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Exodus 34 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
The term glory is not really an accurate depiction of what Moses asked for and received from God. We tend to associate the word “glory” with majestic light. A lot of times it has a temporary association with its context. The Hebrew term, however, meant weight, importance, or significance. It was a description that would indicate the perfection or completeness of something.
I love the idea of weight describing God’s glory. This is really a powerful picture of the comparison between us and Him. When He reveals that glory, or, “weight” before us, we realize just how small we are. We are nothing but a grain of sand or wisp of air compared to His immense Being.
Most interesting to me in this passage is the declaration made by God. He not only allows Moses to see Him, but He communicates in Moses’ language the characteristics about Him.
Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
Exodus 34:6-7 NASB
In summary, who is God? He is grace and He is truth. He is slow to anger, abounding in love, forgiving, yet, He is also full of truth and will not let the guilty go unpunished. It’s fascinating that these were the precise characteristics of Jesus.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 NASB
We must ask ourselves, do we take seriously the truth about God? Do we minimize His truth and overemphasize His grace? Or vice-versa? As God revealed more of Himself to Moses, He desired for Moses to know the real truth about Him. We should open the Scriptures and hope to do the same. Our God is 100% grace and 100% truth, slow to anger, and full of love. He has promised to right every wrong in this life and hold the guilty accountable.
For more information on what God means by “visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations,” see Deuteronomy 5.