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Exodus 34 Bible study: The LORD proclaims his name

When the LORD proclaimed his own name, the first words after "The LORD! The LORD" were "a merciful and gracious God" (34:6), and that description of himself is said back to him again and again, from Numbers 14:18 to Jonah 4:2. Moses came down with a shining face he didn't know about (34:29), and Paul says the veil passes away in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:14).

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“The LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The LORD! The LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,”
Exodus 34:6 · World English Bible

Try it · Did you catch it?

“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he didn't know that the skin of his face shone.”

Is that in Exodus 34, or not? Make your call.

What's really going on

Two tablets like the first

In the text

The first tablets came from God: "The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets" (32:16). When Moses saw the calf, "he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain" (32:19). Now the LORD says, "Chisel two stone tablets like the first. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke" (34:1). This time Moses cuts the stone: "He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first" (34:4). The words stay the same. And this time Moses goes up alone. Joshua had gone up with him before (24:13); now the LORD says, "No one shall come up with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain" (34:3).

Where it leads to Jesus

The veil taken away in Christ

In the text

Exodus 34:33leads to2 Corinthians 3:14-16

"When Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face" (34:33). Paul points to this chapter: "not as Moses, who put a veil on his face" (2 Corinthians 3:13). He writes that "until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains, because in Christ it passes away" (2 Corinthians 3:14), and "whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away" (2 Corinthians 3:16).

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Exodus 34

That was a taste

The rest of Exodus 34 is waiting in Favor

  • The LORD says who he is
  • The same words, asked the other way
  • A face he didn't know was shining
  • The name, said back to him
  • The feasts, given again
  • Paul tells this chapter
  • 12 questions as you read
  • 9 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

רַחוּםrachumsay ra-CHOOM

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "compassionate". Strong's: "compassionate", from racham (H7355). In the proclamation of the LORD's name, it is the first word that says what kind of God he is, in Hebrew and in the WEB: "The LORD! The LORD, a merciful and gracious God" (34:6). This is the first time the Hebrew Bible uses it; it appears 13 times in all. The verb Strong's traces it to is the one in the LORD's promise a chapter earlier: "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy" (33:19). Moses later tells Israel, "For the LORD your God is a merciful God" (Deuteronomy 4:31).

For your group

Exodus 34 Bible study questions

  1. 1Moses asked the LORD to go with them "even though this is a stiff-necked people" (34:9), the very reason the LORD had given for not going (33:3). When have you asked God for something while knowing you didn't deserve it?
  2. 2The LORD describes himself as "merciful and gracious", "slow to anger", and one "who will by no means clear the guilty" (34:6-7). Which of these words is hardest for you to believe about God right now, and why?
  3. 3Moses' face shone from speaking with the LORD (34:29). Paul writes that we "are transformed into the same image from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18). Who have you seen changed by time spent with God? What did you notice?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Exodus 34 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home