The Covenant Renewed
April 1, 2020
Commentary
This passage gives an introduction to the terms of the covenant (vv. 10-26) It starts out with the Lord promising to perform miracles that have never been seen before (vv. 10-11). He promises to display many wonders so that the people will see His power. These wonders include His driving out the people living in Palestine. However, this conquest was conditional on Israel’s obedience to God. All of these conditions were essentially given previously in chapters 21-23.
One of the major purposes of the rules and regulations of this covenant was to keep Israel from idolatry (vv. 12-14). Making a treaty with idolaters would lead to involvement in sacrificial meals (v. 15), intermarrying of their daughters to Canaanite men (v. 16) and even to making molten images (v. 17). Tragically Israel did not head these warnings as we read about in (Joshua 9:1-7). Ultimately this led to Israel being exiled. This is also a great warning for us today. Religious compromise is always a downward progression. The questioning of one generation often become the doctrines of the next and the dabbling in sin today can become a habitual practice tomorrow.
The remaining verses in this passage present a series of miscellaneous duties which the Lord required of Israel. This included the feast of unleavened bread (v. 18), the redemption of the firstborn (vv. 19-20), the Sabbath (v. 21), the feast of weeks and ingathering (vv. 22-24), prohibitions concerning the offering of leaven (v. 25) and finally God’s claims upon all the first-fruits of the land which included that a young goat was not to be boiled in its mothers milk (v. 26).
Application
I must be careful to not compromise in my home, so that it will possibly have an effect on the next generation. An example would be that of watching things on the internet that do not edify the Lord.
Exodus 34:10– 26 (NET)
10 He said, “See, I am going to make a covenant before all your people. I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation. All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you.
11 “Obey what I am commanding you this day. I am going to drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12 Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare among you. 13 Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. 15 Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, you will eat from his sacrifice; 16 and you then take his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well. 17 You must not make yourselves molten gods.
18 “You must keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you; do this at the appointed time of the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.
19 “Every firstborn of the womb belongs to me, even every firstborn of your cattle that is a male, whether ox or sheep. 20 Now the firstling of a donkey you may redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. “No one will appear before me empty-handed.
21 “On six days you may labor, but on the seventh day you must rest; even at the time of plowing and of harvest you are to rest.
22 “You must observe the Feast of Weeks—the firstfruits of the harvest of wheat—and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year. 23 At three times in the year all your men must appear before the Sovereign Lord, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
25 “You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with yeast; the sacrifice from the Feast of Passover must not remain until the following morning.
26 “The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God. “You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
Illustration: The Tragety of Hesitation During The Yorkshire Flood
On the night of the great Yorkshire flood, which caused such disaster some years ago, a man on the reservoir saw the water rise to a dangerous height. He paced up and down for twenty minutes watching, hesitating, and asking himself the question, “Shall I give the alarm?” The fatal moment came; the warning had not been given. The waters rushed over the banks and spread destruction on every hand. A decision twenty minutes before would have saved many lives and thousands of dollars’ worth of property. (Encyclopedia of Illustrations #14738).