Exodus 34

Jehovah

LORD (Jehovah) — the covenant name, 'He who is' / I AM

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. Exodus 34:1–2

The LORD who writes the law again on stone is Jehovah, the premortal Jesus Christ. He gives His people a second chance after they broke the covenant.

How we know: Jehovah is the premortal Christ (Abraham 1:16; D&C 110:3–4) · another scripture interprets it of Him · a footnote points to Him

• interpreted by 3 Nephi 15:5 — The risen Savior declares, 'I am he that gave the law' — identifying Himself as the Lawgiver of Sinai.
• alludes to Exodus 32:19 — The first tables that Moses broke.
• alluded to by 2 Corinthians 3:3 — Paul contrasts the law written 'in tables of stone' with the epistle of Christ written 'in fleshy tables of the heart' (footnote 1c).

Jehovah

LORD (Jehovah) — the covenant name, 'He who is' / I AM

And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. Exodus 34:5–7

Jehovah comes down in the cloud and declares His own name and character: merciful, gracious, forgiving sin. This is the premortal Christ describing Himself, and John later says the Word made flesh was 'full of grace and truth.'

How we know: Jehovah is the premortal Christ (Abraham 1:16; D&C 110:3–4) · the chapter heading names Him · a footnote points to Him · another scripture interprets it of Him

• fulfils Exodus 33:19 — The LORD had promised to make His goodness pass by and proclaim His name before Moses.
• quoted by Numbers 14:18 — Moses pleads for Israel by quoting this self-description back to the LORD.
• alluded to by John 1:14 — 'Full of grace and truth' echoes 'gracious ... abundant in goodness and truth' in Jesus Christ.
• alluded to by Doctrine and Covenants 76:5 — The Lord of the latter-day revelation declares, 'I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me' — the same self-description (footnote 6b).

Jehovah

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. Exodus 34:9

Moses asks Jehovah to walk among His people and pardon their sin. It is the plea that the Lord be with His people and forgive them, which Jesus Christ answers fully.

How we know: Jehovah is the premortal Christ (Abraham 1:16; D&C 110:3–4) · another scripture interprets it of Him

• alludes to Exodus 33:15 — Moses had said, 'If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.'

Jehovah

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. Exodus 34:10–11

Jehovah speaks in the first person, making covenant and promising to drive out Israel's enemies. The God who covenants with Israel is the premortal Christ.

How we know: the chapter heading names Him · another scripture interprets it of Him

Jehovah

Jealous — zealous for His people; the Joseph Smith Translation reads 'the LORD, whose name is Jehovah' here

For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: Exodus 34:14

The King James text says the LORD's name is 'Jealous'; the Joseph Smith Translation reads 'Jehovah.' Either way this is the premortal Christ, who loves His covenant people too much to share their hearts with idols.

How we know: Jehovah is the premortal Christ (Abraham 1:16; D&C 110:3–4) · a footnote points to Him · another scripture interprets it of Him

• alludes to Exodus 20:5 — 'I the LORD thy God am a jealous God' in the Ten Commandments.

Lamb of God

All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male. Exodus 34:19–20

Every firstborn belonged to the Lord and had to be bought back, sometimes by a lamb dying in its place. This pictures Jesus Christ, the Lamb whose blood redeems us.

How we know: the verse itself names Him · a footnote points to Him · a Church study aid lists it · a traditional type, cited

• a type of what is in 1 Peter 1:18-19 — We are redeemed 'with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish.'
• alludes to Exodus 13:13 — The same law first given at the Exodus: the firstling of an ass redeemed with a lamb.
• alluded to by Luke 2:22-23 — Jesus, the firstborn who opened the womb, is presented to the Lord under this law.

Firstfruits

And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end. Exodus 34:22

The first of the harvest belonged to the Lord. Paul calls the resurrected Christ 'the firstfruits of them that slept,' the first of the great harvest of resurrection.

How we know: a traditional type, cited

• a type of what is in 1 Corinthians 15:20 — Christ risen is 'the firstfruits of them that slept.'

God of Israel

Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel. Exodus 34:23–24

Israel came before 'the God of Israel' at the feasts. The resurrected Jesus introduced Himself to the Nephites with this very title.

How we know: Jehovah is the premortal Christ (Abraham 1:16; D&C 110:3–4) · another scripture interprets it of Him

• the same title in 3 Nephi 11:14 — 'I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.'

Passover Lamb

Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning. Exodus 34:25

The Passover sacrifice (with the feast of unleavened bread in verse 18) remembered deliverance from death by a lamb's blood. It pointed to Jesus Christ, our Passover, sacrificed for us.

How we know: another scripture interprets it of Him

• a type of what is in 1 Corinthians 5:7 — 'For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.'
• alludes to Exodus 12:10 — The original Passover command to let nothing remain until morning.

Moses as a type of Christ

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. Exodus 34:28

Moses fasted forty days and nights in God's presence before bringing the covenant to Israel. Jesus fasted forty days and nights before beginning His ministry of the new covenant.

How we know: a traditional type, cited

• a type of what is in Matthew 4:2 — Jesus 'had fasted forty days and forty nights.'

Moses as a type of Christ

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. Exodus 34:29–35

Moses' face shone from being with the Lord, and he veiled it before the people. Paul teaches that this veil is taken away in Christ, and the shining prefigures Jesus' own face shining at the Transfiguration.

How we know: the chapter heading names Him · a footnote points to Him · another scripture interprets it of Him

• interpreted by 2 Corinthians 3:13-18 — Paul says the vail over Israel's reading of Moses 'is done away in Christ' and is taken away when the heart turns to the Lord.
• a type of what is in Matthew 17:2 — At the Transfiguration Jesus' 'face did shine as the sun,' with Moses present.