Exodus 34:10-35 | The Way of Scripture

Exodus 34:10-35

How does covenant renewal lead to a greater glory?

Berean Standard Bible

10 And the LORD said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will perform wonders that have never been done in any nation in all the world. All the people among whom you live will see the LORD’s work, for it is an awesome thing that I am doing with you. 11 Observe what I command you this day. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst. 13 Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles. 14 For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. 15 Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same. 17 You shall make no molten gods for yourselves.
18 You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, you are to eat unleavened bread as I commanded you. For in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt. 19 The first offspring of every womb belongs to Me, including all the firstborn males among your livestock, whether cattle or sheep. 20 You must redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb; but if you do not redeem it, you are to break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed.
21 Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest. 22 And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the LORD your God. 25 Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to Me along with anything leavened, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning. 26 Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27 The LORD also said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
29 And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD. 30 Aaron and all the Israelites looked at Moses, and behold, his face was radiant. And they were afraid to approach him. 31 But Moses called out to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32 And after this all the Israelites came near, and Moses commanded them to do everything that the LORD had told him on Mount Sinai.
33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 and the Israelites would see that the face of Moses was radiant. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

What is the context?

God announces covenant renewal and promises wonders among the people. The first commands address the danger they have just demonstrated: turning to other gods. Israel must not make agreements that draw them into the surrounding nations’ worship, share their sacrifices, or enter marriages that lead their children into the same practices. The repeated ban on molten gods speaks directly to the calf.

The instructions then restore the pattern of life God had given them: appointed feasts, redemption of firstborn sons, firstfruits, and Sabbath rest even during the busiest farming seasons. The firstborn sons are to be redeemed, not sacrificed. God also promises to protect their land when the men leave for the three annual appearances before Him. Their worship and ordinary livelihood belong to life under His care.

Moses is instructed to record the covenant words. He remains with the LORD forty days and nights without bread or water, and the tablets again carry the Ten Commandments. Deuteronomy 10:1–5 identifies the LORD as the one who writes the words on the replacement tablets. The covenant is being renewed here; the text does not postpone all renewal until the next generation.

When Moses comes down, his face is radiant from speaking with God, although he does not know it. Aaron and the people are afraid to approach, but he calls them near and gives them God’s commands. He puts on the veil after speaking. When he goes before the LORD, he removes it; when he comes out, the people hear the commands and see the radiance before he covers his face again.

How is this passage commonly understood?

Wesley reads the repeated commands as God renewing the people’s life of worship after their invented feast around the calf. He and Calvin both understand the shining face as an honor God gives to Moses and to the message he brings, and they read the veil in light of Paul’s later explanation about Christ.

Where does this fit in God's plan?

The warning about sharing sacrifices reaches into the New Testament. Paul tells Christians to flee idolatry and explains that participation at an altar means sharing in its worship; they cannot belong at both the Lord’s table and the table of demons (1 Corinthians 10:14–22). The continuing issue is loyalty to God, not merely avoiding an object shaped like a calf.

The feasts also look beyond themselves in the New Testament. Paul calls Christ the sacrificed Passover lamb and uses unleavened bread to describe a life of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:6–8). He calls the risen Christ the firstfruits of those who will be raised (1 Corinthians 15:20–23). These are connections Paul himself makes, without requiring us to assign a hidden prediction to every detail of the calendar.

The clearest connection concerns Moses’ face and veil. Second Corinthians 3:7–18 says that the old covenant came with glory, yet the Spirit’s ministry has a greater, lasting glory. Paul describes Moses covering what was fading, then turns the veil into a picture of an inability to see clearly that is removed in Christ. When someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. God’s purpose reaches beyond one servant’s radiant face: by the Spirit, His people are being transformed into the Lord’s image and reflect His glory.

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