'The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The
Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering,
and abundant in goodness and truth.'--EXODUS xxxiv. 6.
This great event derives additional significance and grandeur from the
place in which it stands. It follows the hideous act of idolatry in
which the levity and sinfulness of Israel reached their climax. The
trumpet of Sinai had hardly ceased to peal, and there in the rocky
solitudes, in full view of the mount 'that burned with fire,' while the
echoes of the thunder and the Voice still lingered, one might say,
among the cliffs, that mob of abject cowards were bold enough to shake
off their allegiance to God, and, forgetful of all the past, plunged
into idolatry, and wallowed in sensuous delights. What a contrast
between Moses on the mount and Aaron and the people in the plain! Then
comes the wonderful story of the plague and of Moses' intercession,
followed by the high request of Moses, so strange and yet so natural at
such a time, for the vision of God's 'glory.' Into all the depths of
that I do not need to plunge. Enough that he is told that his desire is
beyond the possibilities of creatural life. The mediator and lawgiver
cannot rise beyond the bounds of human limitations. But what _can_ be
_shall_ be. God's 'goodness' will pass before him. Then comes this
wonderful advance in the progress of divine revelation. If we remember
the breach of the Covenant, and then turn to these words, considered as
evoked by the people's sin, they become very remarkable. If we consider
them as the answer to Moses' desire, they are no less so. Taking these
two thoughts with us, let us consider them in--