Page 62 - Pentateuch - Student Textbook

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elements contribute to the sheer ‘Godness’ that constitutes holiness in its purest form.”

Moses saw, heard, and, yes, experienced God in the glory of his holiness. Part of his holiness is his grace.
The interaction between Moses and God was meant to teach Moses more of the depth and wonder of
God’s grace. Other events teach a deeper understanding of God’s knowledge or power or righteousness.
Here grace is necessary. Only a gracious God could continue to lead Israel, the stubborn calf. Grace has
already been present in the relationship of God and Israel, but here is a new and deeper lesson. God’s
people of all ages have this challenge before them. Even throughout eternity they will have more to
learn about Him. “Yet the saints can never have an adequate conception of God. They cannot
comprehend that which is infinite…They cannot, with one glance of their eye, behold what grows on
every side. But the divine perfections will be an unbounded field, in which the glorified shall walk
eternally, seeing more and more of God, since they can never come to the end of that which is
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infinite.”

Rejecting the compassion of God, results in judgment. God reminds Moses that he is a jealous God
(34:14). He had warned Israel about this before (20:5), but now his jealousy is made clear. Humans
usually understand jealousy from a negative perspective. We lack something another person possesses.
For example, the Philistines envied Abraham his wealth (Gen. 26:14). Rachel was jealous of her sister for
bearing children (Gen. 30:1). Joseph’s brothers were jealous of his favored son status (Gen. 37:11). God
lacks nothing. His jealousy is different. It is actually an expression of his love. He wants the best for his
people, and he is the best. When his people stray to worship another god, they are losing what is best.
So God is deeply jealous for them. We might even speak about a fierceness or passion to God’s jealousy.
If he were not infinitely, unchangeably, committed to seeing humans love him, he would not be true to
himself nor would he be completely loving to humans.

The account in Exodus continues with God restating some of the main provisions of the law he had
previously given (34:18-26). Moses writes everything down, spending another forty days and nights on
the mountain (34:27-28). He returns to
camp with a radiant face “because he had
spoken with the LORD (v. 29).” The whole
nation is afraid to come near, but he calls to
the leaders and gives them God’s
commands. To prevent misunderstanding
Moses wears a veil whenever he comes out
from speaking with God (vv. 30-35).

Moses also brings down from the mountain
instructions about building the tabernacle.
The importance of the tabernacle is easily
seen by the number of verses devoted to
the topic. A description is given in chapters
25 through 31, including instructions about
the priests. A second description is given
Fig. 36: Tabernacle at Timnah
after the golden calf incident (32-34) in

66 D. A. Carson, “Worship Under the Word,” Worship by the Book, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2002), p. 28.
67 Thomas Boston, “The Kingdom of Heaven.” In The Glory of Heaven (Wheaton: Crossway, 1996), 221.

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