Introduction & Prayer

In Exodus 34, we find that Moses has to return to the mountain to get a copy of the tablets. We get to see Moses’ worshipful response to God and God reiterating the instruction to Moses. God instructs His children to make sure they don’t compromise. He specifically warns them that the wrong crowd can often lead us away from godliness.

• Have you ever had friends that had such an impact on your life that you actually changed how you act or think?

• Pray

Read Exodus 34:1-3

Then the Lord told Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones. I will write on them the same words that were on the tablets you smashed. 2 Be ready in the morning to climb up Mount Sinai and present yourself to me on the top of the mountain. 3 No one else may come with you. In fact, no one is to appear anywhere on the mountain. Do not even let the flocks or herds graze near the mountain.”

• There is this pattern that we saw in the life of Jesus where He would sneak away in the early hours of the day. God told Moses to come up to the mountain in the morning. God established a day dedicated to Him on the first day of the week. Is there a principle in giving God the first part of the day—the early morning? If so, what step can you take to try this tomorrow morning?

• What are the barriers that hinder us from spending time with God?

• Why was no one allowed on the mountain? Why the solo journey to speak with God?

Read Exodus 34:4-7

4 So Moses chiseled out two tablets of stone like the first ones. Early in the morning he climbed Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh. 6 The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. 7 I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected— even children in the third and fourth generations.”

• What are the characteristics that God identifies to describe Himself here?

• How have you personally understood these characteristics of God’s nature?

• God says He lavishes love to a thousand generations but only holds families accountable for sins to the third and fourth generations. What does this reveal about God’s perception on mercy vs justice?

• If God is so loving, why does He not excuse the guilty? [God is also just.]

Read Exodus 34:8-9

8 Moses immediately threw himself to the ground and worshiped. 9 And he said, “O Lord, if it is true that I have found favor with you, then please travel with us. Yes, this is a stubborn and rebellious people, but please forgive our iniquity and our sins. Claim us as your own special possession.”

• How do we respond to learning more about God? Does this excite us?

• Moses physically threw Himself to the ground. What is our posture when we worship? What does bowing down look like in a spiritual sense?

• Describe your physical posture during the worship portion of the service. Why is this your posture of worship?

• When Moses prays for God to “claim us as your own special possession,” what is He actually asking? What does it mean to be special? What does it mean to be His own? What does it mean to be owned

• For those who own a pet (even if it's a cat), whose responsibility is it to care for the pet?

• Describe how God sees us as His possession—or more specifically as His children?

Read Exodus 34:10-11a

10 The Lord replied, “Listen, I am making a covenant with you in the presence of all your people. I will perform miracles that have never been performed anywhere in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people around you will see the power of the Lord—the awesome power I will display for you. 11 But listen carefully to everything I command you today.

• Read Jeremiah 31:33-34 33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

• What are the 5 things that God says He will do in the New Covenant?

• When Jesus was sitting with His disciples just before He was betrayed, He instituted what we call the Last Supper. Read Luke 22:20 20After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.

• What parts of the New Covenant are fulfilled following the resurrection of Jesus? [The Spirit of God was given to humanity@

• Are we living fully in the New Covenant?

Read Exodus 34:11b-17

Then I will go ahead of you and drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 12 “Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going. If you do, you will follow their evil ways and be trapped. 13 Instead, you must break down their pagan altars, smash their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you. 15 “You must not make a treaty of any kind with the people living in the land. They lust after their gods, offering sacrifices to them. They will invite you to join them in their sacrificial meals, and you will go with them. 16 Then you will accept their daughters, who sacrifice to other gods, as wives for your sons. And they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against me by worshiping other gods. 17 You must not make any gods of molten metal for yourselves.

• Why did God not want His children to make treaties with the enemy?

• Have you ever known someone who changed once they started dating someone new?

• As we develop deep relationships with others, how does this affect the way we think or act?

• What can we do to protect our lives from compromise?

Think on This

Psalm 119:1–3 1Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. 2Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. 3They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths.

• Why is it that when we follow and obey God that our lives become marked by joy?