Exodus 34:1-9

The text does not record what Moses saw of God’s self-revelation (Exodus 33:18), but it does tell us what he heard. Moses stressed the mercy of God in this exposition of God’s name, Yahweh (cf. Exodus 29:5-6).

"There is nothing more terrible than the way in which sin clings to a man and dogs his footsteps. Let a man once steal, and he is never trusted again, even though he has made reparation for it. Men look at their fallen brothers through their sin; but God looks at man through the idealised [sic] life, with a love that imputes to him every virtue for Christ’s sake." [Note: Meyer, pp. 448-49.]

Moses’ response to God’s gracious revelation was submission and worship (Exodus 34:8). [Note: See J. Carl Laney, "God’s Self-Revelation in Exodus 34:6-8," Bibliotheca Sacra 158:629 (January-March 2001):36-51.]

Encouraged by this revelation Moses requested again (cf. Exodus 33:15) that God would dwell in the midst of Israel and lead His people into the Promised Land (Exodus 34:9). He besought the Lord again to re-establish His covenant acknowledging the sinfulness of the Israelites with whom he humbly identified.