Exodus 34:9
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. 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.
The prayer comes immediately after the Lord proclaims His name as merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity and sin. That proclamation shows what the Father is really like, and it is the same revelation of the Father that Jesus came to declare to correct the charges that God is exacting, overbearing and condemnatory and the author of suffering, misery and death. Moved by that goodness, mercy and compassion, Moses made haste and bowed and worshiped. He worshiped with reverence and joy, filled with joy at what God had revealed of Himself.
His plea is conditional on grace already found, asking that if he has found grace in God's sight, the Lord would go among Israel. He asks the Lord to pardon their iniquity and sin and to take them for His inheritance as His own people. He gives as the reason that they are a stiffnecked and stubborn people, who for that very cause need God's abiding presence and pardon rather than abandonment. The plea rests on the grace and mercy God has just revealed in His name. Moses does not separate his own request from the people's need but intercedes for them in reliance on that mercy.
God granted the prayer, graciously renewing His favor to Israel. That grant was a pledge of reconciliation and restored favor and a renewal of the covenant, with the promise to do wonders for them unlike those done anywhere else. Those great acts were to show all nations His care and love for Israel.
That renewal of the covenant involved Moses remaining forty days and nights on the mount, miraculously sustained. No man was permitted to go up or approach during that communion. Moses had prepared two tables of stone, on which the Lord again wrote the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
Coming from that long communion, Moses unknowingly reflected the glory of the divine presence with dazzling light. Aaron and the people, in conscious guilt under divine displeasure, could not endure that light and feared to approach. He assured them of restored favor with love and entreaty. Compassionating their fear, which a sin-free obedient soul would not feel but would receive such light with joy rather than hide from, he put a veil upon his face thereafter whenever he returned from communion with God.
The verse shows that God is a jealous God who requires keeping His Ten Commandments and keeping His Sabbath that He sanctified for His people. It means the seventh day is the day specified by God and declared in His Word, which everyone must take and see for themselves. No one is to become careless and indifferent thinking it does not matter what day is kept, and there is no excuse for keeping the first day of the week.
His persistent appeal shows that believers may hold firmly to God in faith and seek His presence and forgiveness for others. The verse is to be studied by professing Christians so they will act like Christians and maintain their connection with God.