Not Clearing the Guilty (Exodus 34:7)

“By no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation” (Ex. 34:7b).

In Exodus 34:7, we find a repetition of the warning and promise given in the deliverance of the Ten Commandments, “For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Ex. 20:5–6). As God passed before Moses, proclaiming His name and declaring His goodness and mercy, He reminded Moses that He would not overlook sin. Those who chose to reject Him and continued to worship idols would suffer by His hand to the third and fourth generation. Without repentance, guilt cannot be removed, and God’s judgment will go forth. In light of this, God wanted Israel to consider their actions, to repent of their sin, and not to use His grace as an excuse to continue sinning. It never was, and never has been, the case that we can go on sinning so that grace may abound (Rom. 6:1–2).

Exodus 34:7, and its correlating passage in chapter 20, has caused a great deal of controversy because it is often misunderstood. It can be mistakenly assumed that God is being unjust by making the children suffer for the crimes of the father, which would seem to contradict the teaching of Ezekiel 18, “He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live.… ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him” (Eze. 18:17–20 NIV).

If a father is unrepentant, then the consequences of his sin will be visited on the children (but not the guilt of it). The children will not be punished for the father’s crimes, but they will suffer because of them. However, if the children repent of their own sins, then God will show them mercy, just as He will show the father mercy if he turns from his sin. The key is repentance. To those who turn from their sin, God will show mercy. But those who persist in sin will bring suffering to themselves and to their children.

This passage is a reminder that our actions have broader effects than our own lives. What we do affects our children. Though they do not pay for our crimes, they suffer the consequences and learn from our examples, even emulating our behavior. Repent of your sins today so that your children will not suffer from them.

The Name of the Lord (Exodus 34:5-6)

“The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth” (Ex. 34:6b).

The Lord made His glory known to Moses by passing by him and proclaiming His Name. He had made Himself known to Moses in the glory of His self-existence and self-sufficiency when He proclaimed the name, I am that I am. Now He makes Himself known in the glory of His grace, goodness (or faithfulness, as the Hebrew term denotes), and all-sufficiency to us. In giving the second edition of the law, God prefaced it with the proclamation that it was God’s grace and goodness that gave the law. The pardon of Israel’s sin in worshiping the calf was demonstrated as they passed the seals. By this declaration, God let them know that He pardoned them merely out of His own good pleasure, not out of anything they had merited. He pardoned them from His own inclination to forgive.

He began this proclamation by addressing Himself with His covenant name, Yahweh, the LORD, who has His being in Himself and is the fountain of all being—the strong God, the God of almighty power and the source of all power. We are quick to lose sight of God’s awesome holiness and power when we consider His mercy. But it is His power and greatness that make His mercy so wonderful. His are not the mercies of a frail and feeble man; they come from a God who is sure to deliver what He has promised. He will not turn from His sovereign mercies as man is prone to do. His mercies are established by His very nature.

Next the Lord proclaims His goodness. Though the Lord is great and all-powerful, this does not mean He is not a good God. He is merciful and compassionate, just as a father is compassionate toward his children. Though we deserve punishment for our sins, God is long-suffering with all mankind. In this, we see how gracious He is. He not only has compassion on His creatures, but He actively shows them favor because of His own goodwill, not because of anything in them. There is enough mercy in the Lord for all, enough to cover each and every kind of sin. No sinner is beyond the pale of God’s ability to forgive. Though Satan often tries to convince people that God will not forgive their great and terrible sins, God says otherwise. His mercy is greater than all the sins of the world; therefore, we need not fear that the stream will run dry.

When God describes Himself, He doesn’t emphasize one characteristic to the exclusion of others. He isn’t only supreme power and justice or only love and grace. He is all of these fully, and in perfect balance. Is there an aspect of God that you emphasize too much? Avoid worshiping a "god" of your own creation.

Writing of the Law (Exodus 34:1-4)

"And the LORD said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke” (Ex. 34:1).

God directed Moses to prepare a new set of tablets after the first had been broken because of Israel’s idolatry. Previously, God Himself had provided the tables and written on them. But for the replacements, Moses had to hew out the tables, and God only wrote upon them. God used man’s efforts as His means to deliver His holy, inerrant Word. Following the Fall, God used the ministry of prophets to bring His revelation to sinners. Through the Scriptures, which have been delivered by men, sinners can now know God’s will. But the writing is still God’s, though He uses human agents, for all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God. Further, only God can write His law on the heart (Jer. 31:33).

One thing that we need to observe from this passage is that God, being reconciled to Israel through the intercession of Moses (a pre-figure of Christ), ordered the tables to be renewed. This reminds us that, even under the Gospel of peace and reconciliation by Christ, the moral law remains the standard for our lives. Though we are saved in Christ, we are obligated to obey the law of God. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, but not from the command of it. The moral law still speaks with authority today. When our Savior, in His Sermon on the Mount, expounded the moral law and vindicated it from the corruption with which the scribes and Pharisees had twisted it (Matt. 5:19), in effect He renewed the tables, reducing the law to its primitive sense and intention.

The best evidence of the pardon of sin and peace with God is the writing of the law in the heart. The first token God gave of His reconciliation to Israel was the renewing of the tables of the Law, thus the first article of the new covenant is “I will write My law in their heart” (Heb. 8:10), and it follows, “for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness.” The heart that has the law of God written on it loves God’s law. It wants to obey the will of Christ and delights in doing it, though the sin nature opposes it. Jesus Christ said that, if you love Him, you will obey His commandments. He also said that you will know a tree by its fruit—the fruit of a holy and righteous life, of the marks of the Spirit, and of love for one another. With a renewed heart and by the Spirit’s power, we now have the freedom to obey God’s good and holy law.

What is your attitude toward the law of God? Do you love it, or do you resent it and oppose it? Do you want to obey it, or do you think that it doesn’t matter whether you obey it or not? Do you think the Christian is obligated to obey the moral law of God? 

Show Me Your Glory (Exodus 33:20-23)

But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (Ex. 33:20).

In answer to Moses’ request to see His glory, God partly gave him what he asked for. He denied that which Moses was not ready to bear—beholding the face of God. A full discovery of the glory of God would quite overpower the faculties of any mortal man in this present state of existence. It would overwhelm him because man, being sinful, is unworthy of it, and being weak, he cannot possible bear it. And finally, because man is guilty of sin, he could only dread seeing God’s glory. This was certainly the reaction of Isaiah when he beheld some of the glory of God in the temple. His only response was, “Woe to me for I am undone.” It is because of God’s compassion that He holds back the face of His throne and spreads a cloud upon it (Job 26:9).

God has said that here in this world His face will not be seen. That is an honor reserved for the future state of our existence, and is to be the bliss of holy souls just as it will be the torment of unholy ones. Matthew Henry speculates that, should men see God’s face in this world, they would not be content to live without it. “There is a knowledge and enjoyment of God which must be waited for in another world, when we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).”

However, God did grant Moses his request in part. He promised to make all His goodness pass before him. He had previously shown Moses many manifestations of His goodness in caring for Israel in the wilderness, but now He would reveal the source of that goodness. Moses asked to see God’s glory, but God said that He would show him His goodness. God’s goodness is His glory, and He wants us to know Him by the glory of His mercy more than by the glory of His majesty, for we must fear even the Lord and His goodness (Hos 3:5). This goodness is sovereign, for in the dispensing of it God shows mercy to whom He pleases, and withholds it according to His will.

Even in this, Moses needed protection from the consuming glory of the Lord. God placed him in the cleft of the rock, which reminds us of Christ’s protection of us. It is in the cleft of this rock that we are secured from the wrath of God, which would otherwise consume us. God then passed by, allowing Moses to see His back side. This was all God would allow because we are not ready to see His face. While in this body, we see only in part, but in heaven we will see face to face.

When you are in love with someone, don’t you want to know everything about him or her? That is the way your relationship with God should be. You should long for the day when you see Him as He is, when all shadows are removed and you dwell in His light. Meditate today on this hope. Look forward to it with joy and anticipation.

Receiving Divine Favor (Exodus 33:17-19)

"So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name” (Ex. 33:17).

Moses had spent all his energy interceding for Israel, pleading with God to show His people mercy. Finally, God granted Moses his desire—He would go with all the people and dwell among them in close communion just as He had said. The Lord answered Moses’ prayer because Moses had found grace in His sight and because God knew him by name. It was because of God’s love for Moses that He showed mercy and grace to Israel. Neither Moses nor Israel had done anything to earn God’s favor. God gave it solely on the basis of His sovereign grace and His electing love.

It is notable that Moses did not give up his quest to reconcile Israel to God. He prayed without ceasing. Here we see the power of God through prayer displayed. Like the poor woman who continued to knock at the master’s door, persistent and unrelenting, Moses eventually received what he requested. Too often, we fail to persevere in our prayers. We pray once, and that is all, concluding that, because God has not answered immediately, He is not going to answer at all. But this was not Moses’ attitude. He did not give up, and in the end, his prayers were answered.

Moses was persistent in another area as well. After God granted him his request, Moses asked, “Please, show me Your glory.” Moses, the one who had been on the mount in intimate communion with the Lord, still wanted something more. It wasn’t enough that God met him in the tent of meeting, he wanted to know God at a deeper level. He wanted to see God’s glory. This is the way it is with all who walk with the Lord. It isn’t enough to have a surface relationship with Him. God being everything to them, they want to know Him more fully and intimately. They want to see Him face to face.

Moses made a tremendous request to see the glory of the Lord. He had heard God’s voice, he had seen the pillar of fire, but he wanted more. Perhaps Moses desired a sight of God’s glory as a token of His reconciliation, a guarantee of His presence. But Matthew Henry thinks otherwise. He notes that God’s Word is always sufficient, not necessarily needing a sign. Yet, God granted his request anyway, choosing to show Him grace and compassion because it was God’s will, not because Moses deserved it.

If you are God’s child, He loves you and knows you by name. This means that He answers your prayers, though not always according to your desires. He has called you to come to Him, to lay your requests before Him boldly and in faith. Do not neglect prayer, for it is a powerful weapon against the enemy, and it draws you close to God.