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GOD REVEALS HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS TO MAKE A NAME FOR HIMSELFEXODUS 34:1-9INTRODUCTION If you know who Tiger Woods is, please raise your hand. While there may be some debate, most people who think and write about such things say that Tiger Woods is the most recognizable athlete in the world and some even claim he is the most recognizable human being of any sort in the world. You may not know this but since he was old enough to understand what it meant it has been his stated goal to be the best golfer in the world, ever. While his official coronation as the world’s best golfer to ever play the game awaits his winning his 18 th major golf tournament (He’s at 12 right now), many would argue that he already has proven himself better than all who ever played the game. Tiger Woods has made a name for himself by playing the game of golf better than anyone has ever done it. However, he is respected and admired the world over not just because he is great at golf but mainly because of how he has become great at golf. He became a great golfer by respecting and listening to his dad, by working incredibly hard at the game, by learning to control himself under the severest forms of pressure and by doing it all with grace and humility. I doubt there are many people who begrudge Tiger Woods the fame he has gained because of how he has done it. Several weeks ago as we were examining Exodus 32 I made the point based on Moses’ prayer asking God to not destroy Israel after they worshipped the golden calf that God’s ultimate purpose in all that he does is the glory of his own name. To say it another way, it has always been God’s objective to make a name for himself in the universe. It is the reason he created the world, it is the reason he sustains and rules over his universe and it is the reason he sent Jesus to save his people from their sins. Moses’ entire argument in 32:11-14 can be summed up, “God do not destroy Israel because if you do you will bring dishonor to your name and the honor of your name is the highest good in the entire universe. Your name will only be made great if you preserve Israel.” Moses essentially prayed the first petition of the Lord's Prayer: "Hallowed by your name." If God were not committed first and foremost to the honor of his own name there would be no reason for him to have created the universe and certainly no reason for him to love and save sinners. In today’s text we are witnessing the culmination of God’s restoring the covenant relationship he first made with Israel in chapters 19-31 and which they shattered by their treacherous worship of the golden calf. We will see the opening scene of the successful conclusion of Moses’ intercession which began with his cry that God bring honor to himself in saving Israel. We are witnessing this week and next how God, for the sake of his own name, takes Israel back as his people and agrees to live with them and among them in spite of their sin. What we will observe here is how it is that God makes a name for himself. My aim this morning is to help us to admire God, in a way similar to how the world admires Tiger Woods, because of who God is and how he has made a name for himself. I want us to embrace as the best of all possible news that God is out to make a name for himself and to admire the way in which he has done this. MAIN POINT God makes a name for himself by…I. Giving his word to his treacherous people (vv. 1-4) The first thing we discover in v. 1 of chapter 34 is that the central feature of God’s restoring his covenant with his people is his giving to Israel again, through Moses, the Ten Commandments, written on two stone tablets. Remember that Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights on Mt. Sinai the first time in order to receive these same commandments along with all the instructions for building the tabernacle and establishing the priesthood and the sacrifices so that God could live among the Israelites. These stone tablets were to be just like the first ones and the words that God wrote on those first tablets he also is going to write on these second tablets. The same word of God is going to be given to Israel for a second time in pretty much the same fashion. In order for God to restore his relationship with Israel he rewrites the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. Verses 2-4 ought to sound very familiar to you if you have been paying attention to the story of Israel and God at Mt. Sinai. God’s commands to Moses to prepare himself to meet with the Lord and then to come up to the Lord on the top of Mt. Sinai, his prohibitions against anyone but Moses coming up the mountain (not even animals are allowed to graze in front of the mountain), Moses’ coming up the mountain in the early morning, the Lord descending on the mountain in a cloud, all of these things parallel chapter 19, the first time God appeared on Mt. Sinai and spoke to Moses and to Israel and established the covenant with them. What we are witnessing here is like a second wedding ceremony. This is like when two people who have been divorced from each other and who never remarried anyone else, remarry each other in a second wedding ceremony. While there are many similarities there are also some things that are different in this second ceremony, just as you would expect if two divorced people were to remarry. Moses has to chisel out the stone tablets this time and carry them with him up the mountain whereas the first time God himself provided the tablets and did the writing. This time the people are not required to do anything. Remember, the first time they had to wash their clothes and abstain from sexual contact and come to the foot of the mountain on the morning of the third day? Only Moses has to prepare himself and only he approaches the mountain. The people are simply to wait in their tents while their mediator acts on their behalf. There is no mention of Aaron or any other priests going up the mountain with Moses as in chapter 19. No one, not even Joshua can come up this time. There is no lightning and thunder and earthquake; no fire, no voice of God speaking out of the cloud to all the people, giving the 10 Commandments. There are large, significant differences between the ceremonies, just as you know there would be if two divorced people were to remarry each other. But what is the same between the first covenant ceremony and this second one is the word, the content of the covenant. This is just like if two divorced people were to remarry they would repeat the same vows to each other. So God commits himself again to these treacherous people and gives to them his words. But at this point there is another incredibly significant difference between the first giving of the Ten Commandments and this one. The first time the people of Israel said “I do”, not once but three times. They promised three times during the covenant ceremony that they would obey all that God told them to do, just like brides and grooms promise to keep the vows they have made. The absence of any response from Israel in this ceremony reminds us again that God is not entering into this relationship with Israel because of who they are or what they have done but as an expression of his free and unmerited favor. He gives his word to these traitors by grace, not by works. The absence of their response raises the question as to how this relationship is going to work between God and Israel. The Ten Commandments are commandments that are to be obeyed. The entire arrangement is that God promises to bless and love those who obey and yet he is not requiring any promise from Israel to keep their part of the deal. He gives his word to them without requiring from them anything. How can he do this? While this is not clearly spelled out here we are being tipped off to the fact that God’s commitment to his people is not dependent upon the obedience of his people. God must have a way to relate to disobedient people that is not yet clearly spelled out. His giving of his word to these people is evidence that he is going to reveal what that way is. Moses going up the mountain with blank stone tablets shows that man does not know how to relate to the God who made us. He is unapproachable and unknowable by humanly constructed religions. Moses doesn’t go to God with the tablets filled out to get God’s approval of his system of religion. He goes with blank tablets to receive from God, God’s words. God must reveal by his written word how it is that sinful humans can approach him. What a graphic picture of the process God uses to reveal to us humans how a holy God can relate to sinful human beings. The first way that God makes a name for himself is that he devised a way to give to the world his word, written down, to and through the Jewish people. God has spoken. He has not left it up to human invention to figure out what he is like or what he likes. He, by his written word, has made himself and his plan of salvation known. In this passage before us we can see how God has determined to do this. He has done it through his chosen prophets. Moses is a partner with God in giving to Israel and through them to us God’s written word. This word from God is a description of how God enters into a covenant relationship with sinners who do not obey his word. If you turn the page of your Bible to 34:28 you will see that while v. 1 says that God wrote the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets that Moses provided, v. 28 says that Moses wrote the Ten Commandments on the two tablets. Which is it? Did God write or did Moses write? The answer is that both wrote. God wrote through the agency of Moses. This book is a 100% divine book. Every word in it is God’s word. Yet this book is a thoroughly human book. While some of it is pure dictation, like the Ten Commandments, not all of it is. In fact, most of the Bible is the result of human beings responding to particular conditions and circumstances and then writing, using their own language and grammar and knowledge to communicate God’s word in a very human form. Yet, every word is what God wanted said. The fame of God is known in the amazing complexity of this written human word which carries to us God’s description of reality and his will for our lives and the way that we can be saved. The story of the Bible, of how it came into existence and of how it has transformed individuals and entire cultures is an amazing display of the greatness of God. The fame of his name is to be seen in how he has worked through the prophets and then throughout history to give and to preserve his written word so that we know how we can live with this God who is a consuming fire. God makes a name for himself by…
II. Revealing that he is perfect in mercy and justice (vv. 5-7) Moses goes up the mountain to receive the word of God. When he gets to the top of the mountain, God descends upon the mountain in the pillar of cloud and he passes before Moses. Remember from chapter 33 that Moses’ request was that God would show him his glory as the sign that he was going to restore the covenant. But now notice that we are not told anything about what Moses saw but only about what he heard. This is so important to think about. Moses, when he recorded this experience under the leadership of the Holy Spirit did not think what he saw mattered at all. What mattered is what he heard. The reason is because seeing is not believing, but rather, hearing is believing. My guess is that most of us do not believe what I just said. We naturally believe that if we saw a miracle, that if God would give us some sort of visible sign of his presence that then we would believe. The overwhelming evidence of both the OT and the NT and of history is that signs and miracles do not create faith but only serve to expose unbelief. Just think about Israel’s experience up to this point in the book of Exodus. They witnessed God visibly destroy the nation of Egypt through 10 mighty plagues and then they saw him part the Red Sea and wipe out the most powerful army on earth by drowning. Every day they see manna on the desert floor and a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night lead them. They watched as God gave them fresh water out of rock. They saw and experienced that massive pyrotechnic display on the top of Mt. Sinai and they trembled with fear at what they witnessed. What impact did all this visible evidence have upon them? These visible miracles did nothing for their faith. In barely a month’s time they betray God and worship the golden calf. This is why Paul says, “We live by faith, not by sight,” and “Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of Christ.” Peter says, “For you have been born again not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” Jesus, quoting Moses, said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.” So Moses tells us nothing of what he saw but only what he heard. What he heard is the Lord proclaiming his name, Yahweh. God’s name is not merely a title but a description. God first told Moses his name back in Exodus 3. At the burning bush when God told Moses to go deliver Israel out of Egypt Moses wanted to know what he should say if someone were to ask him who sent him. God’s answer was, “I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” In other words God’s name communicates his eternality and his self-sufficiency. But now in 34:6-7 God unpacks the meaning of his name more completely. These two verses are probably two of the most important verses in the OT. They are repeated scores of times in full or in part throughout the rest of the OT. So what does God reveal about himself in this sermon he delivered to Moses on the top of Mt. Sinai? The first thing to understand is that God, in revealing his name is answering the question as to why it is that he has done all that he has done for Israel and to Israel. To understand who God is, is to understand why God does what he does, because all that he does is an expression of who he is. All he does is designed to magnify his own name. Let's think through each of the attributes God reveals about himself and how he has expressed his nature in what he has done. First God reveals that he is a God of compassion. He feels the pain of his people. He is moved by our distress and motivated to act to relieve it. This is why he listened to Israel crying out in their slavery and acted to come and deliver them out of it. This is why he listened to their cry for food and water in the desert and acted to supply their need. Compassion is sympathy for the plight of another that motivates action to rescue the other from their difficulty. It is the natural feeling of parents for children which is why the psalmist makes this comparison: "As a father has compassion on his children so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him." It is one of the chief characteristics of Jesus. We are often told in the gospels how his heart was filled with compassion as he saw the misery of the human condition and he acted to relieve the misery. Second, God says about himself that he is a God of grace. In other words, he does not give to people what they deserve but what they do not deserve. He saved Israel out of Egypt because he wanted to do so, not because they did anything to earn that deliverance. Israel was participating in the idol worship of Egypt when the Lord saved them out of their slavery. He is willing to restore the shattered covenant because he is gracious, not because they have somehow earned that restoration. There is a sense in which all that God does in giving human beings life, breath, food, clothing, etc. is all the result of the fact that he is a God of grace, who delights to do good to those who deserve to have evil done to them. God's grace is expressed when he is kind to people who deserve evil be done to them because they are evil. Third, God is slow to anger or patient. He does get angry, as we have seen in chapter 32 when he burned with anger against Israel for worshipping the golden calf. However, he is not short tempered, like most of us. His anger is under control. He is willing to put up with lots of sin and rebellion as he works out his saving purposes. You don't have to walk on egg shells around God. He is willing to put up with much that displeases him. Every sane person ought to be overcome with joy that God is patient with us. We all know that we have sinned in great ways against God and yet he has not burned with anger against us. He bears with our sins. However, do not let God's patience with your sin cause you to think that God is indifferent to your sin or is not paying attention to it. Do not flatter yourself into thinking that since life is going pretty well for you then God must be pleased with you. The only reason that none of us are dead and in hell, which is that place where God's just anger against sinners is eternally and perfectly expressed, is because God is slow to anger. Wicked people throughout history have made the fatal mistake of assuming that because there is not always an immediate negative consequence to their sin that no one is watching. Praise God that he is slow to anger and remember that there is going to be a day when he expresses his anger fully. Fourth, God overflows with steadfast love and faithfulness. God does not wait around to fall in love. He's not looking for people who are worthy of his love. Rather it is in God's nature to love. He finds joy in promoting the joy of others. When he decides to love someone his love never falters or fails. He loves perfectly and completely and eternally. He exercises all of his omnipotent power to secure the highest happiness for all those whom he loves. His love for his people motivates him to make promises which he always keeps. As Balaam says in one of his prophecies in the book of Numbers: "God is not a man that he can lie nor the son of man that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" God is faithful to fulfill the promises he makes to those whom he loves. Fifth, in the first half of v. 7 God continues by saying he maintains love to thousands. This is very similar to what God says at the end of the second commandment where he says that "He performs steadfast love to thousands, to those who love me, to those who keep my regulations." While similar the differences are substantial. Most obviously he does not define who are the thousands whom he loves. He is loving Israel but they are clearly not people who love him or keep his commandments and so he makes plain the gracious nature of his love. God delights to love thousands of generations of sinful human beings. At this point he is not answering the obvious question, what if these humans don't love him back, will he keep loving them? That is why the last positive statement is that this God is a God who forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin. In other words, those whom he has compassion on, whom he is gracious to, with whom he is slow to anger, towards whom he overflows with steadfast love and faithfulness and for whom he maintains love through a thousand generations are sinners whom he forgives. God forgives people like Israel who promise to obey but who at the first opportunity betray this gracious and loving God. Again, he does not say how he does this, only that he does this. Do you see how the reason that Israel is not destroyed and the reason that God is willing to restore the covenant is because of who he is? It is because he does not destroy but continues to work for the good of traitorous Israel that his name, his reputation as a God of compassion and grace and patience and love and faithfulness and forgiveness is made great. If Israel had not sinned then no one would ever know that this is who God is. God hates evil and he does not cause evil and yet it is his will evil exists because through the presence of evil the glory of his name bursts into all of its brilliance as he displays his merciful love towards sinners. Now notice that this list of positive attributes is not the end of the Lord's proclamation of his name. He has more yet to say and it is not such good news. He says that while he forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin, yet he does not acquit the wicked, he punishes the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation. There appears to be in the very nature or being of God a serious contradiction. How can he forgive the wicked and yet not let the wicked go unpunished? How can he be gracious to guilty people and yet punish the guilty? These two things do not seem to go together, do they? How can God do both of these things? If we just think about God in relation to Israel at this moment, how will he reconcile these two opposing affections in himself? How can he remain just and yet love and do good to criminals like Israel? Moses now points us to the solution to this most perplexing of difficulties. God makes a name for himself by…
III. Making us his treasured possession for the sake of Christ (vv. 8-9) Moses, upon hearing God proclaim the glory of his name immediately falls on his face and worships this great God and then he does what he does best, he intercedes on behalf of Israel. Most of what he asks he has already asked on several occasions. Why does he keep repeating himself? One reason is because of what prayer is. Prayer is persistently asking God to do what he has promised to do. Every true Christian wants God's name to be made great more than anything else. God has just proclaimed his name to Moses and so Moses knows that the best way for God's love, grace, patience, etc. to be put on display is by God's going with Israel. Moses knows this and so he persistently and repetitiously asks God to glorify himself in the salvation of Israel. As I said before, Moses keeps asking God to "hallow" his name. However, there is a second reason for Moses' repetitious prayers. The reason is that they are not exactly repetitious. He asks for more in this prayer than he has asked for up to this time. He also grounds his request in something that he has not said before. We've already seen that Moses asks God to go with Israel because he loves Moses. This he does here as well. The Lord should go with Israel because Moses has found favor in his eyes, not because Israel has found favor in his eyes. God should love Israel because he loves Moses. Here Moses is obviously foreshadowing the work of Christ. God loves all who trust in Christ because he loves Christ. But notice that here, for the first time, Moses includes himself among the people of Israel in their sin. He asks God to forgive our wickedness and our sin. Moses did not worship the golden calf. He did not commit the sin that caused the anger of the Lord to burn against Israel. Yet here he acts as though he did commit the sin that Israel committed. The identification of Moses the mediator with his people in their sin is pointing ahead to the way in which God is going to resolve the apparent conflict between his mercy and his justice. He forgives the guilty and he does not acquit the guilty. The prophet Isaiah uses this language in Isa. 53 when describing the Messiah. "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities… the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all… for the transgression of my people he was stricken… he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors." The mediator is identified with the sins of his people and so God punishes him for the sins of his people. In doing this God maintains his justice while having mercy on his disobedient people. He forgives the guilty and he punishes the guilty by punishing the Messiah. It is in the cross of Jesus that God most clearly and magnificently shows off the glory of his name, his reputation as a God of mercy and justice. He does not acquit a single guilty person. He either punishes the guilty in hell forever or he punishes the guilty by punishing his Son who has been numbered among the transgressors. Jesus is so identified with us that our sins become his sins and God punishes our sins in him. When someone says to God, how can you call yourself a just judge when you are going to reward that wicked criminal John Swanson with eternal bliss in heaven? God will say that he punished my sins because my sins became the sins of Jesus. That is what Moses points to when he asks God to forgive "our sins" when he never committed the sin of worshipping the golden calf. Finally, Moses asks God to do something he has not asked God to do before. He asks God to take Israel as his possession. In other words, Moses doesn't just ask God to go with them but to relate to them as if they are his very own treasured possession. This is far beyond anything that God has said prior to this. Moses is asking for the best thing he can imagine, that God would relate to them as humans relate to their most valuable treasures. Moses asks God to not just dutifully go with Israel and be faithful to his promises but that God would delight to go with Israel. Moses asks God to have a heart that is full of joy in Israel, just like we have joy in our valuable possessions. God cares for us and provides for us because his heart values us. We are as safe and secure as the diamonds locked up in the vault. He does all this because Christ has satisfied his justice and thus secured his mercy towards us. God makes a name for himself by…
© Copyright 2006 John Swanson.
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