Moses had put up the Tabernacle for the people to worship God. He had talked with God and God had promised to go with them to Canaan.
Exodus 34:1-2- And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.
God knows how forgetful people are. He wanted the 10 Commandments written where everyone could read them. He told Moses to make two more stone tables and to bring them into the Mount Sinai so that He could write them down again.
Exodus 34:4-5- And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
God proclaimed the name of the Lord to Moses. What do you think the name of Lord contains?
Exodus 34:6-8- And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
The name of the Lord is mercy, grace, justice, and judgement. Just the mention of God proclaiming His name made Moses drop to the earth and worship.
Exodus 34:11-14- 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. 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: 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:
God promised to go with them into the Land of Canaan. He said that they would have to destroy the wicked people that lived there. But He wanted Moses to make sure that they destroyed their places of worship. God even told them that they couldn't marry any of those people because it would cause the Hebrew children to sin if they did.
Exodus 34:27-28- And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
Moses was up with God for another 40 days. He didn't eat the entire time he was up on the Mount.
Remember, Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 that "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
Moses didn't have to eat because God was talking with him.
Exodus 34:29-35- And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai. And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Moses had gotten so close to God that it changed him. The skin of his face glowed like the sun. This scared the Israelites, and Moses had to cover his face so that he could talk with them.
When we get close to God, it will change us. Our faces might not start to glow like the sun, but people will notice a difference. Some people might even become scared when they see the change that God has made in our lives.
Moses had to hide his face from the Hebrew children. But, unlike Adam and Eve, Moses never had to hide his face from God!
