Exodus Chapter 34, Verses 9, 10

:9 “And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. 10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.”  

“And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.”  When Moses said, “If now I have found grace in they sight,” he was not questioning whether he had found grace in the sight of the LORD, for he knew that he had.  Rather Moses was reasoning from the fact that he had found grace in the sight of the LORD and praying based on that the LORD would go among the children of Israel.  In saying, “for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance,” Moses did not separate himself from the condition, iniquities and sins of the people.  He knew himself and did not see himself as being better than the people God had given him to lead.  Not only did he see the people as being stiffnecked, but he also saw himself as being stiffnecked.  Moreover, he knew himself to be full of iniquities and sins.  Finally, Moses desired and requested that the LORD would take them as an inheritance.  Here, inheritance means possession.   

God’s answer to Moses was “And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.”  When God said, “Behold, I make a covenant,” we are reminded that the LORD is a covenant making, covenant keeping God.  This assures us of the surety of God’s promises.   

“Before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation:” We see these precious truths being fulfilled throughout all the Old Testament.  The marvels that God did are without number towards the nation of Israel. 

“And all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.”  The work that the LORD did was not hidden from the eyes of the people, but was done openly and the people of Israel could visibly see the work of the LORD.  The LORD said that it was “a terrible thing that I will do with thee.”  The word, “terrible,” means both reverence and fear.  To those who were blest of the work, they should have been led to reverence the LORD.  To those enemies of the LORD’s people, these works would be a terror to them. 

Verses 11-17 

:11 “Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: 13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: 14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: 15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; 16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. 17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.” 

The LORD identified six nations that he would drive out before the children of Israel as they go in to posses that land flowing with milk and honey.  The nations wee the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 

The children of Israel were to make no covenant with them.  To make a covenant with them would have dire circumstances as outlined below: 

1.  It would be a snare unto them. 

2.  They lead some or all the people to go a whoring after their gods. 

3.  They lead the people to eat of their sacrifices. 

4.  They marry their sons and their daughters and lead them into worshipping their false gods.  5.  They lead them to make molten gods. 

One of the first things that happened when the children of Israel began to press in warfare into the land of Canaan is that they were deceived and made a covenant with the Jebusites.  This became a snare unto the children of Israel and led to the consequences outlined above.   

The LORD said that his name is Jealous.  The LORD is jealous for his children and becomes angry when they depart from him and worship and serve false Gods:  “But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:”  The altars, images, and groves if left intact would bring a temptation upon the people to worship false gods.   

In the above, there is a message to us today that we should separate ourselves from the false worship in our days, and chose wisely those who we have fellowship with.