Exodus Chapter 34

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Exodus, chapter thirty four. The Eternal One says to Moses,
I want you to cut two stone tablets exactly like
the first ones I gave you. I will write the
same words on these tablets that were on the tablets
you shattered. Make sure you are ready when morning arrives.
Climb up to the summit of Mount Sinai and present
yourself to me. No one is allowed to accompany you

(00:21):
this time. No one is allowed to be anywhere on
the mountain. This goes for your flocks and herds as well.
Take them to graze away from the mountain. So Moses
cut two stone tablets that were exactly like the first set.
He woke up early the next morning and climbed up
Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets, just as the
Eternal One had instructed him to do. The Eternal One

(00:42):
descended into the cloud and stood with Moses as he
proclaimed his name, the Eternal One. Then the Eternal One
passed before him, the eternal God, full of compassion and mercy,
slow to anger, and abundant in loyal love and truth,
who maintains loyal love to thousands of people who forget
gives wrongdoing rebellion and sin, yet does not allow sin

(01:03):
to go unpunished, extending the consequences of a father's sin
to his children, his grandchildren, and even to the third
and fourth generations. Moses quickly bowed down on the ground
and worshiped, If I have gained your trust and blessing, Lord,
please go with us despite the incredible stubbornness of this people.
I also ask that you forgive our wrongdoing and our sins,

(01:26):
and receive us as your very own people, your inheritance.
The Eternal One said, Look, I'm about to make an
extraordinary covenant with you before the eyes of all your people.
I will do miraculous things that have never been done
among any nation on earth. All of the nations living
around you will witness the work that I do. For
everything I do among you will inspire fear and awe.

(01:48):
You must be careful to obey the instructions I give
you today. I'm about to force the Amorites, the Canaanites,
the head Tites, the Parizites, the high Bites, and the
Gebucytes out of the land you will inherit. Be careful
do not make a covenant with the people who now
live in the land where you are going. Any promises
you make to these people could entrap you, destroy their
altars and pillars, and cut down their sacred poles. Because

(02:11):
you must not worship any god except for me. My
name is jealous, and I am a jealous god. Do
not make a covenant with the people who live in
the land, for when they prostitute themselves with their so
called gods and sacrifice to them, they will coax you,
and you will feast upon their sacrifices. And when you
take some of their daughters as wives for your sons,

(02:31):
the daughters who prostitute themselves with other gods, they will
seduce your sons into joining them in chasing after other gods.
You are not to cast metal images for yourselves of
any gods. You are to celebrate the feast of unleavened
bread every year, as I have instructed you, eat bread
made without yeast for seven days at the designated time
in the month of Abib, the month that you departed

(02:54):
from Egypt. All the first born belonged to me. Every
male animal from your livestock, both cattle and sheep, that
opens the womb is mine. You may redeem the firstborn
of a donkey with a lamb. If you choose not
to redeem it, then you are to break its necks
redeem all of your firstborn sons as well. No one
may appear before me empty handed. You are to work

(03:14):
for six days, but when the seventh day arrives, you
are to observe the Sabbath and rest. Even when it
is the time to plow and harvest, you must still
rest on the seventh day. Also, you are to celebrate
the feast of weeks when the first fruits from the
wheat harvest are gathered, and when one year ends and
another begins, celebrate the in gathering feast. All your men
are to appear before Me, the Lord and One True

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God of Israel, three times a year at these feasts,
for I will force the people out of the land
before you and expand your borders. No one will try
to take your land while you are going up those
three times a year to appear before Me, your God.
You are not to offer blood from a sacrifice with
bread made with yeast. Do not leave any of the
meat from the Passover sacrifice until morning. Offer only the

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best of your harvest. When you bring a gift to
the House of the Eternal One, your God. Also, you
are not to boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
To Moses, be sure to write down all that I've
said to you. By these words of mine, I have
made a covenant with you and with Israel in all.
Moses was with the Eternal One for forty days and

(04:19):
forty nights. He fasted the entire time, no food or water.
He wrote down the ten directives, the essential words of
the covenant, on the two stone tablets. When Moses went
back down Mount Sinai, he carried the two stone tablets
in his hands as a witness to their agreement. But
he did not realize that the skin on his face
was glowing and radiant because he had been speaking with God.

(04:42):
When Aaron and the Israelites saw that Moses's face was shining,
they were afraid to get too close to him. But
when Moses summoned them, Aaron and all the leaders of
the community were reassured and approached him. Moses talked to them.
After this, all the rest of the people of Israel
approached Moses, and he instructed them to do everything that
the Eternal had told him on Mount Sinai. When Moses

(05:04):
finished sharing the words of God with them, he covered
his face with a veil. From this time on, whenever
Moses went into the meeting tent to talk with the Eternal,
he took off the veil until he left to share
with the Israelites the Eternal's instructions. As Moses was speaking,
the Israelites could see that the skin on his face
was all aglow. Then Moses would put the veil back

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over his face until the next time he went to
speak with God.