Exodus 34 – Revisited Laws Revisited
Exodus 34 in part revisited the Mosaic Covenant. Exodus 20-23 listed the stipulations and laws of the covenant, then God decided to renew the covenant after Israel’s infidelity with the Golden Calf. So naturally God reviews some of those stipulations here as the covenant is renewed. Most of the laws seen in Ex 34 are either summaries or reworded laws that we have seen before.
In the sermon I highlighted a few of the changes, but much of the study I did had to be cut out for time’s sake. The point of the sermon was not to show how these laws differed or stayed the same from their first appearance earlier; the point was to demonstrate how they fit with the thrust of the context and Israel’s sin.
Nevertheless, there are a few changes made between texts that are worth taking special note of here. We will work through law by law, briefly noting a few things. I will put the revisited laws on the left column, and the laws they derive from on the right (the text is ESV).
34:11 “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
23:23 “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out,
Notice that the Exodus 34 laws begins with an extra command to “Observe.” The Israelites apparently needed an extra encouragement/exhortation after their covenant-breaking sin with the calf.
But there is a change for the better. In 23:23, God promises “my angel” will be the one to drive out the “ites.” Here in 34:11, God Himself will drive them out. This may be written in this way to emphasize that God has finally capitulated to Moses’s request for God’s presence to be personally with the people (instead of an angel; see 33:2, 17, etc.).
34:12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.
23:32-33 You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
The next verse takes it cues from vss 32-33. Again, it adds a brief word of exhortation: “Take care.” The rest of the verse summarizes the content of vss 32-33, the latter of which describes more of what a “snare” means and looks like – something that causes them to sin and worship other gods.
34:13-16 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.
23:24 you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.
20:3-5 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
The rest of this paragraph conflates two separate passages from Exodus: 23:24 and the first Commandment. Chapter 34 goes a bit further in describing God’s name as Jealous (which is a bit different than just saying He is a jealous God). This chapter is also more forceful and graphic with the language, using the term “whore” several times to describe the Israelites’ pursuit of other gods. This prostitute language lets the Israelites know exactly where this behavior stands in their covenant-marriage with Yahweh.
In addition, 34:13 describes 23:24 more specifically, naming the Asherah poles instead of just generically saying to “utterly overthrow them.” It also gets more specific in relation to the danger of whoring after other gods, namely putting the threat in terms of family integrity.
34:17 “You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.
20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
20:23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.
32:4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” (cf. vs 8)
34:17 is formed from two different sources: the first Commandment and the sin of the Golden Calf. It combines the two with the phrase “gods of cast metal,” a specific callback to 32:4 and 8. God reminds them in this way of where their devotion must remain.
34:18 “You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt.
23:15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed.
Notice the “as I commanded you” added to 34:18. Most of the rest of the verse is nearly verbatim 23:15 (with a few things rearranged), but that little phrase reminds the Israelites that this isn’t the first time they are hearing these laws.
34:19-20 All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20 The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed.
13:2 “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”
13:12-13 you shall set apart to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the LORD’s. 13 Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. (cf. 13:15)
23:15b None shall appear before me empty-handed.
The law of redemption of the firstborn comes not from the Ex 20-23 Covenant Code, but from chapter 13, which takes place around Passover and the exodus from Egypt. Perhaps its use here reminds the Israelites that all they have and own is God’s. He could have chosen to destroy them, but instead He chose to save them (33:19). The choice was entirely God’s, and this law helped the Israelites continually remind themselves of that fact.
The phrase, “None shall appear before me empty-handed” was originally connected with the three pilgrimage festivals (23:14-17). Its use here indicates that not only during purposeful times of worship, but any occasion that brings an Israelite to the Tabernacle for worship, should be accompanied with gifts from the worshiper.
34:21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
23:12 “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
This is one of the big additions in Exodus 34, one that I did indeed draw attention to from the pulpit. The first part of the verse is exactly identical to the first part of 23:12. But the ending diverges, emphasizing that there is no season too busy to observe Sabbath. The emphasis of 23:12 seems to be on the need for rest.
34:22-24 You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. 23 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.
23:16-17 You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. 17 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD.
There are some interesting things happening in this paragraph. First, notice the small addition in 34:23 – “the God of Israel.” The rest of the verse is identical to 23:17. This relates to one of the main arguments of chapters 32-34: Will God continue to be the God of Israel after Israel has broken the covenant? Here, there is a subtle change to an old law that reaffirms this very fact.
Second, notice that 34:24 has no parallel in earlier laws. God adds an additional promise here to Israel, perhaps as an incentive to keep these commands. Israelites need not be worried about other nations or peoples invading their vacant property while they appeared before God during the festival season. This supernatural protection leaves the Israelites with no excuse for disobedience to these laws.
34:25-26 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. 26 The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
23:18-19 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning. 19 “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
These passages are nearly identical, with one small exception. 34:25b transforms “the fat of my feast” from 23:18b to “the sacrifice of the Feast of Passover.” This serves to broaden the command to anything that is left from the feast, not just the fat. No leftovers are to remain from the Passover meal at all, fat or otherwise.
During the sermon, I tried to emphasize that these laws were selected for a purpose, either as a summary of the Law itself or because of its relation with the sin of the Golden Calf. Here, I hope this exercise demonstrated that the laws were modified for a purpose. The modifications from earlier texts typically serve to emphasize God’s renewed relationship with Israel, remind them of their earlier sin, or remind them that this is not the first time they are hearing the law (which reminds them of both their sin and God’s grace). It is not just a haphazard revisiting of old laws for the sake of boring readers. Rather, Exodus 34 has purpose and relates well to its context.
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