Exodus Chapter 34, Verses 1-4

:1 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. 2 And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. 3 And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount. 4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.”   

I have wondered in the past why God wrote the 10 commandments on “two” tables of stone.  Surely, he could have written them all on one table.  However, in my studies, I discovered that numbers in the scriptures were often associated with biblical subjects.  The number “two” in the scriptures is closely associated with the subject of “witness.”  The first six commandments of the Ten Commandments pertains to mans moral responsibility toward God.  The next four commandments are associated with mans moral responsibility toward man.   

In Matthew chapter 22 we read: 35 “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”  Thus the Lord condensed all the commandments into these two great commandments: to love God and to love our neighbor.   

When we are born of the Spirit of God, God has written his commandments in two places: our heart and our mind as the following verse show: 

        1.  Heb. 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

2. Heb. 10:16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;” 

        3.  2 Cor. 3:3 “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.” 

With God’s two great laws written in our hearts and minds we have a two fold witness of God’s love, mercy, and grace toward us.   

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.”  The first time man received the laws, man broke them.  This time the ten commandments written in two tables of stone are going to be kept in a safe place: the ark of the covenant.  Duet: 31:25 "That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.”  The Ark of the Covenant was a figure of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Of course, Jesus kept perfectly all the laws and commandments of God.   

“And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.”  Oftentimes, we find in the scriptures that in order to receive the fullness of the blessing of God in our journey of life, we must obey the Lord and do what he commands.  This was true of Moses and it is true of us as well.  “And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.”   

“And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.”  Sometimes, both blessings and fellowship and communion with God are very personal to the believer.  Others often are not a part of these personal interactions. 

Verses 5-8 

:5 “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.” 

In Ex. 33:8 Moses had requested of the LORD that He would show him His glory.  In the above passage, the LORD showed Moses his glory as he had promised: 

“And the LORD descended in the cloud…”  Ex. 16:10 “And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.”   

“And stood with him there…”  To have the LORD stand with you is to have the glory of the LORD in your presence. 

“And proclaimed the name of the LORD…”  Proclaiming the name of the LORD is a part of seeing the glory of the LORD.  When God’s called ministers today proclaim the name of the LORD, and we are receiving that message we are having the glory of the LORD revealed to us. 

“The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth…”  To hear of God’s mercy, his grace, his longsuffering and his abundant goodness and truth is to be blessed to see the glory of the LORD.   

“Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation…”  God’s mercy and forgiveness toward his people to deliver them from their iniquities and transgressions and sins is the central theme of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Thus, in hearing and believing the gospel of Jesus Christ we are blest to see the glory of the LORD.  However, as the true gospel declares this does not clear the guilty.  God’s elect people are made righteous through the atoning blood of Christ, yet, those who are not part of the elect will suffer God’s wrathful judgment for their sins in the eternal lake of fire. 

 “And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.”  What an example Moses is for us today.  When Moses saw the glory of the LORD he bowed his head and worshipped.  Shouldn’t we do likewise, every time that we see the glory of the LORD?