compare with him. Instead, he is to be approached with wonder and awe.

Because he is the eternal One, he had to give more information about himself to Moses if there was going to be a relationship between him and Moses and between him and the Israelites. So the Lord specified some details about himself and the features he mentioned reveal his grace and lovingkindness. He described himself in the ways he reacts to sinful people, because that is what the Israelites were. It is important to observe that some of the attributes are only seen in his responses to sinful people. The Lord is not speaking about his responses to those who live in heaven, but to those who live on earth, to those who are not yet made perfect in holiness.

How would the Lord have given those details to Moses? We know that he did so lovingly, and he also did so carefully because he had placed Moses in a location of protection. We can be sure that the Lord would have made this announcement gladly, because he rejoices to bless, but he would also have made it seriously because the information he would give about himself must be treated with great respect.

Sometimes, a way of understanding better a phrase is to replace the words with other words that mean the same. So, we can replace mercy with compassion, because that is what mercy is – it is an attitude of the heart as well as an action of the hand. ‘Gracious’ is the Lord giving undeserved favour to us, the opposite of what we actually deserve. ‘Slow to anger’ describes his long-suffering, his reluctance to inflict full punishment upon those who offend. So we can say that he is compassionate, kind and patient as he responds to sinners, even to those who at times have offended him greatly. 

In addition, God tells Moses how he displays his mercy and grace. He abounds in loyalty to his people because he keeps his side of the covenant he has made with them. Therefore, he fulfils all the promises that he has made – he is never the One who breaks the covenant conditions. If his people break them, then he will withhold his blessings and impose his punishments. 

When the Lord made this covenant he knew that those with whom he was making it were sinful. Indeed, he specified what their sins were by using different names to describe them. Some sins are failures to do what he wants – we fall short. Other sins are going into what he has forbidden – they are transgressions. All sins are ugly and defiling, they are iniquity. In order to appreciate the greatness of the pardon, we need to know the awfulness of our sins. But the amazing aspect is that the Lord continues to forgive his people when they confess their sins.

This description of God is repeated several times in the Old Testament, which is a reminder to us of how precious it was regarded by the people of God. It is mentioned in three psalms (86:15; 103:8; 145:8). Joel, the prophet, uses it to urge the backsliding people of his day to return to God (Joel 2:13). Jonah even used it when complaining that God had shown mercy to the people of Nineveh (Jonah 4:2). Rather bizarrely, he used a self-description by God as a complaint about God. It would a good verse for us to learn about the Lord. Nehemiah used in his prayer to God to restore the Israelites after the exile in Babylon and the recovery was not going well (Neh. 1).

Moreover, the Lord gives a solemn warning to the Israelites when he says that he will punish those who refuse to repent of their sins. He never turns a blind eye to sin. He will either punish it or forgive it. A refusal to repent can have long term consequences that can last for generations in the providence of God. He does not forget who started off the departure from his ways. The bad example of a parent can lead children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren away from the faith. Sadly, this often occurred in the history of Israel.

What did Moses say?

Having received such an amazing statement from God about himself, Moses had to say something in reply. It was Moses, of course, who wrote this account and he tells us that he recalls responding quickly. His bodily posture revealed his heart. It usually does for all of us. In Moses’ case, the desire of his heart was to worship the One who had provided such information. 

We can see that Moses then prayed to the Lord. Clearly he was encouraged by the information God gave to him about mercy and grace. Moses understood that the Lord wanted to help sinners, therefore he pled with the Lord that he would live in the centre of the people rather than at a distance from them. Moses wanted God and his people to be close to one another, and this would take place in the tabernacle.

Moses then prayed that his people would know two blessings. The first is ongoing pardon for their sins and the second is that the Lord would make the Israelites his inheritance and enjoy his bountiful provision.

Lessons

This divine summary of who he is by God would have been an encouraging word to the Israelites. Yet we know that since they were a sinful people, he had to show mercy, grace and patience on numerous occasions. It was the case that he poured his blessings on his people at times, forgiving their sins and restoring them, and at other times he had to punish them for their sins. God remained faithful to this announcement throughout their history.

The God who spoke to Moses was the same God who became a man, Jesus the Son of God. During his years on earth, he showed compassion, divine favour and patience. He forgave the sins of many people while he warned others of the danger of not repenting of their sins. And he has been the same with us – merciful, kind, patient, pardoning, and fulfilling his promises.

The other lesson is about prayer for one another. Moses loved the people of God and his affection was seen in his prayers for them as well as his acknowledgment of their sinful tendency to rebel. He prayed that they would know the divine presence, divine pardon and the divine plenty. And we should note that he included himself among those who needed such divine grace.