John Mark Hicks

“Yahweh said to me again, ‘Go love a woman/your wife who has a lover and is adulterous. Love her as Yahweh loves the people of Israel though they turn to other gods.” (Hosea 3.1)

Texts to Know

Numbers 14.13-19
Psalm 103
Psalm 86.5, 15-17
Psalm 145. (esp. 8-9)
Nehemiah 9.17, 13
Joel 2.13
Jonah 4.2
John 1.

Backdrop of Shocking Sin

The story is framed by rebellion or Israel’s being “stiff necked” (32.9; 33.3,5; 34.9) and God’s “favor/grace” (33.12, 13, 16, 17; 34.9)

Israel has broken her marriage/covenantal vows on the honeymoon. The “ink” is not even dry on the marriage license. The God of the Bible is not the God of the Philosophers, an “unmoved mover.”  Our God is moved! Deeply. Painfully. Torn.

Moses pleads for Presence. It is Presence, not rules, commands or even circumcision, that marks us as God’s people (33.16; cf. Acts 19.1-6).

Moses pleads “show me your ways,”  “show me your glory” (33.18).

“I will make my goodness pass … and will proclaim my name” … “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (33.19)

Theophany of Glorious Hesed (34.1-9)

Yahweh promised to meet Moses and reveal his glory, his goodness. This bodes well for adulterous Israel. Yahweh “descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name.”   (34.5).

“Yahweh, Yahweh,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
abounding in steadfast love [hesed] and faithfulness,
keeping steadfast love [hesed] for a thousand generations,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.”

This is God’s self-declaration.  This is God deciding who God is. This is what Yahweh – or what the God of Israel – “means.” 

– compassionate/merciful (cf. 33.19)
– gracious
– slow to anger
– hesed
– faithful (emet)
– keeping hesed
– forgiving

Moses responds in the only manner that is legitimately possible to the theophany, the revelation of Yahweh’s glorious Hesed. He falls down before the God of Israel in grateful worship (34.8).

The prayer uttered by Moses in 34.9 sharpens the question of “on what ground has God forgiven and will dwell intimately with Israel?” The Golden Bull begins with Yahweh declaring “this people is a stiff-necked people” or “stubborn and rebellious people” (NLT) in 32.9.  After God’s self-declaration Moses confesses the people remain “stubborn and rebellious” (NLT). Israel remains unchanged. One reads chapters 32 to 34 in vain to find confession of sin, repentance verbalized, any sacrifice of atonement.

Moses begins with the Hebrew particle “ky” BECAUSE (emphasis not shouting) this people is rebellious (many English translations have “although” but see the ASV). Later Moses will confess, “You have been rebellious against Yahweh as long as he has known you” (Deuteronomy 9.24). Deuteronomy 9 is a moving recollection by Moses of Israel’s catastrophic sin at Sinai/Horeb. Which highlights the covenant of love (9.4-7).

Yahweh forgives and renews the marriage/covenantal relationship with Israel purely out of grace. Just as Hosea was told to go get Gomer and lover her even as she was loved by another (3.1). 

The “Afterlives” of the God Creed

The God-Creed embodies the hope of Israel and its faith in the kind of God who holds her/us. Some examples.

Rebellion, Again. Numbers 14 presents us with a case of outright rebellion by Israel. Also sheds light on the misunderstood nature of verse 7.  Moses interprets the entire God Creed as pure grace/Hesed.

Jonah 4 provides us another window into how the biblical writers understand this God Creed. 

The Gospel of John declares that the God Creed has become Incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth (1.14, 17). 

Nahum 1.3, The Good News of protective love

End with Praise in Psalm 103 note connections to Ex 33 & 34

This entry was posted on November 12, 2026 at 9:07 am and is filed under Biblical Texts. Tagged: Exodus, Exodus 34, God Creed, Grace, Hesed, Revelation, Torah, Yahweh. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.