Let's pray. Father, we are grateful to be gathered today and though we're an especially small group today, we never depreciate or in any way despise the gathering of the saints. It's always a delightful and a precious thing to be together and to be together not just as human beings who have certain things in common, sharing the same space and time, but to be gathered as members of one another, sharers in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, fellow members of your body as those whose lives are hidden with Christ in you. And Father, as people who are gathered in that way, I pray that you would minister to us with unity of mind and heart and spirit, that you would encourage us as you, by your Spirit, minister the Lord Jesus Christ and His glory and His purposes and His excellence to us. We've gathered to be taught of you. We've gathered to worship you in spirit and in truth. We've gathered to be built up in this most holy faith. And so we ask, Father, that by your spirit, you would meet us in our need, you would meet us in our longing, and you will cause this time to be fruitful, not just for this hour together, but for the sake of all of our days, all of our eternity. So bless us in our consideration. Instruct us. Encourage us. Fill us with your joy and peace. We ask in Jesus name. Amen. Last week we considered the episode of the golden calf and looked at the significance of that in terms of Israel's obligation under the covenant and what it meant for it to be unfaithful in that first instance. And today what I want to do is consider the aftermath of that episode leading up to and culminating with the renewing of the covenant. So this will take us from the second half of chapter 32 then through the end of chapter 34. And hopefully you've been reading through these sections and continuing to kind of saturate your minds and your thoughts in this narrative, in this episode in Israel's life. But the text records that after God made Moses aware of what was going on down at the foot of the mountain, recall Moses had gone up to receive the instruction concerning the sanctuary. and concerning the priesthood. And God told him of what was happening, the people rebelling against him and building the gold calf. And so he sent Moses back down the mountain with the tablets. And when Moses got to the bottom and saw what was happening, he threw the tablets to the ground and shattered them in a kind of powerful display of Israel shattering the covenant. by their unfaithfulness. And then he took the idol, which was the calf, which was the symbol of their disobedience, their waywardness, and he forced the people to drink the powder of it. He burned it, he crushed it, he mixed that powder with water, and then he forced the people to drink it. In that way, taking ownership of what it is that they had actually done. And then Moses pronounced the consequences that were to come on the people. He said, all who are for the Lord, come over to me. He created this point of division in the people. Were there any who were for the Lord? Were they all aligned with this idolatrous event? And the text says that at least at that point, only the Levites, perhaps because Moses himself was a Levite, but only the Levites came over to him. And then he instructed them to take up their swords and to go through the camp, slaying their brethren who had been unfaithful. And the text says, I think about 3,000 men were killed by their own brothers, the Levites, which you can imagine that scene unfolding. But Moses set out that obligation to show again that this was no insignificant issue. This was not something that in any sense God would trifle with. And it says, it came about on the next day. This is verse 30 of chapter 32. Moses said to the people, you yourselves have committed a great sin. And now I'm going up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. Then Moses returned to Yahweh and he said, alas, the people have committed a great sin. They've made a God of gold for themselves. But now, if you will, please forgive their sin. And if not, blot me out from your book, which you have written. And the Lord said to Moses, whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book. But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, my angel will go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin. And thus the Lord smote the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made." So Moses' response was both to exact judgment on the people, but then to also, again, take up his role as mediator And specifically he went before the Lord in the hope that he could perhaps make atonement for the people in some way. And specifically what he did was he asked the Lord to stand as a substitute in the place of Israel. This idea of being blotted out of the book, this isn't anything to do with salvation in the way we think of it, you know, the Lamb's Book of Life or whatever. This was the book of the covenant. So to be blotted out of the book meant to be cut off from the covenant, separated from the covenant household, ejected from that covenant relationship with God. And Moses realized that that's effectively what the people had done. They had broken that covenant relationship and he was offering to take their place, to stand in their stead. And God said, no, I won't allow you to do that. Those who have sinned against me, they're the ones who will be blotted out of my book. They're the ones who will be cut off from the covenant household. So Moses tried to intercede for the people, but God was unwilling to let him stand in their stead. And so because of that guilt that continued on, even though, you know, individual Israelites had been killed, there was a corporate guilt that the nation bore because of its solidarity. And God said, I will take you up to the land, I will continue with the people, but I myself will not go up in your midst. I will send my angel, he will lead you, but I will not go up in your midst. If I were to continue with you for even one day, I would destroy you. And so he instructed the people to take off their ornaments, their adornments, and basically go into a state of mourning. And the text says from that point forward, Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments throughout their 40 years. So even though many 3,000 people had died that day at the sword, nonetheless, the covenant had been broken and the covenant relationship had been fractured. And so God said, I will not go up with you. Moses was God's appointed mediator, and yet he could not resolve this. He could not atone for their guilt. He could not bear their punishment. And that itself is a hearkening to, as he will later tell the people, the day is coming when God will raise up a prophet like me from among you, the people, and you must listen to him. Whoever will not listen to him will be cut off. So Moses tried to stand in the place of the people and God was unwilling to let him do that. But one day there would be one who would come who would be able to do that. So the irony of this episode then, even at this point, we see that the very action that Israel took in trying to make God present and available and amenable to them was the very thing that drove a wedge in the relationship. they built the gold calf in the hope that it would keep them connected with their God and that he would lead them up, that basically the gold calf would take the place of Moses. And what this thing actually did, this thing that they thought was going to keep them connected with their God actually broke the relationship with God such that he said, I'll see to it that you go up to the land, but I won't go up in your midst. I won't go up in your midst." Well, that provoked then for Moses a second plea, which was again a call to God to relent. And remember last time we saw when Moses first pled with the Lord, he pled with the golden calf. He pled on the basis of his jealousy for God's integrity and reputation. He didn't plead on behalf of the people per se, but he said, God, don't forget. these are your people, don't forget your covenant. He pled with God to uphold what he had pledged to do, to be faithful to his covenant, specifically and most importantly in the sight of the nations. What will the nations think when they see that you have rejected your people? And it's the same idea here. He pled with God on the basis of his own faithfulness to the covenant and its continuance. Essentially, what Moses said is, if you are determined to not go up with this people, then don't send them at all. God said, I will send my angel, but I'm not going to go in the midst of the people. I'll get them to Canaan, but I'm not going to go with them. And Moses said, if that's the case, then don't send them at all. And the most important reason for that is that, and we saw this already in the Song of Moses in Exodus 15, that God wasn't simply liberating the people and giving them some place to dwell, the people of Israel. He was bringing them to himself. Canaan was his sanctuary. He was bringing them to his holy mountain to dwell with him. And remember, even in his initial instruction to Moses on the mountain, he said, take a contribution from the people to build me a sanctuary that I would dwell in their midst. So the whole point of the covenant with Abraham is that God would be the God of a people. He would dwell with them, they would dwell with him. And Moses is saying, if you're not gonna go up with the people, then don't send them out at all. Because for them to go up to Canaan and abide there alone is for them to effectively continue in their exile from you. If they're not going to be there dwelling with you as sons with a father, then all of this is meaningless. All of this is pointless. And not only would that mean that God would not be going up, he would be abandoning Israel if he didn't go up with them, he would also be, in a very real way, abandoning Moses, because he told Moses, you take them up, you lead them, my angel will go before you, but I won't be in your midst. And so Moses himself would be abandon. Moses himself would be left without the Lord. And so Moses pled with Yahweh not only to not abandon him, but specifically to affirm his own words that declared his favor towards him. And here we get into this passage where Moses is asking God to show him his glory. Show me your glory. So let's read this section here. Yeah, let's pick this up at verse 12 of chapter 33. Then Moses said to the Lord, see, you have said to me, bring up this people, but you yourself have not let me know who you will send with me. You've said your angel will go before us, but how is this going to work? Moreover, you've said, I've known you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight. And so now I pray you, if I have found favor in your sight, let me know your ways. Let me know what you're thinking. What are you doing in this? That I may know you, that I may continue to actually find favor in your sight. And consider also that this nation is your people. And the Lord said, my presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest. And then he said to him, if your presence does not go up with us, do not lead us up from here at all. For how then can it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Isn't it indeed by your going with us, so that we, I and your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are on the face of the earth? And the Lord said to Moses, I will also do this thing of which you have spoken, for you have indeed found favor in my sight, and I have known you by name. And then Moses said, I pray you, show me your glory. And God said, I myself will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion. But he said, you cannot see my face for no man can see me and live. And the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me and you shall stand there on the rock. And it will come about while my glory is passing by that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. And then I will take my hand away and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen." So Moses asked to see the Lord's glory to affirm his own favor towards him. If I have indeed found favor in your sight, then affirm that by showing me your glory. Let me see you. Let me understand your ways. Let me understand what you're doing here. And God said, I will show you my glory by declaring my goodness. I will declare to you my goodness. So the Lord then ends up honoring Moses petition in both of its concerns. He said, my presence will indeed go up with the sons of Israel. I will indeed go up with them, and I will also grant your request, Moses, to behold my glory." So then in chapter 34, God tells Moses, carve out for yourself two new stones, tablets to replace the ones that were broken, and bring them up to the top of the mountain where I will meet with you. And he says, I will there make a covenant with you. I will make a covenant with you. And it's during that time of the covenant renewal when God honors Moses petition to show him his glory. So this is verse 5 of chapter 34, and the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with Moses as he called upon the name of the Lord. And then Yahweh passed by in front of him and proclaimed, Yahweh, Yahweh who is God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving-kindness and truth, who keeps loving-kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, and yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generation. And Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship And he said, if now indeed I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us as your own possession. And God said, behold, I'm going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations and all the people among whom you live will see the working of Yahweh for it is an awesome thing that I am going to perform with you. And then he calls him to again be careful to observe all that I am commanding you this day. So a couple things, first of all is this showing of God's glory. The way he reveals his glory to Moses is he proclaims his goodness. And he proclaims his goodness not in some sort of abstract form, God is a good being, but in terms of his own faithfulness, his own loving kindness, his covenant integrity. His goodness is seen in the fact that he's the God of the covenant who will keep covenant. Moses wanted to see God's glory and God answered him in a way that showed him that he had actually already seen that glory manifested numerous times in his covenant faithfulness, his goodness. And that formula, the Lord who shows loving kindness, gracious, compassionate, showing loving kindness, that becomes kind of a formulaic statement throughout the Old Testament. God or his people affirm that he is a faithful God who upholds his covenant. This is who he is. So he shows his glory by again proclaiming his commitment to his purposes that have Israel at their center. His goodness is his steadfast love and faithfulness and that would see his covenant fulfilled unto his own glory, the display of who he is. So Israel would continue to fail at sonship, but God would prevail, making provision in that failure for the sake of his oath to the patriarchs and his goal for his creation. And that understanding lies behind Moses' response. He asked God to continue that pattern of goodness toward his covenant people, thereby showing himself glorious in Israel and before the nations. And it's on that foundation, then, self-proclamation, God declaring who he is, manifesting his glory through the declaration of his goodness in that way, then that he states his commitment to renew the covenant. Though the text says that God is going to make a covenant, if you read down through here where He begins to describe and elaborate on these commandments that he was giving that day to Moses. He's reiterating key aspects of the covenant that already existed. Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest it become a snare in your midst. Tear down their altars, smash their pillars, cut down their asherim. You shall not worship other gods. The Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God. Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods, sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you to eat of his sacrifice. You take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters play the harlot, with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with other gods. You shall make for yourself no molten gods. Observe the feast of unleavened bread. The first offering of every womb belongs to me. You shall redeem with the lamb the first offspring of a donkey, the firstborn of all of your sons. You shall work six days. The seventh day is a day of rest. Celebrate the feast of weeks. Three times a year, your males appear All of this is rehearsing these key aspects of the covenant. So the point of that is that even though God says, I'm going to make a covenant, this is not an entirely new covenant. It's the renewing of the covenant, but it's a making of a covenant in the sense that Israel had broken it. But God is renewing that relationship. He's restoring that relationship with them. So The last piece of this that I wanted to mention then is the last part of chapter 34. It says in verse 29, it came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand as he was coming down from the mountain. Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with him, the Lord. So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him. Then Moses called to them and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him and Moses spoke to them. And afterward, all the sons of Israel came near and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken to him on the mountain with the Lord's glory on his face. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take off the veil until he came out. And whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel, what the Lord had commanded him, the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses that the skin of Moses face shown. And so then Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with him again. And what this is referring to is that from that point of God saying, I will go with you, but yet there's this tension, this estrangement in the relationship. Moses set up a tent outside the camp. This is not the sanctuary. It hasn't been built yet. This is just a tent where Moses would leave the camp and encounter God and the sons of Israel would stand in the camp and they would see the glory of God, the glory cloud of God descend on this tent where Moses would meet with the Lord. Then Moses would come back into the camp to talk to the people. God is not meeting with the people. He's not dwelling with them. He's outside of the camp. And Moses is going back and forth, and it's in that context that this radiance on his face is being seen by the people. And as he speaks, his face is shown to them. But when he finishes speaking, he puts the veil back over his face until he goes back into the tent to meet with God. Then he uncovers it to receive what God has for him. Then he goes out to the people, speaks, and covers his face. That's what's being communicated there. And so there are these climactic things in the renewal of the covenant, these two aspects, Moses' experience of Yahweh's revealed glory and the way in which that glory is manifested to the people of Israel. That comes to the people through Moses in the way that I just described, but in that way, it's indicting the nation still as a rebellious and unreceptive son. God is meeting only with Moses outside the camp. The people stand at a distance. And Moses is that interface, and they behold God's glory only as revealed in Moses' face, but with this practice of veiling his face and unveiling his face. And so often you hear, and perhaps you've even thought that the veiling of the face is Moses was trying to hide from the people the fact of this fading glory. We're going to look at what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3, but that really isn't the point. Paul understands this larger issue, but what it is is Moses is covering his face after he speaks. So he's not trying to in any way hide from them or speak to them about a fading glory. The text doesn't even say that. What is being gotten at here is Moses veiling his face is showing that even though the people are observing the glory of God in the words that Moses brings to them and the glory that is on his face, they nonetheless don't discern it. It's lost upon them. Moses speaks, then he covers himself up. This is lost on you. They can't discern the Lord's glory. It's veiled from the people. And so this observation but lack of discernment is what Moses is getting at. He's speaking God's word, declaring God's glory as God gives him things to tell the people of Israel. And that glory again consisted in his expressed goodness tied to his covenant, love, and faithfulness. And that glory of God, that he is a faithful father to Israel, and that that would bind them to him, that continues to be lost on them. there's still a dark shroud, a veil over their own hearts. And that's what Paul's getting at. If you turn to 2 Corinthians 3, this will be where I'll close for today. But Paul is drawing on this episode and he's drawing out a very important implication of what was happening there with Israel and how God again has shown himself to be faithful. He's talking about his ministry to the Corinthians and how this glory of God that was previously revealed through Moses and associated with God's own words, graven on stones, now this word of God, now this glory of God is written on human hearts. And Paul talks about his adequacy, his commitment, his zeal, for this ministry of the new covenant. He says in verse 7 of chapter 3, if the ministry of death in letters engraved on stones came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, even as it was fading, which isn't said there, but he's talking about, again, how this was not an ultimate thing, the glory of God that was in the face of Moses that was lost upon the sons of Israel. Then how shall the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? Because it's the ministry of life in the Spirit. If the ministry of condemnation has glory, and he's again talking about Israel's covenant, which ultimately only served to condemn the sons as unfaithful, how much more does the ministry of righteousness conforming living into that reality of sonship abound in glory? For indeed what had glory, Israel's covenant, what had glory in this case by comparison has no glory on account of the glory that surpasses it. If that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory. And therefore, having such a hope, we are the sharers in that realized glory. That's what Paul is saying. We have great boldness in our speech. Why are we so zealous? Why are we so resolute? Why are we unmoved and unflinching in our proclamation of this gospel? Because we are the ones who have actually become sharers in this hope that Israel's covenant, that the law of Moses held out and was unrealized because Israel could not prove faithful. Having this hope then we have great boldness in our speech. We are not as Moses who used to put a veil over his face that the sons of Israel might not look intently at what actually was fading away. But their minds were hardened for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted because it's removed in the Messiah. But to this day, whenever Moses is read, he's talking about, again, the word of Moses that was in the covenant. Moses came to the people speaking God's words, that word of Moses that was manifested with the glory on Moses' face. Even to this day, when Moses is read, those words that God gave to Moses, a veil lies over Israel's heart, just as it did then. But whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, the freedom of the sons of God. And so we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory unto glory, just as from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Contrasting again the tablets with the spirit, the ministration of death and condemnation with the ministry of life, with the ministry of righteousness. And so Paul recognizes that even in that instance with Israel, the renewal of the covenant still stood in this context of a glory that the sons of Israel would not be able to appropriate. They wouldn't be able to receive it. They wouldn't be able to live into it. The glory of God was revealed in this intent and faithfulness to the covenant and they didn't get it. And they constantly despised the God of the covenant and despised their own status and their own calling under the covenant. But Paul is saying that God remained faithful. And he recognized that the day had come when that glory was fully now manifest and embraced by all men alike, Jew and Gentile alike. What the sons of Israel could not receive, what was veiled from them, is now unveiled by the Spirit. And not in a way that is transient, but in a way that's actually increasing. Moses had the glory of God on his face, he would veil his face, later he'd go back with God and that glory would be again restored and then he would go to the people and then he'd speak, then he'd cover his face, it was this cyclical thing. But he says, we all, as gazing in a mirror, are beholding the glory of the Lord in our own face. But not in a way that fades away, but in a way that is increasing. How is it increasing? Because the fullness of this glory, Paul says, is in the face of Christ himself. The fullness of the glory of God is in the face of Christ. And we all, by the Spirit of Christ, being transformed into that same likeness, are seeing the increasing progress of that glorification, the formation of the glory of God in the face of Christ in our own faces. We in that way have become better than Moses, right? We have realized in our own experience this glory that was only kind of hinted at in Moses' ministry to the sons of Israel. An increasing glory, a permanent glory, ultimately the fullness of the glory of God in our face because we're sharers in the one in whom the fullness of the glory of God resides. And Paul says that's why we have confidence. We have entered into that hope that God put in front of the world. And so we have great confidence. We don't lose heart. And he'll go on to say that in chapter four, right? Having this ministration as we've received the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. We've renounced the things hidden because of shame. We don't walk in craftiness. We don't adulterate God's word. But by manifesting the truth, we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. Paul says this is what animates us, this is what empowers us, this is what makes us resolute. What was symbolized in Moses' own experience in relation to the sons of Israel has become yes and amen in its ultimacy in us as sharers in the Messiah. So I, and I mentioned that not just because Paul refers to it, but because again, this is the way the New Testament writers and even Jesus himself read their own history and saw their own history, recognizing how all of the working out of Israel's life with God would ultimately become yes and amen and what he accomplished in his son. And we need to read these stories. We need to read these historical accounts through the lens of where they're ultimately going. and how they become yes and amen for us as we have become yes and amen and the one who is yes and amen, right? All the promises of God are yes and amen in him. Let me close then in prayer and let me just say for next time where we're gonna go from here is all the way up to the point of the time when Israel's gonna enter into the land. So we're gonna jump through the next 40 years very quickly and hopefully you'll take some time this week to read through those sections because that will effectively take you through Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy as we keep moving through the scriptures. Well, let me go ahead and pray then. Father, again, we thank you that you You have shown yourself faithful and the people of Israel could not discern that faithfulness. Moses asked to see your glory, to know you in truth, to understand your ways, to know you as you are and to understand what it meant that he stood in your favor and that you would continue to go up with the people. And you showed him your glory by proclaiming your goodness. You are the God whose loving kindness endures, the God who forgives, who pardons, the God who perseveres, but not the God who winks at unrighteousness, who winks at iniquity and sin and disobedience, but the God who would ultimately deal with all that offends, all that contradicts by taking that offense and its guilt upon yourself, by bearing it in yourself. Moses could not bear the guilt of the people because the day would come when you would bear it yourself in the person of the incarnate Son. And Father, we thank you that through all of those generations and centuries, You continued to abide with the disobedient people. And even as you sent them into exile, the promise of a day when you would arise, when you would liberate, when you would regather, when you would put all things right. When Israel would be liberated from her exile and restored to her God and made to be the sons of Abraham indeed. And in that day when Israel became Israel, then the nations would be gathered in. And ultimately, the whole creation would be liberated from the curse and restored to that state for which you created it in the first place. And in that day, finally, our God would be all in all. That was your promise, and it stood steadfast. regardless of what was happening on the ground with Israel, regardless of what was happening with desolation and exile and the destruction of David's kingdom, somehow in some way you would, in your faithfulness, in your goodness, you would arise and you would do what you had pledged from the beginning. And what a marvelous way in which you have done what you said you would do. Who could have imagined incarnation Who could have imagined that this glory of the Living God that was manifest in Moses' face would become the glory of God in full in the face of Jesus the Messiah? That no longer would there be a glory cloud in a sanctuary, but that the Word would become flesh and in Him we would behold the fullness of the glory of the Living God. Glory manifest in attested goodness. The very thing that you spoke to Moses to show him your goodness is the very thing that has been accomplished in Jesus our Lord. He is your yes and amen. And Father, as sharers in him, I pray that these these truths would continue to grow in our hearts and minds, that we would be transformed by them. We know that your goal for us is to have that glory that is in the face of Christ fully manifested in us, fully reflected in our faces, that we would be fully transformed into his likeness. And if that's the case, and if that's what's happening, then these glorious things that define and disclose who Jesus the Messiah really is and what it is that he's accomplished, these things ought to become increasingly glorious to us, increasingly precious to us, increasingly the object of our preoccupation and our devotion, our study, our meditation. And so I pray for each one here, Father, that we would be faithful stewards of these things in our own consideration, in our own ministration, that this glory that you are producing in us would be manifested to a world that so desperately needs to know the God who is, the God who has come, the God who has taken upon himself the brokenness of the world in order to put all things right and to sum up everything in the creation in Jesus, our Lord. This is the good news. This is what you pledged from the very beginning. And we thank you, Father, for the marvelous, amazing, completely unpredictable way in which you have done what you have done. In even the mystery and the glory of your work, we must say what a marvelous God we know and serve. Who could have imagined And what a blessing we have to be recipients of that goodness, to be beneficiaries of your grace and your power. So bless us in all of these things. Let them become ever more precious to us. We ask all of these things in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.