Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 3:16

Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and [seen] that which is done to you in Egypt:

16. the elders ] the older and leading men of the different families. Often mentioned as the representatives of the people: v. 18, Exo 4:29, Exo 17:5-6, Exo 18:12 al.

visited ] i.e. shewn practical interest in, noticed in some practical way (Gen 21:1; Luk 1:68; Luk 7:16): so Exo 4:31; Exo 18:19 (Gen 50:24).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16 18. Moses is to gather together the elders of Israel, and communicate to them God’s purpose to lead His people into Canaan: they will listen to him; and the Pharaoh is then to be asked to allow a pilgrimage to worship Jehovah in the wilderness.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Exo 3:16

Gather the elders.

The wisdom of gathering the few; or the considerateness of the Divine Being in reference to the mission of His servants

I. This would be the most effective method of enlightening the mind of the nation in reference to the Divine intention.

1. This afforded Moses a good opportunity for personal explanations.

2. It was a good precaution against the ignorance and fanaticism of the common people. The more agencies a man can bring into his life-work the better.

II. It would be the most effective method of gaining the sympathy of the nation. All great workers should be judicious in their movement.

III. It would thus be the most effective method of working out the Divine project in reference to the nation.

1. How considerate of the Divine Being to give Moses this idea of working! Many men will not listen to the Divine instructions. This is the occasion of the great failure of so much religious energy.

2. How numerous are the agencies put in motion for the performance of Divine projects. God is the source of all commissions for the moral good of man.

3. All great workers may find a pattern here. Not to trust their new and Divine enterprises to the tide of popular opinion–storms may gather–may be wrecked. Launch them first on the more tranquil waters of the few–afterwards they will be more likely to weather the national gale. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 16. Elders of Israel] Though it is not likely the Hebrews were permitted to have any regular government at this time, yet there can be no doubt of their having such a government in the time of Joseph, and for some considerable time after; the elders of each tribe forming a kind of court of magistrates, by which all actions were tried, and legal decisions made, in the Israelitish community.

I have surely visited you] An exact fulfillment of the prediction of Joseph, Ge 50:24, God will surely visit you, and in the same words too.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The elders; either by age, or rather by office and authority. For though they were all slaves to the Egyptians, yet among themselves they retained some order and government, and had doubtless some whom they owned as their teachers and rulers, as. heads of tribes and families, &c.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

Go and gather the elders of Israel together,…. Not all the ancient men among them, nor the “judges” of the people of Israel; for it does not appear there were such among them in Egypt, until they came into the land of Canaan, but the heads of tribes or families:

and say unto them, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me; in a flame of fire in the midst of a bush at Horeb:

saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt; inspected into their state and circumstances, took notice of their afflictions and oppressions, and determined to deliver them out of them, as follows.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

With the command, “ Go and gather the elders of Israel together, ” God then gave Moses further instructions with reference to the execution of his mission. On his arrival in Egypt he was first of all to inform the elders, as the representatives of the nation (i.e., the heads of the families, households, and tribes), of the appearance of God to him, and the revelation of His design, to deliver His people out of Egypt and bring them to the land of the Canaanites. He was then to go with them to Pharaoh, and make known to him their resolution, in consequence of this appearance of God, to go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to their God. The words, “ I have surely visited, ” point to the fulfilment of the last words of the dying Joseph (Gen 50:24). (Exo 3:18) does not mean “He is named upon us” (lxx, Onk., Jon.), nor “He has called us” ( Vulg., Luth.). The latter is grammatically wrong, for the verb is Niphal, or passive; and though the former has some support in the parallel passage in Exo 5:3, inasmuch as is the verb used there, it is only in appearance, for if the meaning really were “His name is named upon (over) us,” the word ( ) would not be omitted (vid., Deu 28:10; 2Ch 7:14). The real meaning is, “ He has met with us, ” from , obruam fieri , ordinarily construed with , but here with , because God comes down from above to meet with man. The plural us is used, although it was only to Moses that God appeared, because His appearing had reference to the whole nation, which was represented before Pharaoh by Moses and the elders. In the words , “ we will go, then, ” equivalent to “let us go,” the request for Pharaoh’s permission to go out is couched in such a form as to answer to the relation of Israel to Pharaoh. He had no right to detain them, but he had a right to consent to their departure, as his predecessor had formerly done to their settlement. Still less had he any good reason for refusing their request to go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to their God, since their return at the close of the festival was then taken for granted. But the purpose of God was, that Israel should not return. Was it the case, then, that the delegates were “to deceive the king,” as Knobel affirms! By no means. God knew the hard heart of Pharaoh, and therefore directed that no more should be asked at first than he must either grant, or display the hardness of his heart. Had he consented, God would then have made known to him His whole design, and demanded that His people should be allowed to depart altogether. But when Pharaoh scornfully refused the first and smaller request (Exo 5), Moses was instructed to demand the entire departure of Israel from the land (Exo 6:10), and to show the omnipotence of the God of the Hebrews before and upon Pharaoh by miracles and heavy judgments (Heb 7:8.). Accordingly, Moses persisted in demanding permission for the people to go and serve their God (Exo 7:16; Exo 8:1; Exo 9:1, Exo 9:13; Exo 10:3); and it was not till Pharaoh offered to allow them to sacrifice in the land that Moses replied, “We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Jehovah our God” (Exo 8:27); but, observe, with this proviso, “as He shall command us,” which left, under the circumstances, no hope that they would return. It was an act of mercy to Pharaoh, therefore, on the one hand, that the entire departure of the Israelites was not demanded at the very first audience of Moses and the representatives of the nation; for, had this been demanded, it would have been far more difficult for him to bend his heart in obedience to the divine will, than when the request presented was as trifling as it was reasonable. And if he had rendered obedience to the will of God in the smaller, God would have given him strength to be faithful in the greater. On the other hand, as God foresaw his resistance (Exo 3:19), this condescension, which demanded no more than the natural man could have performed, was also to answer the purpose of clearly displaying the justice of God. It was to prove alike to Egyptians and Israelites that Pharaoh was “without excuse,” and that his eventual destruction was the well-merited punishment of his obduracy.

(Note: “This moderate request was made only at the period of the earlier plagues. It served to put Pharaoh to the proof. God did not come forth with His whole plan and desire at first, that his obduracy might appear so much the more glaring, and find no excuse in the greatness of the requirement. Had Pharaoh granted this request, Israel would not have gone beyond it; but had not God foreseen, what He repeatedly says (compare, for instance, Exo 3:18), that he would not comply with it, He would not thus have presented it; He would from the beginning have revealed His whole design. Thus Augustine remarks ( Quaest. 13 in Ex.).” Hengstenberg, Diss. on the Pentateuch. vol. ii. p. 427, Ryland’s translation. Clark, 1847.)

, “ not even by means of a strong hand; ” “except through great power” is not the true rendering, does not mean , nisi . What follows, – viz., the statement that God would so smite the Egyptians with miracles that Pharaoh would, after all, let Israel go (Exo 3:20), – is not really at variance with this, the only admissible rendering of the words. For the meaning is, that Pharaoh would not be willing to let Israel depart even when he should be smitten by the strong hand of God; but that he would be compelled to do so against his will, would be forced to do so by the plagues that were about to fall upon Egypt. Thus even after the ninth plague it is still stated (Exo 10:27), that “Pharaoh would ( ) not let them go;” and when he had given permission, in consequence of the last plague, and in fact had driven them out (Exo 12:31), he speedily repented, and pursued them with his army to bring them back again (Exo 14:5.); from which it is clearly to be seen that the strong hand of God had not broken his will, and yet Israel was brought out by the same strong hand of Jehovah.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

      16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: 17 And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. 18 And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. 19 And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. 20 And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: 22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

      Moses is here more particularly instructed in his work, and informed beforehand of his success. 1. He must deal with the elders of Israel, and raise their expectation of a speedy removal to Canaan, Exo 3:16; Exo 3:17. He must repeat to them what God had said to him, as a faithful ambassador. Note, That which ministers have received of the Lord they must deliver to his people, and keep back nothing that is profitable. Lay an emphasis on that, v. 17: “I have said, I will bring you up; that is enough to satisfy them, I have said it:” hath he spoken, and will he not make it good? With us saying and doing are two things, but they are not so with God, for he is in one mind and who can turn him? “I have said it, and all the world cannot gainsay it. My counsel shall stand.” His success with the elders of Israel would be good; so he is told (v. 18): They shall hearken to thy voice, and not thrust thee away as they did forty years ago. He who, by his grace, inclines the heart, and opens the ear, could say beforehand, They shall hearken to thy voice, having determined to make them willing in this day of power. 2. He must deal with the king of Egypt (v. 18), he and the elders of Israel, and in this they must not begin with a demand, but with a humble petition; that gentle and submissive method must be first tried, even with one who, it was certain, would not be wrought upon by it: We beseech thee, let us go. Moreover, they must only beg leave of Pharaoh to go as far as Mount Sinai to worship God, and say nothing to him of going quite away to Canaan; the latter would have been immediately rejected, but the former was a very modest and reasonable request, and his denying it was utterly inexcusable and justified them in the total deserting of his kingdom. If he would not give them leave to go and sacrifice at Sinai, justly did they go without leave to settle in Canaan. Note, The calls and commands which God sends to sinners are so highly reasonable in themselves, and delivered to them in such a gentle winning way, that the mouth of the disobedient must needs be for ever stopped. As to his success with Pharaoh, Moses is here told, (1.) That petitions, and persuasions, and humble remonstrances, would not prevail with him, no, nor a mighty hand stretched out in signs and wonders: I am sure he will not let you go, v. 19. Note, God sends his messengers to those whose hardness and obstinacy he certainly knows and foresees, that it may appear he would have them turn and live. (2.) That plagues should compel him to it: I will smite Egypt, and then he will let you go, v. 20. Note, Those will certainly be broken by the power of God’s hand that will not bow to the power of his word; we may be sure that when God judges he will overcome. (3.) That his people should be more kind to them, and furnish them at their departure with abundance of plate and jewels, to their great enriching: I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians,Exo 3:21; Exo 3:22. Note, [1.] God sometimes makes the enemies of his people, not only to be at peace with them, but to be kind to them. [2.] God has many ways of balancing accounts between the injured and the injurious, of righting the oppressed, and compelling those that have done wrong to make restitution; for he sits in the throne judging right.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

16. Go and gather. Because it was not easy either to gather the whole people into one place, or for his commission to be heard by so great a multitude, Moses is commanded to begin with the elders, and to speak to them concerning their coming deliverance, that they may thus by their authority arouse the body of the people to a good hope. For their dismissal must be sought for from the king in the name of all, and all their minds prepared for departure; since, unless they had timely notice of it, there would have been no general consent to embrace the mercy of God. It was then of great importance that the vocation of Moses should be well known, that they might boldly follow him as the leader set over them by God. He does not express without a purpose, that the God who had been seen by him, was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for the vision, which would have been otherwise hardly credited by the people, depended on the ancient covenant which was deposited with them. Therefore, in order to obtain belief for his words, Moses reminds them that the deliverance, of which he was now about to treat, and of which he is appointed by God as the leader, was formerly promised in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Lastly, because we usually receive with difficulty what is new and strange, Moses therefore lays his foundation on the old revelations, which were beyond the reach of doubt. But he repeats what he had before related to be said to himself, thus setting before the others what he had privately heard to assure him of his vocation. We know that when God does not immediately succour us in our adversities, our minds are worn down with grief, and sink into despair; because we think that God has no care for us. Lest, therefore, the minds of the Israelites should despond, Moses is commanded to tell them that it is God’s time for remembering them; and, although he might seem not to behold for a while, yet that he would not for ever forget his own people. What follows, that the injuries done to them by the Egyptians had come into account, is added in confirmation; for, since he is judge of the world, he cannot but rise as an avenger after long endurance of injustice and tyranny. Let us, too, learn from this passage, when God seems to turn away his face from us, by delaying to help us, to wait patiently until he looks upon us in due season; since his forgetfulness is only temporary, when he gives us over to the will of our enemies. I have shewn elsewhere how these phrases are to be understood, viz., that according to the estimate of our own senses, things are attributed to God which do not properly belong to him.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(16) The elders of Israel.Not so much the old men generally, as the rulersthose who bore authority over the restmen of considerable age, no doubt, for the most part. Rosenmller reasonably concludes from this direction that the Hebrews, even during the oppression, enjoyed some kind of internal organisation and native government (Schol, in Exod. p. 58).

I have surely visited.Heb., Visiting, I have visited. (Comp. Gen. 1:24.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Moses Is Therefore To Go To The Elders of Israel And Promise A Glorious Deliverance ( Exo 3:16-22 ).

a Moses is to gather the elders and explain that Yahweh the God of their fathers has visited them and has seen what is done to them in Egypt (Exo 3:16).

b He will deliver them and bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey (Exo 3:17).

c They must approach Pharaoh and request that they might go into the wilderness to serve their God (Exo 3:18).

c But Yahweh knows that Pharaoh will not allow them to go into the wilderness to serve Him (Exo 3:19).

b Yahweh will then reveal His wonders and smite Egypt and deliver His people so that they will let them go (Exo 3:20).

a The children of Israel will then be favoured by the Egyptians and will despoil them (because of what had been done to them in Egypt (Exo 3:21-22).

Note the parallels. In ‘a’ Yahweh has visited His oppressed people, in the parallel they will despoil their oppressors. In ‘b’ He will deliver them and bring them into a fruitful land, in the parallel He will reveal His wonders in Egypt and cause them to be let go. In ‘c’ the request for permission to go into the wilderness is paralleled by the fact that Yahweh knows that Pharaoh will not let them go.

Exo 3:16-17

‘Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, “Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob has appeared to me saying, ‘I have surely visited you and that which is done to you in Egypt. And I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’

So Moses must approach ‘the elders of Israel’ with a message from Yahweh, and bring them together to hear it. ‘Of Israel’ probably refers to the fact that they acted in the place of Jacob, but it is leading up to the eventual solidifying of ‘Israel’ as the name of the future nation. And he must tell them what he had heard.

“The elders of Israel.” The children of Israel were now run by ‘elders’. This was a general term for the lay leaders of a town or city or encampment or other grouping based on the fact that they were usually the older and wiser heads of the group. But not always necessarily so. A prominent or capable younger man could also qualify as ‘an elder’. Among the children of Israel these would be the heads of the different branches of the family, the lay aristocracy, although at this stage they probably acted as priests as well, leading the worship of the people, just as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had done. Indeed the elders would continue to be a power even when there was a king with his ministers and priests.

But note that the phrase ‘the children of–’ has been dropped here. There is the beginning of a general movement towards calling them Israel, partly caused here by the genitival use. (But Pharaoh will also call them ‘Israel’).

“I have surely visited you and what is done to you.” Yahweh, the one to Whom they had cried as their God, now informs them that He has not in fact forgotten them. Indeed He wants them to know that He has already visited them and entered into the experience of what had been done to them. And during that visitation He has declared to Himself that He will bring them out from their affliction to a land flowing with milk and honey, the land of their forefathers, just as He long ago promised to their forefathers. For the time has now come for the fulfilling of those promises. The verb ‘visit’ as used here means more than just paying a visit, it signifies a visit which means He is there with a view to action (as we might speak of ‘a visitation from God’). His visit will ensure their deliverance. Their God will come truly revealing Himself as Yahweh.

For the land flowing with milk and honey compare Exo 3:8.

Exo 3:18

‘And they will listen to your voice, and you will come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, “Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us, and now let us go, we pray you, three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.”

Moses was assured that the elders would listen to him. They were then to go together to Pharaoh with a request. The first request was to be a reasonable one. That because of a theophany from their God Yahweh they be allowed to make a short journey to the place where He had appeared (the wilderness, not necessarily the exact site) in order to offer sacrifices to Him.

“Yahweh the God of the Hebrews.” Pharaoh would take this to mean the Habiru god, a strange, wild God of no fixed abode apart from the desert. To Pharaoh the children of Israel were Habiru, a former stateless and landless people. Thus he would see their God in the same way. But to Moses and the elders ‘Hebrews’ was possibly more specific, it probably signified in their minds the God of those who claimed descent from Eber. (See the article, ” “) . The God Who was the God of their history.

“Has met with us.” They were to acknowledge the revelation to Moses as being a revelation to His people. They were to declare that He had met with their representative Moses, this Midianite stranger from God who was related to them, calling them to meet with Him in His mountain.

“Three days journey.” A standard phrase signifying a relatively short journey of a few days, well within range of Egypt and in land under Egypt’s ‘protection’.

“The wilderness.” As the God of a stateless and landless people this would be seen by the Egyptians as a suitable venue for such worship, a venue off the soil of Egypt where, in the view of the Egyptians, the gods of Egypt held sway. And there they could offer sacrifices without offending the Egyptians. Furthermore it was where the theophany with Moses had taken place and therefore a suitable place for response in worship. As their God was clearly a God of the wilderness, and had appeared there, that was clearly where He should be worshipped. (This is again looking from Pharaoh’s point of view)

This was not an unreasonable request. Religion was recognised to be central to the lives of all people. Even slaves were thus seen as entitled to worship their gods in accordance with that god’s requirements, and would expect to be given time off for the purpose. It was recognised that their gods had to be respected. Who knew otherwise what might happen? In view of the outstanding nature of the theophany many a king would happily have agreed to this request. But the people were many and this Pharaoh felt superior to their God, and he did not want to lose them. The request, while therefore not totally unreasonable, was yet unlikely to be agreed to.

In the British Museum there is an Egyptian record which shows the entries of an overseer of the labourers and he lists the number of absent workmen. Reasons are given for absence such as illness, or the illness of a man’s wife or one of his children, and there are various explanations given. Others were that some workmen were idle, or that they were pious and remained away from work because they wanted to sacrifice to their gods. The latter would not be frowned on as long as it was not overdone. A man’s gods were seen as very important to his wellbeing and would contribute to the wellbeing of the land.

Exo 3:19

“And I know that the king of Egypt will not give you leave to go, no, not by a mighty hand.”

But Yahweh was aware that Pharaoh would refuse. He knew Pharaoh’s heart only too well. Pharaoh would thus himself be made to recognise that he was setting himself up against Yahweh, but would foolishly feel that he could do so with impunity. If the consequences were detrimental therefore he would have only himself to blame.

“No, not by a mighty hand.” Even though the One Who seeks their worship is strong and mighty it would make no difference. Pharaoh will see himself as mightier. He will consider that his hand is mightier than the hand of Yahweh. LXX translates ‘even though compelled by a mighty hand’ (see Exo 6:1; Exo 13:3; Exo 13:9; Exo 13:14; Exo 13:16).

Exo 3:20

“And I will put forth my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst of it, and after that he will let you go.”

But though Pharaoh may have begun the battle it will be Yahweh Who will be victorious and finish it. It will be a matter of the god Pharaoh, and all the gods of Egypt, against Yahweh but He will totally defeat them by His wonders (Exo 12:12). And defeated and humbled, Pharaoh, representative of all those gods, will therefore eventually submit and let them go. At this stage Moses could not even begin to conceive of those wonders, nor of how long it would be before Pharaoh was persuaded. But he had to accept by faith that God would do as He had said, and persevere. We should note, however, in saying this that the gods of Egypt are rarely mentioned in the narrative and are kept continually in the background. God will not give them recognition even for a moment, until His final judgment (Exo 12:12) when their total inability to prevent Yahweh’s activity will be revealed in the smiting of all the firstborn in Egypt, including the firstborn in the house of Pharaoh, with his false claim to godhood.

But in saying this let not Moses think that His people will leave Egypt as an impoverished rabble. Rather they will leave with pride and loaded with spoils.

Exo 3:21-22

“And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. And it will thus happen that when you go, you will not go empty. But every woman shall ask of her neighbour, and of her who lodges in her house, jewels of silver and jewels of gold, and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and on your daughters, and you will spoil the Egyptians.”

For their Egyptian neighbours will be so pleased and relieved to see them go to worship their God that they will give them anything that they ask for. They will pile jewels and clothing on them so as to satisfy their God. And thus will His people receive the spoils of what will be Yahweh’s great victory. It is after all the victor who receives the spoils. Note that they were to ‘ask’, possibly as a contribution to the worship of Yahweh. They had no power to demand. It would be up to the Egyptians what they gave. But the situation will be such that they will give gladly and bountifully. So will God be honoured in the eyes of the Egyptians.

It should be noted that the parallel verse in the analysis explains that this is in return for how they have been treated in Egypt.

There is no thought here that the Egyptians would receive their goods back. They would be fully aware that was given to a deity remained with that deity in His treasure house or equivalent (fitting in with whatever the customs of these Israelites might be). The description goes beyond just vessels used for worship.

So Yahweh depicted the forthcoming battle in terms of the coming day when they would finally receive permission to go and worship. For a while Pharaoh would challenge and insult Yahweh by refusing to let His people worship Him, but finally Yahweh will bring about their release by His power. And no one in that day will be able to dispute that this was reasonable, for Yahweh had a right to the worship of His people, and it was that that had quite wrongly been refused to them.

It should be noted that the request to worship is not to be seen as a subterfuge to enable their escape. It is a genuine request so as to put Pharaoh in the wrong. They were simply to ask to fulfil the demands of their God, and that was to be their intent. Then they must trust Him as to what would happen next. And in the end, although they did not know it or know how it would be, it would be Pharaoh’s belligerence that would finally justify their permanent flight. Once he had set out to attack them with his army and had failed he had himself guaranteed their non-return. The whole position was known to God from beginning to end.

Note how freely the Israelites were mingled among the Egyptians. The Egyptians lived next door to them, and they even lodged in their houses. Their slavery was not such that they did not have a certain amount of limited freedom. It was just that each day they were dragged off to hard labour for which they received little in return, so that they could not see to their flocks and herds, such as they were.

Note to Christians.

There is a sense in which Moses is a type of Jesus. As God met Moses at the burning bush, so does God meet with us through the One Whose face is like the sun shining in its strength (Rev 1:16 compare Mat 17:2). John could say, ‘we beheld His glory’ (Joh 1:14) and we by faith may be aware of that glory as He speaks to us through His word as the Light of the world (Joh 8:12) and calls us first to follow Him, and then to walk in the way that He shows us. Through Moses came God’s revelation of Himself to His people through His name, but even greater is the revelation that has come to us in Christ (2Co 4:4-6). Thus we are without excuse if we fail to follow Him fully.

And just as the elders and the people believed when Moses and Aaron came to them, so do we easily believe when times are good. But let the testing times come, an how is it with us then? For Israel would be greatly tested before they were finally delivered.

End of note.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett