The first tables were the work of God (32:16) — given by Him entirely. The second tables Moses had to hew himself. After the failure of chapter 32, the covenant is renewed but with greater human responsibility.

Even so, I will write upon them. The words themselves remain God's. After failure, the requirement to participate increases, but the divine origin of the words does not change.

God's answer to Moses' prayer shew me thy glory (33:18). The glory was disclosed not in visual form but in a proclaimed name — character described in words.

The deepest revelation of God's glory is His moral character. Merciful and gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth. The glory of God is most of all what He is like in His dealings with sinners.

Mercy and justice held together. Forgiving iniquity and will by no means clear the guilty. Both are true. The gospel resolves this apparent paradox — Christ bears the iniquity so that the guilty can be forgiven without the guilt going unaddressed.

Iniquity of the fathers... unto the third and fourth generation — but mercy for thousands. The reach of mercy outstrips the reach of judgment by a vast ratio. Even in the same chapter naming wrath, the proportion favors grace.

Moses turns Israel's very stubbornness into an argument for God's presence. Because they are stubborn, they need Him more, not less. The honest plea of every believer who knows the heart of his people — and his own.

The intercessor does not pretend his people are better than they are. He acknowledges them at their worst, and on that basis pleads for grace. This is the prayer that prevails.

Whose name is Jealous. God's name is Jealous. The exclusivity of His love is not optional or temperate. He will not share His worship.

Modern sensibilities flinch at divine jealousy. But the jealousy of God is the jealousy of a husband for his wife — not pettiness but the fierce protection of an exclusive covenant. James 4:5 — the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy.

Moses did not know his face was shining. The reflected glory was unconscious. The man who has been most with God is often the last to notice his own transformation.

For the believer, the principle holds. Genuine transformation is rarely self-aware. The truly spiritual person does not advertise their spirituality. Others see what they do not see in themselves.

2 Corinthians 3:13 reveals the deeper meaning. The veil hid the fading of the glory. Moses did not want the people to see the radiance diminish. The Old Covenant glory was real but fading.

The New Covenant has no veil because its glory does not fade. We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). The Christian's glory increases; Moses' faded.