June 14, 2026, Sunday School Lesson

God Renews His Covenant

Lesson Text: Exodus 34:1-14

Related Scriptures: Exodus 32:1-6; 15-35; Nehemiah 9:1-25; Deuteronomy 5:1-10; 7:1-11; Judges 1:27 - 2:5

TIME: 1445 B.C.

PLACE: Mount Sinai

Golden Text – “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6)

Introduction

Last week, we saw Moses plead for mercy after Israel refused to enter the Promised Land. This week, we study an earlier event, when the Lord mercifully renewed the covenant after the people worshipped the golden calf. Even when His people sinned, the Lord was bountiful in mercy.

At first glance, Exodus 34:1-14 may seem to present contradictory aspects of God’s character. On the one hand, God declared Himself merciful, gracious, and forgiving (vss. 6-7), but on the other hand, He identified Himself as a jealous God who would execute judgment on the guilty (vss. 7,14). We will see, however, that those aspects of God’s character contribute to God’s goal of establishing a personal relationship with His people.

LESSON OUTLINE

1. A SECOND CHANCE - Ex. 34:1-4

2. THE LORDS’S MERCY IN THE RENEWED COVENANT – Ex. 34:5-9

3. THE LORD’S JEALOUSY IN THE RENEWED COVENANT – Ex. 34:10-14

QUESTIONS

1. What did Moses do after Isreal worshipped the golden calf?

2. How was the covenant renewal stricter than the first giving of the covenant?

3. What phrase, repeated several times in the Pentateuch, is prominent in this account?

4. What did the Lord do as Moses climbed the mountain?

5. What make Exodus 34:5-9 one of the most significant passages in the Old Testament?

6. What is emphasized in the list of God’s characteristics?

7. What is the point of mentioning the third and fourth generation (ex. 34:7)?

8. What were the grounds of Moses’ request?

9. What was the heart of God’s covenant with Israel?

10. How was Israel called to avoid idolatry?

ANSWERS

1. After the golden calf incident, Moses angrily smashed the two tablets of the covenant God had just given him on Mount Sinai (32:19).

2. At the covenant renewal, that last command was even stricter. Aaron had been allowed to go partway up the mountain with Moses at the first ceremony (19:24), and the people had observed from the base of the mountain (vs.11). But now no people or animals were even allowed to show their faces near the mountain (34:3).

3. The text includes a refrain often repeated throughout the Pentateuch: “as the Lord had commanded him” (cf. Ex. 40:32; Lev. 8:4)

4. As Moses went up the mountain (vs. 4), the Lord came down to meet him (vs. 5), signifying the distance between heaven and earth that the covenant was connecting. The Lord appeared in a cloud, as He did whenever He spoke with Moses in the tent of meeting (cf. 33:9).

5. The name or identity of Yahweh, then, is equivalent to the attributes described in those verses. That was God’s condensed description of His full identity, making it one of the most significant passages in the Old Testament. Other Old Testament writers affirmed that significance by their many quotations and allusions to the passage (cf. Neh. 9:17; Ps. 103:8).

6. First, the emphasis is on God’s mercy. God used different descriptors to refer to His nature: “merciful,” “gracious,” “longsuffering,” “abundant in goodness and truth,” and “forgiving.” God’s loving-kindness, or steadfast love, frequently appears in the context of covenants, which has led some to translate it as “covenant love” or “covenant faithfulness.”

7. The point in Exodus 34:7 is not that the next four generations of a wicked family will never receive mercy; the point is the contrast between God’s brief anger and His everlasting covenantal love.

8. Although Moses had already made a similar request and the Lord had agreed, Moses now appealed to Him based on the words God had just spoken. He asked to find favor – or grace – in God’s eyes, using the same Hebrew root word that described God as gracious in verse 6. He also asked the Lord to pardon Israel’s sins, using two of the three terms for “sin” from verse 7. Based on God’s grace and forgiveness, Moses wanted the Lord to take possession of Israel or take Israel as the Lord’s inheritance.

9. The heart of God’s covenant with Israel was that He would be their God, that they would be His people, and that He would dwell among them (cf. Ex. 29:45-46; Lev. 26:12). Therefore, by renewing His commitment to that covenant, the Lord was essentially granting Moses’ request for Him to take possession of Israel as His own people and to go in their midst.

10. God also gave the Israelites specific instructions on how to avoid idolatry once they were in the land. This was especially relevant given their immediate fall into idolatry after the first giving of the Ten Commandment. The Lord gave Israel one action to avoid and one action to pursue. They were to avoid making covenants with anyone else in the land. Their one covenant was with the Lord, and any other covenant would inevitably compromise them and become a stumbling block to them. At the same time, they were to actively seek out all the worship structures in the land and destroy them.