CRITICAL NOTES.—
Exodus 34:1. Hew thee two tables of stone]. A task which could not have failed to make Moses feel abashed, and to impress him with a sense of humility as he reflected on his breaking the first tables which God Himself had prepared for him. The former he had but to receive, these he must carry up the mount; and, besides, this time without being accompanied by Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy of the elders of Israel (Exodus 24:9). That all this difference connected with his obtaining the second tables was calculated to make a designed impression upon him, is evident from the emphatic manner in which God referred him to the first tables, viz., “which thou hast broken” (Exodus 34:1).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 34:1-4
THE RENEWAL OF THE TWO TABLES
At the earnest intercession of the mediator God had consented to give another substantial revelation of His will. It was, however, to be connected with a substantial memorial of the people’s disobedience and God’s patience and goodness. On the former occasion, the materials, as well as the revelation, were prepared by God. The material must now be prepared by man. The circumstances under which the law was renewed were the same as those under which it was first given, see Exodus 19:12, &c. The subject teaches us—
I. That the moral law is perpetually binding. Having been broken it must be renewed.
1. The revelation of the law, in the first instance, was but a repetition in detail of what had already been conveyed directly in the heart of, or by special injunctions to, man.
(1.) Generally (Exodus 15:26; Genesis 26:5; Genesis 17:3).
(2.) Particularly, obedience (Adam and Eve); murder (Cain, and Genesis 9:5); dishonour to parents (Genesis 9:22). The spiritual worship of the true God (Genesis 12:7; Genesis 14:18); adultery and lying (Genesis 12:14-19; Genesis 20:2-16); adultery (Genesis 39:9); lying (Genesis 27:35); idolatry (Genesis 35:2); the Sabbath (Exodus 16:25-26).
2. The moral law was not abrogated by Christ (Matthew 5:17-19). We are redeemed from its curse, not from its obligation.
3. The moral law is still binding (Romans 6:15; 1 Corinthians 9:21).
II. That the renewal of the moral law when broken entails duties unknown before. “Hew thee two tables of stone;” “and he hewed two tables of stone.” This fact is very typical and suggestive.
1. In the first inscription of the moral law upon man’s heart, the preparation and the writing were exclusively the work of God. When our first parents awoke to consciousness, the “fleshy tables” were found covered with the “oracles of God.”
2. When those tables were defaced and those oracles transgressed, the work of preparation fell largely upon man. Ever afterwards man had to prepare himself by acts of penitence and faith,—not excluding divine help, of course,—but nevertheless those acts are acts of man. “God commandeth man everywhere to repent.” “Repent ye, and believe the Gospel” (cf. Hebrews 8:10).
3. But this renewal of the divine law is accomplished in such a way as to deprive man of all ground of glorying, and so as to ascribe all the glory to God. The tables were of plain stone, all their embellishments were by the Divine hand.
III. That when the moral law is broken God, graciously offers to renew it upon man’s compliance with the revealed condition, Exodus 34:1. So when man by repentance and faith “puts off the old man and puts on the new,” he is renewed in the image of Him that created him, on which the moral law is inscribed (Colossians 3:9-16).
IV. That these conditions should be complied with—
1. Speedily. “Early in the morning.”
2. Personally. This great work is a transaction between God and the individual particularly concerned. We may therefore argue that priestly intervention is
(1) unnecessary. The Being who could inscribe the precept on stone, can inscribe the principle on the fleshy tablets of the heart.
(2) Imposture. None but God could do the one, none but God can do the other. Vain, then, is the dependence on Baptism, Absolution, &c. If God has not written on the soul, no priest can ever trace the Divine handwriting there.
3. Patiently. Moses waited again forty days and forty nights.
(1.) Do not hurry the work over. What is being done is being done for eternity. Distrust spasm and mere excitement, no man ever became great in Christianity or anything by paroxysm.
(2.) Don’t despond if the work is not progressing as rapidly as you might wish. If God is writing on your heart, let that be your comfort, and let God use His own time. Paul had to say, Philippians 3:12-14. Learn—
1. The value of the moral law.
2. The importance of having that law not only on stone or paper but in the heart.
3. The necessity of a public and practical exhibition and interpretation of that law in the life.—J. W. Burn.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Law-Lights! Exodus 34:1-35. Pressense says, that whatever opinions men may hold as to the integrity of that primitive witness, all must own that it contains pages in which one beholds, as it were, the reflection of the lustre which caused Moses’s face to shine when he held converse with God. It has ever been the pious mind which has through the eyes beheld the chain of revelation and the long series of Divine manifestations gradually unwind themselves. Just as they that watch for the morning gaze out from the height of the tower, longing with inexpressible desire for the approach of dawn; so does religious consciousness cast glances of fire upon the horizon as she looks out for the Divine Sunrise. The whole of the Old Testament pants and throbs with this Divine yearning, and it also shows us the finger of God writing in the heart of man the great preparation for the Gospel. The angels ever
“Draw strength from gazing on its glance,
Though none its meaning fathom may;
The Word’s unwithered countenance
Is bright as at Mount Sinai’s day.”
—Goëthe.
Sun-Splendours! Exodus 34:1-7. Countless and ceaseless as are the benefits which are imparted to us by the bright orb of day, the human eye cannot look upon his undimmed noonday face, without being blinded. We cannot look upon him in his full brightness; but when he is passing away, we can, as it were, enjoy and wonder at the beauty he has, or the splendour he leaves behind. A gorgeous canopy of clouds—glowing in every tint of gold, scarlet, and purple over the evening sky, alone remains to bear witness to the passing sun’s magnificence. As we enjoy the vanishing glory of the sun, so did Moses exult in the vision of the Divine glory. He could not look upon the face of God; but when the Lord had passed by then he could behold and delight in the shaded vision of Jehovah’s back parts. And what sweet beauties did his eyes descry—emblems of those invisible beauties which the soul in communion with God beholds—
“The vivid brilliant streaks
Of crimson disappear, but o’er the hills
A flush of orange hovers, softening up
Into harmonious union with the blue
That comes a-sweeping down.”
—Carrington.
Written-Revelation! Exodus 34:1.
(1.) The stream which flows through many soils takes a bitter taste from one, and a dusky tint from another. Even so the true faith could not be kept alive by tradition. Man’s memory was too treacherous to be entrusted with a matter so distasteful to his fallen spirit as the true character of God. Hence the need of a written revelation.
(2.) And even where there was a traditional theology, in its transmission from race to race it was found that the oral revelation grew dark and offensive. In this stagnant swamp, weltering with reptiles and fuming with pestilence, who can recognise the stream which bounded from the Alpine crag, pure as the melted snow and salubrious as Heaven’s own precipitate. Hence the need of a written revelation.
“The which, in waves which clear as crystal seem,
Spreads like a swelling sea o’er earth’s dry ground,
Mirror’d therein heaven’s halls of azure gleam,
And gold and pearls amid its sands are found.
Hast thou not of this heaven-bright river heard?
There dip thy cup; it is Truth’s Holy Word.”
—Geroh.
Morning-Communion! Exodus 34:2. Fuller quaintly says, “Spill not the morning—the quintessence of the day—in recreation; for sleep is itself a recreation. Add not, therefore, sauce to sauces.” Beecher says, “Let the day have a blessed baptism by giving your first waking thoughts into the bosom of God. The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day.” Boerhaave says, “Nothing more effectually restrains the passions, and gives spirit and vigour through the business of the day, than early meditation and prayer.” Swain says, “It is the early blackbird that catches the worms; and it is the early riser who sees the sun rise. Morning prayer brings bounties to the soul; and the Christian, who betakes himself betimes, beholds the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings!” Green says, “When the morning breaketh forth in crimson, the beauteous flowers of the field spread wide their odorous cups to drink the blooming influence of the rising genial sun. We should get us early to the hill of supplication, and catch the bright effulgence of the Saviour’s face.”
“That as the light, serene and fair,
Illumines all the tracts of sin,
His sacred Spirit so may rest
With quick’ning beams upon thy breast,
And kindly cleanse it all within
From darker blemishes of sin,
And shine with grace until we view
The realm it gilds with glory too.”
—Parnell.
Beatific-Vision! Exodus 34:2. Another morning came, so different from that other august occasion when a quaking multitude surrounded a thundering mount. This time there was neither blackness nor tempest, nor sound as of a trumpet; but, with his two stone tablets, the Lawgiver ascended in the clear, cool day-spring. He ascended and sought the appointed place, and as there in the cleft of the rock he waited, a cloud drew nigh—a cloud like that which floated above the Tabernacle. And as the Lord passed by, and spake, Moses bowed his head and worshipped. During the protracted interview of the forty following days, perfect love cast out fear; and from the pavilion of this friendly presence and its rapt communion, Moses came down with that shining face, which only reappeared on the Mount of Transfiguration.
“Never the ken of mortal eye
Can pierce so deep, and far, and high,
As the eagle vision of hearts that dwell
In the lofty sunlit citadel
Of Faith that overcomes the world.”