Sermon Notes: Exodus 34:1-7
Exodus 34:1-7
Worldview Moment: What we have witnessed in the recent past in the string of shootings targeting churches and Christian schools and now the murder of Charlie Kirk at the hands of the Marxist/leftist LGBTQ agenda is a physical manifestation of the seed war of Genesis 3:15.
Genesis 3:15 (ESV) 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring (seed) and her offspring (seed); he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Our modern translations use the word “offspring” rather than seed. Many still use the language of “seed” (which is a more literal translation) because it’s been used for so in an array of denominational traditions.
Genesis 3:15 is the first preaching of the good news and good news pointer to the work of the cross. It also sets the framework for the rest the book of Genesis and the rest of the Bible.
It is also to help us identify the conflict we are engaged in. It is the conflict all God’s people have been engaged in since Genesis 3 whether we know it or not or accept it or not.
Here in Genesis 3:15, both occurrences of “offspring” are singular. Two opposing (not equal) offspring or seed.
Galatians 3:16 identifies the offspring of the woman, in case you don’t know who that is, as Jesus.
The serpent dragon’s offspring is singular also. You mean the serpent dragon will have offspring? How? How is his offspring singular?
The singular “offspring” communicates that Jesus as the offspring of the woman has a team identified with him, that is in him, and he indwells. One offspring made up of many. Who is that? The “body of Christ”, the church.
The serpent dragon has a team identified with him, a team that is in him, and a team he inhabits with his presence, his ideas and his practices. One yet many. Who is that? The kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:13). John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil.”
The serpent dragon and his children against Jesus the Son of God, the Son of man and his children.
These teams are not equal. The end is fixed. The serpent dragon is angry and cast down and seeking to destroy all he can before the day of being cast into the lake of fire forever (See Revelation 12, 19-20). Jesus has conquered by his life, the cross, his burial, resurrection, ascension, and his future second coming.
Jesus’ team is the church who is genetically and spiritually transformed by his spilled and applied blood through their faith in Him (OT saints and NT saints alike).
The serpent dragon’s team begins and is bred in Genesis 6 and mobilized in Genesis 11. The serpent dragon’s descendants genetically, spiritually, and practically follow him and his agenda to stop the offspring of the woman Jesus, then spoil, kill, and destroy his followers (see John’s summary in Revelation 12).
The serpent dragon’s offspring show up as defilers of fathers like Ham’s defiling of Noah, worshipers of Molech and other godlings in the OT who sacrifice their children, and they show up in the sexually immoral and perverse. The serpent dragon’s children will do these things throughout human history everywhere there are humans. This is the Deuteronomy 32:8-9 worldview.
The serpent dragon’s children show up today in organizations like Margaret Sanger’s Planned Parenthood with their strategy of eugenics to kill undesirable races and the disabled to purge them from the gene pool.
The serpent dragon’s offspring show up as folks who cheapen life by participating in human trafficking in all its forms from pornography to just about every form of entertainment there is as a distraction from the abuse behind the scenes.
The serpent dragon’s seed or offspring create chaos with delight in sin and unrepentance.
The serpent dragon’s offspring are...2 Timothy 3:2-4 (ESV) “lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,...”
The seed of the serpent dragon will not obey political boundaries. The serpent dragon has his offspring in every political party and establishment on the planet in every nation.
Sometimes the seed of the serpent dragon will even show up in churches as weeds planted by the Evil One among the wheat. Remember Jesus’ parable about this (Matthew 13:24-30)?
Make no mistake, we are not at peace. The priests and pseudo prophets of Jeremiah’s day tried to sell a fake peace and unity with evil and darkness in their ease. The Lord would have none of it and sent Jeremiah with this word: Jeremiah 6:14 (ESV) 14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.
We are in a conflict that is mostly not fought with weapons. This conflict first takes place in ideas that shape minds, lives, homes, systems, organizations, and ultimately governments.
Because that conflict is not first physical in nature we can’t ignore it and hope it goes away by saying nothing or pretending that all thoughts and ideas, things, positions on issues, and all political systems are equal. They are not.
God has not left his people isolated on an island. The Amish life is not God’s plan. We are to invade darkness with light. Not stand on the sidelines with nothing to say or do.
Here in the United States, the left (the progressive left) is no longer made up of the classical liberal of the 1980’s ACLU.
The left has become a home to a worldview that sees political violence as a manifestation of its serpent dragon DNA.
How can we know this? Because progressivism, which is now mostly housed in the political left, is built on a Marxist critical theory ideology which sees all people as either “oppressed” or “oppressor”. This shows up in identity politics and still drives the left’s political agenda.
Therefore, they employ the Marxist dialectic. The dialectic pits the oppressed against their oppressor and uses violence as the means to overcome the oppressor.
This atheist framework is opposite of the Christian’s framework of "right and wrong" which is rooted in God’s moral law and natural law.
If you believe me or someone else who lives according to a “right / wrong” framework to be a “Nazi” or “Fascist” oppressor because we disagree with you, you will feel a moral obligation to stop me rather than engage my thought. This is why we see incredible violence in places where leftist ideology is practiced.
Politics is the science of how to govern a city and a nation. Therefore, when these two worldviews (oppressed/oppressor and right/wrong) inhabit two different political parties, we can’t avoid seeing things for what they are and making value judgments on what is evil and what is a better option.
Don’t believe for a moment that because I’m pointing out the left’s alignment with the serpent dragon that there is no serpent dragon thought and practice invading the right. Transhumanism has a comfy home in the political right currently as well as a growing number of Molech worshiping abortion advocates trying to loosen up the right.
Church, we must be aware that there is good and evil. The two ideologies are not equal.
There are two teams: Serpent Dragon and Jesus. And we have a mission to disciple the nations. That means there is no sideline standing for anyone. We must engage every domain. That means rooting out all evil with the truth of God’s framework of right and wrong.
Live and make decisions like that’s a fact because it is. It’s not clean. It’s not easy. Lines are not straight. You are not going to find a political system that fully embraces the kingdom of God, but you can find a place that will not kill you for debating ideas.
You need to read some Abraham Kuyper. There is no room for ignorance.
Feminism is a lie. Abortion is a lie. LGBTQ+ is a lie. In case you didn’t know what the T is in that last one, Transgenderism is a lie. The whole sexual revolution is a lie. Marxism, Socialism, Communism, and Democratic Socialism is a lie (rooted in atheism). Critical race theory is a lie. DEI is a lie. Materialism is a lie.
Now, we need to turn and look into the face of God in Jesus Christ in God’s word. Moses gets to see God’s glory on the mountain. We need to see what Moses saw. We need to let his word help us see and evaluate all things, so we know how to live and please God and win the seed war against darkness and evil.
Exodus 34 records for us the Lord’s revealing his glory to Moses in response to Moses’ request.
Verse 1-7 is the front end of that glorious encounter on the mountain.
Let’s read it: Exodus 34:1-7
What do we need to see?
1. The Lord commands Moses to be prepared to present himself to the Lord in the morning. V. 2
The Lord commands Moses to be ready to present himself.
It’s not just Moses showing up, but Moses is commanded to present himself. When Moses meets with the Lord, there is a component to meeting with the Lord in which Moses put himself and his readiness on display.
What does that mean? The word “present” can also mean to “stand” before the Lord. It carries the idea of being ready to be inspected.
So, the Lord commands Moses to come and be prepared to be inspected.
I believe there is a gospel moment here.
We see in verse 5 that the Lord comes and stands by Moses.
Moses presents himself. The Lord comes and stands by Moses.
Moses does not use the same word for the Lord standing by him as he uses for the Lord’s command to come present himself, but these two word phonetically rhyme. So, there is a little play on words in the rhyme while they are different words. They similar but they are different.
The Lord commands Moses to come for inspection, to present himself, to stand in front of the Lord. When Moses comes as commanded in obedience, the Lord comes to stand with Moses.
The Lord is distinct from Moses, but the Lord presents himself, stands beside Moses as his advocate, his friend, and as distinct and holy, his Savior.
We get a glimpse here of the mediating work of Jesus in his role as the God who is our Great High Priest.
As the Lord comes to stand with Moses, Jesus comes to stand with us when we repent and believe. He is not creature like us. He is the unique Son of God. But he one who is like us because we are made in his image, yet without sin. Thus, the writer of Hebrews will say of him: Hebrews 4:15 (ESV) 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus, our Advocate with the Father, God in the flesh, God’s active love for us, comes and stands with us. We are not him. We are not God. We are his creatures. But when we come to him as he commands us in the gospel, he comes to stand beside us and be with us.
Notice, the Lord commands Moses to come up the mountain in the morning.
There is something special about communing with the Lord and the morning.
Mark 1:35 tells us that Jesus rose early in the morning while it was still dark to spend time with the Father.
There is a rhythm to communion with God and mornings that is hard to escape.
Perhaps we should learn to lean into that.
The Lord’s command to Moses is to meet him in the morning.
POINT 2 IS AN APPENDIX
3. Moses hears and obeys the Lord’s instructions for preparation. V. 4
Moses hears and obeys.
This is the bedrock foundation of Christian discipleship.
We must learn to hear the Holy Spirit and obey him.
Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV) 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
4. The Lord preaches his glory by preaching his name. V. 5b.-7 The Lord preaches. V. 5b
The Lord is a proclaimer, a preacher. God speaks words. God uses language.
God spoke using decree to create, and upon his decree creation came to be from nothing. And Jesus is now upholding his creation by his powerful word that he actively speaks (Hebrews 1:1-3).
By speaking God creates, and by speaking he sustains.
C.S. Lewis depicts this truth in “The Magician’s Nephew” by having Aslan singing a beautiful song that causes Narnia to be created and held together and alive.
Because God is a preacher, a proclaimer, his people called by his name have built into their worship the role of preaching his word as a tangible means of his grace and presence with them.
Preaching is not a made-up thing churches do for preachers to have something to do, and preaching God’s word is not optional.
Preachers/proclaimers exist because God exists and made people in his image. Preaching is God’s means of making his word and all of its application and implications an actual reality for his people when they hear and obey.
The serpent dragon imitates that whole component of God’s kingdom in his ongoing war against the people of God. He has proclaimers and prophets who disguise themselves as angels of light and thus prophets who disguise themselves as prophets of righteousness. You can hear the serpent dragon’s preached message in every form of communication under the sun when your ears are tuned by Holy Spirit to God’s word.
Now that God has preached to Moses, he is going to send Moses down with a written law and have Moses preach from it to the people as God’s voice to the people.
NOTE: This is why Christian worship services are constructed around preaching the Bible. It is God’s pattern and God’s means of directing his people.
What does God preach to Moses?
The Lord preaches his name and reveals that he is incredibly merciful. V. 6-7a
These words the Lord preaches to Moses to go preach to the people are recorded by Moses and will be preached for millennia and are still being preached today and read today.
God’s sermon is eternal!
The Lord’s exposition of his name is preached again in Psalm 86:15, 103:8, 145:8, Joel 2:13, and Jonah 4:2. So, the inspired authors of Scripture take God’s sermon notes and preach them repeatedly.
The Lord preaches his name as Yahweh to have 6 attributes:
Merciful – compassionate, giving relief to his people who are in distress
Gracious – showing regard for his people in compassion
Slow to anger – patient
Abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness – Abounding means literally “many times” – loving kindness – truthfulness (God’s love is always many times truthful).
Keeping steadfast love for thousands – God keeps his love on the multitude of his people.
Forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin – He bears our multitudes of rebellion by his atoning love for us.
The Lord’s preaches his name and reveals that he is just. V. 7b
It’s much more comfortable to talk about God’s incredible mercy and all the amazing ways his mercy is shown to his people.
And, the Lord also preaches that he is just. He does not clear the guilty, and he visits the iniquity of the fathers on the children up to four generations.
The Lord sees fit to remind us of his justice and the wages of sin, particularly the sin of idolatry.
This part of his sermon to Moses is a repeat from Exodus 20:4-6, the second commandment. The Lord gives us a reminder to beware of the sin of idolatry, of which they are still suffering the consequence in the golden calf incident.
God reminds them that defecting to team serpent dragon pays out in stepping into a place where guilt sticks deeply in our physical and spiritual make up making it hard for us to shed that serpent dragon strain of sin where we continually incur the justice of God. And to make it worse, God by his holy nature visits the sticky nature of idolatry on the children of the people who engage in that serpent dragon behavior.
By God’s design of humanity, epigenetics teaches us that our habits sit on top of our genetic structure, and in addition to our genes, we pass on our habits at a microscopic genetic and spiritual level to our children. That is justice worked out at the genetic and spiritual level.
If we defect to team serpent dragon in our behavior in habits that work contrary to God’s design, that sin sticks to our kids at a genetic level, and it’s a hard to shed that sin. Thus, God visits the father’s sinful habits on the children. And this is justice from God because we chose to violate God’s law, and he lets us have what we choose including the fruit of our sin.
God preaches the totality of his nature to Moses and expects Moses to faithfully communicate this to the people.
Application
How are we to apply our text today?
1. Repent and believe the good news.
We can have Jesus stand beside us and be our advocate in the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us.
2. Preach the whole of God’s word not just the parts we are comfortable with.
In one sense we are all preachers because we are all called to make disciples and the only way to do that is to proclaim, share, tell, make known the good news. Every disciple everywhere preaching the good news all the time. The whole church the missionary.
As gospel preachers, please be imitators of God.
God didn’t hold back the uncomfortable parts for Moses or us in his word. Tell the whole metanarrative. Partial narratives make partial disciples. Whole narratives make whole disciples.
For too long we have had a truncated gospel that allows weeds to grow up among wheat, and when the heat comes, they fall away.
We cultivate good soil by tilling it with the whole story of God’s word.
Unfortunately for many, they have a truncated New Testament Jesus that can’t jive with the Jesus of the Old Testament, and thus they have an incomplete worldview that ultimately gets them recruited onto team serpent dragon while preaching an incomplete Jesus.
Don’t be that.
3. Live in the rhythm of relationship with God.
God called Moses to present himself in the morning to see the Lord and hear the Lord give him theological gold.
Rise early.
Present yourself to the Lord and be prepared to meet him with a ritual you enjoy.
Mine is to get up, get my coffee, get my Bible and journal, open the curtain and watch the darkness become light, I greet the Lord and tell him “good morning”, I confess my sins, I read, I write, and I pray.
Listen for the Lord to preach to you his word and relate to you with instructions, comfort, and even conviction.
You do this by reading your Bible, journaling and listening quietly.
Write what you hear.
Pray.
Journal your prayers. Prayer is a good response to what you hear from the Lord. If you are comfortable, pray out loud.
Expect seasons that are dry and enjoy the seasons that are not.
Don’t stop this rhythm.
Keeping it going is an act of faith that is an act of resistance against the serpent dragon.
4. Become discerning with your Bible content growing at all times, with eyes on the times, and with engagement in the public square with no fear.
When David’s strength was growing and ascending to his place as king, the tribes were beginning to come together under his leadership.
Much of Israel didn’t know how to respond to Saul and David and the nation.
Here is what the Bible says of the men of Issachar: 1 Chronicles 12:32 (ESV) 32 Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.
Let’s be people who are known to walk with the Holy Spirit, know God’s word, and know how to engage.
This takes work, and it’s possible.
Know your Bible.
Know history.
Understand systems and how they operate.
5. Pray
Increase us / Holy / Send us / Eyes that see / Mouths that will speak God’s word / Save the lost / Advance your kingdom
Appendix
2. The Lord prepares the people to receive the good news by meeting with Moses. V. 3 Verse 3 is a rich good news nugget. Moses is to come alone as the Lord intends to reveal himself to Moses as Israel’s mediator because Moses asked in love, kindness, and friendship to prepare us for the gospel. V. 3
Why might the Lord want Moses to come alone?
Well, Moses alone asked.
Also, it seems that the Lord is protecting the rest of the people and even the animals from passing due to his overwhelming glory that Moses is being allowed to get a back-side glimpse of. And this is kind of the Lord as he thinks about everyone in the camp’s well-being.
I believe Jesus’ words in John’s gospel makes an answer to this question of why the Lord wants Moses to come alone for us and shows us a gospel connection.
This can seem a little blurry, but the more you read through this and focus your attention, the clearer it will get.
Moses as the mediator gets to see the Lord by himself, and his job is to go from there and preach the glory of God the Father to the people so that the people who have a heart set on the Lord will hear Moses and in Moses hear God’s word (hear the voice of God), know it’s God’s word, repent and believe.
Jesus, the Greater Moses, is the fulfillment of Moses’ work to prepare us for the good news.
Listen to Jesus and walk with me through his words: John 6:44-46 (ESV) 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, And they will all be taught by God.’(Isaiah 54:13) Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.
NOTE: By Jesus saying that he alone has seen the Father he is claiming that he is in himself fulfilling the good news intent of the Father allowing Moses to see him.
Jesus refers to Isaiah 54:13 where Isaiah looks forward to Jesus’ day and the days of the kingdom of God and preaches that “children” will be taught by the Lord. Jesus boldly says that the day Isaiah preached about coming has come now, and therefore, those “children” who have heard the voice of the Lord to prepare them for the Son will come to Jesus the Son.
And Jesus makes this strange tack on statement in verse 46 to clarify that those who have heard the Father’s teaching are coming to him, and those are the “children” Isaiah saw. These who have heard God and are coming to Jesus have not seen God, only heard him.
The reason they come to Jesus is because they have heard God, AND they come to Jesus because Jesus has seen the Father (in fulfillment of Moses purpose in being allowed to see the Lord). Those coming to Jesus recognize the quality of the voice of God who they have heard in Jesus who has clearly seen the Father because he talks like the Father who has been teaching them to prepare them for Jesus. So, they come to Jesus.
This Exodus 34 encounter prepares us to hear the good news and receive it because we have heard the gospel call of God and when we see Jesus presented in the good news, we recognize the quality of God’s voice in Jesus and come to him.
Just like the people recognized Moses had been with God, those the Father are preparing recognize Jesus has been with God and is in fact God in the flesh (and thus better than Moses) and they come to him.
Just like the people will see Moses’ shining face and know he’s been with the Lord, when those who the Father prepares meet the Jesus, who has seen him and is God, they will come to him.