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Exodus 34
1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew (i.e. carve) 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 brakest.
If you remember from chapter 32, Moses was very angry with the Israelites, as GOD was also, and out of frustration, Moses threw the tables (tablets), which had the ten commandments written upon them, when he approached the Israelites, and when he did they broke on the ground.
2 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.
3 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.
4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.
5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
Although Moses stood with GOD and talked with HIM, he still couldn't see HIS face and in to that other dimension which is why GOD appeared to him in a cloud. These verses (5 & 6) of course are fulfilling Exodus 33:19.
6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD (= Yᵉhôvâh [YHVH, "the existing/eternal one"]), The LORD (= Yᵉhôvâh [YHVH]) God (= ʼêl ["strength/power"]), merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Here GOD is revealing HIS full title unto Moses, and letting Moses know that HE is always fair unto HIS children and that HE has a lot of patience for them, as also written in 2 Peter 3:9.
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Everyone gets what's coming to them as our HEAVENLY FATHER is always fair. Some people think this verse means the punishment of a father's sins is passed on to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, etc, but every person is responsible for their own actions. If a father of a child hates GOD and his child grows up to also hate GOD, then indeed that child will receive the same punishment as his father, as he followed in the same iniquity as his father. But if a child grows up to love GOD, then that child is not punished for the actions of his father. So again, the following generation is only punished if they follow in the same footsteps of iniquity as their fore-fathers. If they choose to love GOD, then they're free from punishment. Ezekiel 18:17-21 documents this. This is what is also written in Exodus 20:5.
8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O LORD, let my LORD, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels (i.e. wonders/miracles), such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible (i.e. awful [used in a positive sense of reverential awe]) thing that I will do with thee.
If you remember from chapter 32, the Israelite's broke the first covenant with GOD, as they chose to throw HIM to the side for false gods (golden calf) and now GOD makes a new covenant with them.
11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
These of course being heathen people, with many of them being intermixed with the kenites and fallen angels. When GOD is with you, you have absolutely nothing to fear or worry about, as HE always takes care of HIS own; just look at how blessed the United States has been and the many other nations of CHRISTians throughout the world, as we have overcome and won every major war or obstacle that comes or stands in our way.
12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
Why? Because they worshiped and sacrificed to false gods. Note that groves were trees/poles used as an altar for fertility rituals and lascivious practices unto Asherah/Astarte/Ishtar/Eostre/Easter. And how sad it is that many "Christian" churches have adopted traditions and things which come from those paganistic festivals and practices of false religions. See also: "The Truth About Easter". When you think about our GOD-given nation today, how sad it is that we have allowed such filth and abominable practices to take place, along with the intermixing of false religions; that in which they call diversity [in reference to the religious sense only], coexist, and political correctness, by allowing heathens to bring in their customs to be observed and worshiped in our land; those wicked people won't be going to Heaven anyway, so they might as well get out and go somewhere else because our CHRISTian nations today would be much better and blessed without them. Although our so called "leaders" and people of the land have failed miserably in our nations today, by allowing such wicked people, heathens and false religions and practices to come in, GOD isn't going to fail, and pretty soon HE will return after the antichrist's (satan's) short reign is over, and HE is going to clean house (cleanse the earth). You're either for HIM or against HIM, and to all who are against HIM, HIS wrath awaits for them. Like it or lump it.
14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
The best form of worship is always obedience, and when you obey and follow the customs and traditions of other false religions/false gods, you worship them, and that ultimately is idolatry (spiritual adultery) and does not please our HEAVENLY FATHER whatsoever. As we will see in Deuteronomy 12:29-32, it says "When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it". Although most people do not physically sacrifice their children today unto false gods, spiritually they are, as they raise their children to believe in fairy tales and fictitious characters, and to act good unto them, or else those fictitious characters will not bless them with materialism and reward them with gifts; and once they grow up to realize those characters are not real, many of them start to doubt GOD because they start to think "if my parents lied to me about those characters, why should I believe what they tell me about GOD.", and how heartbreaking and sad that is, after all that our FATHER has done for us and blessed us with. Some parents and people will say "but GOD knows my heart, so it must be okay." and in response to such a statement as that, this is what HIS WORD has to say about it: Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"; although GOD knows your heart, you don't necessarily know it, and anything that goes against HIS WORD is clearly not good, which means you should not be participating and sacrificing your children unto it. When you obey GOD and you truly keep HIS commandments, you're going to be blessed like you wouldn't believe and what could be more enjoyable than that, knowing you're pleasing and being a blessing to HIM also (the very MAKER of your soul)? Some say "well why is HE jealous?", well why not? HE's the very creator of our souls and has every right to be; a question like that is just as dumb as asking somebody "well why is that man next door jealous of other men sleeping with his wife." After all, spiritually speaking we as CHRISTians are the bride of CHRIST. Don't break your marriage covenant with HIM by following and chasing after heathenism/paganism, and false gods. Stay faithful and chaste (spiritually speaking) as CHRIST tells us to in Matthew 24 and Paul in 2 Corinthians 11.
15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
18 The feast of unleavened bread (i.e. Passover [usually April 3]) shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
19 All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
20 But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.
Remember as discussed in Exodus 13:13, an ass is considered an unclean animal, symbolic of labor, and is not fit for sacrifice. At that time, GOD required for every firstling of an ass to be replaced with a lamb, and if there was no lamb, then the ass's neck was to be broken whereby it couldn't be used for work, nor sacrifice. As far as redemption goes, when you think about this today, all those who are not redeemed in the LORD (CHRIST), who do not follow and love HIM, will ultimately perish from within and go in to the lake of fire, which is the second death (death of the soul). Just as the people's sins were passed on to an animal (lamb), so were our sins passed on to the LAMB (CHRIST) HIMself when HE went to the cross. See also: "What Is Hell?".
21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing (i.e. ploughing) time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks (known as Pentecost to us today [usually May 23]), of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering (i.e. feast of tabernacle [the time of CHRIST's birth, September 29th]) at the year's end.
23 Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel.
Remember CHRIST (GOD in the flesh [EMMANUEL]) would fulfill all of these things when HE came, and so regardless of gender, all today should partake of Communion and sacrifice time out of their lives in observance to HIM, for all that HE has done and still continues to do for us.
24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.
How sad it is today that so many claim to be CHRISTians are so willing to participate and observe pagan holidays and customs, which GOD forbids, and yet can't even make time to observe the Holy days in which GOD commands. How far the sheep have wandered astray.
25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven (Why? Because leaven is symbolic of sin); neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning (Why? Because they knew what they were supposed to do with it).
26 The first (i.e. the best) of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe (i.e. cook) a kid (= baby animal [i.e. goat]) in his mother's milk.
27 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights (forty representing the number of probation in Biblical numerics); he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables (i.e. tablets) the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
Here we can see GOD kept Moses another forty days, and most likely this was so HE could test the Israelites to see if they were going to truly remain faithful unto HIM this time, or whether they would try and build another golden calf. How could this be possible you may ask? Because with GOD, all things are possible (Philippians 4:13) and when you're in HIS presence, HE's all that you'll ever need. Remember also, JESUS is our LIVING WATER (John 4:10-14) and our BREAD of LIFE (John 6:35), and if you're not dwelling in HIM, you're never going to be filled, have true rest, or have eternal life.
29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down (this being Moses' sixth and last descent, compare to Exodus 19:3) from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
In other words, Moses wasn't aware that the skin on his face shined from being in the presence of ALMIGHTY GOD.
30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
31 And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.
This time they didn't turn their backs on GOD.
32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai.
33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face (whereby they weren't afraid and would be able to focus on the message he was sharing).
34 But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.
35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him (= the LORD).
If you remember from chapter 32, Moses was very angry with the Israelites, as GOD was also, and out of frustration, Moses threw the tables (tablets), which had the ten commandments written upon them, when he approached the Israelites, and when he did they broke on the ground.
2 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.
3 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.
4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.
5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
Although Moses stood with GOD and talked with HIM, he still couldn't see HIS face and in to that other dimension which is why GOD appeared to him in a cloud. These verses (5 & 6) of course are fulfilling Exodus 33:19.
6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD (= Yᵉhôvâh [YHVH, "the existing/eternal one"]), The LORD (= Yᵉhôvâh [YHVH]) God (= ʼêl ["strength/power"]), merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Here GOD is revealing HIS full title unto Moses, and letting Moses know that HE is always fair unto HIS children and that HE has a lot of patience for them, as also written in 2 Peter 3:9.
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Everyone gets what's coming to them as our HEAVENLY FATHER is always fair. Some people think this verse means the punishment of a father's sins is passed on to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, etc, but every person is responsible for their own actions. If a father of a child hates GOD and his child grows up to also hate GOD, then indeed that child will receive the same punishment as his father, as he followed in the same iniquity as his father. But if a child grows up to love GOD, then that child is not punished for the actions of his father. So again, the following generation is only punished if they follow in the same footsteps of iniquity as their fore-fathers. If they choose to love GOD, then they're free from punishment. Ezekiel 18:17-21 documents this. This is what is also written in Exodus 20:5.
8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O LORD, let my LORD, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels (i.e. wonders/miracles), such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible (i.e. awful [used in a positive sense of reverential awe]) thing that I will do with thee.
If you remember from chapter 32, the Israelite's broke the first covenant with GOD, as they chose to throw HIM to the side for false gods (golden calf) and now GOD makes a new covenant with them.
11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
These of course being heathen people, with many of them being intermixed with the kenites and fallen angels. When GOD is with you, you have absolutely nothing to fear or worry about, as HE always takes care of HIS own; just look at how blessed the United States has been and the many other nations of CHRISTians throughout the world, as we have overcome and won every major war or obstacle that comes or stands in our way.
12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
Why? Because they worshiped and sacrificed to false gods. Note that groves were trees/poles used as an altar for fertility rituals and lascivious practices unto Asherah/Astarte/Ishtar/Eostre/Easter. And how sad it is that many "Christian" churches have adopted traditions and things which come from those paganistic festivals and practices of false religions. See also: "The Truth About Easter". When you think about our GOD-given nation today, how sad it is that we have allowed such filth and abominable practices to take place, along with the intermixing of false religions; that in which they call diversity [in reference to the religious sense only], coexist, and political correctness, by allowing heathens to bring in their customs to be observed and worshiped in our land; those wicked people won't be going to Heaven anyway, so they might as well get out and go somewhere else because our CHRISTian nations today would be much better and blessed without them. Although our so called "leaders" and people of the land have failed miserably in our nations today, by allowing such wicked people, heathens and false religions and practices to come in, GOD isn't going to fail, and pretty soon HE will return after the antichrist's (satan's) short reign is over, and HE is going to clean house (cleanse the earth). You're either for HIM or against HIM, and to all who are against HIM, HIS wrath awaits for them. Like it or lump it.
14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
The best form of worship is always obedience, and when you obey and follow the customs and traditions of other false religions/false gods, you worship them, and that ultimately is idolatry (spiritual adultery) and does not please our HEAVENLY FATHER whatsoever. As we will see in Deuteronomy 12:29-32, it says "When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it". Although most people do not physically sacrifice their children today unto false gods, spiritually they are, as they raise their children to believe in fairy tales and fictitious characters, and to act good unto them, or else those fictitious characters will not bless them with materialism and reward them with gifts; and once they grow up to realize those characters are not real, many of them start to doubt GOD because they start to think "if my parents lied to me about those characters, why should I believe what they tell me about GOD.", and how heartbreaking and sad that is, after all that our FATHER has done for us and blessed us with. Some parents and people will say "but GOD knows my heart, so it must be okay." and in response to such a statement as that, this is what HIS WORD has to say about it: Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"; although GOD knows your heart, you don't necessarily know it, and anything that goes against HIS WORD is clearly not good, which means you should not be participating and sacrificing your children unto it. When you obey GOD and you truly keep HIS commandments, you're going to be blessed like you wouldn't believe and what could be more enjoyable than that, knowing you're pleasing and being a blessing to HIM also (the very MAKER of your soul)? Some say "well why is HE jealous?", well why not? HE's the very creator of our souls and has every right to be; a question like that is just as dumb as asking somebody "well why is that man next door jealous of other men sleeping with his wife." After all, spiritually speaking we as CHRISTians are the bride of CHRIST. Don't break your marriage covenant with HIM by following and chasing after heathenism/paganism, and false gods. Stay faithful and chaste (spiritually speaking) as CHRIST tells us to in Matthew 24 and Paul in 2 Corinthians 11.
15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
18 The feast of unleavened bread (i.e. Passover [usually April 3]) shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
19 All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
20 But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.
Remember as discussed in Exodus 13:13, an ass is considered an unclean animal, symbolic of labor, and is not fit for sacrifice. At that time, GOD required for every firstling of an ass to be replaced with a lamb, and if there was no lamb, then the ass's neck was to be broken whereby it couldn't be used for work, nor sacrifice. As far as redemption goes, when you think about this today, all those who are not redeemed in the LORD (CHRIST), who do not follow and love HIM, will ultimately perish from within and go in to the lake of fire, which is the second death (death of the soul). Just as the people's sins were passed on to an animal (lamb), so were our sins passed on to the LAMB (CHRIST) HIMself when HE went to the cross. See also: "What Is Hell?".
21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing (i.e. ploughing) time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks (known as Pentecost to us today [usually May 23]), of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering (i.e. feast of tabernacle [the time of CHRIST's birth, September 29th]) at the year's end.
23 Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel.
Remember CHRIST (GOD in the flesh [EMMANUEL]) would fulfill all of these things when HE came, and so regardless of gender, all today should partake of Communion and sacrifice time out of their lives in observance to HIM, for all that HE has done and still continues to do for us.
24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.
How sad it is today that so many claim to be CHRISTians are so willing to participate and observe pagan holidays and customs, which GOD forbids, and yet can't even make time to observe the Holy days in which GOD commands. How far the sheep have wandered astray.
25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven (Why? Because leaven is symbolic of sin); neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning (Why? Because they knew what they were supposed to do with it).
26 The first (i.e. the best) of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe (i.e. cook) a kid (= baby animal [i.e. goat]) in his mother's milk.
27 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights (forty representing the number of probation in Biblical numerics); he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables (i.e. tablets) the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
Here we can see GOD kept Moses another forty days, and most likely this was so HE could test the Israelites to see if they were going to truly remain faithful unto HIM this time, or whether they would try and build another golden calf. How could this be possible you may ask? Because with GOD, all things are possible (Philippians 4:13) and when you're in HIS presence, HE's all that you'll ever need. Remember also, JESUS is our LIVING WATER (John 4:10-14) and our BREAD of LIFE (John 6:35), and if you're not dwelling in HIM, you're never going to be filled, have true rest, or have eternal life.
29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down (this being Moses' sixth and last descent, compare to Exodus 19:3) from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
In other words, Moses wasn't aware that the skin on his face shined from being in the presence of ALMIGHTY GOD.
30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
31 And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.
This time they didn't turn their backs on GOD.
32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai.
33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face (whereby they weren't afraid and would be able to focus on the message he was sharing).
34 But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.
35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him (= the LORD).