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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 33:1

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And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, [and] go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swore unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:

1. go up ] into the high ground of Canaan. Cf. on Exo 1:10.

which I sware, &c.] See the passages quoted on Exo 32:13.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1 3. Jehovah commands Moses to lead the people on to Canaan, but refuses to go with them personally Himself.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Exo 33:1-3

Without the camp.

The Tabernacle without the camp

I. First, then, they that seek the Lord must go without the camp.

1. It is scarcely necessary for me to say that no man can be a true seeker of God who has anything to do with the camp of the profane. We must take care that our garments are entirely clean from those lusts of the flesh, and those blasphemies of the ungodly.

2. Again, we must as much come out from the camp of the careless as from the camp of the profane. The largest company in the world is not that of the profane, but of the thoughtless–not those who oppose, but who neglect the great salvation.

3. But we must go further than this: if a man would have fellowship with God he must go even out of the camp of the merely steady, sedate, and thoughtful; for there be multitudes whose thoughts are not Gods thoughts, and whose ways are not His ways, who are in every respect conformed outwardly to the laws of God, and who rigidly observe the customs of upright society–who think, and therefore abhor the trifles of the world–but who, notwithstanding, have never learned to set their affections on things above. It is not enough to leave the Amalekites; thou must leave even the hosts of Moab, brother though Moab may seem to be to the Israel of God.

4. He that would know anything of God aright must even come out of the camp of the merely religious. Oh, it is one thing to attend to religion, but another thing to be in Christ Jesus; it is one thing to have the name upon the church book, but quite another thing to have it written in the Lambs book of life.

II. This going out of the camp will involve much inconvenience.

1. You will find that your diffidence and your modesty will sometimes shrink from the performance of dutys stern commands. If Christ be worth anything, He is worth avowing before the world, before men, before angels, and before devils.

2. Peradventure when you go without the camp you will lose some of your best friends. You will find that many a tie has to be cut when your soul is bound with cords to the horns of the altar. Can you do it? As Christ left His Father for you, can you leave all for Him?

3. You will find, too, when you go without the camp, you will have some even professedly godly people against you. Ah! they will say, when you are filled with the Spirit, and are anxious to serve God as Caleb did, with all your heart–Ah! young man, that is fanaticism, and it will grow cool by and by.

4. Another inconvenience to which you will be exposed is that you will be charged falsely. So was your Master, remember. Endure, as He did.

5. Again, you must expect to be watched. If you profess to go without the camp, others will look for something extra in you–mind that they are not disappointed. I have heard some say, I do not like to join the Church because then there would be so much expected of me. Just so, and that is the very reason why you should, because their expectation will be a sort of sacred clog to you when you are tempted, and may help to give impetus to your character and carefulness to your walk, when you know that you are looked upon by the eyes of men.

III. Now I come to use certain arguments, by which I desire earnestly to persuade each Christian here to go without the camp; to be exact in his obedience; and to be precise in his following the Lamb withersoever He goeth.

1. I use first a selfish argument, it is to do it for your own comforts sake. If a Christian can be saved while he conforms to this world, at any rate he will be saved so as by fire. Would you like to go to heaven in the dark, and enter there as a shipwrecked mariner climbs the rocks of his native country?

2. But I have a better reason than that, and it is, for your own growth in grace do it. If you would have much faith, you cannot have much faith while you are mixed with sinners. If you would have much love, your love cannot grow while you mingle with the ungodly.

3. I beseech you, Christian men and women, come right out and be your Masters soldiers wholly for the Churchs sake. It is the few men in the Church, and those who have been distinct from her, who have saved the Church in all times.

4. And for the worlds sake, let me beg you to do thus. The Church itself can never be the salt of the world, unless there be some particular men who are the salt of the Church.

5. And now lastly, for your Masters sake. What have you and I to do in the camp when He was driven from it? What have we to do with hosannas when He was followed with hootings, Crucify Him, crucify Him ? What have I to do in the tent while my Captain lies in the open battle-field? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER XXXIII

Moses is commanded to depart from the mount, and lead up the

people towards the promised land, 1.

An angel is promised to be their guide, 2.

The land is described, and the Lord refuses to go with them, 3.

The people mourn, and strip themselves of their ornaments, 4-6.

The tabernacle or tent is pitched without the camp, 7.

Moses goes to it to consult the Lord, and the cloudy pillar descends

on it, 8, 9.

The people, standing at their tent doors, witness this, 10.

The Lord speaks familiarly with Moses; he returns to the camp, and

leaves Joshua in the tabernacle, 11.

Moses pleads with God, and desires to know whom he will send to be

their guide, and to be informed of the way of the Lord, 12, 13.

The Lord promises that his presence shall go with them, 14.

Moses pleads that the people may be taken under the Divine

protection, 15, 16.

The Lord promises to do so, 17.

Moses requests to see the Divine glory, 18.

And God promises to make his goodness pass before him, and to

proclaim his name, 19.

Shows that no man can see his glory and live, 20;

but promises to put him in the cleft of a rock, and to cover him

with his hand while his glory passed by, and then to remove his

hand and let him see his back parts, 21-23.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIII

Verse 1. Unto the land] That is, towards it, or to the borders of it. See Ex 32:34. See Clarke on Ex 32:34.

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

1. the Lord saidrather “had”said unto Moses. The conference detailed in this chapter must beconsidered as having occurred prior to the pathetic intercession ofMoses, recorded at the close of the preceding chapter; and thehistorian, having mentioned the fact of his earnest and painfulanxiety, under the overwhelming pressure of which he poured forththat intercessory prayer for his apostate countrymen, now enters on adetailed account of the circumstances.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And the Lord said unto Moses, depart, and go up hence,…. Not from the place where Moses was, which was the top of the mount, but where the camp of Israel was, at the bottom of the mount; where they had lain encamped some time, but were now ordered to proceed on their journey:

thou, and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt; though his wrath was in some measure mitigated, and he had so far forgave their sin, that he would not cut them off from being a people; yet still he does not call them his people, or own that he brought them out of Egypt, as he does in the preface to the commands they had now broke, as if they were not under his care and conduct; but speaks of them in a different manner, as a people that Moses had brought out from thence, and whom he orders to go on with:

unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, unto thy seed will I give it: meaning the land of Canaan, which as he had promised with an oath to their fathers to give it to them, he would faithfully observe it, though they were unworthy of such a favour.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Moses’ negotiations with the people, for the purpose of bringing them to sorrow and repentance, commenced with the announcement of what Jehovah had said. The words of Jehovah in Exo 33:1-3, which are only a still further expansion of the assurance contained in Exo 32:34, commence in a similar manner to the covenant promise in Exo 23:20, Exo 23:23; but there is this great difference, that whereas the name, i.e., the presence of Jehovah Himself, was to have gone before the Israelites in the angel promised to the people as a leader in Exo 23:20, now, though Jehovah would still send an angel before Moses and Israel, He Himself would not go up to Canaan (a land flowing, etc., see at Exo 3:8) in the midst of Israel, lest He should destroy the people by the way, because they were stiff-necked ( for , see Ges. 27, 3, Anm. 2).

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

The Israelites Reproved.

B. C. 1491.

1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: 2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: 3 Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. 4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. 6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.

Here is, I. The message which God sent by Moses to the children of Israel, signifying the continuance of the displeasure against them, and the bad terms they yet stood upon with God. This he must let them know for their further mortification. 1. He applies to them a mortifying name, by giving them their just character–a stiff-necked people,Exo 33:3; Exo 33:5. “Go,” says God to Moses, “go and tell them that they are so.” He that knows them better than they know themselves says so of them. God would have brought them under the yoke of his law, and into the bond of his covenant, but their necks were too stiff to bow to them. God would have cured them of their corrupt and crooked dispositions, and have set them straight; but they were wilful and obstinate, and hated to be reformed, and would not have God to reign over them. Note, God judges of men by the temper of their minds. We know what man does; God knows what he is: we know what proceeds from man; God knows what is in man, and nothing is more displeasing to him than stiff-neckedness, as nothing in children is more offensive to their parents and teachers than stubbornness. 2. He tells them what they deserved, that he should come into the midst of them in a moment, and consume them, v. 5. Had he dealt with them according to their sins, he had taken them away with a swift destruction. Note, Those whom God pardons must be made to know what their sin deserved, and how miserable they would have been if they had been unpardoned, that God’s mercy may be the more magnified. 3. He bids them depart and go up hence to the land of Canaan, v. 1. This mount Sinai, where they now were, was the place appointed for the setting up of God’s tabernacle and solemn worship among them; this was not yet done, so that in bidding them depart hence God intimates that it should not be done–“Let them go forward as they are;” and so it was very expressive of God’s displeasure. 4. He turns them over to Moses, as the people whom he had brought up out of the land of Egypt, and leaves it to him to lead them to Canaan. 5. Though he promises to make good his covenant with Abraham, in giving them Canaan, yet he denies them the extraordinary tokens of his presence, such as they had hitherto been blessed with, and leaves them under the common conduct of Moses their prince, and the common convoy of a guardian angel: “I will send an angel before thee, for thy protector, otherwise the evil angels would soon destroy thee; but I will not go up in the midst of thee, lest I consume thee” (Exo 33:2; Exo 33:3); not as if an angel would be more patient and compassionate than God, but their affronts given to an angel would not be so provoking as those given to the shechinah, or divine Majesty itself. Note, The greater the privileges we enjoy the greater is our danger if we do not improve them and live up to them. 6. He speaks as one that was at a loss what course to take with them. Justice said, “Cut them off, and consume them.” Mercy said, “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?” Hos. xi. 8. Well, says God, put off thy ornaments, that I may know what to do with thee; that is, “Put thyself into the posture of a penitent, that the dispute may be determined in thy favour, and mercy may rejoice against judgment,” v. 5. Note, Calls to repentance are plain indications of mercy designed. If the Lord were pleased to kill us, justice knows what to do with a stiff-necked people: but God has no pleasure in the death of those that die; let them return and repent, and then mercy, which otherwise is at a loss, knows what to do.

II. The people’s melancholy reception of this message; it was evil tidings to them to hear that they should not have God’s special presence with them, and therefore, 1. They mourned (v. 4), mourned for their sin which had provoked God to withdraw from them, and mourned for this as the sorest punishment of their sin. When 3000 of them were at one time laid dead upon the spot by the Levites’ sword, we do not find that they mourned for this (hoping that it would help to expiate the guilt); but when God denied them his favourable presence then they mourned and were in bitterness. Note, Of all the bitter fruits and consequences of sin, that which true penitents most lament, and dread most, is God’s departure from them. God had promised that, notwithstanding their sin, he would give them the land flowing with milk and honey. but they could have small joy of that if they had not God’s presence with them. Canaan itself would be no pleasant land without that; therefore, if they want that, they mourn. 2. In token of great shame and humiliation, those that were undressed did not put on their ornaments (v. 4), and those that were dressed stripped themselves of their ornaments, by the mount; or, as some read it, at a distance from the mount (v. 6), standing afar off like the publican, Luke xviii. 13. God bade them lay aside their ornaments (v. 5), and they did so, both to show, in general, their deep mourning, and, in particular, to take a holy revenge upon themselves for giving their ear-rings to make the golden calf of. Those that would part with their ornaments for the maintenance of their sin could do no less than lay aside their ornaments in token of their sorrow and shame for it. When the Lord God calls to weeping and mourning we must comply with the call, and not only fast from pleasant bread (Dan. x. 3), but lay aside our ornaments; even those that are decent enough at other times are unseasonably worn on days of humiliation or in times of public calamity, Isa. iii. 18.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

EXODUS – CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Verses 1-3:

This text is a continuation of chapter 32. Jehovah instructs Moses to tell Israel to continue the trek to the Land He had promised them. This promise was originally to Abraham, then it was renewed to Isaac, and to Jacob. God would not abandon His covenant.

Conditions for the continued journey were to change. Until this time, the presence of Jehovah was in the midst of Israel, Ex 13:21, 22; 15:25; 18:8-13. But for the rest of the journey, “an Angel” would lead them, Ex 23:20. The reason: they were stiff-necked, rebellious, and this would so provoke Jehovah that He would slay them.

Jehovah renews His promise to drive out the inhabitants of the Land of Canaan, and to grant Israel this territory as their possession.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

1. Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people I have used the pluperfect tense; (360) for the reason is here given, whereby Moses was stirred up to such vehemence in prayer, viz., because, although God had not altogether abandoned the care of the people, still He had renounced His covenant, and had proclaimed to them that, after He had once performed His engagement of giving them possession of the land, He would have no more to do with them. Wherefore, what is here related, preceded, in order of time, the prayer of Moses; for, being astonished at the sad and almost fatal message, he burst forth into that confused and wild request, that he might be blotted out of the book of life.

Let us now endeavor to elicit the true meaning of the passage. It is plain, that when God bids Moses depart with the people, He utterly renounces the charge which He Himself had hitherto sustained. He only promises that He will cause them to attain the promised inheritance, and not that He will preside over them, will there preserve them in safety, and even cherish them, as a father does his children; in fact, that he will merely fulfill the promise He had made to their fathers. And thus He anticipates their complaints; for they might reply, that consequently His promise would be rendered vain and ineffectual; but by way of anticipation, He says, that although He should renounce them, still He should maintain this truth, because He will cast out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, so that their abode would be vacant for them. In sum, He repudiates them, that they may no longer count themselves to be His peculiar people, or expect more from Him, than as if they were strangers, He mentions His oath, lest they should accuse Him of faithlessness; as if He had said that He should be discharged from His engagement when they had obtained the land. And thus, whilst depriving them of the hope of salvation, and the grace of adoption, He still asserts the stability and stedfastness of His covenant. I, therefore, understand the word angel in a different sense from that which it has just before, and in many other passages of this book; for, when mention was before made of the angel, the familiar presence of God was denoted by it, nay, it was used interchangeably with the name of God itself. But here God is said to be so about to send the angel, as to separate Himself from the people. “I will not go up (He says) in the midst of thee;” and the reason is subjoined, viz., because it could not be that He could endure any longer their perverse spirits. Again He uses a similitude taken from refractory oxen, which cannot be broken to bear the yoke. The sum is, that because they are so intractable, God cannot perform the office of their guide without straightway destroying them.

(360) See Lat., “Locutus autem fuerat Jehova;” but the Lord had spoken, etc. Prof. Bush says, “The right adjustment of the events of this chapter in the chronological order of the narrative, is a matter attended with some difficulty. From the rendering of our established version, it would seem that what was now said to Moses was posterior in point of time to the incidents recorded in the close of the preceding chapter; but from an attentive consideration and collation of the tenor of the whole, we are persuaded, with Calvin, and other critics of note, that the proper rendering of Exo 33:1 is in the pluperfect, ‘The Lord had said,’ and that the appropriate place for the interview and incidents here related is prior to the order and the promise contained in Exo 32:34 of chap. 32. In that verse God declares his purpose of sending his angel before the people, and we naturally inquire how it happens that such an assurance was necessary? Was there any danger that an angel would not be sent? Had any intimation been given that his guidance and protecting presence would be withdrawn? To this the correct answer undoubtedly is, that all that is related in chap. 33 had occurred anterior to the promise made in Exo 32:34. God had threatened to send Moses and the people forward without the accompanying presence of the angel of the Shekinah, and it was only in consequence of the fervent intercession of Moses that He was induced to retract this dread determination. In the foregoing chapter, therefore, the historian merely, states in a summary way the fact of his earnest prayer, and the concession made to it; in the present, he goes back and relates minutely the train of circumstances which preceded and led to the declaration above mentioned. In doing this he virtually makes known to us one main ground of the urgency of his supplications. He was afraid that God would withdraw the tokens of his visible presence. As a punishment for the mad attempt of the people to supply themselves with a false symbol of his presence, he was apprehensive that God might be provoked to take from them the true, and hence his impassioned entreaty that He would not visit them with so sore a judgment.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES.

Exo. 33:18. Thy glory] = Kebodecha, from kabod = glory, i.e., the mysterious essential qualities of the Deity in all their magnificence and stupendousness. Moses felt forced to make this request on account of the pressure of circumstances. He was fully alive to the heinousness of the sin which the Israelites had committed in the worship of the golden calf (Exo. 32:30); he had witnessed Gods indignation upon it (Exo. 32:10), and yet, upon his intercession on their behalf, the Lord repented (i.e., recalled) the evil which He thought to do to His people (Exo. 32:14). This blending of justice and mercy; this stern reproving, and again yielding with all tenderness and love and forbearance, on the part of God, was so contrary to all that he feared, and therefore so bewildering to him, that he was induced to ask, Show me now Thy way that I may know Thee (Exo. 33:13), i.e., reveal unto me now, at this juncture of contrarieties, Thy secret, that I may know once for all the principles on which Thou dost act thus. To this God answers him with a promise (Exo. 33:14). To which, again, Moses replies with great naivete (Exo. 33:15), as if he said, Of course, Thy presence must go with us; only that is not exactly what my request means, and, as if for the sake of greater perspicuity, he amends his request and resumes, I pray Thee, show me Thy glory, i.e., Give me that which will unlock to my understanding Thy mysterious self, for then shall I feel at rest and never again be confounded, however contradictory Thy wonderful dealing with us may appear in future. And again God replies (Exo. 33:19-22), and of which Exo. 33:23 is an ax omatic conclusion, viz., that man in his present state can only know or see the glory of God experimentally, and in the manifestations of His providence, as indicated in Exo. 33:19-22, and that only retrospectively, by seeing His back-parts = Achoray, i.e., His past, or His works; but His face = Panav, i.e., future, in all its mysteriousness no man can see while in a mortal state.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 33:1-12

THE HIDDEN COUNTENANCE

We observe

I. The fact of the hiding of Gods face. God has not here wholly deserted Israelfar from it. In consequence of the intercession of Moses, and of that retribution which had been inflicted upon Israel, God promised not to forsake His people; but we are instructed here, Exo. 33:2-3, that Gods presence shall not be so fully and brightly granted to Israel as it has been. I will send an angel before thee, Exo. 33:2. That is, God will stand by His elect people, but He will be more hidden by agents and instruments. Is not this sometimes still the case with Gods people? They feel that God has not forsaken them, but He is not near to them, so sensibly near and precious to them as He once was. They feel as the children of Israel did herethat an angel takes the place of Goda star takes the place of the sun. They feel as Job did (Job. 29:3.) As David did (Psa. 42:5). There is not the rich, full abiding sense of the Divine presence and love.

II. The reason of the hiding of Gods presence. This hiding is not arbitrary. The sin of Israel was the explanation of this eclipse of the Divine Face. When God withdraws His fuller presence from the souls of His people it is

(1) partly in judgment. I will not go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people, Exo. 33:3. Because of our forgetfulness, or unbelief, or perversity, God takes from us the joys of His salvation. Our sins separate between us and God, and when they do not create an impassable gulf, they create a distance between us and God which fills the soul with the gloom of the night and the chill of the winter. But it is

(2) also in mercy that God hides Himself. Lest I consume thee in the way. With fuller revelations of Gods presence come loftier responsibilities, and God lessens the gifts that He may lessen our perils. It is as much in mercy as in anger that God denies us fuller revelations of truth, fuller measures of joy, higher privileges and gifts.

III. The sorrow of the hiding of Gods presence, Exo. 33:4-6. The people put off their ornaments as the sign of their great loss and sorrow. Putting away their ornaments signified

(1) that in losing God they had lost their glory. Their God was their glory, and if He refused to shine upon them, their glory departed. Putting away their ornaments signified

(2) that in losing God they had lost their treasure. God was their portion, and in Him they had all riches.

(3) Putting away their ornaments signified that they had lost their joy. No more joy without Him. Thus is it still with Gods people. In diminishing measures of Gods love and grace they find reason for profoundest sorrow. It is no use wearing jewels if we are losing Himfor without Him we have no glory, no treasure, no joy.

Should I from Thee, my God, remove,

Life could no lasting bliss afford;

My joy, the sense of pardoning love,

My guard, the presence of my Lord.

IV. The method by which we are to seek the restoration of the light of Gods presence, Exo. 33:7-12. Drawing nigh to God in penitent sorrowin ardent supplication. Then God is moved to forgiveness; He causes His face to shine upon us, and we are saved.

THE MANIFESTED PRESENCE.Exo. 33:12-17

The manifested presence is

I. The saints privilege, Exo. 33:12-13. Moses pleads that it is his privilege to have a clear knowledge of Gods will and way. God has condescended to honour Moses: I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in My sight, Exo. 33:12. Therefore Moses pleads that God will give to him a clear knowledge of His mind and purpose, Exo. 33:13. It was not only the privilege of Moses thus to know God, but all Gods people are to be sharers in the same privilege. God has called us His friends, and sons, and people, therefore it is not for us to walk in uncertainty and darkness and sorrow. We ought to seek

1. For a clear manifestation of Gods character.
2. For a comfortable assurance of Gods favour.
3. For a full acquaintance with Gods will concerning us. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and none of Gods people ought to be content to live in a state of perplexity and misery.

II. The saints rest. And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest, Exo. 33:14. The clear bright consciousness of Gods favour and presence will give rest unto the soul. There is rest from doubts. We feel we are Gods, and all fear is cast out. Rest from fear of enemies. If God is with us, who can be against us? Rest from anxieties about the way. He finds the path for us. Rest from misgivings about the future. In the knowledge of Gods truth, love, power, promise, the soul realises a peace which passeth understanding.

The manifested presence is,

III. The saints joy and glory, Exo. 33:15. If God does not go with them, they do not wish to proceed to Canaan. True, Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey; but it had no charms in the eyes of Moses if God was to be hidden. The manifested love of God is the Canaan of His people, and without this, lands flowing with milk and honey are desolate and undesirable. And, in Exo. 33:16, we are taught that God is the glory of His people. The consciousness of Gods love renders the people of God singularly rich, and great, and happy.

ILLUSTRATIONS

BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON

Bible-Truths! Exo. 33:1-23. Beautiful Book of Life! Everlasting Word! though heaven and earth should pass away thou art all-abiding. Thou art the book of love and of peace; thy pages are brightened with the intelligence that God is love, and thou makest by thy soft influence families and nations peace-makers. Thou art the book of truth; from thy pages have shone forth the clearest and must certain words that ever fell on human ear. Thou art the book of freedom; priests and kings have clasped and chained thee, dreading the dreadful power of light. Thou art the book of eternity and of time; thou hast the promise of a life that now is, and of one that is to come. What a lovely world would that be where the page was not only widely and openly spread, but where all men and women walked steadily in the light of it! What would such a world be but a Paradise regained?

Speak! for Thy servant heareth; bid Thy word

Draw me to Thee, encourage, or reprove;

Incline my heart to do Thy will, O Lord;

And on its tablets trace Thy words of love.

Divine-Restraint! Exo. 33:3.

(1.) In Madagascar, some natives asked a missionary to take the leadership of their deputation to the governor of the province, on the question of their being allowed to migrate to another and more fertile part of this great island. On the way, some of the members of the party fell into committing excesses by drinking, and under its influences plundering some of the properties. As soon as the complaint was made to the missionary, he refused to go any farther, and intimated his intention of returning the following morning at daybreak, leaving them to shift for themselves. I cannot go up with you, for your irregularities dishonour my character as a messenger of truth and righteousness.

(2.) Was it not something of this kind here! I will not go up in the midst of thee. But why not? Surely God had forgiven them in Exodus 32! But it was forgiveness conditional upon Israels penitence. If a child, who has done wrong, and who has heard of its fathers readiness to pardon, does not arise and go to him, saying, Father, I have sinned, can he obtain the fathers forgiveness? Ought he to expect it? No. Just so Israel. God could not, consistently with His attributes, go up with Israel so long as there was no repentance. This impenitence was a Divine restraint upon Him.

May repentance be the ember

Which upon my lips shall lie,

And, from head to foot, my nature,

With its burning, purify.

Palestine-Promised! Exo. 33:3. Bannister says that all that can delight the eye, and feed the imagination, is lavished over the surface. The lovers of scenery can find there every form and variety of landscape. Its snowy heights and mountains, its valleys and its waters, are as beautiful as when David sang their praises, and far more interesting by the accumulation of reminiscences. The land, unbroken by the toils of the husbandman, awaits but the hour appointed, when it will sustain and fructify its millions of products, and flow, as of old, with milk and honey, reasserting its rightful title, the garden of the Lordthe glory of all lands!

O blessed land! the whole world envies thee,

Thy fields, by His pure footsteps hallowed.

O happy people, whom, as Shepherd, He

With gentle crook unto green pastures led.

Gerok.

Sin-Scars! Exo. 33:1-3. Have you ever attempted a carpenters work as an amateur? There is a right and a wrong way of planing a board. Even the skilled carpenter will by accident plane one shaving the wrong way of the grain. Of course, the surface is left rough. What is to be done! Turn the board and plane in the reverse direction. It will take more than one driving to get the surface smooth again; and it is necessary to go over it again and again. So with Israel. One strokea wrong onecut deeply and roughly, and long weary years were needed to efface the error. Efface! That could never be. The cut made by the urchins hand remains in the giant oak centuries after that boy became hoary and went to the other world. The scar formed from some slight wound received by a child in some act or deed of disobedience when but three years of age, remains on the finger or leg when threescore years and ten have been reached. The mark of Israels cross-grainedness at Sinai remained afterwards on the national life.

The wind is hushed, and the storm is gone,

Yet the waves of the ocean are rolling on,
And, reckless of all they have done before,
Madly they rush on the trembling shore,
And whiten the beach with foaming spray,
Like wreaths of snow on a winters day.

Hiding-Discipline! Exo. 33:4. A father walking with his child in the city, and fearful of losing him, owing to the restless spirit of the child, whose curiosity led him to gaze on every new object which presented itself, withdraws himself behind some pillar, or hides himself at the corner of a street. He has thus hidden away, not that he may lose the child, but in order to prevent it from being lost, by making it keep closer to him in future. So did God hide Himself from Israel when that people rambled from Him in their worship at Sinai. It was done to make the Israelites seek Him the more earnestly, walk more circumspectly, and keep closer to Him for the time to come.

Therefore, although tis hard to flesh and blood,
Believe, my children, this is for your good.

Divine-Tuition! Exo. 33:5.

(1.) Sailing down the might-sweeping Amazon were an English mother and her children. One of them of very tender years was yet of wayward and self-willed spirit. On one occasion, having landed from the boat at a creek on the shore to catch turtles and game, the little one, contrary to solemn injunctions, wandered off into the wood, and caused extreme anxiety and delay. The search all night for the wanderer led to an elder brother catching the swamp fever, from which he never recovered. It was necessary that the self-willed child should be punished. Yet the mother-heart yearned to relax the severity of the chastisement. Could this be done without an expression of penitence? No; but none was evidenced. Tenderly the mother took the boys hand, reasoned with him, pointed out that the moral attributes of a parent required contrition for an offence, and urged upon him true repentance.

(2.) Great as is a mothers love, the Divine is greater. Solemn as are the moral attributes of a parent, Gods are more so. He cannot be inconsistent with His own perfections, yet He longs to reduce the severity of His sentence. How can it be done? He on Sinaiay, in Egyptcondescended to be Israels Teacher and Parent; therefore He here instructs Israel in the law of repentance. Like that mother, He, as it were, sits down to teach Israel the necessity of true heartfelt contrition, with confession of sin. Awful as Exo. 33:5 seems, it is the awfulness of the Divine Heart thirsting to extend mercy, if only the scandalous offenders will bend their stiff necks in penitence: Therefore now, put off thy ornaments from thee.

It is good for you, though it seems not now;
Although your eyes are now bedimmed with tears,
Yet on your darkness purer light shall glow,
Till, through the cloud, the Crown of Faith appears.

Self-Mortification! Exo. 33:6; Exo. 33:4.

(1.) A nobleman employed at a continental court on an important State mission heard of the unfaithfulness of his wife during his absence. Duty to his country at a perilous crisis required its careful and complete discharge. On his return home and arrival at the town nearest his castle, he sent forward a friend to disclose the revelation which had been made to him. Stricken with remorse at her sires knowledge of her guilt, she implored mercy, and besought the friend to intercede for her forgiveness. The husband promised that she should be provided for, but declared his inflexible resolution not to restore her as before. Overwhelmed with a sense of shame, and of the utter hopelessness of life under such circumstances, she stripped herself of her princely attire of silks and jewels, and assumed the meanest garb of sackcloth and humiliation.

(2.) God tells us that Israel had been to Him as a wife: Thy Maker is thy husband. The calf-worship was indeed idol-fornication on the part of the nations soul. He had discovered Israels unfaithfulness while Moses was in the mount. He sends Moses to announce an entire separation of Himself from the nation. The intercession of Moses secure milder terms; but God says, I will not go up in the midst of thee. This terrible declaration led to deep humiliation on the part of the people. They stripped themselves of their ornaments, in token that separation from God meant the drying-up of all heart joy and gladness. This explains Exo. 33:4, which chronologically comes in after Exo. 33:6.

No good thing in me resides,

All my soul an aching void,

Till Thy Spirit there abides,

And I am filled with God.

Wesely.

Congregation-Tent! Exo. 33:7.

(1.) Some suppose this to have been the official tent-residence of Moses, as the leader of Israel. Porter says that the tents of eastern leaders are often very lovely, spacious, and encompassed with walls of waxed cloth. He describes one pashas tent near Cairo, inside of which was a pavilion lined with flowered tapestry. Around this costly tent were pitched two hundred other tents in such a manner as to look towards the pashas tent.
(2.) Others, however, are of opinion that this was really a temporary sacred tabernacle, provisional to the construction of the one according to Divine direction by Bezaleel, Aholiab, and their workmen. This seems to be the most correct view; and its removal without the camp was clearly symbolic instruction to Israel of their increased need of a mediator in their approaches to God.

Times have been when tempests beat,
And I suffered great defeat;
When loved comrades fell away,
Till it seemed that none would stay;
But amid the storms wild rush
There has come a solemn hush
Over lifes oft-troubled sea,
For a Friend has said to me,
I will never leave thee.

Farningham.

Scripture Sublimities! Exo. 33:9. What a mistake it is, says the author of the Schnberg Gotta Family, to look upon the Bible as a mere collection of many books! It is so essentially One Bookthe first page linked to the lastnot by similarity of opinion, but by identity of authorship. If Exodus 14 is evidently by the same author as Revelations 14; so clearly is this chapter with other portions of the apocalypse. Exodus and the apocalypse are portionsverses, if you likeof one great, wonderful poem, by one whose ideas are all eternal realities. The simplicity of the old classics is strained and artificial beside its stories and pictures. The vivid visions of Dante are faint and dusky as the air of his Inferno itself beside the Scripture sublimities of Exodus 33 and Revelations 4 or 11. And there is this infinite difference between it and all human compositions: that its heroes were those who were alive, and are dead, and yet are alive for evermore. Its visions are not guesses, but glimpses of realities which shall soon familiarly surround us. Its thoughts are messages, to each soul among us, from the Lord our God talking with us.

Then I felt my fainting soul

Filling with a new delight,

On my darkened vision stole

Dawn of day that hath no night;

Thirsting, trembling for the vail

To be wholly rent for me,

That from sins entangling toils

Evermore I might be free.

Divine Communion! Exo. 33:11.

(1.) Some say the Lord Jesus is in visible guise; while others say, invisible. The blind communicate without seeing a form, and the deaf without hearing a voice. We may speak to a person behind a wall or a screen, if only assured that he is within call. By letters we address friends hundreds of miles distant. The telegraph hourly gives instances of men in close contact, though physically far apart. Writers have addressed multitudes separated from them by continents of space and centuries of time. Here, however, was some sense of nearness to God.
(2.) It may be, therefore, that the Divine Son appeared in visible form, as He had formerly done to Abraham and to Jacobdeigning thus to shroud His glory before the time when, born of a woman, He should wear the veil of human flesh. But what the Lord revealed of Himself only raised a more intense desire in the heart of Moses for higher knowledgemore exalted communion. It is ever so. Each glimpse of Emmanuels beauty makes us long for fuller revelations. Each draught of divine fellowship fills us with deeper thirstings.

As pants the hart for cooling streams

When heated in the chase,

So longs my soul, O God, for Thee,

And Thy refreshing grace.

Prayer-Pleadings! Exo. 33:12-16.

(1.) Hamilton not inaptly remarks that the insulated cloud, which from its lonely bosom launches a bolt big enough to rend the mountain, or make the welkin ring again, if touched at every point by its trailing neighboursif stranded on the tree tops or the mountain sidesoon loses all its lightning, drawn off in inconspicuous sparkleta thin pale ghost of vapour.
(2.) From isolated spirits, soaring hearts like those of Elijah and Moses, great bolts of prayer went up, or, like the fire from heaven, in some flashing word the long-gathered thought came down. And such was this mighty supplication, which Moses dared to flash out from his Horeb heart up into the Divine and Infinite.

(3.) Nowadays, instead of the whole soul going up to God in some heaven-rending ejaculation, it is all that our spent and diluted pity can do, when the sacred fire is drawn off in driblets, to appreciate the sublime upsoarings of souls such as Luther and Knox, John or Paul, Daniel or David, Elijah or Moses. Yet, let us not forget that a thousand smaller orgins may equal the might and melody of that in the giant minster.

Prayer, like the Saviour, ever pleads

For faithless friendfor keenest foe;

Prayer, like the Spirit, intercedes

For every grade of human woe.

And yet like Him, so vast its power,

That it can calm the fiercest blast,

And, over miserys darkest hour,

A sunlet radiance sweetly cast.

Mark.

Name-Knowledge! Exo. 33:12-17. Kitto says that this denotes personal favour towards those whose names are thus known. To be known by name to a great personage or king in the East is still considered a high distinction. Knox, in the History of his Adventures in Ceylon, mentions that, when he desired the Cingalese to bring him rice for his daily food, they told him that, as the king knew his name, the nobles of the Court would see that he was daily supplied with all necessary provisions and dainties. Before Theodore, the Emperor of Abyssinia, became a victim to the vice of strong drink, the missionary found a frequent passport through the wilds and villages of that region in the same way: The king knows your name. in Isa. 43:1, the Lord exhorts to confidence and trust, because I have called thee by thy name. His knowing the name of Moses was indicative of honour. Even so, God knew Jesus by name: Thou Shalt call His name Jesus; and, He has given Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus (as the Mediator and Intercessor) every knee should bow.

Thy precious name, Lord Jesus Christ! is better far to me
Than all the wealth that can be found in earth, or air, or sea.
Thou art the Paradise, set forth by Gods own hand of love;
Thy presence is itself the heaven where I shall dwell above.

Canitz.

Divine Guidance! Exo. 33:14. Two boys were conversing about Elijahs ascent on the chariot of fire, when one inquired of the other whether he would not have been afraid to ride in such a chariot. No, replied the other, not if God drove the horses. If God holds the reins there can be no danger. As the child on board the ship, amid the howling blast, exclaimed, My father is at the helm, Moses felt that with the Divine Guidance all would go well, and Israel reach the haven where they would be. He realised that Gods presence was the only guarantee for safety, success, and happiness.

I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless,
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is deaths sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still if THOU abide with me.

Presence-Power! Exo. 33:15. It was church-time. The bells had ceased tolling, and still the messenger of God came not to conduct the services. The congregation were wondering and impatient, for they were blessed with a faithful pastor, whose ministry they esteemed. Anxious about the delay, the elder sent the verger across to the parsonage to remind the preacher that he was expected in the house of God. On entering the open door, what was the worthy mans astonishment to hear his pastor apparently in earnest and urgent conversation with some one, whose replies he could not hear. Returning hastily to the place of prayer, he acquainted the pious elder with the fact. A ray of light flashed in upon the elders mind, and he asked the verger what words he had heard. The reply was, I cannot go without Thee; I must have Thy presence. That will do, said the elder; Hell come with our pastor, and well have a blessed day with God. The minister was, like Luther and Knox, agonising with God in prayer, imploring Him in the words of Moses, Let Thy presence go with us.

Does He promise that His presence

Shall go with us to the end?

Will our dear Lord neer forsake us?

Will He all our steps attend?

Mosaic-Self-forgetfulness! Exo. 33:16.

(1.) In Englands historical annals stands a king of high renewn, against whom a nobleman had secretly conspired with a rival prince. A neighbouring baron, on intimate terms with the offender, and yet held in high esteem by the sovereign because of his probity and valiancy, undertook to intercede. Hastening to court, he sought the royal presence-chamber, and pressed his suit for mercy. The king told him that his intention was to confiscate the estates and titles of the offending nobleman and confer them upon himself, as a most faithful and devoted subject, to whose wisdom and valour king and country alike owed much. He assures him of his sovereigns favour and grace. What was the astonishment of the courtiers around to see the favoured baron cast himself again at the feet of his monarch benefactor, and plead the royal favour towards himself us a reason for pardoning the conspiring peer.
(2.) Israels Sovereign assures Moses of His favour, and offers to confer on him Israels inheritance and title as Gods People. Whereupon Moses makes the assurance of Gods favour to himself a plea for offending Israel: If I have found grace in Thy sight, go up with us. He identifies himself with Israel because he derives no separate advantage or privilege. I and Thy people. Surely, if the earthly monarch grasping Englands sceptre wondered at the spirit of the mediator, acceded to his request, and honoured him in many ways, we can understand the Divine King, swaying the sceptre of righteousness, according Moses his petition, and rewarding him with a vision of His glory.

Father of Jesus, loves reward,

What rapture will it be,

Prostrate before Thy Throne to lie,

And ever gaze on Thee.Faber.

Mosaic-Yearnings! Exo. 33:18.

(1.) Not Natures glory. Moses had seen glorious landscapesthe Nile brimming over with bountysunrise from behind the Pyramidsthe majestic mountains of this great wilderness. The 90th Psalm, and all the poems in the Pentateuch, show that Moses was alive to the glory of God in Nature. He realised the Divine Glory in the twinkling stars and shining sands, in the wild thunderstorm and in the soft sweet breath of eve. But this was not the glory for a vision of which he thirsted.

(2.) Not Jehovahs glory. Moses had beheld His glory at the Burning Bush in Midianon that night, so much to be remembered, when His royal ensign fired the firmament, and under Heavens immediate guidance the glorious march began; and in that mount, whose mountain-top was encircled with the Divine glory like devouring fire, whilst the voice of the Eternal filled the surrounding solitudes with words which echo still far and wide oer earth and sky and sea.

(3.) But Graces glory. Moses would gaze on the heart of Jehovah, rich in forgiveness, and radiating forth its ceaseless loving-kindness. Like those mysterious boxes of Eastern Asia and Japan, the Divine attributes had opened up their glories one by one; and now Moses glimpses a glory still interiorthe glory of His Grace. God has just shown mercy to scandalous insulters of His supremacy; and grasping at this inlet mild and merciful, Moses prays, Show me Thy glory. As the astronomer

Who on the starry heavens the livelong night
Has gazed unwearied, in the dewy morn
Returning homeward, plucks a simple flower,
Promise, or cowslip, or anemone,
And in its tender beauty peering finds
More sweet delight than in those mighty orbs
With all their pendant satellites.

Bickersteth.

Mediator-Mirror! Exo. 33:19.

(1.) Moses interposes between God and the breakers of His holy laws. He even offers himself a sacrifice (Exodus 32) in the place of recreant Israel. His mediation avails, so that God mitigates the penalty on the repentance of the evildoers. He declares His favour for the man who has so generously offered himself as a substitute. The Divine assurance of favour and grace emboldens the mediator to become the intercessor. In Exodus 33 we have these eloquent utterances of self-forgetful devotions; as well as the Divine revelation that He will vouchsafe to manifest Himself to the intercessor.

(2.) Messiah interposed between God and the offenders of His righteous will. He offered Himself a sacrifice unto God for a sweet-smelling savourdoing what Moses could not do. The Lord accepted His mediationlaid on Him the iniquity of us alland announced pardon to those sinners who repented. He spoke from the excellent glory this word, Thou art My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. On the Cross of Calvary, the Intercessors prayer rose high and clear: Forgive them, for they know not what they do. St. Mark in his last chapter, and St. Luke in Acts 1 relates that God then received Him up into glory, as Paul expresses it in one of his epistles; see also Revelation 1

And lo! the Everlasting Father rose
Diffusing beams of joy ineffable,
Which centred on His Son, His only Son.

Face-Fire! Exo. 33:20.

(1.) Heathen mythology has an extraordinary caricature of this Divine declaration in the tradition-fable of Jupiter and Semele. She is reported to have entreated Jupiter to show her his glory. At first he was very reluctant, knowing that it would be fatal to her; but he at last yielded to her solicitations. The story runs that she paid dearly for her importunate temerity, as she was consumed by his presence on the revelation of his majesty.
(2.) Oh! Profane parody of the Divine Ideal! Jupiter cannot do aught to ward off the peril. Whereas, Jehovah accedes to the request, only by preventing danger to the suppliant Moses. Bagster thinks that the face of God here signifies that light inaccessible before which angels may stand; and concerning which the apostle says, Now we see through a glass, darkly; then face to facewith no dim, darkling veil between.

Light of the world! be Thou a sword of wrath
Flashing its threatning gleam across the path
Which leads to sin and shameand guide us on,
Until we bathe in bliss before Thy throne!

Divine-Face! Exo. 33:20. The Incas of Peru have a curious tradition of one of their princes. He had been driven from the palace and court; and had to tend the sacred llamas amongst the lonely plains of Chita. Here a glorious being, with robes brighter than the light, appeared to him, and ordered him to return to his city, to deliver his people from oppression: For to thee it is given to deliver thy people. He did as he was toldsecured the deliverance of his peopleand was appointed their ruler and prince After this was accomplished, he built a beautiful temple. Here he stood in the court before all the people, wearing a beautiful tunic of blue wrought with gold threads, and a long mantle glittering with shining jewels. He dared to raise his eyes to the awful burning face of the great father, and to say, Let me behold thy brightness. Is there in this ancient legend no relic of the histories of Moses, Aaron, and Solomonblending together in the far distance of time?

But who can wander to Thy bright abode,
And look on Thee, the Everlasting God,
If angels, veiled, before Thy presence sing,
And sinless seraphs droop the golden wing!

God-Emblems! Exo. 33:22. Bowes says that one of the most ancient hieroglyphic representations of God was the figure of an eye upon a sceptre, to denote that God sees and rules all things. The Egyptian hieroglyphic was a winged globe with a serpent coming out of it: the globe to signify Gods eternity, the wings His active power, and the serpent His wisdom. The Thracian emblem was a sun with three beams; one shining upon a sea of ice and melting it, another upon a rock and dissolving it, and the third upon a dead man and putting life into him. But we know nothing of the imagery which God decided to employ in order that Moses might behold this beatific vision.

How wonderful, how beautiful,

The sight of Thee must be;

Thine endless wisdom, boundless power,

And awful purity!

Yet I may love Thee, too, O Lord,

Almighty as Thou art;

For Thou hast stooped to ask of me

The love of my poor heart.

Rock-Clift! Exo. 33:22.

(1.) There is a remarkable passage in Son. 2:14, which is uttered by Christ

(1) to His Church, and so
(2) to the Christian: Thou art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs. Some suppose that the second clause refers to the gardens in the east, where the terraces one above another were cut out of the rock. But the natural significance is the cavernous precipices of the rocks resembling stairs. What are these words designed to indicate?
1. Some say the rock of nature, in which Christ finds the Church and Christian before He calls them by His grace.
2. Others assert that Christ is the hiding-place. Thrice blessed are they who are hidden in Him, that they may see the goodness of the Lord!

(2.) The subsequent expression is equally remarkable: Let me see Thy face, let me hear Thy voice. It was Moses who besought God for this. But here we have God asking for this at the hands of Moses. To Him the voice of Moses prayer had been sweet: The prayer of the upright is His delight. He loves to hear the breathings of the Spirit of His Son in our hearts. See Son. 4:13; Mal. 3:16. Moreover, it is only while we are thus in Christ Jesus that our countenance beams with the reflection of His glory. Thus when Moses was forty days in the mount His face shone. So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty.

Oh, droop not! Though a cloud may be
Between the glorious Son and thee,

No shade His face can dim;

Beneath His smile away shall roll
The sin-mist of thy wounded soul:

Only abide in Him.

Shipton.

Deity-Dazzling! Exo. 33:23.

(1.) When a heathen king objected to the missionarys testimony concerning the One living and true God, that he could not see Him, and, therefore, could not believe in Him, he took the king into the courtyard, and asked him to look intently upon the sun, which was burning in high noon. When the monarch replied that the attempt would blind him, the missionary retorted, If thou canst not look upon one of His servants without being dazzled by his brightness, how canst thou endure looking upon Himself?
(2.) But this incapability not only arises from the inherent glory of God, but from mans imperfection. True, when Daniel by the river Hiddekel, and John in Patmos, beheld even the veiled glory of the Lord, their comeliness was turned into corruption; but still sin has much to do with this fact, that no man shall see God and live. Angels, who never sinned, may look upon Him and be undismayed; but sinful man cannot. Yet we have the Messianic beatitude: Blesssed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

O Holy, wondrous vision! to think, when this lifes past,
The beauty of Mount Tabor shall end in heaven at last!
To think that all the glory of uncreated light
Shall be the promised guerdon of them that win the fight!

Cosmas.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

THE TEXT OF EXODUS
TRANSLATION

33 And Je-ho-vah spake unto Mo-ses, Depart, go up hence, thou and the people that thou hast brought up out of the land of E-gypt, unto the land of which I sware unto Abraham, to I-saac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: (2) and I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Ca-naan-ite, the Am-or-ite, and the Hit-tite, and the Per-iz-zite, the Hi-vite, and the Jeb-u-site: (3) unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people; lest I consume thee in the way. (4) And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. (5) And Je-ho-vah said unto Mo-ses, Say unto the children of Is-ra-el, Ye are a stiffnecked people; if I go up into the midst of thee for one moment, I shall consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. (6) And the children of Is-ra-el stripped themselves of their ornaments from mount Ho-reb onward.

(7) Now Mo-ses used to take the tent and to pitch it without the camp, afar off from the camp; and he called it, The tent of meeting. And it came to pass, that every one that sought Je-ho-vah went out unto the tent of meeting, which was without the camp. (8) And it came to pass, when Mo-ses went out unto the Tent, that all the people rose up, and stood, every man at his tent door, and looked after Mo-ses, until he was gone into the Tent. (9) And it came to pass, when Mo-ses entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, and stood at the door of the Tent: and Je-ho-vah spake with Mo-ses. (10) And all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the Tent: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man at his tent door. (11) And Je-ho-vah spake unto Mo-ses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his minister Josh-u-a, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tent.

(12) And Mo-ses said unto Je-ho-vah, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found favor in my sight. (13) Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thy sight, show me now thy ways, that I may know thee, to the end that I may find favor in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. (14) And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. (15) And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. (16) For wherein now shall it be known that I have found favor in thy sight, I and thy people? is it not in that thou goest with us, so that we are separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth?

(17) And Je-ho-vah said unto Mo-ses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken; for thou hast found favor in my sight, and I know thee by name. (18) And he said, Show me, I pray thee, thy glory. (19) And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of Je-ho-vah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. (20) And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for man shall not see me and live. (21) And Je-ho-vah said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock: (22) and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand until I have passed by: (23) and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back; but my face shall not be seen.

EXPLORING EXODUS: CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
QUESTIONS ANSWERABLE FROM THE BIBLE

After careful reading, propose a brief title or topic for the chapter.

Where was Moses directed to go? Who was to accompany him? (Exo. 33:1; Exo. 33:12; Exo. 32:34)

What change does the command of Exo. 33:1 indicate had taken place in Gods feelings toward Israel? (Compare Exo. 32:10.)

Who was to be sent before Moses and Israel? Why? (Exo. 33:2; Compare Exo. 23:20-23.)

What was the land where they were going like? (Exo. 33:3)

Why would God not personally go up with Israel? (Exo. 33:3; Exo. 33:5)

What made the people mourn? (Exo. 33:4) What did the people do that showed their sorrow? (Exo. 33:4)

Why did God tell the Israelites to put off their ornaments? (Exo. 33:5)

At what place did the Israelites strip off their ornaments? How long did this non-wearing of ornaments continue? (Exo. 33:6)

10.

Where did Moses take the tent? (Exo. 33:7) What did he do with it? What did he call it? (Compare Exo. 27:21.) Was this removal of the tent done just one time? Was this the same Tent that is referred to in Exo. 26:36; Exo. 26:7?

11.

What did the removal of the Tent from out of the camp symbolize or indicate?

12.

Who went out to the Tent? (Exo. 33:7)

13.

What did the people do when Moses went out to the Tent? Where did they do this? (Exo. 33:8; Exo. 33:10)

14.

What happened when Moses entered the Tent? What did this symbolize or indicate? (Exo. 33:9-10)

15.

What was remarkable about the way the LORD spoke to Moses? (Exo. 33:11; Compare Num. 12:6-7.)

16.

Who remained at the Tent (possibly as a guard)? (Exo. 33:11)

17.

Where did the conversation of Exo. 33:12-23 occur?

18.

What did Moses desire more information from God about? (Exo. 33:12)

19.

What had God said to Moses about Moses? (Exo. 33:12; Exo. 33:17)

20.

What did Moses want God to show him? (Exo. 33:13)

21.

For what two purposes did Moses want God to show him His way(s)? (Exo. 33:13)

22.

How did Moses want God to consider (or look upon) the nation (Israel)? (Exo. 33:13)

23.

Who would go with Israel? (Exo. 33:14) What change in Gods intentions does this indicate? (Compare Exo. 33:3; Exo. 33:5; Exo. 33:12.)

24.

What is the rest of Exo. 33:14? (Jos. 21:44; Jos. 22:4; Jos. 23:1; Psa. 95:10-11; Deu. 12:9)

25.

How strongly did Moses desire Gods presence? (Exo. 33:15)

26.

How could it be known that Moses and Israel had found favor in Gods sight? (Exo. 33:16)

27.

How was Israel separated from all other peoples? (Exo. 33:16; Compare Num. 23:9.)

28.

What is the thing that thou (God) hast spoken? (Exo. 33:17; Compare Exo. 33:14-16.)

29.

What is the significance of Gods knowing Moses by name? (Exo. 33:17)

30.

How many times do forms of the word know occur in Exo. 33:12-17?

31.

What did Moses request God to show him? (Exo. 33:18)

32.

With what is Gods goodness made synonomous? (Exo. 33:19; Exo. 33:22)

33.

What would God proclaim to Moses? (Exo. 33:19)

34.

What is the significance of I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious in the setting (context) in which it was uttered? (Exo. 33:19)

35.

What can man not see and yet live? (Exo. 33:20; Exo. 33:23; Compare 1Ti. 6:15-16; Joh. 1:18. Compare Exo. 24:10.)

36.

What was the place by me (God)? (Exo. 33:21; Exo. 34:2; Exo. 34:6)

37.

How would God cover Moses as He passed by? (Exo. 33:21-22)

38.

What would Moses see of God? (Exo. 33:23)

EXODUS THIRTY-THREE: GOD AND ISRAEL IN TENSION!

Gods presence withdrawn; (Exo. 33:1-3).

The people in mourning; (Exo. 33:4-6).

The meeting-tent removed from camp; (Exo. 33:7-11).

The mediator in prayer; (Exo. 33:12-23).

WHEN GOD WITHDRAWS HIS FACE! (Exo. 33:1-7)

We journey without Him; (Exo. 33:1-7).

We confront Him with danger; (Exo. 33:3; Exo. 33:5).

We mourn; (Exo. 33:4; Exo. 33:6).

We seek Him at the distant place; (Exo. 33:7).

THE FAR-OFF TENT OF GOD (Exo. 33:7-11)

Placed afar-off because of sin; (Exo. 33:7-8).

Sought by men in need; (Exo. 33:7).

Fully accessible to the chosen mediator; (Exo. 33:8-11).

GODS ABOUNDING GRACE (Exo. 33:12-17)

Grace, the source of hope . . .

To remove uncertainties; (Exo. 33:12).

To learn Gods way; (Exo. 33:13).

To know God; (Exo. 33:13).

To have Gods presence; (Exo. 33:14-17).

SEEING GODS GLORY (Exo. 33:18-23)

Mans desire to see Gods glory; (Exo. 33:18).

Mans limitations in seeing Gods glory; (Exo. 33:20; Exo. 33:23).

Gods grace in showing His glory; (Exo. 33:19).

Gods assistance in revealing His glory; (Exo. 33:21-22).

EXPLORING EXODUS: NOTES ON CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

What is in Exodus thirty-three?

The chapter tells of the tense period between Moses prayer for Israel (Exo. 32:31-34) and Gods re-acceptance of Israel (Exo. 33:14; Exo. 33:17). The early part of the chapter tells of God and Israel in tension, but it ends with the tension relieved and Moses asking God to show him His very glory.

The theme of the Lords presence pervades all of chapter 33. How can a sinful people continue to experience Gods presence at all? How can Israel survive without Gods presence among them?[445]

[445] Cole, op. cit., p. 222.

What are the critical theories about chapter thirty-three?

Some critical scholars have expressed the view that this chapter consists of material from several sources. M. Noth considers Exo. 33:1-6 to be mostly of Deuteronomistic origin (sixth century) and not to be from just one source. He feels Exo. 33:7-11 is an old pre-priestly, pre-deuteronomistic tradition possibly taken up by J.[446]

[446] Op. cit., p. 255.

On the other hand Broadman Bible Commentary (1969) attributes Exo. 33:7-11 to E (supposedly after J), and Exo. 33:12-16 to J (tenth century).[447] Obviously there is not a unity of opinion about the sources.

[447] P. 456.

A view much more in harmony with the scripture itself and with the archaeological evidences is that of Cassuto:

For two consecutive passages [like Exo. 32:34-35 and Exo. 33:1-4] to treat of the same theme, with a few variations, was a common feature of [ancient] epic poetry. It will suffice, for instance, to point out that in the Ugaritic epic of Aqhat [fifteenth century B.C.] Daniels action in a year of dearth is recounted in two successive paragraphs, which are identical except for the change of a few synonyms.[448]

[448] Op. cit., p. 425.

Thus it appears that Moses wrote in the literary style of his time, and that suspicions about sources and additions are not based on solid evidence.

Where was Moses directed to go? (Exo. 33:1)

He was directed to go up with the people into the land God had sworn to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Gods wrath of Exo. 32:10 had been softened by Moses intercession. Compare Exo. 32:31. God was now allowing them to go up to the land. This broadens slightly the promise of Exo. 32:34. But still God was not Himself going up with them, lest he consume them. God refers to the people as the people rather than as thy people (as in Exo. 32:7). But God still had not called them my people. Compare Exo. 33:13.

Who would go before Israel? (Exo. 33:2-3)

An angel would be sent. See Exo. 32:34. Exo. 23:20-23 also refers to an angel who would be sent before them. But

the angel of Exo. 23:20-21 was one like God Himself, if not actually God himself. On the other hand, the angel of Exo. 32:2 and Exo. 32:34 seems to refer to an ordinary angel, and the verse is a virtual refusal of the direct presence of God. Moses appealed to God in Exo. 33:12-16 to reverse this threat.

Regarding the Canaanite tribes, see Exo. 3:17. Regarding the land flowing with milk and honey, see Exo. 3:8.

The reason for Gods refusal to accompany Israel was lest I consume thee in the way. Gods anger toward Israel was such that if he did go up with Israel, He might destroy her because of her apostasy. Regarding stiff-necked, see Exo. 32:9. Gods presence with them would be a danger to them rather than a blessing. For in their state God would be a consuming fire in their midst (Deu. 4:24).

Israel was to be put on a level with other nations. It would lose its character as the people have a special covenant connection with Yahweh. See Exo. 33:16.

How did the Israelites show their sorrow and mourning? (Exo. 33:4-6)

As a sign of mourning over the lost presence of God among them, the Israelites did not put on their ornaments. More than that, God commanded them to strip off the ones they were wearing. This practice of not wearing ornaments became a permanent custom in Israel thereafter. Israel must have seemed like a nation of ascetics and puritans in the ancient world. Putting off luxurious clothing and jewelry is a sign of mourning. Compare Eze. 26:16.

Israels mourning is the first real evidence of repentance in them. Blessed are they that mourn (Mat. 5:4). When the Lord is not in the midst of His people, it is a time to mourn! See Jas. 4:9-10. Christians might well strip off some ornaments sometimes and mourn.

The evil tidings (literally, this evil word) was the news that God would not go up in the midst of them. The tidings were evil in the sense of being painful, but certainly not morally evil. Actually, God was being very long-suffering to let them live at all.

The translation If I go up into the midst of thee, . . . is preferable to the King James reading, I will come up into the midst of thee. The if is implied, if not actually in the Hebrew text.

The one moment is the time of a wink, or an instant. Exo. 33:5 could be translated: (If) I go up in your midst (for) one instant (wink), I will finish you off! And now put off your ornament(s) from you, that I may know what I should do to you.

The wearing of ornaments might indicate a joyous defiance of God or an indifference to Him. Even in their humiliation God was uncertain what to do with them.

The onward of Exo. 33:6 is not actually in the text. It just reads from Mt. Horeb. Horeb is the same as Sinai. See Exo. 3:1; Exo. 17:6.

The word stripped in Exo. 33:6 is from the same verb (natsat) that is translated spoil in Exo. 12:36 : they despoiled (or plundered) the Egyptians. The people who were once victorious and adorned are now themselves stripped of their ornaments by their sin.

The ornaments that had been partly used to make a golden calf were now available to make Gods sanctuary. Exo. 35:22 makes plain that such trinkets were a major source of the offering of gold from the people. Some have suggested that the ornaments were religious medallions of some sort, and were associated with foreign gods. There is no real evidence of this.

Where did Moses pitch the Tent? (Exo. 33:7-8)

He pitched it outside of the camp, quite a ways from the camp. (The camp of the Israelites had definite boundaries and gates. See Exo. 32:27.) Moses called this tent the Tent of meeting, the same name that was given to the tabernacle room called the Holy Place. See Exo. 27:21; Exo. 29:42.

The exact reason for removing the tent from the midst of the camp is not stated. It is natural to assume that the separation was brought about by Gods anger toward and alienation from Israel. Or it may have been a means to keep a distance between Gods glory and the people. (Exo. 33:10)

Although the tent was moved from the midst of the camp, God had not withdrawn His presence altogether from them.
As far as we can tell, the removal of the tent was not done by any command of God, but was an act of spiritual discernment by Moses, in faith that God would not totally and finally reject them. (Pink)

When the Israelites now came to seek Jehovah, they had to depend on Moses. Moses had a very direct communication with God, more so than any other prophet ever. See Exo. 33:11; Num. 12:8. He did not commune with God in a trance or ecstasy, but as directly as one speaking to a friend.

In the Christian church we do not require such a prophet or direct revelation; for the faith has once for all been revealed to the saints (Jud. 1:3); and we may gain a true understanding by reading. (Eph. 3:4)

What is the Tent referred to in Exo. 33:7? Probably it was a tent specially designated as the place for talking with God before the more elaborate Tabernacle was built. Certainly it was not the Tabernacle-tent itself. It probably was not Moses own tent, for Moses left this Tent after communing with God, and returned to the camp, presumably to his own dwelling. Compare Exo. 18:7.

The verb take (or took) in Exo. 33:7 is in the imperfect form, which usually indicates incomplete, repeated, or future action. This is the reason for the translation Moses used to take. . . . Most interpreters therefore feel that Moses action of taking the tent out from the camp was not a single event, but one repeated many times.[449] The same imperfect tense form is used with the other verbs in Exo. 33:7.

[449] Davis, op. cit., p. 293.

However, in this instance the text clearly indicates that the Tent was not moved back and forth, but remained in one spot outside the camp, while Joshua stayed there constantly. Moses came back and forth, but the Tent stayed. The imperfect therefore does not here have the meaning of repeated action, as it usually does. Exo. 8:24 (Heb., Exo. 8:20) is another example of an imperfect form which does not express unfinished action, and is translated The land was corrupted.

What indicated Gods presence at the Tent? (Exo. 33:9-11)

The pillar of cloud over the tent indicated Gods presence there, like a flag-pole over a royal palace would point it out.

When Moses entered the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, and Jehovah spoke to Moses. See Num. 14:14 and Exo. 13:21-22 concerning the cloud. Exo. 40:34-35 describes a pillar of cloud that covered the completed tabernacle. This surely was the same cloud as that of Exo. 33:9.

The subject of the verb spake in Exo. 33:9 is not stated, but obviously it is Jehovah.

When the cloud descended, the people would rise up and worship (bow down), each man at this own tent door.

The mention of Joshua stresses his closeness to Moses and to the sacred Tent, and therefore to God. Compare Exo. 17:9; Exo. 24:13; Exo. 32:17. Joshua received a befitting preparatory exposure to the people before he became the successor to Moses. He was a constant guard at the Tent.

It appears from Num. 11:26 and possibly Exo. 12:4 that the Tent where Moses met God outside the camp was preserved even after the tabernacle was constructed; and that on some occasions of rebellion, unbelief, and murmuring among the people that God would appear in the cloud over this out-of-camp tent. This would surely dramatize Israels estrangement from God at such times.

What information, revelation, and consideration did Moses want from God?

(1) He wanted to know the identity and status of the angel that God said He would send with them (Exo. 33:2). (2) He wanted to know Gods way, and (3) to know God himself. (4) He wanted God to consider that the Israelites were HIS people.

Moses was fearful (rightly so!) that Israel would never make it through their journeys without Gods own presence with them. Who was this angel that god said he would send with them? Moses was uneasy, even after the promise of Exo. 33:1-2.

The conversation between Moses and God in Exo. 33:12-23 seems to have taken place in the Tent of meeting (Exo. 33:8-9). M. Noth writes that beginning with Exo. 33:12 Moses is once again imagined as being present on the mountain.[450] But this is hardly so.

[450] Op. cit., p. 256.

The conversation of Exo. 33:12-14 is an illustration of the intimate way Moses was able to talk with God.

The command to Bring up this people was that which was spoken in Exo. 32:34.

We do not know when God had spoken the words of Exo. 33:12, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found favor in my sight. Compare Exo. 33:17.

Moses asked God, Show me now thy way. The Hebrew word for way is spelled as a singular word (as in K.J.V.), although most translations render it as ways. We prefer the singular translation. The Greek O.T. translated (or paraphrased) the expression very perceptively: Reveal thyself to me. That is really what Moses wanted. To know Gods way is to know God himself.

Possibly the way could refer to the route through the desert that God would lead them over. (We doubt this view.)

The purpose for which Moses requested to know Gods way was that he might know thee, so that I may find favor and grace in thy sight. One act of grace (Exo. 33:13 a) would lead to obtaining even greater grace. One revelation of Gods way would lead to an even deeper knowledge of God.

Finally Moses wanted God to look upon this nation as THY people. Compare Deu. 9:29! God had spared their lives, and agreed to let them go to the promised land. But Moses wanted God to accept them again as His own people.

Did God agree to go up personally with Israel to the promised land? (Exo. 33:14-16)

Yes. God pledged, My presence shall go with thee. This may mean that the same divine angel of his presence promised in Exo. 23:20-22 would continue to accompany Israel. Compare Isa. 63:9. This angels presence was Gods own presence. That was guarantee enough that they would attain their goal.

Presence (literally, face) may refer to Gods literal presence, or to His gracious care (Psa. 24:6), or to His personal activity. My presence could mean my person, as in 2Sa. 17:11.

The rest promised was the secure possession of the promised land. See Deu. 3:20; Deu. 12:10; Jos. 1:13; Jos. 1:15; Jos. 21:44; Jos. 22:4; Heb. 4:8. Rest is always the longed-for goal of those on a journey.

Moses was glad for the promise of Gods presence. How otherwise could it be known that Moses and the people had found favor in Gods sight, except that God was in their midst? Observe Moses stress in Exo. 33:16 on thy people (stated twice).

Israels distinctiveness lay in their fellowship with God. This made them separate from all other nations. Num. 23:9; 2Sa. 7:22-24; 1Ki. 8:53.

Moses seemed to have a fear, even after the reassurance of, Exo. 33:14, that the evil root of the peoples rebelliousness might yet cause Gods presence to depart from them. See Exo. 34:9. He wanted Gods presence to be guaranteed by Gods irreversible commitment, and not on the peoples future faithful conduct. He sought guaranteed grace!

10.

Did God agree to accept again the people as His? (Exo. 33:17)

Yes! The acceptance was complete. Gods acceptance of the people was based upon His acceptance of Moses. God said, I know you by name. Compare Exo. 33:12. What an illustration this is of our acceptance by God because of Christs merit and His intercession for us! Rom. 8:34; Isa. 53:12.

11. What all-surpassing thing did Moses ask God to show him? (Exo. 33:18-19)

He asked to see Gods own glory. He wanted a revelation surpassing all former revelations (such as those of Exo. 16:7; Exo. 16:10; Exo. 24:16-17). There had been an obvious withholding of full revelation of Gods glory in the former revelations, as wonderful as they had been.

We do not know exactly why Moses made this request. Possibly his sense of competency as a leader had been shaken by the events associated with the golden calf. Perhaps he just desired the closest association with God that could be had.

God granted Moses request, not totally, but in a very large degree. God declared He would make all his goodness (Heb., good) to pass before Moses, and would proclaim the name of Jehovah before him. Proclaiming the name of Jehovah seems to mean proclaiming His nature and person. See Exo. 34:6-7.

The I at the start of Exo. 33:19 is emphatic.

Observe that Gods goodness and Gods glory are equated in Exo. 33:19; Exo. 33:22. Gods glory is goodness. Goodness (Heb., tov) means excellence (Psa. 119:66), fairness, beauty (Hos. 10:11), joy (Isa. 65:14), prosperity, fortune, etc. Goodness here probably refers both to the brilliancy that strikes the senses; and also to the spiritual and ethical goodness of the divine being. See Psa. 31:19. Goodness is beautiful and glorious!

God declared in Exo. 33:19, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Possibly God added this declaration here because Moses had repeatedly appealed to God on the basis of grace (or favor). See Exo. 33:12-13; Exo. 33:16. Gods words in Exo. 33:19 b seem like a gentle reminder that although He would grant Moses request, pleas based on grace alone have limitations. God was not less gracious than Moses was, but God Himself would determine how far grace and mercy would be extended. Moses could not expect an unregulated supply of grace. Perhaps also Gods words hint that it was an act of grace for God to show Moses his goodness.

Observe that grace and mercy are among the most prominent attributes of God. In Gods great self-proclamation He declared Himself merciful and gracious (Exo. 34:6). Man is never nearer to the Divine than in his compassionate moments. (J. H. Hertz)

Paul quoted part of Exo. 33:19 in Rom. 9:15 to justify Gods choice of Jacob over Esau and the temporary fall of the Jews from Gods favor. God is above mans power to defy Him or even question Him when He makes a choice as to how grace is to be dispensed.

12.

Can man see God? (Exo. 33:20)

Man shall not see me and live. Therefore God would not allow Moses to see His face. Seeing me refers to the same act as seeing my face. This meant seeing God in His limitless glory.

Numerous scriptures affirm that man cannot see God, and that no man has seen God. 1Ti. 6:16; Joh. 1:18; Joh. 6:46; 1Jn. 4:12. There was an awareness in the ancient world that seeing God was dangerous. (Jdg. 6:22; Jdg. 13:22; Isa. 6:6)

Nonetheless, some people have seen God! (1) the elders (Exo. 24:10); (2) Jacob (Gen. 32:30); (3) Abraham (Gen. 18:1); (4) Ezekiel (Eze. 1:1); Isaiah (Isa. 6:1); etc. There is NO contradiction in this fact with the truth that man shall not see me and live. Those who saw God either saw a partially concealed view of Him, or saw that God-one called the WORD, through whom God has always communicated Himself, and who later came into the world as Jesus. Compare Isa. 6:1-10 and Joh. 12:41.

13.

Where would Jehovah pass by Moses: (Exo. 33:21-23)

He would pass by a cleft in the rock, in which Moses would be covered.

The place by me where Moses was to stand upon the rock was at the top of the mount (Exo. 34:2).

The passing-by of Gods glory (Exo. 33:22) seems to be the act related in Exo. 34:6. God passed by Elijah at Mt. Horeb somewhat as He passed by Moses. (1Ki. 19:11)

The glory of Exo. 33:22 is called goodness in Exo. 33:19.

The cleft of the rock may refer to a cave. Elijah was in a cave when God passed by (1Ki. 19:9; 1Ki. 19:13). Cleft (Heb. niqrah) simply means a hole or dug-out place.

Gods hand would cover Moses in the cleft while His unviewable glory passed over. Then God would take away His hand and Moses would see his back or back part. It would be like seeing the sun by seeing its afterglow just after it set; or like seeing a ship by the magnitude of the wake it left behind it. There is no other way that man can behold God.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Grace hath hid me safe in thee! (Toplady/Pink)
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where rivers of pleasure I see. (Fanny J. Crosby)

Commentators almost unanimously have written that the references to Gods hand, face, and back parts must be understood as human terms used to describe the indescribable aspects of Gods being in terms as definite as we can comprehend them. There is surely much truth in this, because God fills heaven and earth (Jer. 23:24) and inhabits eternity (Isa. 57:15). However, we must remember that we cannot improve upon the description of the event that is given. It is easy to explain away the specific reality of the event by trying to explain it abstractly. It is better to have the child-like faith that visualizes Moses in the cleft of the rock, covered by the hand of God, than to utter abstractions that make God unreal.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(1) The Lord said unto Moses.In continuation and explanation of the words recorded in Exo. 32:33-34, but probably at another time, after Moses had once more descended from the Ras Sufsafeh to the plain at its base.

The land which I sware unto Abraham . . . The misconduct of Israel in their worship of the calf would not annul the promises of God to the patriarchs. These He was bound to make good. The Lord sware, and will not repent (Psa. 110:4).

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

XXXIII.
THE HUMILIATION OF THE PEOPLE AT THE THREAT OF GODS WITHDRAWAL.

(1-6) If God consented at all to renew His covenant with the people, after they had so flagrantly broken it, the terms on which He would renew it were, in strict justice, purely optional. In the Book of the Covenant He had promised to go up with them by an Angel, in whom was His Name (Exo. 23:20-23): i.e., by His Son, the Second Person in the Holy Trinity. He now, to mark His displeasure, withdrew this promise, and substituted for the Divine presence that of a mere angel. I will send an angel before thee (Exo. 33:2); I will not go up in the midst of thee (Exo. 33:3). Dimly the people felt the importance of the change, the vast difference between the angelic and the Divine, and mourned their loss (Exo. 33:4). mourned with some touch of real godly sorrow, and, as was the custom of the Orientals in mourning (Terent. Heaut. ii. 3, 47; Herodian. iv. 2, &c.), put off their ornaments.

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

MEDIATION AND INTERCESSION, Exo 33:1-23.

1. Depart, and go up hence This is in substance a repetition of Exo 32:34. The people have broken the covenant which they promised to keep, (Exo 24:3-7😉 why linger longer at this mountain? Let them now proceed to the land which was promised unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and do the best they can under the curse of violated vows .

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The Command to Go Forward – The People Repent ( Exo 33:1-6 ).

It is quite clear that in this passage the putting off by the children of Israel of their ornaments is a deeply significant fact. Their earrings had caused them to stumble. We may possibly also see that their ornaments too were highly charged with religious significance. Thus we might see this as a putting off of their false gods (compare Gen 35:1-4).

a Yahweh commands Moses to go forward, with the people whom he has delivered from Egypt, to the land which He swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying ‘To your seed I will give it’ (Exo 33:1).

b He promises that He will send His Angel before them to drive out the Canaanite nations, to a land flowing with milk and honey (Exo 33:2-3 a).

c But He Himself will not go with them because they are a stiffnecked people, lest He consume them in the way (Exo 33:3 b).

d When the people heard these evil tiding they mourned and no man put on his ornaments (Exo 33:4).

c Yahweh tells Moses that he must inform the people that they are a stiff-necked people and that if He goes in the midst of them for one moment He will consume them (Exo 33:5 a).

b He tells them to put off their ornaments so that He may know what to do with them (Exo 33:5 b).

a The children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onwards (Exo 33:6).

This passage would seem to indicate a new beginning after the travesty that is behind them. In ‘a’ they are to go forward as Yahweh’s people to the land which Yahweh has sworn to give them as the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The parallel clearly therefore suggest that the permanent stripping themselves of their ornaments is an act of contrition and response, and turning to Yahweh. They will choose Him over their ornaments. They no longer have anything to do with them from Mount Horeb onwards. Thus in ‘b’ when He promises to send His Angel with them to drive out their enemies and lead them into a land flowing with milk and honey, in the parallel He commands that they strip off their ornaments so that He may know what to do with them. If they do not He will be in doubt of what to do with them. While His promises are certain, the current fulfilment of them is dependent on obedience and rejection of idolatry. In ‘c’ He tells them that He Himself will not go with them because they are a stiffnecked people, lest He consume them in the way, and in the parallel confirms this verdict. In a sense ‘d’ is central to the whole. It was the moment when they faced up to their sinfulness so that Yahweh could respond to them.

Exo 33:1

‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up hence, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “To your seed I will give it.” ’

Yahweh repeats His command to be up and moving. Their time at Sinai is finished and they must move on. The verse maps out their history in brief. They have brought up from the land of Egypt by Moses, and are bound for the land promised to their fathers and their seed (Gen 12:7; Gen 13:15; Gen 15:18; etc.). This is the midway point in their journey, or should have been. Note that Yahweh now renews the promises to the fathers of seed and land which these people had forfeited by their behaviour, and He renews His promise to drive out the Canaanites from before them.

Exo 33:2-3

“And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. To a land flowing with milk and honey. For I will not go up among you, for you are a stiffnecked people, lest I consume you in the way.”

He promises that He will send an angel before them. In view of the fact that he here says that He will not be going with them it must be questionable whether we see in this angel the Angel of Yahweh. However the point in question may not be as to whether the angel of Yahweh will go before them but rather as to whether Yahweh will Himself dwell among them in His Dwellingplace. The question is rather academic as later He yields to Moses’ intercession and Himself does go with them and promises His is presence with them (Exo 33:14).

The sixfold nations are twice three, indicating intensified completeness. Compare Exo 3:8. They represent the whole population of Canaan, and consistently indicate their diverse nature. The Canaanites and Amorites were terms for the general population of the country and the terms were often interchangeable. Each could be used for the inhabitants of the whole country. However there was sometimes some distinction in that often the Canaanites was the term for those occupying the coastlands and the Jordan valley, while the Amorites could be seen as dwelling in the hill country east and west of Jordan. The Hittites were settlers who had come from the Hittite Empire further north and had settled in Canaan. The Perizzites were hill dwellers (Jos 11:3; Jdg 1:4 on) and possibly country peasantry, their name being taken from ‘peraza’ = hamlet. This is supported by the fact that they are not named as Canaan’s sons in Gen 10:15 on. The Hivites may have been the equivalent of the Horites (see on Genesis 36). Their principal location was in the Lebanese hills (Jdg 3:3) and the Hermon range (Jos 11:3; 2Sa 24:7), but there were some in Edom in the time of Esau (Genesis 36) and in Shechem (Genesis 34). The Jebusites were the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the hills round about (Num 13:29; Jos 11:3; Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16). But Moses would know all the names. He had been brought up as an Egyptian administrator.

“ To a land flowing with milk and honey.” It was to be a good land for it would flow with milk and honey (Num 13:27; Deu 6:3). Milk flowed because there was good pasturage and, apart from in times of famine, plentiful rain. The honey would be from wild bees, (and later, domesticated bees, for it was tithed), and along with grape and date syrup, was plentiful and would later be exported to other countries (Eze 27:17). Thus it provided both nourishment and sweetness.

“ For I will not go up among you, for you are a stiffnecked people, lest I consume you in the way.” An angel will go before them. But this time it is because Yahweh will not, lest because of their obstinacy and perverseness He be tempted to smite them. In other words they had lost out. His presence would not be so close and intimate. Their sin with the molten calf had burned deep. (However later the situation will be reversed at the intercession of Moses).

Exo 33:4-6

‘And when the people heard these evil tidings they mourned. And no man put on his ornaments. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to the children of Israel, You are a stiffnecked people. If I go up among you for one moment I will consume you. Therefore now put off your ornaments permanently from you, that I may know what to do to you.” And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onwards.” ”

The people were upset by this bad news. They were deeply saddened, and revealed their repentance by leaving off their ornaments (armlets, bracelets, earrings) as a display of mourning. It was a hopeful sign that they were recognising their need for full dedication to Yahweh, for their ornaments would undoubtedly have had a religious significance. Possibly they hoped that by removing all their talismans and mascots they would win back Yahweh’s favour. Or possibly they had even learned the lesson about religious symbols and recognised that they must have no more to do with them. Such religious symbols will regularly be seen as an indication of backsliding in the future. See Jdg 8:22-27 where their use results in going astray; Hos 2:13 where they are connected with idolatrous worship; see also Eze 7:19-20; exe 16:17; 23:40. Christians today equally do themselves spiritual; harm when they wear or use lucky mascots and talismans.

This action brought Yahweh to speak to them again through Moses. He reminded them of their perversity as revealed in all the incidents surrounding the incident of the molten calf. Indeed He knows that they are such that He would inevitably at some point consume them. So it would not be fair on them for Him to remain near.

However, He approved of their putting off their ornaments. It was their talisman earrings that had been part of the cause of their downfall (Exo 32:2-3). Thus they should put off permanently for the future all that might be a cause of offence in order to remind Him of their continual penitence, so that He would know how to behave towards them. And they obeyed and from that day on wore no ornaments. This was possibly why Yahweh did not fully carry out His threat.

We are probably justified in seeing here a situation parallel with that in Gen 35:1-4. There is here also a putting off of the old ways and the old idols, and a turning in full dedication to Yahweh.

“ Mount Horeb.” Another mountain in the Sinai group. The whole area immediately surrounding Sinai was called Horeb.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Exo 33:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:

Exo 33:2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:

Exo 33:3 Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.

Exo 33:3 Comments – God will not dwell in the midst of sin, lest His wrath consume them. Moses intercedes for Israel’s sins again in Exo 32:31-32. Note:

Exo 32:31-32, “And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.”

Exo 33:13-15, “Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”

Exo 34:9, “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.”

Exo 33:4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.

Exo 33:5 For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.

Exo 33:6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.

Exo 33:7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.

Exo 33:7 Comments – Note that the Tabernacle was patterned from a vision on the mount, but a temporary tent was built until it was constructed.

Exo 33:8 And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.

Exo 33:9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses.

Exo 33:9 Comments – Moses stood inside the Tabernacle and the glory cloud descended without, like Moses in the cleft of rock (Exo 33:22-23) and Elijah in the cave (1Ki 19:9-18, esp. Exo 33:13).

1Ki 19:13, “And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?”

Exo 33:10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.

Exo 33:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

Exo 33:11 Comments – The Lord did not speak to Moses with dreams and visions as He did with the prophets. He spoke to him audibly as a man hears the voice of another man speaking. God originally intended to talk with man face to face in the Garden, for He walked with Adam in the Garden in the cool of the day (Gen 3:8). However, the Fall hindered this method and caused God to seek ways of speaking to men. From then on, He spoke to men with dreams and visions.

Exo 33:12 And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.

Exo 33:13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

Exo 33:13 Comments – In an earthly relationship, a person only opens up himself to a true friend in whom he has come to love and trust. So, does God wait for us to seek Him and be faithful until He is able to trust us with His presence. Did not the Lord call Paul the apostle and give him His anointing after he was found faithful (see 1Ti 1:12)? Only then will the Lord begin to open up our understanding into a deeper relationship with Him. This intimate relationship is not for those who are show to seek the Lord in their lives. He reserves His secrets for those who seek Him with passion.

1Ti 1:12, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;”

In Exo 33:13 Moses knows that he cannot perform God’s will of taking the land of Canaan without God’s presence. In this passion, God reveals Himself in a way that no other person has seen God. God shows to Moses “the way” by first telling him to hew out two more tablets of stone. God then gives Moses the Ten Commandments and explained that if he would follow these laws, he would prosper in the way in which God was guiding him.

Exo 33:14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

Exo 33:15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.

Exo 33:15 Comments – Once Moses had experienced the presence of God on the Mount he did not want to be without it. He wanted God’s presence with him every where he went.

Exo 33:16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.

Exo 33:17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Sorrow of the People over their Sins
v. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it. The intercession of Moses in behalf of the children of Israel had been successful: the Lord, in accordance with the promise given to the patriarchs, did not destroy the people, did not even withdraw the special Messianic feature of the promise, although His pardon, for the present, was limited.
v. 2. And I will send an angel before thee, Cf Exo 32:34; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:
v. 3. unto a land flowing with milk and honey, distinguished for its extraordinary fruitfulness; for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people; lest I consume thee in the way. Because they had shown themselves a people with a rigid neck, Exo 32:9, as incorrigible as a stubborn draught-animal, therefore the Lord, for the time being, withdrew His presence from their midst. His purpose was to lead the people to a proper estimate of their guilt and thus to full repentance; for as it was, their willful transgressions continually challenged destruction. This announcement had the desired effect.
v. 4. And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned, they showed their deep sorrow by putting on the garments of mourning; and no man did put on him his ornaments. The repentance was general and sincere.
v. 5. For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiff-necked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment and consume thee; that had been the Lord’s intention when His anger first flared up, Exo 32:10 ; therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. The Lord demanded this evidence of sincere repentance; for if they had refused and He had appeared in their midst for as much as a moment, their total destruction would have resulted.
v. 6. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the Mount Horeb. From this time on, from Mount Horeb onwards, the children of Israel discarded rings, bracelets, and all other jewelry, as in a period of mourning, to remind themselves always of the guilt which they had loaded upon themselves through similar ornaments at Mount Horeb.
v. 7. And Moses took the tabernacle, his own tent, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the “tent of meeting. ” Until matters were adjusted between the Lord and the people and the building of the Sanctuary could be undertaken, his own tent had to serve the purpose. The people were to become more deeply conscious of their guilt and of their separation from Jehovah, and yet Moses wanted to keep the way open for the renewal of the covenant, by giving the people an opportunity to keep in touch with Jehovah. And it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out unto the Tabernacle of the Congregation which was without the camp. This was the first step in bringing the penitent people to a new life, that individuals went out to consult with Jehovah, instead of following their own ideas and opinions.
v. 8. And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the Tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door and looked after Moses until he was gone into the Tabernacle. This was a second sign of repentance, the expression of reverence with which the people accompanied the going of Moses into the tent of meeting.
v. 9. And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the Tabernacle, the cloudy pillar, which served to show the way by day, descended and stood at the door of the Tabernacle; and the Lord, who was present in the pillar, talked with Moses.
v. 10. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the Tabernacle door, in the place which was afterward occupied by the altar of burnt offering. And all the people rose up and worshiped, every man in his tent door. That was the third proof of their sincerity and of their desire to enter into the former relations with Jehovah once more.
v. 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. It was not a communicating from a distance, nor through any mediating person or agency, but the perfect intercourse of God with the friend of God, although not in the full revelation of His glory. And he (Moses) turned again into the camp, after having communicated with God; but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tabernacle. To him, as an unmarried man, was entrusted the care of the Sanctuary by day and by night. We learn here that unfaithfulness, idolatry, excludes a person from the intercourse, from the fellowship with God, and that it is the will of God that all transgressors should turn to Him in sincere and earnest repentance.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION
THE THREAT OF GOD‘S WITHDRAWAL, AND THE HUMILIATION OF THE PEOPLE. The intercession of Moses, and his offer to sacrifice himself for his people had obtained from God some great concessions, viz.
1. That the people’s lives should be spared (Exo 32:14);
2. And that they should be led into Palestine (Exo 32:34) But a change had been introduced into the conditions under which the future journeys were to be made, somewhat obscurely indicated in the words”Behold, mine angel shall go before thee” (ibid.)which was now to be more distinctly set forth. “God’s angel” may mean his Presence in the Person of his Sonas it appears to mean in Exo 23:20-23or it may mean simply one of the created angelic host, which seems to be its sense in Exo 32:34, and in Exo 32:2 of this chapter. By Exo 32:2 and Exo 32:3 taken in combination it was rendered manifest, both to Moses and to the people (Exo 32:4), that they were threatened with the loss of God’s actual presence and personal protection during the remainder of their wanderings, and would have, instead of it, the mere guidance and help of an angel in the inferior sense of the word. This was felt to be “evil tidings” and the people consequently “mourned” and “stripped themselves of their ornaments” (Exo 32:6). Real penitence at last entered their hearts, and led to self-abasement.
Exo 33:1
The Lord said unto Moses. In continuation of what he had said in Exo 32:33, Exo 32:34, but possibly at another time; and with the object of fully explaining what had been meant in Exo 32:34. The land which I sware unto Abraham. See Gen 12:7; Gen 13:15; Gen 15:18, etc.
Exo 33:2
I will send an angel before thee. Note the change from “my angel” (Exo 32:34) to “an angel;” which, however, would still have been ambiguous, but for what follows in Exo 33:3. The angel of God’s presence is “an angel” in Exo 23:20. I will drive out. The whole covenant had fallen with Israel’s infraction of it, and it was for God to retract or renew his part of it as it pleased him. He here of his free grace renews the promise to drive out the Canaanitish nations. Compare Exo 23:23-31.
Exo 33:3
Unto a land. Exo 33:2 is parenthetic, and Exo 33:3 coheres with Exo 33:1“Go up hence, thou and the people, unto the land which I sware unto Abrahamunto a land flowing,” etc. On the milk and honey of Canaan, see the comment upon Exo 3:8. For I will not go up in the midst of thee. At length there was an end of ambiguityGod’s purpose was made plainthe people had shown themselves unfit for his near presence, and he would withdraw himself. So it would be best even for them; since, if they were about to show- themselves as perverse in the future as they had in the past, his near presence could only lead to their entire destruction. Some day they would so provoke him, that he would consume them in the way.
Exo 33:4
When the people heard. Moses had communicated to the people what God had said to him. They felt it to be evil tidingsthey woke up at last to a feeling of the ineffable value of the privileges which they bad hitherto enjoyedhis guidance by the pillar of the cloud (Exo 13:21)his counsel, if there were need to ask anything (Exo 15:25)his aid in the day of battle (Exo 17:8-13)his near presence, by day and by night, constantly (Exo 13:22)and they dreaded a change, which they felt must involve a loss, and one the extent of which they could not measure. “An angel” is a poor consolation when we are craving for Jehovah! So the people mournedfelt true sorrowwere really troubled in their heartsand, to show their penitence, ceased to wear their customary ornaments. These may have consisted of armlets, bracelets, and even, perhaps, anklets, all of which were worn by men in Egypt at this period.
Exo 33:5
For the Lord had said unto Moses, etc. Rather, “And the Lord said unto M.” (so most recent commentators, as Keil, Kalisch, etc.) The message was sent to the people after their repentance, and in reply to it. It was not, however, as our version makes it, a threat of destruction, but only a repetition of the statement made in Exo 33:2, that, if God went up with them, the probable result would be their destruction. Translate”Ye are a stiff-necked people; were I for one moment to go up in the midst of thee, I should destroy thee,” Put off thy ornaments. The command seems strange, when we had just been told that “no man did put on him his ornaments” (Exo 33:4) but the word translated put off probably means “lay aside altogether.” The intention was to make their continued disuse of the ornaments a test of their penitence.
Exo 33:6
The people accepted the test and stripped themselves of their ornamentsi.e; ceased to wear them henceforward. By the Mount Horeb. Rather, “from Mount Horeb.” From and after this occurrence at Horeb (= Sinai), the Israelites wore no ornaments, in token of their continued contrition for their apostasy
HOMILETICS
Exo 33:1-6
The hiding of God’s face from man.
When God hides away his face from his people, it may be
I. AS A JUDGMENT. It was as a judgment that God separated between himself and man after the Fall, and “drove man forth” from the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:24). It was as a judgment that he withdrew from Saul, and “answered him not, neither by dreams, by Urim, nor by prophets” (1Sa 28:6). When he “hid his face” from David, and forgot all his misery and trouble, it was because David had offended him by the grievous sin into which he had fallen. This, again, was a judgment. Of a similar character was his “removal of Israel out of his sight” (2Ki 17:23) in the reign of Hoshea, and his “casting of Jerusalem and Judah out of his sight” (2Ki 24:20), in the reign of Zedekiah. And so, when, at the present day, he ceases to make his light shine upon us, withdrawing, as it were, behind a cloud, and no longer shedding the brightness of his radiance upon our soulsit may be, it sometimes is, in judgment. Our sins separate between us and him. They raise the barrier which conceals him from us. They constitute the cloud which shuts him out from our sight. And he judges us for them. Or, the withdrawal may be made
II. AS AN ACT OF MERCY. When Jesus “did not many miracles” at Capernaum “because of their unbelief,” it was in mercy. When he retired to Galilee, and “walked no more in Jewry,” it was in mercy. When he spake in parables, “that hearing they might not understand,” it was in mercy. Our responsibilities are co-ordinate with the light vouchsafed us; and the more God reveals himself to us, the more he makes his presence manifest, the greater the peril which we incur. Unless his near presence purifies us and spiritualises us, it deadens us. Two disciples were the nearest to Jesusone “lay upon his breast,” the other habitually “dipped with him in the dish” one was “the beloved disciple,” the other was “the traitor.” In either case, the withdrawal is properly regarded
III. AS A GROUND FOR SADNESS. “The people mourned when they heard the evil tidings.” Justly, for, if it was-in mercy, how sad that they should need such a mercy! How sad that to be removed further from God should be a mercy to them! And, if it was in judgment, how much more sad that their conduct should have brought upon them such a judgmenthave caused God to withdraw himselfhave led him to punish them by banishment from his near presence! What real satisfaction is there in existence except his presence? Whom have we in heaven but him, or who is there upon earth that we can desire in comparison with him? In him is life; “in his presence is fulness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore.” If we lose him, we lose all; if we are shut out, even for a time, from him, we lose more than we can express. lie is to our spirits more than the sun to all material things. “In him we live, and move, and have our being.” Happily for us, while we live, we may recover his favour; we may prevail on him once more to “lift up the light of his countenance upon us.” Mourning, self-abasement, real heart-felt sorrow for sin will in every case find acceptance with him for his Son’s sake, and obtain for us a restoration of the light of his presence.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Exo 33:1-3. And the Lord said unto Moses, &c. One would imagine, that this was a repetition of what is said in the 34th verse of the last chapter; to which is added (Exo 33:4.) a detail of the consequences which the declaration of God (Exo 33:1-3.) had upon the people. In this view it should be rendered, now the Lord had said unto Moses, Depart, go, &c. The Almighty disclaims the people, and speaks of them only as brought up out of Egypt by Moses; see ch. Exo 32:7. And though, in consequence of the intercession of Moses, he determines to fulfil his promise, and to give them the land which he sware unto Abraham; yet he refuses to go up with them himself, lest their refractoriness and continued disobedience should occasion their immediate and total destruction: he promises, however, to send an angel before them; a messenger or minister of an inferior order; from which it is evident, that the angel mentioned in the preceding chapters, as going before and conducting the Israelites, was, as we have had occasion often to observe, JEHOVAH himself, the MESSIAH, or Angel of the covenant. Compare these verses with ch. Exo 23:20-21.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

SECOND SECTION
Stricter Separation between Jehovah and the People. Removal of Moses Tentthe Provisional Tabernacleout of the Camp. The Gracious Token
Exo 33:1-23
A.appointment of an angel to be israels leader, instead of jehovahs immediate guidance
Exo 33:1-6
1And Jehovah said unto Moses, Depart and go up [Away, go up] hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which [of which] I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: 2And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: 3Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people: lest I consume thee in the way. 4And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned, and no man did put 5on him his ornaments. For Jehovah had said [And Jehovah said] unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiff-necked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee [were I to go up in the midst of thee one moment, I should consume thee]: therefore now pu off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. 6And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, by the mount Horeb [from Mount Horeb onward].
b.removal of moses tent, as a sort of traditional tabernacle, before the camp. The theocratic disciplinary chastisement
Exo 33:7-11
7And Moses took the tabernacle [tent], and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation [tent of meeting]. And it came to pass, that every one which [who] sought Jehovah went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation [tent of meeting], which was without the camp. 8And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle [tent], that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, untilhe was gone into the tabernacle [tent]. 9And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle [tent], the cloudy pillar [pillar of cloud] descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle [tent], and Jehovah talked with Moses. 10And all the people saw the cloudy pillar [pillar of cloud] stand [standing] at the tabernacle door [door of the tent]: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in [at] his tent 11door. And Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle [tent].1
Cjehovahs determination modified in consequence of moses intercession. the people have a share in the grace shown to moses
Exo 33:12-23
12And Moses said unto Jehovah, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom [him whom] thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now, therefore, I pray thee, if [13Now therefore, if indeed] I have found grace in thy sight, show me now [I pray thee] thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. 14And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 15And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry [take] us not up hence. 16For wherein shall it be known here [whereby now shall it be known] that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be [with us, and that we shall be] separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon 17the face of the earth? And Jehovah said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. 18And he said, I beseech thee, shew me [said, Shew me, I pray thee] thy glory. 19And he said, I will make all my goodness [excellence] pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee: and will [I will] be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20And he said, Thou canst not see my face, for there shallnoman [forman shall not] see me, and live. 21And Jehovah said, Behold there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a [the] rock: 22And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23And I will take away mine [my] hand, and thou shalt see my back parts [back]: but my face shall not be seen.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Exo 33:7-11. We have left the A. V. substantially unchanged out of deference to the uniform translation of the versions and commentators. But the fact ought to be noticed that the verbs in this section are Future verbs throughout. This fact has an important bearing on the exegesis of the passage.
There are three opinions about this tent: (1) That it is Moses own tent. (2) That it is some old sacred tent used provisionally as a sanctuary. (3) That it is the real tabernacle, but that the passage is out of place. The latter hypothesis, of course, should be adopted only as a last resort. Against both the others it is to be said: (a) The phrase the tent is not easily to be accounted for. If it was Moses tent, why not , his tent? If another, nowhere else hinted at, why so indefinite a designation of it? As Rosenmller pertinently observes, it cannot well be Moses own tent, since he is represented as going into it only for the special purpose of communing with God. (b) Even on either of these two hypotheses there is an interruption in the narrative as real, if not as strange, as on the theory that we have here an account of what was done with the real tabernacle before it was built. Exo 33:12 is clearly a resumption of Exo 33:3Moses intercession with Jehovah. That Exo 33:7-11 should here intervene, not by way of an announcement on Jehovahs part of His purpose, but as a historical account of the ordinary subsequent fact, is extremely unnatural, especially as at the close of it, the same tone of entreaty and personal intercourse is resumed. (c) It seems improbable that anything but the real Tent of meeting should have been called such before the real one was built. (d) The fact that the verbs in this section are future furnishes a natural solution of the whole difficulty. So far as I have observed, no one has noticed this fact at all except Knobel and Bttcher (Lehrbuch der Heb. Sprache, II., p. 162). Knobel simply refers to the case in Exo 15:5 as a parallel. But there, he says correctly, the future is used as a graphic form for the Present. This is an explanation not satisfactory here, where there is no poetry, and where the very uniformity and frequency of the Future verbs are sufficient to overthrow any such theory. Bttcher more plausibly classes this among the instances in which customary past actions are described by the use of the Future. But even on this assumption we get no relief from the various perplexities above described.
Now by simply translating the Futures as Futures we at once see light. We thus make it a continuation of Exo 33:5 (Exo 33:6 being parenthetical). The reasons for so translating are simple and cogent: (1) It is the most natural and obvious way to render the verbs. The burden of proof rests with those who render them otherwise. (2) It relieves us of the necessity of supposing that the section is out of place. (3) It relieves us of the necessity of drawing on our imagination for the tent so mysteriously introduced. It is neither his (Moses) tent, nor some unheard-of old tent with sacred associations, but simply the tent which has been so minutely described and which is soon to be built. (4) The section thus translated is in excellent ha mony with the context. In Exo 33:5 God says to the people, Put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. What follows in Exo 33:7-11 is a description of what God will do unto them. It contains a general direction concerning the way in which God is to lead the people. This is the question considered in Exo 32:34 to Exo 33:3. In what now follows (Exo 33:12 sqq.) the same theme is still discussed. Moses language, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people, obviously points back to Exo 33:1-3. What intervenes is only an expansion of the statement of Exo 33:3, I will not go up in the midst of thee. The antithesis is between going in the midst of, and going far off from. According to Exo 33:7 the tent was to be pitched afar off from the camp; there Jehovah might be sought and found: and there (Exo 33:9) Jehovah talked with Moses. We thus see that the angel spoken of in Exo 32:34 and Exo 33:2 is not set over against Jehovah as a substitute for Him: the angel himself is not to go in the midst of, but before the people.
It remains to notice some objections: (1) Joshua was to remain in the tent, whereas, according to Num 3:10; Num 3:38; Num 18:7, only the priests besides Moses could enter it.But to this it may be replied that, if Joshua, as Moses, confidential servant, could go with him to the mountain top when the law was to be given, he might accompany him into the sanctuary; and this fact would need no special mention in the passages just referred to.(2) The object of this tent seems to be different from that of the sanctuary; no mention is made of Aaron and the sacrifices, but only of Moses and the people going to it to meet with God.But this is all that it is necessary or proper to mention in this connection. And the same thing is also said of the real Tent of meeting; e. g., Exo 25:22, There [by the mercy-seat] I will meet, with thee [Moses]; Exo 29:43, And there [at the tabernacle] I will meet with the children of Israel.(3) These verses do not seem to be the language of Jehovah, being immediately preceded by the historical statement (Exo 33:6), the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments.This difficulty is easily removed by regarding Exo 33:6 as parenthetical, thus making Exo 33:7 sqq. a continuation of the directions begun in Exo 33:5. Examples of such a construction, in which a historical statement immediately connected with the topic treated of is interpolated in the midst of language quoted from another, are abundant. An exact parallel is found in Exo 4:4-5, And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. (And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:) That they may believe that the Lord hath.. appeared unto thee. Precisely so, Exo 4:7-8; Mat 9:6; Mar 2:10; Luk 5:24. In the passage before us the statement of Exo 33:6 is naturally introduced in immediate connection with the corresponding command of Exo 33:5.(4) The preceding objection seems to be strengthened by the consideration, that if Exo 33:7-11 are the words of Jehovah it is unnatural that both Jehovah and Moses should be spoken of here in the third person.But such changes of person are too numerous in Hebrew to occasion any serious perplexity. In Exo 33:5 itself we have an instance of a looseness of this sort. We read: Jehovah said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiff-necked people: were I [i. e., Moses is to say to the people, were I] to go up in the midst of thee, etc. The prophetical writings are full of similar instances of interchange of persons. In Exodus 34, as frequently elsewhere, we have also instances of Jehovah speaking of Himself in the third person, vid. Exo 33:10; Exo 33:14, Exo 33:23.(5). The real tabernacle was not in fact set up at a distance from the camp, but in the centre of it, according to Num 2:2 sqq. But if we assume, as we must, that the sternness of Jehovahs regulations was relaxed in consequence of Moses importunate petition in Exo 33:12 sqq., there is no difficulty in the case.Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
This is one of the most mysterious chapters in all the three books of the covenant. It characterizes the Mosaic Middle Ages in the Old Testament as essentially a theocratic conflict of the pure law with the guilt incurred by the people through their idolatry. The people are pardoned; but their pardon is hierarchically conditioned. The first limitation consists in the fact that Jehovah will not go in the midst of the people to Canaan, because in that case they would expose themselves to condemnation through their transgressions; but that He will go before them by sending, or in the form of, an angel. The second limitation consists in the fact that Moses removes the provisional tabernacle out of the camp, by which act even the camp of the people of God, as being a place needing purification, is distinguished from the sanctuary. The third limitation consists in the fact that Moses himself, needing on account of his vocation a more distinct revelation, is to behold, in the angel, the face of Jehovahthe gracious form in which Jehovah reveals Himself; yet only in such a way that he is to see the glory of Jehovah in this apocalyptic form not in a front view, as the face of the face, but from behind, i.e., in the after-splendor of the sudden phenomenal effects produced by Jehovah, and rapidly passing by the prophets covered eyes. The first of these limitations marks the veiled revelation; the second, the increased difficulty of holding communion with God; the third, the fact that the knowledge of sacred things is removed from the sphere of intuition,is to be not so much an original perception as a matter of practical experience.In his hunt for contradictions Knobel imagines that he has discovered several contradictions in this chapter.According to the Elohist, he says, Jehovah was going to dwell in the midst of Israel in the tabernacle; otherwise this account. According to the Elohist, he says again, the tabernacle was made from contributions; whereas here the ornaments delivered up were used in building the tabernacle (!). Here, then, the real tabernacle is implied to be in existence before the time when it was afterwards built. According to the Elohist only the priests, besides Moses, could enter the tabernacle; here Joshua is represented as dwelling in it, etc.
a. Appointment of the Angel. Exo 33:1-6
Exo 33:1. Away, go up.Since the tables of the law were broken, and the tabernacle was not yet built (for the erection of it presupposed the existence of the new tables), the pardon of the people appears again in this command as a very limited one. God still says, Thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, etc. (as in Exo 32:7). And because Jehovah is still determined to keep His word and to give the land of Canaan to Abrahams seed, He will also help them to conquer it. He will send an angel of terror before the marching host to drive out the Canaanites, so that they shall come into the land that flows with milk and honey (vid. iii. 8). But it is not said that this angel is to be the angel of Jehovah in the most special sense of that term, the angel of His presence, or of the covenant (the one in whom Jehovahs name is, according to Exo 23:21); for the revelation of God has veiled itself again. The people obtain primarily only life, the advantage over the Canaanites, and the promise of the land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey, to shame them for their ingratitude. On the other hand Jehovah declares, I will not go up in the midst of thee, etc. This, too, like the promise of the angel, is an obscure utterance. At all events, it implies the temporary suspension of legislation and of the building of the tabernacle. But after the people repent, the form of the angel becomes richer in significance, and access to the tabernacle is refused to the people only as a common matter. The reason assigned is, that the people in their stiff-neckedness cannot endure the immediate presence of Jehovah without incurring a sentence of destruction through their continual transgressions. This announcement of the obscuration of revelationof the curtailment of the promisefalls on the people as a heavy infliction. Therein is recognized Israels religious temperament, as also in the first symbolic expression of the common repentance of the people, Exo 33:4. How many heathen nations would have rejoiced, if God had declared that He would not dwell in the midst of them! This recognition of the fact that the people are in mourning and do not put on their ornaments as at other times, is not followed (in Exo 33:5), as Keil conceives, by another threat from Jehovah. It is nearly the same language as that in Exo 33:3, but yet is now used to give comfort. It would be the destruction of them, if He should go with them in the fullness of His revealed glory, in full fellowship, because this is simply beyond their capacity, because they are born and grown up as a stiff-necked people. Here is found a key to the understanding of the Catholic Middle Ages, and of the parables of our Lord in Matthew 13. How many a pietistic Christian, in consequence of an excess of religious fellowship and edification, in connection with a coarse nature, has fallen !Nevertheless Jehovah gives them hope by turning into a precept their repentant act of laying off their ornaments. So then the children of Israel strip themselves of their ornaments. We translate the words , on account of mount Horeb, i. e., on account of the guilt here contracted, and of the divine punishment denounced from Horeb.2 Horeb rests on them now as a burden. As to the explanation, from mount Horeb onwards, one cannot but ask, what is the terminus ad quem? The terminus a quo also would be open to misunderstanding. They put on none of their rings, bracelets, jewels, or other ornaments, as was done on festive occasions, but went about as mourners. During the time of mourning it was customary to avoid all pomp, and not to deck ones self again till it was over (Eze 24:17; Eze 26:16; Jdt 10:3 sq.) (Knobel).
b. Removal of the Tent of Revelation, or Central Text, as a sort of Traditional Tabernacle, before the Camp. The Theocratic Chastisement. Exo 33:7-11
The people are not restored to full communion with God; but in the person of Moses this is reserved even for the people. Hence the new, provisional order of things. Moses removes his tent outside of the camp. Emphasis is laid on the fact that it was set up far from the camp, and also, that it was called by Moses the tent of meeting, showing that it was not the tabernacle itself which had been before prescribed. The same is also shown by the fact that Joshua remains permanently in this tent to keep guard, and that Moses keeps up the connection between the camp and the tent by remaining a part of the time in the camp, doubtless to maintain order, and a part of the time in the tent of meeting with Jehovah, to receive His revelations and commands.3 Thus Moses has secured a new stand point designed to bring the penitent people to a renewed life. The people must go out to him outside of the camp (Heb 13:13), and there seek Jehovah. The effect of this is shown, first, in the fact that individuals among the people go out in order to seek and consult Jehovah at the tent of meeting (Exo 33:7); next, in the expression of reverence with which all the people accompanied Moses going to the tent (Exo 33:8); but especially in the fact that all the people cast themselves on their faces, when the mysterious pillar of cloud appeared before the tent, i. e., where at a later time the altar of burnt-offering stood, and beyond the cloud Jehovah talked with Moses face to face, i. e., in the perfect intercourse of God with the friend of God, not in the full revelation of His glory (vid. Exo 33:19). Thus the people are consecrated in preparation for the restoration of the covenant, vid. Num 12:8; Deu 5:4. Knobel finds here again a contradiction. He says, Reference is made not to Moses tent (LXX., Syr., Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Piscator, Baumgarten), or to another sanctuary used before the completion of the tabernacle (Clericus, J. D. Michaelis, Vatablus, Rosenmller), but the tabernacle, etc. That the camp must from the first have had a central tent, religious head-quarters, is in this chase after contradictions never dreamed of.4 A strange assumption it is, too, that the people delivered up their ornaments to Moses to build the tabernacle with.
c. Modification of Jehovahs Determination in consequence of Moses Intercession. Exo 33:12-23
Moses humble request that Jehovah would express Himself more definitely respecting the promise of angelic guidance is founded partly on the progress of repentance manifested by his people, but partly and especially on the assurance of tavor which he had personally received. As before he would not hear to a destruction of the people in which he should not be involved, so now he cannot conceive that he has found grace in Jehovahs eyes for himself alone; rather, in this personal favor he finds a reference to his peoplea hopeful prospect which he must become acquainted with. But he at once draws the inference that Jehovah must again recognize as His people those whom He has before called thy (Moses) people [Exo 32:7]. If I am Thine, let the people be Thine alsothis is again the sacerdotal, mediatorial thought. Here [Exo 33:13] is to be noticed the difference between [nation] and [people]. The former term, derived from , denotes a feature of nature, in which is involved the contrast of mountain and valley; the latter, derived from , denotes a commonwealth ethically gathered and bound together. In reply to this petition Moses receives the declaration, My presence [lit. face] shall go. The indefinite angel (Exo 33:2), therefore, now becomes the face of Jehovah, i. e., at least, the angel by whom He reveals Himself, the one often manifested in Genesis and afterwards (angel of God, angel of Jehovah, an angel, Jehovahs face, vid. Comm. on Genesis, p. 386 sqq.); for which reason Isaiah combines both notions and speaks of the angel of His face [ presence A. V.] in Isa 63:9. In Mal 3:1 occurs the expression, angel [A.V. messenger] of the covenant. Moreover God here no longer says, He shall go before thee, but he shall go, go out and give thee rest. Here, then, the discourse is about something more than milk and honey. But the form of revelation is still obscure, and the promise is connected with the person of Moses, though now the people are at the same time included. But Moses is consistent with himself, and firmly seizing hold of Jehovahs promise, he again at once gives it a turn in favor of the people. He takes it for granted that, with him, the people also have found grace with Jehovah; thereon he founds the entreaty that this may not remain concealed, that Jehovah may make it manifest by distinguishing him and his people, in His guidance of them, from all other nations on earth. To this also Jehovah assents, but explains that He does it for Moses sake. But Moses in his prayer grows bolder and bolder, and now prays, Let me see thy glory! Heretofore all of Moses requests have had almost more reference to the good of the people than to his own. We must therefore conjecture that there is such a reference here. But it is entirely excluded by Keil, when he says, What Moses desires, then, is to behold the glory, i.e., the glorious essence of God. But the two notions, glory and glorious essence, must not be confounded. The glory ( is the apocalyptic splendor of the divine essence, and is to be distinguished from this essence itself; it is the revelation of God in the totality of His attributes, such as that of which a dim vision terrified Isaiah (Isaiah 6), and such as was manifested in its main features in Christ (Joh 1:14). According to Keil, Moses desires a view such as cannot be realized except in the other world; but there is nothing about that here. Yet it is true that the revelation of Jehovah in His glory is fulfilled in the N. T. in Christ. And Moses unconsciously aims at this very thing, and as much in behalf of his people as of himself. For only in the fulfilment of the promises can Jehovahs glory be revealed. This seems indeed to be contradicted by Jehovahs declaration, Thou canst not see my face, for man shall not see me, and live But we are to infer from this that the notion of the perfect revelation of Gods glory in the future life, of the great Epiphany, is to be sharply distinguished from the revelation of the glory in its original form. This distinction, nevertheless, belonged to a later time than that of Moses. But this original form of the glory, the grace revealed in the N. T., which is what Moses must have had chiefly in mind, he was to behold at least in a figure. So then his petition is granted according to the measure of his capacity, while at the same time he is made to understand that Gods glory in its perfect revelation transcends his petition and comprehension.And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee (should we render beauty instead of goodness? The Greek includes the good in his notion of the beautiful; the Hebrew, the beautiful in the goodbut not first or chiefly the beautiful5). Accordingly He will expound to him Jehovahs name, whose most essential significance is eternal fidelity in His eternal gracea second promise, whose fulfilment is related in Exo 34:5 sqq. When now Jehovah further says, Thou canst not see my face, reference is made to His face in the highest sense, as also to His glory, which means the same thing, or even to the visibility of God Himself.For man shall not see me, and live That here there is an occult intimation of existence in another world, should not be overlooked. A glory which no one in this life sees, or a view which can be attained only by losing this life, certainly could not be spoken of, if it were not mans goal in the future life to attain it. Preparation is now made for the vision which Jehovah is going to vouchsafe to Moses. Moses is to stand in a cavity of a rock. Jehovahs glory is to pass by. But while it is coming and passing by, Jehovah is to hold His hand over his eyes until His glory has passed by, lest he be overcome by the sight, and perish. But then he may look after the glory that has passed, and see it on the back side in the lingering splendor of its effects, i. e., see all the goodness of Jehovah, the eternity of His grace. Who, moreover, could see Him in His frightfully glorious appearance and dominion without being crushed and snatched away from earth ! When Christ, uttering the words, It is finished, saw the full glory of God on His cross, He bowed His head and died. Over His eyes, too, was gently placed the hand of Omnipotence, as He cried out, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? So the hand of Omnipotence covers the eye of the pious man with fear and terror, with sleep and faintness, with night and darkness, whilst the heavenly day of Gods glory passes over the worlds stage in His light and in His judgments; afterwards faith discerns that everything was goodness and grace.
On the realization of the vision, which took place after Moses ascended the mountain, vid., chap. 34. Probably Moses saw beforehand in images the glorious meaning of Jehovahs proclamation. Of Jehovahs grace in its manifestation nothing more can be said than that Moses himself saw only the after-gleam of the mysterious revelation; yet it was the after-gleam of the glory. But it is a wonderfully grand and beautiful fact, that Moses the law-giver, and Elijah the zealot for the law, both received in a cave in frightful Sinai the vision of the fulness of goodness and grace, the vision of the gentle rustling 6the vision of the Gospel. Is this the same Sinai which has been so often pictured by medival doctors and ascetics? How He loved the people, with His fiery law in His hand, we read in Deu 33:3.7
Exo 33:12. Thou hast said, I know thee by name.Not every word of Jehovah to Moses needs to have been reported beforehand. According to Knobel, interpreting as usual with a literalness amounting to caricature, this means, Thou art my near and intimate acquaintance. The name is in Gods mind the idea of the being, and accordingly this declaration of Jehovahs expresses a very special, personal election of Moses. But Moses knows also, according to Exo 33:13, that his election and the grace shown to him involve a determination to promote the good of his people.
Exo 33:15. He will be led to Canaan only under the direction of the gracious countenance, or not at all. Better to die in the wilderness than to reach his goal without that guidance.
Exo 33:18. On the climax in reference to the seeing of Jehovah comp. Keil, II. p. 236; but observe the distinction between Gods glory and His essence, as also between the primary vision of His glory in the New Testament and the vision of His glory in the other world.
Exo 33:19. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious [Lange: I have been gracious, or I am gracious to whom I shall be gracious]. The LXX. invert the order of time; I will be gracious to whom I am gracious The Vulg. led to Luthers translation [Wem ich gndig bin, dem bin ich gndigI am gracious to him to whom I am gracious] by rendering, miserebor cui voluero. Paul, in Rom 9:15, follows the LXX. At all events the text, taken literally, does not involve an expression of absolute freedom of choice, still less of caprice. It distinguishes two periods of time, and thus becomes an interpretation of the name Jehovah, which comprehends the three periods of time. Accordingly the Hebrew expression affirms: My grace is in such a sense consistent and persistent that, wherever I show it, it is based on profound reasons belonging to the past. The expression in the LXX. implies essentially the same: As I am gracious to one to-day, so will I show myself gracious to him continually. Luthers translation restores the distinction between grace and compassion, which the Vulgate has obliterated.8 Concerning the cave on Sinai, as well as the smaller one situated lower down, in which Moses, according to tradition, and Elijah, according to conjecture, stood, vid. Keil, II. p. 239. 9

Footnotes:
[1] [Exo 33:7-11. We have left the A. V. substantially unchanged out of deference to the uniform translation of the versions and commentators. But the fact ought to be noticed that the verbs in this section are Future verbs throughout. This fact has an important bearing on the exegesis of the passage.
There are three opinions about this tent: (1) That it is Moses own tent. (2) That it is some old sacred tent used provisionally as a sanctuary. (3) That it is the real tabernacle, but that the passage is out of place. The latter hypothesis, of course, should be adopted only as a last resort. Against both the others it is to be said: (a) The phrase the tent is not easily to be accounted for. If it was Moses tent, why not , his tent? If another, nowhere else hinted at, why so indefinite a designation of it? As Rosenmller pertinently observes, it cannot well be Moses own tent, since he is represented as going into it only for the special purpose of communing with God. (b) Even on either of these two hypotheses there is an interruption in the narrative as real, if not as strange, as on the theory that we have here an account of what was done with the real tabernacle before it was built. Exo 33:12 is clearly a resumption of Exo 33:3Moses intercession with Jehovah. That Exo 33:7-11 should here intervene, not by way of an announcement on Jehovahs part of His purpose, but as a historical account of the ordinary subsequent fact, is extremely unnatural, especially as at the close of it, the same tone of entreaty and personal intercourse is resumed. (c) It seems improbable that anything but the real Tent of meeting should have been called such before the real one was built. (d) The fact that the verbs in this section are future furnishes a natural solution of the whole difficulty. So far as I have observed, no one has noticed this fact at all except Knobel and Bttcher (Lehrbuch der Heb. Sprache, II., p. 162). Knobel simply refers to the case in Exo 15:5 as a parallel. But there, he says correctly, the future is used as a graphic form for the Present. This is an explanation not satisfactory here, where there is no poetry, and where the very uniformity and frequency of the Future verbs are sufficient to overthrow any such theory. Bttcher more plausibly classes this among the instances in which customary past actions are described by the use of the Future. But even on this assumption we get no relief from the various perplexities above described.
Now by simply translating the Futures as Futures we at once see light. We thus make it a continuation of Exo 33:5 (Exo 33:6 being parenthetical). The reasons for so translating are simple and cogent: (1) It is the most natural and obvious way to render the verbs. The burden of proof rests with those who render them otherwise. (2) It relieves us of the necessity of supposing that the section is out of place. (3) It relieves us of the necessity of drawing on our imagination for the tent so mysteriously introduced. It is neither his (Moses) tent, nor some unheard-of old tent with sacred associations, but simply the tent which has been so minutely described and which is soon to be built. (4) The section thus translated is in excellent ha mony with the context. In Exo 33:5 God says to the people, Put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. What follows in Exo 33:7-11 is a description of what God will do unto them. It contains a general direction concerning the way in which God is to lead the people. This is the question considered in Exo 32:34 to Exo 33:3. In what now follows (Exo 33:12 sqq.) the same theme is still discussed. Moses language, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people, obviously points back to Exo 33:1-3. What intervenes is only an expansion of the statement of Exo 33:3, I will not go up in the midst of thee. The antithesis is between going in the midst of, and going far off from. According to Exo 33:7 the tent was to be pitched afar off from the camp; there Jehovah might be sought and found: and there (Exo 33:9) Jehovah talked with Moses. We thus see that the angel spoken of in Exo 32:34 and Exo 33:2 is not set over against Jehovah as a substitute for Him: the angel himself is not to go in the midst of, but before the people.
It remains to notice some objections: (1) Joshua was to remain in the tent, whereas, according to Num 3:10; Num 3:38; Num 18:7, only the priests besides Moses could enter it.But to this it may be replied that, if Joshua, as Moses, confidential servant, could go with him to the mountain top when the law was to be given, he might accompany him into the sanctuary; and this fact would need no special mention in the passages just referred to.(2) The object of this tent seems to be different from that of the sanctuary; no mention is made of Aaron and the sacrifices, but only of Moses and the people going to it to meet with God.But this is all that it is necessary or proper to mention in this connection. And the same thing is also said of the real Tent of meeting; e. g., Exo 25:22, There [by the mercy-seat] I will meet, with thee [Moses]; Exo 29:43, And there [at the tabernacle] I will meet with the children of Israel.(3) These verses do not seem to be the language of Jehovah, being immediately preceded by the historical statement (Exo 33:6), the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments.This difficulty is easily removed by regarding Exo 33:6 as parenthetical, thus making Exo 33:7 sqq. a continuation of the directions begun in Exo 33:5. Examples of such a construction, in which a historical statement immediately connected with the topic treated of is interpolated in the midst of language quoted from another, are abundant. An exact parallel is found in Exo 4:4-5, And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. (And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:) That they may believe that the Lord hath.. appeared unto thee. Precisely so, Exo 4:7-8; Mat 9:6; Mar 2:10; Luk 5:24. In the passage before us the statement of Exo 33:6 is naturally introduced in immediate connection with the corresponding command of Exo 33:5.(4) The preceding objection seems to be strengthened by the consideration, that if Exo 33:7-11 are the words of Jehovah it is unnatural that both Jehovah and Moses should be spoken of here in the third person.But such changes of person are too numerous in Hebrew to occasion any serious perplexity. In Exo 33:5 itself we have an instance of a looseness of this sort. We read: Jehovah said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiff-necked people: were I [i. e., Moses is to say to the people, were I] to go up in the midst of thee, etc. The prophetical writings are full of similar instances of interchange of persons. In Exodus 34, as frequently elsewhere, we have also instances of Jehovah speaking of Himself in the third person, vid. Exo 33:10; Exo 33:14; Exo 33:23.(5). The real tabernacle was not in fact set up at a distance from the camp, but in the centre of it, according to Num 2:2 sqq. But if we assume, as we must, that the sternness of Jehovahs regulations was relaxed in consequence of Moses importunate petition in Exo 33:12 sqq., there is no difficulty in the case.Tr.]
[2][This seems to be an original interpretation of the phrase. Some understand it to moan: returning from Horeb to their camp; others (with A. V.): by Mount Horeb; but the most: from Mount Horeb onwards, i. e., the people from this time on refrained from using them. To say, from Mount Horeb, is certainly a very enigmatical way of saying on account of the sin committed at Mt. Horeb.Tr.]
[3][But where did he sleep and eat? Where was his proper abiding-place, if his own tent could be used only when he needed special revelations?Tr.]
[4][On this point vid. under Textual and Grammatical.Tr.]
[5][ is used unquestionably in both senses; but as our word goodness has a limited sense, we have substituted excellence in the translation, as comprehending both the notion of moral goodness and that of majesty.Tr.]
[6][This phrase, des sanften Sausens, is from Luthers translation of in l Kings Exo 19:12, ein stilles sanftes Sausen; in the A. V., a still small voice; literally, a voice of gentle stillness.Tr.]
[7][A somewhat free translation and inversion of the last part of Exo 33:2 and the first part of Exo 33:3, the former, moreover, of very doubtful meaning.Tr.]
[8][This discussion is singularly infelicitous. The two verbs are in the Hebrew both Future (the first made such by the Vav Consecutive), so that Langes statement, that the text distinguishes two periods of time, and his own translation, I have been (or am) gracious to whom I shall be gracious, convey a misrepresentation which it is yet impossible to impute either to his ignorance of Hebrew or to conscious unfairness. His comment on the analogous expression in Exo 3:14 is open to the same criticism. Vid. the note on p. 11. Apparently Langes theory of the meaning of the name and of the nature of the divine attributes has led him unconsciously to put into the Hebrew what cannot be got out of it.Tr.]
[9][This makes the impression, for which Keil is not responsible, that both Moses and Elijah have been supposed to have stood in the lower cave. There is no evidence of this. Comp. Robinson, I., p. 152 Palmer, Desert of the Exodus, pp. 166, 130.Tr.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS
Moses receives a command from the Lord to deliver to the people a message that he will not go with them; but he will not wholly leave them without a witness of his mercy, for he will send an angel before them. This chapter relates to us this message, and the effect it wrought on the minds of the people. Preventing grace opens a renewal of communion between the Lord and the people; and Moses obtains a promise of God’s presence with his people, and a special token of the Lord’s favour to himself.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

We shall have a lively sense of the awfulness of this message, when we call to mind what passed between God and his servant Moses in the Mount, when the Lord was giving him directions for the building and furniture of the tabernacle. This tabernacle was not begun; and, therefore, to bid the people go towards Canaan, before the tabernacle service was even set about, carried with it the strongest testimony of the divine displeasure. God will perform his promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; yet he will not grant them the visible tokens of his presence and favour. Reader! remark with me, that all blessings, in order to become blessings indeed, must be made such by the Lord himself sanctifying them, and making them sweet. See Deu_28:2-12; Deu_28:15-23 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The Presence Shall Enlighten the Way (for the New Year)
Exo 33:13-15

We have here:
I. An unenlightened prayer for light. A rash prayer, impatient, unwise, and of the kind which God never answers according to our pleasure. Show me now Thy way. He wanted to have the sealed book opened, unrolled and set before him that book in which God has written things to come.
The Lord is too merciful to let us look ahead. It is in mercy that He overthrows our predictions and mocks our guesses. It is nearly always the unexpected that appears. We know not anything about to-morrow we can only hope and trust: and it is better so. The uncertainties of life keep us sober, watchful, reverently humble and prayerful. They help to make us patient, brave, dutiful and religious. It would not help us to know the way that God is going to take with us.
II. The rash and inconsiderate prayer is answered in God’s larger wisdom. Show me what is coming, said Moses. And the voice replies, Only this much will I show thee. My presence shall go with you, and I will give thee rest. God strips the request of all that is presumptuous and unwise, and answers what remains. He denies the wish that would work mischief, and grants the sure blessing. It is a mercy that most of our prayers are dealt with in this manner. Faith and foolishness go hand in hand in most of our approaches to God. We should miss most of the best and highest things of life if God were to say yes to all our requests, and we should imbibe a great deal of poison in the course of life if He allowed us to drink every cup that we asked for. If the presence go with us, all will be well. In the desert there will be water springs, and in all barren and rugged places the green pastures of His love.
III. Now see how faith at once recognizes that this is the surest and best blessing, and eagerly asks that it may be given. Yes, cries Moses at the finish, that is what I need, just that and not the other thing Thy presence. If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
This will be the confession of every religious man and woman at the beginning of the year. We dare not trust ourselves; we cannot depend upon any of life’s uncertainties. If the past has taught us anything it is this: That we were weak when we thought ourselves strong, often most foolish when we deemed ourselves specially wise, most erring where we claimed infallibility, most disappointed where our calculations were most confident, and that we only acted wisely and well when we took hold of God’s hand and in trustful prayer let Him lead us.
J. G. Greenhough, Christian Festivals and Anniversaries, p. 10.
Exo 33:14
Many are quite conscious that the person has never yet appeared who can unlock for them and lead their way into the depths and hiding-places of their nature. Others are quite conscious that the presence of certain individuals gives them a totally new and different possession of their being…. If the presence of a gifted creature be so mysteriously helpful, what help must there be for us in the Divine Presence?
Dr. Pulsford, Quiet Hours, pp. 222 f.
I Will Give Thee Rest

Compare Nietzsche’s analysis in The Twilight of the Idols of spurious ‘peace of soul’. It may be the beginning of fatigue, the first shadow which the evening every sort of evening casts. Or a sign that the air is moist, that southern winds arise. Or unconscious gratitude for a good digestion or the quieting dawn of the convalescent to whom all things have a new taste and who is waiting in expectancy. Or the condition which follows upon a full gratification of our ruling passion, the agreeable feeling of a rare satiety. Or the senile weakness of our will, of our desires, of our vices. Or laziness, persuaded by conceit to deck itself out in moral guise.
God’s Presence and God’s Rest (Third Sunday After the Epiphany)
Exo 33:14

I. God’s Presence. Notice the promise of the text, ‘My presence shall go with thee’. Whatever the world may say, however men may scoff, there is something real in the presence of God.
( a ) God’s presence gives us safety. Whatever our work may be, in whatever land it may lie, however risky it may seem to men, if we have God’s presence with us we are truly safe.
( b ) God’s presence gives us also perfect strength. It was in the realization of that presence that David went forth to meet Goliath. If God is with you, you will have strength to be holy.
( c ) God’s presence gives strength to live as God would have us live.

( d ) God’s presence gives us the song. You remember the Psalmist’s words, ‘In Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore’. When the Lord Jesus Christ had ascended to heaven the disciples ‘returned to Jerusalem with their joy.’
II. God’s Rest. The rest God gave to Moses was not a rest of idleness without service, but a rest in service, and if you have God’s presence with you, you will find rest even in your busiest moments. You will find that you must be up and doing, that you cannot, you dare not, be idle, as, for every hour, you must give account to God; but in the midst of service, service which is tiring and oftentimes dispiriting, you will find that the presence of God will give you perfect rest.
III. The Condition of God’s Presence. God will not come and take possession of an unholy temple. The heavenly Dove will never dwell in a foul nest. If you want His presence you must come out from all that is evil and be separate, and then He will be a Father to you, and you His son or daughter. Do you know His presence? If you want to know it, you will know it Give yourself up to Him, wholly and entirely, for as you give yourself wholly you shall be holy. Holiness lies in being wholly Christ’s.
A New Year’s Promise (for New Year’s Day)
Exo 33:14

I. The Call to Service. Today there is a call to consecrate again ourselves and our time to the service of Almighty God: as this new year stretches before us all uncertain in its issue, to step out, upheld by the great resolve that by God’s help our feet shall be set upon a higher ridge than before, that we shall go across a battlefield where we shall not always be the vanquished, that our lives shall have less of self in them and more of God, that we will cast away some garment that impedes our every step and rise and come to Jesus, that we will take the wider views, look for larger horizons. Dim and misty and all uncertain lies before us this coming year. As you and I have sat upon some hill in the early morning, and have seen all the country covered with a mist, here and there perhaps some hill top or mountain standing out, so lies our life before us today. But read these words of the text into that life, and they will intershine it, will irradiate it and make it to glow with the purpose and the power of our God.
II. Freedom in Service. Freedom is a necessity if we would enter into the meaning of the words of our text. Freedom is not licence to live to self, but power to live to God. And how is the presence here spoken of manifested but through love? What are the desires that we are conscious of from time to time, desires for something better, something purer, something higher than we ourselves ever yet attained to what are these but God bending down to the soul to draw it up to Him, and the soul reaching up to God that it may answer to that attraction? In order that I may be able to render the free service of love, God has given me the power of refusing His love, and of refusing His service, in order that my service which is evoked by the love of God may be the service of a free and a willing man. So through the love of God raising in us an echo, the returning love of our soul, there comes the free service that we would render to God. In the family life and in the life of the family of God, first there comes the love, and then the love issues into the desire of obedience or of service on the part of the members of the family, and so that love of God that evokes my love in willing service is to me an abiding proof of the presence in me of One Who not only attracts but upholds, supports, uplifts me. And then there comes that mysterious guiding of the hand of God of which we must be conscious from time to time in our lives. Looking back, we can see that there has been something mysterious from time to time that has shaped and guided our life, and we recognize the finger-marks of God upon the life.
III. The Promised Rest. And the rest that is promised, what are we to understand by that?
( a ) Partakes of God’s character. If it is to come from God it is clear that it must partake of the character of God. When God rested from the work of creation, as we read, did it mean inactivity, or did it mean a passing on to further and still greater work? Our Lord has answered that question for us, ‘My Father worketh hitherto and I work’ work, progress in work, change in work. In active loving service there is rest for the spirit of man. There stands before us the Central Figure in the history of the world, and from His lips is coming the precious promise, ‘Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,’ and He goes on to tell us still, ‘Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls’. To take the yoke, the daily burden under the guiding hand of God, to do the Lord’s work that He sets for you and me today, to live the life of God by the power that God can give us thus may we find rest unto our souls. In doing the will of God alone is there rest for the soul of man. We look into the Garden of Gethsemane and we see the Lord battling there with all the evil weight of temptation, and we see at last the human will bending to the will of God the Father; then it is that the rest begins and the agony is over, ‘Nevertheless not My will but Thine be done’.
( b ) Sanctified by the presence of God. In proportion as we learn to recognize the presence of God with us we shall be able to bow our will before God. In that surrender and in the active service of God that follows depend upon it we shall experience the promised rest. Today once more we try by the power of God to prepare our hearts that the presence of God may be there. Let us rise to the height of our vocation! Try sometimes to take wider views, to look to more boundless horizons; not always to walk with our heads down and hearts heavy and lives depressed, but to look up into the sunshine.
References. XXXIII. 14. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii. No. 1583. J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons (9th series), p. 249. R. Higinbotham, Sermons, p. 84. C. Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxv. 1904, p. 22. C. Stanford, Central Truths, p. 227. XXXIII. 14, 15. T. G. Rooke, The Church in the Wilderness, p. 139. R. H. McKim, The Gospel in the Christian Year, p. 61. XXXIII. 15. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlviii. No. 2811. XXXIII. 18. W. Winn, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 262. R. Waddy Moss, The Discipline of the Soul, p. 219. XXXIII. 18, 19. H. Varley, Spiritual Light and Life, p. 113. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii. p. 264.
Exo 33:19
God’s goodness appeareth in two things, giving and forgiving.
Matthew Henry.
References. XXXIII. 19. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x. No. 553. XXXIII. 19-23. C. H. Osier, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 121. XXXIII. 23. R. Collyer, Where the Light Dwelleth, p. 249. XXXIV. 1-10, 27-35. A. B. Davidson, The Called of God, p. 129. XXXIV. 2. J. W. Mills, After Glow, p. 111.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

XXV
THE FEAST OF THE COVENANT, THE ASCENT OF MOSES AND JOSHUA INTO THE MOUNTAIN, THE BREACH OF THE COVENANT, THE COVENANT RESTORED BUT MODIFIED
Exo 24:9-34:35

1. What is this lesson and its outline?
Ans. The lesson is from Exo 24:9 to the end of that chapter, with a mere glance at the next seven chapters, 25-31, and then 32; it covers three full chapters, nearly all of another chapter, and a glance at seven other chapters. I will explain to you about that glance as we go along.
The outline of the lesson is:
The Feast of the Covenant, Exo 24:9-11 .
The Ascent of Moses and Joshua into the Mountain, Why and How Long, Exo 24:12-31:18 .
The Breach of the Covenant, Exo 22:1-6 .
The Covenant Restored but Modified, Exo 32:1-34:35 .
We commence at the first item of the outline, viz.:
The Feast of the Covenant. That part of the lesson is Exo 24 and commences at Exo 24:9-11 . Let us read that: “Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu [two sons of Aaron], and seventy of the elders of Israel [and we learn from Exo 24:17 that Joshua, the minister or servant of Moses, was along. That makes seventy-five persons [: and they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: and they beheld God and did eat and drink.” That is the feast of the covenant.
2. What of the custom after ratifying a covenant and an example from Genesis?
Ans. Nearly always just after a covenant was ratified the parties to the covenant partook together of a meal to show their fraternity and communion. The Genesis example you will find where Laban and Jacob made a covenant. The covenant is prepared, they agree to enter into a covenant, they put up a token of the covenant, they build an altar, they make sacrifices, they ratify the covenant in the blood of that sacrifice. Then they sit down and eat a meal together, which is the feast of the covenant. You will find all of that in the Genesis account of Laban and Jacob. So here a covenant having been proposed, an agreement to enter into it made, a preparation for it, the terms of the covenant given as stated in their threefold characters, that covenant carefully read, an altar erected, sacrifices offered, the blood of the covenant sprinkled upon the altar and upon the people, and so ratified, then follows this feast of the covenant.
3. What are the provisions used at the feast in such cases?
Ans. The provisions are the bodies of the peace offering. There are two offerings, viz.: the burnt offering, which has to be burned up, then the eucharistic or thank offering. That thank offering furnishes the material of the feast after the covenant is ratified.
4. Who was the representative at this feast with God and a New Testament analogy?
Ans. The representatives here are: First, Moses, then his servant Joshua, his army chief; second, the high priest and his two sons that is five; and third, the seventy elders of Israel. All Israel did not meet God and partake of a feast, but the representatives of Israel in the persons of Moses, Joshua, Aaron and his two sons, and the seventy elders, who meet God and partake of this feast. Now the New Testament analogy is that the Lord’s Supper which was to memorialize the sacrifice of Christ was participated in by representatives of the church, the apostles. The apostles were there, but not there as individuals. They represented the church just as they represented the church in receiving the Commission, so that it was simply a church observance even at the time of its institution.
5. What of the communion in this feast and the New Testaments analogy?
Ans. The communion is not the communion between Moses, Aaron, and the elders, that is, it is not a communion with each other, but it is a communion with God, and the New Testament analogy is as Paul expresses in his first letter to the Corinthians: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion, or participation, of the blood of Christ?” and yet how often people misrepresent the idea of that communion, as when A, B, and C commune together to show their fellowship for each other, or a man’s communing to show his fellowship for his wife. The word means “participation” and the one in whom is the participation is God: “The loaf which we bless, is it not a participation, the communion of the body of Jesus?” So here these representatives of all Israel communed with God a little way up the mountain, not far.
6. The record says that they saw God. What kind of a sight of God did they see, and what other cases in the Old and New Testaments?
Ans. They did not see any form or likeness of God. Moses is very careful to say that “no man can see God and live.” He is careful to say in Deu 4 that at Sinai they saw no similitude or likeness. Now, in Isa 6 he (Isaiah) sees God as they saw him, that is, he sees the throne; he sees the pavement; he sees a great many things about the throne, the angels, the cherubim and the seraphim, but he doesn’t see any likeness of God, though he hears God talking. Precisely so you find it in Eze 1 . He sees the chariot of God, four cherubim, their wheels, their wings, and their faces looking every way, but he doesn’t see the One in the chariot, and so it is in Rev 4 where John is caught up to heaven and he sees the very same thing, this very pavement, and the throne, the cherubim, the angels round about the throne, and he sees something that represents the Holy Spirit, and he sees something that represents Jesus Christ, a precious stone which represents God, but he doesn’t see God.
7. Apply this thought to transubstantiation and consubstantiation in our feast, as the Romanists and Luther taught.
Ans. The Romanist says, “This is the very body and the very blood of Christ; you can see it and you can taste it.” And the consubstantiation advocate, Luther, says, “The bread is not the body of Christ and the wine is not the blood of Christ, but Christ is there this way: You take a knife and put it in the fire and take it out of the fire when it is red hot, and you have the same metal, but you have something there that was not there before, viz.: heat, you can touch it and feel the effect of that heat burning.” You can take cognizance of that kind of a presence, but in this analogous communication with God they saw no similitude, no form.
8. Explain that part of the feast where it is said that “God laid not his hand on the elders of Israel, though they saw him.”
Ans. It means that God did not slay them. The declaration is often made, “Whoever sees God shall die.” They can’t bear the sight of God. But the kind of a sight of God that these people saw, they were able to see without having the hand of God laid on them, and what a beautiful lesson! Before the covenant was made, when the trumpet sounded and the darkness came and the earth quaked and the lightning flashed, and that strange, awful voice speaking the ten words, the people were scared almost to death; they wanted a mediator, somebody to come between them and that awful Being. But knowing that a covenant had been established and had been ratified by the blood of a substitute, they can see God in the sacrifice of the substitute and not die; see him in perfect peace, just as you, before you are converted, look upon God as distant and unapproachable, but after you see him in Christ in the covenant, the terror of God is taken away and you can sit there just as if eating a meal with a friend.
9. Give again a complete outline of the covenant.
Ans. The complete outline of the covenant is:
(1) God’s proposition of a covenant and their agreement to enter into a covenant;
(2) Their preparation for the covenant;
(3) The three great terms of the covenant;
(4) The ratification of the covenant;
(5) The feast that follows the covenant. Will you keep that in mind? You need to be drilled on that every now and then, so that when anybody asks you where there can be found a copy of the Sinai covenant and all the parts of it, you can answer: “It commences with Exo 19 , and closes with Exo 24 .” That is the whole thing in all its parts.
The Ascent of Moses into the Mount, Why and How Long? This is the second item of the outline. That is found immediately after what we have been discussing, commencing at Exo 24:12 . “And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there”: that means, Moses, you are to be there quite awhile; “and I will give thee the tables of stone, and the law and the commandment, which I have written, that thou mayest teach them.” And Moses rose up, and his servant Joshua; and Moses went up into the mount of God. And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them. And Moses went up into the mount, and the cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the midst of the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.” Now here are the questions on that:
10. Why is Moses, after the covenant is ratified and the feast is held, taken up into the mount? (He and Joshua alone go).
Ans. He is carried up to receive the same law which had been spoken orally, now in writing “which I have written.” And what he went up particularly to get was the two tables or the Ten Commandments, and in God’s own handwriting that he might keep them as a witness. “The tables of the Testimony” is the name of them. Moses wrote a copy that the people learned, but that particular copy was God’s own autograph. That was put up and preserved as “tables of the testimony.”
11. What is the meaning of “tables of stone,” “the law,” and “the commandment”?
Ans. The tables of stone I have just described. But what was the law that Moses goes up after? You would miss that if you had to answer it off-hand, and the commentators all miss it. They don’t get in a thousand miles of it. You will find that it was what he received when he went up there a special law, and that special law was that the sabbath, God’s sabbath, should be the sign of the covenant. You find that at the end of this section that we are now on. So the law he went after was the law of the sign. Then what was the commandment he went after? The Commandments are all given in seven chapters (25-32) and every one of them touches the law of the altar. We will glance at the outline of that directly.
12. Why were these tables of testimony and this sign of the covenant and these laws concerning the altar given to Moses?
Ans. The lesson says, “That thou mayest teach them.”
13. Who was to represent Moses in the camp while he was absent in the mount?
Ans. Aaron and Hur.
14. What reminder of a New Testament incident is in these words of Moses: “Tarry ye here for us until we come again”?
Ans. It is Jesus in Gethsemane, when he let the representatives stop, and said, “Stay here while I go yonder and pray.”
15. What was the visible token that God was present with Moses, and why that token?
Ans. Exo 24:16-17 : “And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it and the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.” Now, why is that last word, or clause, “In the eyes of the children of Israel”? That was a token to them not to get impatient. “When you begin to say, ‘Moses stays a long time,’ you look up there at that cloud on top of that mountain, how exceedingly glorious it is, you may know that Moses is right in that cloud communing with God.”
16. How long was Moses up there in that cloud before God spoke to him, and why did he speak to him on the particular day that he did?
Ans. Moses was up there six days. God called him up there: “Don’t you get impatient. Here is the test of your faith. You wait. I have called you up here, to have an interview and to receive certain things, and you wait; be patient.” Now on the seventh day, that is, the sabbath, which was the sign of the covenant, God spoke.
17. How long was Moses in the mount, and what is the New Testament parallel?
Ans. Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights, and the New Testament parallel is that after Christ was sacrificed for the ratification of the covenant and they had eaten the feast of the covenant and Christ was risen from the dead, he remains with them forty days, instructing them. That is just exactly what God is doing with Moses. Just as Jesus uses forty days after his sacrifice in careful instruction of his disciples, so God after this sacrifice and ratification of the covenant, takes Moses up into that mountain for forty days of continued explanation.
18. Give, for the present, a mere summary of what Moses received on the mount, set forth in the seven chapters, 25-31.
Ans. Just now all we want is a summary and the reason we don’t want to go into the details is that we take that up in the next chapter in connection with what follows. But all you want to know now is the outline. The outline is:
(1) He received the tables of the testimony;
(2) He received the law of the sign;
(3) He received the commandments as follows:
(a) The commandment upon the people to furnish voluntary offerings for what was to be made;
(b) The making of the ark with the mercy seat on it where God was to be met; the making of a tabernacle for the shewbread; the making of the candlestick; the making of a tabernacle or tent with its subdivisions and its marvelous veil between the divisions; and the court and the oil that was to supply the lampstand or candlestick;
(c) The garments for Aaron, the high priest, when he officiated before God;
(d) The law of the consecration of Aaron to the office of high priest;
(e) The law of the consecration of the altar by which approach to God was to be made;
(f) The law of the daily sacrifice;
(g) The law of the golden altar, or the altar of incense, and bow it is to be offered. Incense is to be offered twice a day just like the lamp is to be lit twice a day and the sacrifice is to be offered twice a day in the morning Aaron goes to trim the lamps as the morning offering and the ascent of the morning cloud of incense representing the going up of the prayers of God’s people, and in the afternoon he goes to light the lamp, and there is the evening sacrifice and the going up of the incense;
(h) The atonement or ransom money and what that signifies;
(i) The laver, that was to be between the altar and the mercy seat, and what it was to be used for;
(j) The marvelous recipe of the anointing oil that was to be poured upon the head of a prophet or a priest or a king or a sacrifice;
(k) The perfume that was to be put at the place of entrance, indicating that they were to meet the fragrance of God right at the threshold of entrance or approach to him;
(l) The inspiration of the artificers of all this work. Just as an apostle was inspired to do his work, so certain men were here named that were inspired to do this work called for in all these things;
(m) That sabbath for a sign which I have already mentioned.
The Breach of the Covenant. This is the third item. Where do you find that breach of the covenant? In chapter 32. We are coming to awful things now. The most interesting thing in the Old Testament: “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf: and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow shall be a feast to Jehovah. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”
19. Give the seven elements of this breach of the covenant.
Ans.
(1) The rejection of Moses and of God and a demand for other gods to be made: “Make us gods.”

(2) This god, of course, being man made, was an idol.

(3) The form of the god was the Egyptian god, Apis, calf or ox, the Egyptian god that died of the murrain through one of the miracles of Moses.
(4) They built an altar of worship and of sacrifice.
(5) They offered both burnt and peace offerings.
(6) They had a feast to follow this covenant they were making with this new god, and,
(7) Stripping off their clothes, naked, they go into a drunken orgy and practice all of the beastly and infamous lusts that characterized that worship in Egypt and in other idol worshiping countries. Paul says, “The people sat down to eat and rose up to play,” and then adds, “Be ye not fornicators and adulterers as they were.”
20. What was God’s announcement to Moses and what were the purposes announced concerning Israel and the raising up of a new people?
Ans. God saw that breach of the covenant that had just been made. The answer is this, commencing with Exo 32:7 : “The Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and have said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and now, behold it is a stiffnecked people: now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.” That is the terrible announcement. They have broken the covenant. “I will instantly destroy them; I will raise up a new people from Moses. He will be the basis of the new people.” Now before they get out of this trouble there will be four intercessions of Moses.
21. What was the first intercession of Moses and its result?
Ans. I quote it, commencing at Exo 32:11 : “And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swearest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.” So the first thing was to stop instant destruction of that people. The result: “And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” He didn’t kill them right then, but he at least suspended that terrible bolt of divine wrath that was about to fall upon them.
22. What did Moses and Joshua see on their return to the camp?
Ans. All the above happened before Moses came down from the mount. Joshua says, “I hear a great shout down in the camp. There must be an army or there must be a battle.” Moses says, “No, that is not the shout, neither of men on the battlefield, nor of men crying for mercy. That is the shout of singing; those people are singing down there.” And they came down and saw that calf; they saw their naked and beastly orgies; they saw the whole hideous sin which the people had committed.
23. What was the first token that the covenant was broken?
Ans. Moses took the tables of the testimony and broke them all to pieces right in the sight of the people. “You do not need these tokens any more. I have brought you in the handwriting of God the witness of the covenant; you broke it; let the token be broken.”
24. What, in order, are the other things done in that camp by Moses when he got down there?
Ans. Moses was not a man to go down there and hold his finger in his mouth. When he sees that thing he is stirred. Let us see now what, in order, were the things that he did. First, he took that calf and burned it until it pulverized; then he mingled the ashes of it in water and made the people drink it. Second, he shook his finger in the face of Aaron and said, “What have these people done unto you that you led them into this sin? I went up in that mountain to meet God; I left you as my representative. Now what have these people ever done to you that you should lead them into this?” And Aaron pleads the baby act if ever a man did in the world. He says, “Well, they they they said, ‘Make us a god,’ and I told them to bring me the earrings and I put the earrings into the fire and there came out this calf; the fire did it.” An old father who, when his boy came home disappointed and broken in health and knowing nothing, after several years away at school, said, “All that money I put into the fire of education and there came out this calf.” Third, Moses said unto them in the camp, while naked and half drunk they stood before him not daring to open their lips, “Whoso is on the Lord’s side, let him stand by me. I am going to draw a line. Somebody in this great camp surely is on the Lord’s side.” And the Levites came. You remember when Jacob pronounced the prophecy of blessing on his children he gave a big slice to Levi. When Moses goes to pronounce a blessing he is going to pronounce a great honor on Levi, and he is going to assign as a reason what Levi does this day. That whole tribe lined up on the side of Moses. They didn’t stand up there just as a show. “Now, if you are on the Lord’s side, draw your swords and wade into that crowd. Don’t stop if it is your brother, or father, or mother, no matter how close kin to you. There must be a penalty inflicted for this awful sin,” and Levi pitched in and slew three thousand. Fourth, he began to take steps toward saving those people from temporal and eternal destruction, and that brings us to the next question:
25. What was the second intercession of Moses and God’s reply?
Ans. Moses said, “You have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord: peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.” Now you come to the next intercession of Moses: “And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said [and this is the greatest piece of intercession that ever took place on earth except in the case of Christ], Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” Only one other man ever said anything like that, and concerning this same stiffnecked people, and that was Paul, “I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren’s sake.” Moses, in other words, offered himself as a substitute for the people: “Don’t, don’t destroy them! Destroy me!” It was a grand proposition. Now, what did God say to that intercession? “The Lord said to Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me,, him will I blot out of my book. I will not blot you out for them. The soul that sinneth it shall die. Therefore now go, lead these people unto the place of which I have spoken unto them; behold mine angel shall go before thee; nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.”
26. What of the effect of this upon the people?
Ans. They mourned and laid aside their ornaments and did not put them on from Mount Horeb onward.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Exo 33:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, [and] go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:
Ver. l. Which thou hast brought. ] See Trapp on “ Exo 33:7 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

the LORD [Hebrew. Jehovah. said. See note on Exo 3:7, and p. note on Exo 6:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Let’s turn now to Exodus chapter thirty-three that we might continue our study through the Word of God.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, and go up from here, you and the people which you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it ( Exo 33:1 ):
Now at this point Moses and the Lord are having an argument on who these people really are. Neither of them want to claim them. When God was speaking with Moses there on Mount Sinai in the previous chapter, “The Lord said unto Moses”, verse seven, “get thee down for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves”( Exo 32:7 ). Then in verse eleven as Moses responds, “Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people which you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt? ( Exo 32:11 )”
So neither one wishing to claim them at this point. No wonder. They are forsaking the law and the ways of God. They had made the golden calf; they were worshiping it, they were violating the commandments of God. So God had more or less disowned them and said, “They are your people.” Moses disowned them and said, “God, they’re Your people. You’re the One that brought them out of Egypt.” and all.
So the Lord in the beginning of chapter thirty-three, this little thing continues with Moses and the Lord. “The Lord said unto Moses, Depart and go up from here, thou and the people which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt.” So God’s handing them back to Moses at this place. “And unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:”
And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: Unto a land that is flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up from the midst of thee ( Exo 33:2-3 );
God said, “All right, now you take the people and you go, and I’m gonna send an angel because I’m not gonna go up in the midst of thee.” Now in reality, people misunderstand God. So often they read this as a harshness on God’s part, as God being very hard on Moses and on the people, but in reality it’s a sign of God’s grace, as we read the reason for God not going up, or not desiring to go up.
for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way ( Exo 33:3 ).
In other words, because of the fact that they are so stiffnecked, because of the fact that they are so rebellious and so prone towards sin, God said, “I’m not gonna go up in the midst of thee”, lest actually by that very holiness of God the people be consumed for their sinfulness. So rather than being a thing of judgment on God’s part, it was a thing of grace.
And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man put on his ornaments. [They left their jewelry off. They were mourning before God.] For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, You are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb. And Moses took the tabernacle ( Exo 33:3-7 ),
Now this is not the tabernacle that was to be built, this is prior to the actual building of the tabernacle. So the word means, “the place of meeting”, and it was that place where they met God prior to the building of the tabernacle, which we’ll find in a few chapters.
and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp ( Exo 33:7 ).
So they took the place of meeting, the place where the people met God and from the midst. Now the people were before this, sort of all circled around this place of the meeting of God, the tribes in each order all around it. Now they remove it, and they put it completely outside of the camp; meaning, that the people have to now come outside of the camp in order to meet God.
Now there is an interesting spiritual sequel in this, in that Jesus crucified outside of the city of Jerusalem, people have to come out of Judaism to meet with God through Jesus Christ. They can no longer meet with God through the system of Judaism, but outside of Judaism. Now a new covenant that God established, the covenant that was established with Israel, being disannulled because of the people’s failure to abide by that covenant. So having abolished the old covenant, God has now established a new covenant, which is outside of the Judaism itself. So to meet with God it is necessary to come out. For the Jew it is necessary for him to come out from Judaism and to meet God outside of a national kind of a relationship.
Now the relationship to God is available to every man. There is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We must all come to God now through Jesus Christ, and that is outside of the camp, really, of Israel itself.
And so it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked at Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar standing at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle ( Exo 33:8-11 ).
So Moses pitched the tabernacle outside of the camp. God said, “I’ll not dwell in the midst of you, lest I consume you.” So he took the place of meeting outside of the camp. Moses went outside and entered into this tabernacle, and when he did, the people standing in their tent doors and watching saw this pillar, that had been leading them, descend to the door of that tabernacle; the presence of God, symbolic really of God’s presence with him. As they saw this phenomena, they all began to worship God there in their own tent doors. Now of course, Moses was there making intercession once again for the people.
And Moses said unto the Lord, See, that thou sayest unto me ( Exo 33:12 ),
“Oh, let’s deal with this thing” and he talks to the Lord face to face. Don’t want to jump over that, because we read down just a little bit further, as Moses said,
I beseech thee, show me thy glory ( Exo 33:18 ),
Verse eighteen. And He said,
I will make all my goodness to pass before thee, I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy upon whom I will show mercy. And He said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live ( Exo 33:19-20 ).
So when Moses talked to God “face to face” it doesn’t mean he was looking at God face to face, but there was just such a complete and total communication between God and Moses. It was just like a dialogue rather than a monologue. I mean, he would talk to God, God would speak right back to him, but he did not actually see the face of God.
In the New Testament Jesus tells us that, “No man hath seen God at any time. But the Only Begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He has manifested Him”( Joh 1:18 ). So in comparing scripture with scripture, we realize that Moses did not actually look upon the face of God because here in the very chapter, it says, “No man can see God’s face and live.”
It is interesting that in every vision that men had of God, the brilliance of God was such that it was like looking at a sun. So in looking at the brightness of that outshining glory of God, there could not actually be any form that could be described or drawn. Just in seeing God, there was just that brightness of His glory that’s all they could see, no form at all. But Moses had such communication with God that it was just a conversation with the Lord.
Now in this I am envious. I wish that I had a clear communication-well, I wish He had a clear communication with me. I think my communication with Him is fairly clear. But I oftentimes have difficulty understanding the voice of God as He speaks to me. Sometimes I think God has spoken and He hasn’t. It was just something out of my own mind. It was just something that I had thought. You say, “Well, how do you know that?” Because it worked out so miserably. Then there were other times when I didn’t know if it was the Lord or not that was speaking to me. Then as it turned out, I found out it was, and I wished that I had followed up on the impulse or I wish I would’ve said something about it. I wish I would’ve said, “I know what the Lord has shown me”. And I wish I would’ve shared it with someone, so that they’d know that man, I really was tuned in for once. So many times it is only after the fact that I realize that, “Oh, that was God speaking to me.”
I have never had the experience of God speaking to me in an audible voice. I have had the experience of the Lord speaking to me in such a definite, positive way that I knew immediately it was God, there was no doubt about it, and I just-I just knew it. I was aware of it, I was conscious of it; there was no question. But so many times there is sort of a question about it. I don’t know. There are-there are strange things that happen and I can’t explain them, impressions that you get, and you don’t know the origin.
I was sitting at a Rose Bowl game a few years ago and we were down in the area of the end zone, and S.C. was down in our territory going in the other direction. I said to the friend that I was with, and of course my voice carries, my wife always tells me to talk softer because my voice does carry, and I said, “Watch this next play. Anthony Davis is going all the way in one play around left end.” The next play, they gave the ball to Anthony Davis, he went around left end, and all the way for a touchdown. Everybody around me turned and looked at me, you know. Then they started saying, “Tell us something else.”
Now I don’t-I just-I just had an impression, I just saw it in my mind. I just had an impression and said it. How is it that it followed? I don’t know. Was it just coincidence? Perhaps, because surely God wouldn’t be interested in a Rose Bowl game or would He? It’d be interesting to have that kind of power and go to the racetrack. I don’t advocate it, you’re liable to lose everything; find out God isn’t talking to you.
But God speaking with man. God has spoken with a man. “God who at sundry times, and in divers manners spake unto our fathers by the prophets”( Heb 1:1 ). Different ways, different times, God has spoken to man. It’s always exciting to realize that God has spoken to us. But He has in this these last days spoken unto us by His own dear Son.
Now God has spoken to each of us by Jesus Christ. The clearest revelation that any of us can receive of God is by Jesus Christ. He has spoken unto us by His own dear Son. That is why I do not feel that God is speaking to me by an angel would be so important or really meaningful in that He has already spoken to me by His own dear Son. It is interesting that nowhere in the New Testament do I read after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that angels came to really communicate the revelation of God to man; that came to us through Jesus Christ. Now the angel did come to Paul on the ship and instructed him concerning things that were going to take place, the shipwreck and so forth, but no revelation of doctrine.
So Moses had this experience of speaking to God in a very direct way, and God answering him, a conversational way and this has been unparalleled. No other man has had this experience of being on such a conversational basis with God. God speaks of it later on as sort of an exclusive thing. With no other man had there been that conversational basis in such a complete clear way as it was with Moses.
So Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight ( Exo 33:12 ).
Now Moses said, “Look, You said You’re gonna send an angel, but You never even introduced me to him, someone I don’t even know. Now You tell me that You know me by my name. You tell me that I have found grace in Your sight, now You’re trying to pass off an angel on me. When I have this kind of a relationship with You, I don’t want an angel.” Why settle for second best? Why settle for something less than God Himself. “You say You know me by my name. You say I’ve found grace, than don’t send the angel.”
Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. [“Quit trying to put them off on me.”] And God said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest ( Exo 33:13-14 ).
That which Moses was looking for, the presence of God, for he recognized the need for the presence of God. He knew what God could do; he wasn’t sure what the angels could do. Knowing the power of the presence of God, he didn’t want to accept any substitute.
And Moses said unto God, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not from here ( Exo 33:15 ).
In other words, “If Your presence doesn’t go with me, Lord, I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave here. I don’t want to leave without Your presence.” That is perhaps about the wisest thing that Moses could ever do is just stick right where he was unless he had God’s presence going with him. You’re foolish to venture anywhere apart from the presence of God. You’re foolish to venture out in your own, on your own. We need the presence of God wherever we go. “If Your presence doesn’t go with me, then Lord, don’t send me from here.”
For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that you go with us? [“How are we gonna prove that we’ve found grace, only in Your presence with us actually.] so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for you have found grace in my sight, and I do know you by name. And he said, I beseech thee, [Moses had things going for him, God’s agreed to a couple issues, so Moses is gonna press it now, and he said, “I beseech thee”,] show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But the Lord said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live ( Exo 33:16-20 ).
So Moses’ desire, his prayer, “Show me Thy glory.” Oh, that that would be the prayer of our own hearts. “Oh God show me Thy glory” that we might really get a glimpse of the glory of God. We get so earthbound, we get so bound in the things of man, the things of man’s creation, the work of our own hands; oh, that we might see the glory of God. “Lord, show me Thy glory.”
Paul got a glimpse of the glory of God, the glory of God’s dwelling place, as did John. Paul’s glimpse revolutionized his life, changed him completely. It created a continual dissatisfaction with earthly things from then on. How could you be happy in this mess when God has such a glorious place prepared for us? “Lord, just let me see Your glory.”
I pray for each one of you that God will somehow allow you to see His glory, that it will create that dissatisfaction with earthly things, that I can never settle down in the old routine again. I can never be happy again with just the old mundane material world around me, but there’ll be that longing to enter into that glory, and the presence of God. “Oh Lord, show me Your glory. Demonstrate Your glory before Your people.” Interesting prayer. I wonder why people don’t pray it more. Why don’t we just really seek to see the glory of God? “Lord, show us Thy glory.”
So God promised that first of all He would let His goodness pass before him. Then God said, “And I will proclaim the name”. Now this name God is gonna proclaim it to Moses; it is a name that was highly revered by the Jews, so highly revered but that they would not even attempt to pronounce it. So the name of God became non-pronounceable.
When the scribes would come to the name of God in their text, before they would write the consonants, they would not put in the vowels, only the consonants, Y-H-V-H. Now try and pronounce Y-H-V-H, unpronounceable, can’t pronounce just the consonants, you need the vowels for pronunciation. We don’t know what the vowels are. That is why we don’t know if the name of God is Yahweh, or Jehovah, pronounced with a “Y” not sure how to spell it. We don’t know what it is. We guess at what the vowels might be, but we don’t know because the name of God was not pronounced by them.
God said, “I’m going to proclaim my name before thee.” But the scribes when they would come to these consonants, before they would write them in the text, they would go in and take a bath, put on fresh clothes, wash their pen completely, dip it in fresh ink, and then write the consonants. Now can you imagine how many baths you’d have to take in some of these passages where the Lord’s name is mentioned several times? Yet that is the kind of reverence in which they held the name of God, feeling that it was such a holy name that it should never pass the lips of man. Thus it was never to be pronounced by man.
So in reading the text, when the readers would come to the name, rather than attempting to pronounce the name, they would bow their head in reverence and they would just whisper the name. It was an unpronounceable name. They’d just say the name, but they held that name in such high respect. Now there was probably nothing that was held in higher respect than the name of God. Yet God declared, “I will honor My Word above My name.” So the honor that God places upon His Word.
Now when God places such honor upon His Word, believe me I don’t want to tamper with it. I can’t understand men who tamper with the Word of God. I would be absolutely frightened to tamper with the Word of God, when God holds His Word in such high honor. “I will honor My Word above My name.” I can’t understand tampering with it.
I know a lot of you that are in love with the Living Bible, and I love the way he has translated many passages, and yet there’s a passage in Zechariah that he has translated in, I feel, in a blasphemous way. That is in the-what is it? Fourteenth chapter where they say unto Him, “What are the meaning of the wounds in Your hands?” He said, “These are the wounds that I received in the house of my friends.” Chapter thirteen, verse six. Living Bible translates that something like this, “What are the meaning of those marks on Your back?” “These are what I got in a brawl in My friends’ house.” Because he said the context is not speaking of Christ. But what does he mean?
Read on the next verse, “Awake O sword against My shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow saith the Lord of Hosts. Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered.” In the New Testament that passage is quoted. When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Eden-I mean the garden of Gethsemane, and the disciples fled from Him it said, “that the scripture might be fulfilled, smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered”. So the context does refer to the Messiah, and for the author of the Living Bible to take such liberty to translate that thing that way. I wouldn’t have the nerve to tamper with God’s Word, because God honors His Word above His name.
Yet God said, “I’m gonna pronounce My name before you.” They say that the only one who really knew how to pronounce the name of God was the High Priest. He would only pronounce it once a year on the Day of Atonement, which incidentally started at sundown. We are now in Yom Kippur. On the Day of Atonement when all the trumpets were blaring, and people were shouting their praises to God because the word had come back that the goat had disappeared in the wilderness. During that moment of high celebration with all of the shouts of the people rising, the priests amongst the shouts of the people would pronounce the name. But there was so much shouting nobody could hear him. So nobody knows how to pronounce the name.
God declared, “I’ll proclaim my name.” God gives great honor to His name, but even greater honor to His Word. Then the Lord declares His graciousness and His mercy unto Moses.
And so the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passes by, [“Lord show me Thy glory” while my glory passes by”] that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts [Or actually sort of the afterglow, the hinder part, just that glow that is left from having passed by.] but my face shall not be seen ( Exo 33:21-23 ).
Moses’ prayer, “Show me Thy glory”, and God promises to pass by His glory, past Moses that he might see just the afterglow of it.
Chapter 34
And the Lord said unto Moses, Cut out two tables of stone, hew them out like the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which you broke. And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before the mount. So Moses hewed out the two tables of stone like the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by [Now the Jehovah Witnesses think the name is Jehovah but other evidence seems to point to Yahweh, “The Lord passed by”.] before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation ( Exo 34:1-7 ).
Now there are people who try to say that there is a God of the Old Testament, and a God of the New Testament. “And the God of the Old Testament, is a God of wrath, and judgment, but I love the God of the New Testament who is forgiving, and gracious and kind.” They see actually two Gods, the God of the Old Testament, the God of the New.
But in the Old Testament you will find very much concerning the character of God as far as His graciousness, as far as His mercy. Here we find God declaring Himself to Moses as merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping the mercy for thousands, and forgiving the iniquities and transgressions. And so surely tremendous declarations of God’s grace, God’s mercy, God’s forgiveness, God’s goodness, God’s truth. People who seem to think that the God of the New Testament is all love and forgiveness, and the abrogating of the capital punishment and all of this, had better read the book of Revelation, and they’ll find out that He is also a God of judgment, and a God of wrath that shall come and be visited.
Grace and truth were demonstrated in Jesus Christ, but to those who reject that grace and truth, as Hebrews tells us, “There remains then a fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God that will devour His adversaries. For they who despised Moses’ law were put to death in the mouth of two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, he could be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and who hath counted the blood of His covenant, wherewith He was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the spirit of grace? For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God”( Heb 10:27-29 , Heb 10:31 ). That wasn’t the prophet Isaiah thundering out, that was the writer of the book of Hebrews declaring the judgment of God that shall come upon those who have rejected His grace, and His mercy, through Jesus Christ.
So in the Old Testament we have a God of grace and mercy, and longsuffering and forgiveness revealed to us. In the New Testament we have a God of judgment and wrath revealed to us. They are one in the same God. There isn’t a God of the Old Testament, and a different God of the New. People only read in it what they want to read, but in reality He is revealed in both Testaments as gracious, and loving and kind, and merciful, and forgiving and in both Testaments as a God of judgment and wrath, by no means clearing the guilty; that is, without there being repentance. God doesn’t just say to a person, “Well, that’s all right, you’re forgiven.” Jesus emphasized over and over, “unless you repent, you will likewise perish”.
People are troubled with the fact that it declares, “visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” That is clarified a little bit more in the commandments that God gave, for it there adds, “to those that continue in them.”
Now it is sad that the sins of the parents are visited upon the children. We see this demonstrated all the time. It is tragic indeed that really the real victims of divorce are the children. I can go into the classrooms here at Maranatha Academy and sit and observe in one day, and at the end of the day I can tell you each child that comes from a broken home, just by watching the characteristics within the child. Children become the innocent victims because their parents aren’t able to soften their hearts before God and each other enough to make the marriage work. It’s tragic but there are so much pressures, so many pressures being placed upon the home today. Divorce has become such an easy thing. There are all kinds of pressures that have been placed upon the home, and love has been made out to be something that it really isn’t. I get so tired of hearing them say, “Well, I just don’t love them anymore.” An unwillingness, a hardness of the heart, and an unwillingness to see that the marriage goes. The children have to suffer because of the sins of the parents.
There are even worse cases of children suffering for the sins of the parent, for there are parents who are-mothers who are addicted to drugs. And when their child is born, it is born with an addiction to drugs. Many children go into withdrawals after birth because of the mother having been hooked on particular drugs. There, the sins of the parents being visited upon the children.
Taking it from a sociological standpoint, and a psychological standpoint there are people today who are having a hard time making it in life because their parents were so totally messed up. So many young girls having extreme emotional difficulties because their stupid fathers were abusing them sexually. Surely the scripture describes the days in which we live when it refers to “unnatural affections”. For any father to make any kind of a sexual advance towards his daughter, something’s got to be sick, sick, sick. Because what he is doing is psychologically destroying that daughter of his.
There are so many of the young girls who come in with tremendous problems of adjusting to life because of the stupidity of their dads. Not just-I can’t, in my wildest imagination, I cannot imagine a father abusing his own daughter, or even being attracted to his own daughter in a sexual way. That is so absolutely sick I can’t even think of it. Yet what perhaps, well it’s not even any worse, but fathers that abuse their own sons. It’s just plain sick. You cannot do that to a child without marking the child, without damaging the child psychologically, putting psychic scars upon that child’s mind that’s gonna be with him the rest of his life.
Thank God for the power of the blood of Jesus Christ; it’s the only thing that I know that can straighten up the mess that people’s minds are in because of some of the stupid things their parents did. If it weren’t for the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the world would be in a much greater mess than it is today, because people are doing such absolutely foolish things in destroying their own children.
Oh how glorious it is that we can come to Jesus Christ and receive that beautiful work of His Holy Spirit and He can absolutely cleanse, and clear. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature and the old things are passed away, and every thing becomes new”( 1Co 5:13 ). You can enter into a totally new, beautiful life in Christ, and only He can erase the psychic scars that so damaged some of you from your childhood and the things that you experienced in childhood.
There are many young adults today that cannot even remember years of their childhood because their minds have blocked them out. Their relationship with the parents was just so off the wall that their minds just block out years of their childhood and they can’t even tell you about areas of their childhood because the psychic wounds are so great that they just-they’ve had to build a wall and they just blocked it out. They have-it’s just hid and suppressed and lying dormant underneath there.
So it is true, it is tragically true that often the sins of the parents are visited upon the children. That they become the innocent victims of their parents’ folly. Thank God there’s always a way out, there’s always-God has provided a way out through the blood of Jesus Christ that can wash, and cleanse us. But if it isn’t there, then it’ll go on and it passes from generation to generation.
You’ll find that in your psychology and in your sociological studies that the-that a person gets his role for parenthood from his parents. So if their dads were guilty of doing a stupid thing, they’ll usually follow that because that’s the role model that they had. Unless Jesus Christ comes into their life, unless there comes that change through the power of the gospel, they follow the role model and it goes down from generation to generation to generation. We see the degraded society around us today that is in such desperate need of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, to deliver us out of the cesspool and the pits, and to raise us up.
Oh, how I thank God for the godly home in which I was raised. How I thank God that both of my parents were committed Christians. On the list of blessings that God has given to me, I’ll tell you that’s the-near the top of the list that godly home that I had. How I thank God for it more and more, especially as I see people who-my heart goes out to them, they’ve never had a chance to know what a real loving home is all about, a real godly home is all about.
Moses made haste, and he bowed his head towards the earth, and he worshipped. [God passed by and declared His name, declared His glory. Moses, man just got down on his face and began to worship God.] 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 your inheritance ( Exo 34:8-9 ).
Now that’s asking God for an awful lot. “Now Lord, I’ve seen Your glory. You’ve passed by me, declared Your name, now Lord go ahead and pass among the people, pardon their sin; and take us for Your inheritance.” Now that’s the part that I have, “Here God, You can have me for Your inheritance.” “Take this stiffnecked people for Your inheritance.” Yet the Bible declares, Paul the apostle prayed for the Ephesians that they might know what are the riches of His inheritance in the saints. What he is saying is, “If you only knew how much God valued you.”
Now Moses is just saying that, “Lord, take these people, put the value on them as Your inheritance.” If you only knew the high value God placed upon you, you’d be amazed, if you knew how highly God prized you. He prized you so highly that He sent His Son to die for your sins so that He could have you for His own. That’s how high God prizes you. He delivered up His own Son for you because He prizes you that much. I cannot understand it, don’t ask me to explain it.
Here is the place where I, as a devout Jew, though I am not a Jew, but as a devout Jew who’s just comes to that place where he bows his head and says nothing, when I think of how God has placed such a high value on my life. All I can do is just bow my head and worship in wonder and in awe, that God should love me, and care for me, and place value in me so much that He would give His Son for my redemption. Oh how I thank God and praise God for the value that He’s placed upon my life.
So the Lord said to Moses, 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 in all the people among whom thou [shalt, among whom thou] art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is an awesome [The word terrible is an old English word, should be translated “awesome”] thing that I will do with thee. Observe thou that which I command thee this day ( Exo 34:10-11 ):
Now God is saying, “Observe it, not just see it”. There’s a difference between seeing and observing, and God isn’t saying, “see the things I command you, but observe”, that is see and live in harmony with it.
behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God ( Exo 34:11-14 ):
Now there are people who have difficulty with God demanding the extermination of the people within the land. No covenant was to be made with them, no peace treaty. “Go in and utterly wipe them out.” With this, people have a great difficulty with God because of His orders to wipe them out, to exterminate them. God is oftentimes faulted. As people are arguing about God, God is faulted for the order of the extermination and not making covenants with these people. God ordered their idols to be cut, to be destroyed, their groves to be cut down. What were they doing in their groves? What were they doing at the high places? How were they worshiping their gods?
If you go into the Museum of Natural History in Jerusalem, and you go downstairs, in one area you will find diggings from the archeologists of the pre-Israel culture from the Canaanite period. In one of the cases you will see many of the little gods that were representing Baal. As you see these little gods that are representations, or were representations to the people of Baal, you’ll see that Baal’s arms are always folded, and the hands in an upright position like this. They are made of iron; they are made of stone. They would place these in the fire and heat them until they became- until the iron became red hot. And then they would take their babies and place them in the arms of Baal and allow them to be burned to death as they sacrificed unto this little idol. Human sacrifice was commonly practiced, as well as all kinds of licentious practices.
Now by the very nature of their worship they would soon destroy themselves. They could not exist. No society can exist that is that corrupted. So they are going to destroy themselves. But if they are allowed to make a covenant and live among the people, they will infect God’s people with this same deadly corruption. So God is ordering their extermination in order to keep His own people protected from their madness.
If we were to hire you here as a lunchtime monitor for the school, and as you were out there watching these beautiful little children that we have here at our academy, and you were watching them playing out there in the yard, and skipping and chasing around and all, and there was to come upon the yard a dog foaming at the mouth, running around and snapping at the children, would you be justified in going over and grabbing that dog and killing it? You bet your life you would. And I love dogs, but the dog has rabies. Because it has rabies, it’s gonna die. The rabies are gonna kill the dog. But if I don’t kill it, that mad dog can actually kill a lot of these beautiful, innocent little children. If I do nothing to stop it, if I do nothing to hinder it, that little dog could actually kill a lot of the children on the playground, infect them so that they also would die. So I would be thoroughly justified in killing that dog so that it would not infect the innocent children and destroy them. No one would really fault me for it because they know a rabid dog is gonna die anyhow.
You’ve got the same thing, only it isn’t a dog, it’s people and they’ve got a deadly infection in their whole religious system. God ordering their extermination; they’re gonna die anyhow, they’re gonna destroy themselves. He’s only protecting the innocent children that He’s bringing in to inherit the land, His children. He’s only watching over them. Thus God has given the order of extermination to protect His own innocent children. They’re not to make any covenant because, verse fifteen,
Because if you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one calls to you, to eat of his sacrifice; And you take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. Thou shalt make thee no molten images ( Exo 34:15-17 ).
Now there are all kinds of molten images in the land of Canaan. “Thou shalt make thee no molten images.”
The feast [Now God lays out the various feasts that they were to have, the three feasts, “the feast”,] of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. [This is a feast of Passover.] For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, [Verse nineteen] All that openeth the matrix is mine; [So the first born of everything belongs to God.] of your cattle, ox, sheep, all of the first born male. But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if you do not redeem him, then you shall break his neck. All of the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty ( Exo 34:18-20 ).
Now your first born son, you had to redeem from God. He belonged to God automatically. You see the first born son used to always be the priest of the house, he belonged to God. Now that God has a priesthood through the tribe of Levi, if you want to keep your first born son, then you had to redeem him from God.
Six days shalt thou work, but the seventh day shall be a day of rest: even in the harvest time and in the earing time thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, [that is] the first of the wheat harvest ( Exo 34:21-22 ),
In June, fifty days after Passover, after seven weeks after Passover, then the next day began-seven weeks would be forty-nine days. The next day, the fiftieth day would begin the Passover, which was the first fruits of the winter, wheat harvest, as they began to harvest it there in Israel in the first part of June. Then it was sort of a Thanksgiving.
and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end. [So that’s sort of equivalent to our Thanksgiving in the fall time of the year.] Now three times in a year shall all your men children appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel ( Exo 34:22-23 ).
You know, that would be such a glorious thing if you had a religious nation. You know, a nation who was really committed unto God. It would be a glorious thing that three times a year all the men in the nation would have to come and stand before God in this time of worship and so forth. That would be absolutely glorious. So three times a year they were to appear before God, the God of Israel.
For I will cast out the nations before thee, enlarge your borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; [Leaven is a type of sin.] neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto morning. The first of the firstfruits of the land ( Exo 34:24-26 )
Notice, “the first of the firstfruits” is what God demands from you, not the leftovers. “Well, we’ll see if we have enough left for ourselves, and if we have enough we’ll give it to God.” No way. “The first of the firstfruits of thy land.”
thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe kid in his mother’s milk. [It was a part of the practice for the land to increase fertility they thought.] The Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he was there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights; and he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the ten commandments ( Exo 34:26-28 ).
You say, “Well, that’s impossible. You can’t go forty days and forty nights without food or water.” That is very true; it is impossible if you’re only dealing with natural things. How big is your God? God was able to sustain him without food, without water. Thus, though physically it is an impossibility, we are dealing with a God of miraculous power and God who can set aside certain laws of nature.
Now I don’t recommend that you try and go forty days and forty nights without water or food. Can’t go more than nine days without water; we’ll dehydrate and die. Yet Moses was able to, only by the sustaining hand and power of God. It’s a miracle that he could do it. I believe that it happened because the Bible declares that it happened. I have no problem with a God who is able to work miracles. I would have problems with any god that couldn’t work miracles.
“And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant the Ten commandments.”
And it came to pass, when Moses came down from the mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face was shining while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all of the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face was shining; and they were afraid to come near him. And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the children of Israel came near: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai. And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out. And when he would come out, and speak with the children of Israel that which was commanded. The children of Israel saw the face of Moses, the skin of Moses’ face it was shining: and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went to speak with the Lord ( Exo 34:29-35 ).
So he would veil his face when he would go out and talk with the children of Israel, because he would have this shining on his face. When he’d go before the Lord he’d take the veil off.
Now twice in the New Testament this veil is mentioned there in a couple of different ways. Number one, why the veil over the face of Moses? Because it was hard to look at his shining face? No.
In Corinthians we are told that the reason for the veil over his face is so that they would not see the shining go away, fading. But the fact that the shine was fading away from his face, was indicating the fact that the law that God was given was to fade away when God established the new covenant with man through Jesus Christ. So that they would not see the fading away of the old covenant, his face was veiled.
But Paul goes on to say, “But even today their faces are still veiled when it comes to the word of God.” They can’t see the truth of God in Jesus Christ. They still have that veil over their face as God seeks to speak to them today, and they cannot see that Jesus Christ is indeed the Messiah that God had promised to the nation Israel. So the veil still over their eyes, not being able to behold the truth of Jesus Christ. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

The command to go forward and possess the land was now repeated to the people. It is clear that the people felt that the promise of an angel to be sent before them was the lowering of a privilege. They spoke of it as “evil tidings,” and gave expression to their feeling in that they “stripped themselves of their ornaments from mount Horeb onward.” It is probable that they never again arrayed themselves with adornments of joy during the wilderness period.
The action of Moses at this point was full of significance. Whereas the Tabernacle could not yet have been built, there was evidently a temporary tent as the center of worship. This Moses took from the center of the people and pitched it outside the camp, a solemn act symbolizing the removal of the presence of God and the consequent excommunication of the people. At that new center Jehovah spoke unto Moses “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” It was then that Moses asked for some fuller knowledge of God. The gracious promise was given, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” Then the cry of Moses was uttered, “If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”
That cry was again answered with the promise that God would do as His servant asked. Now, made exceeding bold, Moses asked for a vision of God’s glory and in reply was told that God would make all His goodness pass before him. The brightest glory of God is ever seen in the outshining of His grace.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

the Angel Leader and the Human Intercessor
Exo 33:1-11
Moses knew that His people were forgiven, but it hurt him to hear that an angel was henceforth to lead them. See Exo 32:34. The burden of two and a half millions of people was too heavy for him to carry, even with angel-help. He must somehow secure the withdrawal of that sentence, I will not go up in the middle of thee. He spoke of it to the people, who awoke to realize what their sin had forfeited, and put off their jewels. But their leader gave himself to prayer. Since Sinai was too far to climb, he seems to have pitched his own tent outside the camp as a temporary meeting-place with God; and when he entered it the people said: Look! he is going to pray for us; and he spake with God face to face, as we may, of what was in his heart. See Joh 16:26-27.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Exo 33:14
This is a word in season to every one who is weary. It is as surely ours as if, like the message of the shepherds at Bethlehem, it came to us, with stroke of light and rush of mystic music, straight from the eternal throne.
I. In what sense has God said, “My presence shall go with thee”? He is present to the believer as a Friend whose love has been accepted, and whose conversation is understood with all the intelligence of a kindred nature.
II. In what sense does the presence of God give rest? (1) It tends to give rest from the terror incident to a state of condemnation. (2) It gives rest from the anguish which springs from a discordant nature. (3) It gives rest from the cravings of an unsatisfied spirit. (4) It gives rest from the distraction felt amidst uncongenial scenes and associations. (5) It gives rest from the disquietude which results from want of human sympathy. (6) It gives rest from apprehensions regarding the future. (7) The presence of God with us now is the pledge of perfect rest in the next life.
C. Stanford, Central Truths, p. 227.
I. The Angel’s presence refers to Christ, the same who is elsewhere called the “Angel of the covenant.”
II. The presence of God in Christ showed itself in the desert by the pillar and cloud in which it tabernacled, and also by the shechinah, which, as it hung over the sacred tent, testified to God’s faithfulness and glory.
III. Note the imperatives of God’s futures. No uncertainty shall harbour here; it comes in the infallibility of a prophecy and the sovereignty of a fiat: “My presence shall go with thee.” It is personal, intimate, minute, appropriate.
IV. The presence of God brings rest. There is (1) a rest by God, when a justified soul rests through the blood of Jesus from the torment of its fear; (2) a rest on God, when the sanctified spirit reposes on the bosom of the promises; and (3) a rest with God, when the battle of life is over, and the victor-saint lays down his armour.
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons; 9th series, p. 249.
References: Exo 33:14.-J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 1st series, p. 64; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 467; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii., No. 1583. Exo 33:15.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. vii., p. 467.
Exo 33:18
It was a fine aspiration, worthy of the man who uttered it and the occasion on which he spoke. It was the reaching out of a darker dispensation after Gospel light, the reflections wishing to lose themselves in the great original. It was earth longing after heaven-the restlessness of earth longing for that which should be Divine, the rest of desire.
I. There are three kinds of glory: (1) the glory of circumstances; (2) moral glory; (3) the glory of the sense or consciousness that everything goes back to the Creator, encircling Him with His own proper perfections, the living of God in the adoration, gratitude, and service of His creatures. Moses saw all three. His prayer had an answer on the Mount of Transfiguration.
II. It was a very remarkable answer that God made to him. “I will make My kindness pass before thee.” Kindness is glory. The glory of God was in Jesus Christ. That was the manifestation of the glory of God-that is, kindness. God is love. He has many attributes, but they meet to make love.
All God’s attributes unite together, and His glory is His goodness.
J. Vaughan, Meditations in Exodus, p. 91.
Exo 33:18-20
I. Consider what Moses desired when he prayed, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.” It could not have been a mere external display of glory and power. He had seen enough, and more than enough, of these to satisfy the most enlarged desire. It could not have been to behold the glory of God as manifested in His past government of the world. In this he had been already taught. He had been the world’s sole historian for nearly two thousand years. It is probable that in this prayer, “Show me Thy glory,” he desired to comprehend the merciful purpose of God towards the Israelites, and through them to the world. He wished to understand more fully the whole plan of salvation, and to see the things that should happen in the latter days.
II. Consider how far this desire was satisfied. God made His goodness to pass before Him. (1) This was probably a prophetic view of His mercy to the Israelites as a nation. (2) God showed him His administration as a Sovereign. (3) He gave him a prophetic view of the mission of Christ. “Thou shalt see My back parts” might be translated “Thou shalt see Me as manifested in the latter days.”
III. Why was not the petition of Moses fully granted? The reason why man could not behold God’s glory would not be because of its terror or majesty, but because the view of the riches of His grace, His compassion, and benevolence, would excite emotions of reverence, admiration, and love too terrible for humanity to bear.
Bishop Simpson, Sermons, p. 347.
References: Exo 33:18.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. xiv., p. 234; J. M. Neale, Sermons for the Church Year, vol. i., p. 64; J. Hamilton, Works, vol. v., p. 252; Parker, Fountain, May 30th, 1878. Exo 33:18, Exo 33:19.-S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii., p. 264; H. Wonnacott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiv., p. 107; J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 1st series, p. 50. Exo 33:19.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x., No. 553. Exo 33:20-23.-A. L. Mansel, Bampton Lecture, 1858, p. 67.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible

5. Moses Intercession and its Results
CHAPTER 33 Repentance and Intercession
1. The word of the Lord and the peoples repentance (Exo 33:1-6)
2. The tabernacle without the camp (Exo 33:7)
3. Moses enters the tabernacle (Exo 33:8-11)
4. Moses prayer and Jehovahs answers (Exo 33:12-17)
5. Moses request (Exo 33:18-23)
The words of the Lord, with which this chapter begins, reveal Him as the covenant-keeping Jehovah. He remembers His covenant, though they are a stiff-necked people. Yet He is a holy God and if He were to be in their midst they would be consumed. They had to take the place in self-judgment and acknowledge their guilt and separation from the Holy One. They were obedient to this demand and stripped themselves of their ornaments. In this place they had taken the Lord could show them mercy.
The word tabernacle here in this chapter means tent and of course is not the real tabernacle, for that had not yet been erected. It was a tent which had been used as a place of worship, it now had to occupy a place outside of the camp. All who wanted to seek the Lord had to go to the tent of meeting, outside of the camp. See Heb 13:13. Christ and His gospel is now rejected; the professing people of God are in rebellion and apostasy; the call, therefore, is to go outside of the camp, bearing His reproach. Christ occupies this place in Laodicea , the phase of Christian profession in these last days. He is outside, standing at the door and knocking. And there, outside of the camp, the Lord spake unto Moses, as a man speaketh unto his friend. Again he represents Christ as mediator, only our mediator is higher than Moses. And through Christ we have access into His presence. Outside of the camp leads to the closest communion with Himself. The Lord talked to Moses out of the cloud and then Moses turned again into the camp. Joshua remained in the tabernacle and did not enter the camp. All is written for our learning. Though we go outside of the camp yet we have a solemn duty and responsibility towards those in the camp. May we discharge these. Moses prayer pleads now grace, and upon that the Holy One answers graciously. But His face Moses could not see. Read and compare with Joh 1:18 and Joh 14:9.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Depart: Exo 32:34
thou hast: Exo 17:3, Exo 32:1, Exo 32:7
the land: Exo 32:13, Gen 22:16-18, Gen 26:3, Gen 28:13-15
Unto: Gen 12:7, Gen 13:14-17, Gen 15:18
Reciprocal: Gen 13:15 – General Gen 50:24 – sware Exo 6:27 – to bring Exo 13:5 – sware Exo 33:12 – See Deu 10:11 – Arise Jer 32:22 – a land Act 7:36 – brought
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Exo 33:1. Go up hence, thou and the people God here seems to disown them, and calls them no more his people, because of their perfidiousness and idolatry.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Exo 33:2. I will send an angel: a created angel. Proof demonstrative that the christian fathers are all correct in declaring that the Angel of the covenant, in Exo 3:2; Exo 3:6; Gen 48:16; and other places, was the Messiah, JEHOVAH, the Lord God of the fathers.
Exo 33:4. No man did put on his ornaments. When the body is decorated with gems and costly apparel, it is far from being a sign of humiliation and repentance in the sight of God. But the Syriac reads, and no one assumed his arms, which implies that the Israelites submitted themselves to the divine disposal. The people came armed to Samuel at Mizpeh, a general custom among ancient nations, which still subsists, as Mr. Campbell states, among the Caffres.
Exo 33:5. Put off thy ornaments. It was a custom to lay aside their best raiment in times of affliction, and to wail and lament like the dragons and the owls. Mic 1:8.
Exo 33:7. Took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp. If God would not go with the people, his tent, used in a devotional way till the Mystical Tabernacle was built, must not remain among them. By this act Moses regarded the people as almost excommunicated.
Exo 33:11. Face to face; that is, familiar, as with a friend; for he was told, Exo 33:20, that he could not see the face of God and live. God spake to him without a mediator, and without any special sacrifice.
Exo 33:14. My presence shall go with thee. Panai, my faces shall go with thee, the light of my countenance, variously manifested, according to circumstances, and so as to meet every want and difficulty; my omnipotent arm shall give thee the land, and preserve thee a separate people. What promise can be more encouraging to a minister in his work, or a christian in his pilgrimage! It is enough for suffering saints and pilgrims to have a God.
Exo 33:19. I will make all my goodness. My blessedness, my light; or I will reveal to thee all my goodwill to men; or I will manifest my name, as in Exo 34:5-6.I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. That is, I will be gracious to thee, and to the people for whom thou hast prayed; but not without a holy distinction; for those who presumptuously offend shall die. And in the issue, I will be gracious to the gentiles also. Thus the Almighty diversifies his favours.
Exo 33:23. Thou shalt see my back parts. Here Moses was favoured with a vision of the Messiah incarnate, but he saw not his face. This was reserved for the happy age when God jointly favoured him and Elijah, and the three disciples, with that high honour on the mount. Matthew 17. There is not perhaps a text in all the sacred writings which more strikingly proves, that christianity is built on the foundation of Moses and the prophets.
REFLECTIONS.
Though the Lord had pardoned the iniquity of his people, in the worship of the golden calf; yet it was with such present punishments, and menaces of future visitation as were very intimidating, and calculated to preserve them from the contagion of idolatry. One of those punishments he here repeats, which affected them more than all the others; it was to withdraw the cloud of his glory, and leave them to the care of an angel.
Seeing the sacred tent removed from the centre to the extremity of the camp, they expected the awful threat to have been put into immediate execution. Every man stood at the door of his tent, and looked on with anxiety and fear. And behold, the cloudy pillar removed, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, where prayer was made. And all the people, when they saw the cloud move, prostrated at the door of their tents, and prayed earnestly that he would not remove his glory from among them. They joined with Moses in the fervent request, though unable to hear his voice, If thou go not with us, send us not up out of this place. Let the christian church learn of afflicted Israel, to esteem the divine presence above every honour and comfort which earth can afford. If once the glory of God should depart from the sanctuary, we have every thing to fear.
In order that God may not forsake us, nor take away his Holy Spirit when gross sins have been committed, let us mourn like offending Israel, nor dare immodestly to decorate ourselves, and display a vain parade of pride in his presence. What can those votaries of the follies and fashions of the day mean, by appearing in the house of God dressed so as scarcely to escape the censure of a profane theatre! Do they think that the Most High, who seeks his temple in the humblest heart, is like the giddy age, attracted by the splendour of exterior decorations? After profaning the early part of the sacred sabbath, after neglecting secret devotion through an excessive attention to dress, do they think that the Lord will accept their public service when they enter his house as a levee, merely to pay him a sort of civil homage and pompous respect. Ah, no! He resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. No, not one among the mourners of Israel put on his ornaments: they arrayed themselves in the more acceptable dispositions of a broken spirit and a contrite heart.
It was by repeated and fervent prayers, by humiliation and unfeigned repentance, that God was entreated to reverse the sentence, and promise that his presence should go with the people. How holy: how jealous is the Lord our God! How slow to anger: how easy to be entreated. When Israel murmured for water, and murmured for bread and flesh, the Lord passed by the transgression of his people: but here was a total revolt, and a revolt of the grossest kind. And what could have been expected, but that he would either have consumed them in a moment, or totally withdrawn the visible marks of his presence? But how soon his anger is turned away; how readily does he promise to continue his presence among them. And this God is our God: he governs us by the same gracious laws. We have indeed so often provoked him, that he might have given us up to our own way. But oh the riches of his mercy; we still live, and live to praise him; and we hope to praise him in the land he has promised to give us for an everlasting inheritance.
These very encouraging marks of the divine condescension, made Moses desire to see his glow; for as yet he had seen it only in the cloud. Men most favoured with interior marks of his love shed abroad in the heart are often animated with strong desires to see him as he is, and to be transformed into all the glory of his image: and while our desires after holiness and heaven are strong, we do not ask in vain. We anticipate future felicity. The Lord hides us in the cleft of the rock, and causes his goodness to pass before us. Oh the heaven, the unutterable heaven which meditation and prayer sometimes bring down into the soul. Oh the goodness of God which appears in the gift of Jesus Christ, and in all the grace which comes through him. While the soul is engaged in the contemplation of grace so abundant, and of a hope so glorious, earth retires, and loses all its charms. All the beauties of nature are eclipsed, and are accounted as nothing in comparison of the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ the Lord.
The beatific vision was here expressly promised. Where are those philosophical divines, pests of the church, who say, that in all the writings of Moses no mention is made of a future state? Do they mean to insinuate, that God would trifle with a happy soul in the ecstasy of its devotion. Let them make the request of Moses, to see the glory or the face of God; and let them hear his voice saying, that no man can see it and live; and let them frankly say, whether they would not understand it as a declaration that men may see it in the life to come. On this immortality let all our confidence be reposed, it will sustain us under all the trials of life; and let our flesh rest in hope, for our bones shall not remain in Egypt.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Exodus 33 – 34
Jehovah refuses to accompany Israel to the land of promise. “I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people; lest I consume thee in the way.” At the opening of this book, when the people were in the furnace of Egypt, the Lord could say, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows.” But now He has to say, “I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people.” An afflicted people is an object of grace; but a stiff-necked people must be humbled. The cry of oppressed Israel had been answered by the exhibition of grace ; but the song of idolatrous Israel must be answered by the voice of stern rebuke.
“Ye are a stiff-necked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee that I may know what to do unto thee,” It is only when we are really stripped of all nature’s ornaments that God can deal with us. A naked sinner can be clothed; but a sinner decked in ornaments must be stripped. This is always true. We must be stripped of all that pertains to self, ere we can be clothed with that which pertains to God.
“And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.” There they stood beneath that memorable mount, their feasting and singing changed into bitter lamentations, their ornaments gone, the tables of testimony in fragments. Such was their condition, and Moses as once proceeds to act according to it. He could no longer own the people in their corporate character. The assembly had become entirely defiled, having set up an idol of their own making, in the place of God – a calf instead of Jehovah. “And Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of the congregation.” Thus the camp was disowned as the place of the divine presence. God was not – could not – be there. He had been displaced by a human invention. a new gathering point was, therefore, set up. “And it came to pass that every one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.”
There is here a fine principle of truth, which the spiritual mind will readily apprehend. The place which Christ now occupies is “without the camp,” and we are called upon to “go forth unto him.” It demands much subjection to the word to be able, with accuracy, to know what “the camp” really is, and much spiritual power to be able to go forth from it; and still more to be able, while “far off from it,” to act towards those in it, in the combined power of holiness and grace – holiness, which separates from the defilement of the camp; grace, which enables us to act toward those who are involved therein.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. Moses exhibits a higher degree of spiritual energy than his servant Joshua. It is much easier to assume a position of separation from the camp, than to act aright towards those within.
“And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me: yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.” Moses entreats the accompanying presence of Jehovah as a proof of their having found grace in His sight. Were it a question of mere justice, He could only consume them by coming in their midst, because they were “a stiff-necked people.” But directly He speaks of grace, in connection with the mediator, the very stiff-neckedness of the people is made a plea for demanding His presence. “If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.” This is touchingly beautiful. a “stiff-necked people demanded the boundless grace and exhaustless patience of God. None but He could bear with them.
“And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” Precious portion! Precious hope! The presence of God with us, all the desert through, and everlasting rest at the end! Grace to meet our present need, and glory as our future portion! Well may our satisfied hearts exclaim, “It is enough, my precious Lord.”
In Ex. 34 the second set of tables is given, not to be broken, like the first, but to be hidden in the ark, above which, as already noticed, Jehovah was to take His place, as the Lord of all the earth, in moral government. “And he hewed two tables of stone, like unto the first: and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with them there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third, and to the fourth generation.” This, be it remembered, is God, as seen in His moral government of the world, and not as He is seen in the cross – not as’ He shines in the face of Jesus Christ – not as He is proclaimed in the gospel of His grace. The following is an exhibition of God in the gospel: “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself, by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself; NOT IMPUTING their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5: 18, 19) “Not clearing” and “not imputing” present two totally different ideas of God. “Visiting iniquities” and cancelling them are not the same thing. The former is God in government, the latter is God in the gospel. In 2 Cor. 3 the apostle contrasts the “ministration” recorded in Exodus 34 with “the ministration” of the gospel. My reader would do well to study that chapter with care. From it he will learn that any one who regards the view of God’s character given to Moses, on Mount Horeb, as unfolding the gospel, must have a very defective apprehension, indeed, of what the gospel is. Neither in creation, nor yet in moral government, do I, or can I, read the deep secrets of the Father’s bosom. Could the prodigal have found his place in the arms of the One revealed on Mount Sinai? Could John have leaned his head on the bosom of that One? Surely not. But God has revealed Himself in the face of Jesus Christ. He has told out, in divine harmony, all His attributes in the work of the cross. There “mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Sin is perfectly put away, and the believing sinner perfectly justified “BY THE BLOOD OF THE CROSS.” When we get a view of God, as thus unfolded, we have only, like Moses, to bow our head toward the earth and worship,” – suited attitude for a pardoned and accepted sinner in the presence of God!
Fuente: Mackintosh’s Notes on the Pentateuch

Exo 33:1-4 J, Exo 33:5-11 E, Exo 33:12-23 J. Yahwehs Presence.The sections of 34 have been glossed and disarranged. In Exo 33:1-4 J, Yahwehs refusal to go up in the midst of Israel leads the people to put off their ornaments. In Exo 33:5 f. follows from E Yahwehs order to put off ornaments and its execution. This may have been connected with the construction of the sacred Tent which is assumed as known in Exo 33:7-11, the details being dropped in view of Exodus 25-28. Anyhow, we have here the earlier representation of the simple tent outside the camp. as were the high places outside the towns. The visits to the tent were (Exo 7:11) more for obtaining oracles than for offering sacrifice, and Joshua, not Aaron, had charge. The sequel is to be found in Num 11:16-17 a, Num 11:24 b Num 11:30, Exodus 18, where sacrifice implies a sanctuary. The more natural order of verses in Exo 33:12-23 would be: Exo 33:17; Exo 33:12-16; Exo 33:19; Exo 33:18; Exo 33:20-23, leading up to the sequel Exo 34:5-9. The whole then gives a remarkable account of the yearning for Yahwehs presence (lit. face) amongst His people. Moses is granted a view of Yahwehs back as He passes by (Driver, the afterglow which He leaves behind Him). [Observe the difference of this and Exo 24:11. Here it would seem that the sight of Yahwehs face must inevitably bring death, as if Yahweh Himself could not prevent the fatal consequence. In Exo 24:11 the preservation of those who see Him is ascribed to His gracious self-restraint. He does not put His hand upon them, or break forth upon them as Exo 19:22 puts it.A. S. P.] It may be that originally the Ark was here expressly named as the symbol and means of the real but invisible presence.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

TOLD TO GO WITHOUT THE LORD’S PRESENCE
(vs.1-23)
Again the Lord gives instructions to Moses to depart with the people to go to the land of Canaan, affirming also that He would send His angel before them, who would drive out the nations inhabiting the land (vs.1-2). However, the Lord added a statement that was absolutely devastating to Moses, “I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people” (v.3). Could Moses think of leading the people on these terms? If the Lord told us as believers that we must make our way to heaven as best we can without the presence of the Lord, how should we react? If this would be so in our personal circumstances, how much more helpless would Moses feel in having to lead over two million people through the wilderness?
Moses communicated this shocking news to the people, together with the demand that they put off their ornaments, for God was considering what further judgment would be necessary. If there had been serious repentance as regards the horror of the evil of idol worship, surely people would not be adorning themselves with ornaments. The flesh has been guilty of great evil: it should certainly not then be decorated with ornaments! There ought to be some clear sign of self judgment. Let them therefore be shocked into showing some true evidence of this.
THE ACTION AND INTERCESSION OF MOSES
(vs.7-23)
Though the tabernacle had not yet been built, there was evidently a tent that served as the center of Israel’s worship. Moses took this and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and everyone who actually sought the Lord went out to that tent called the tent of meeting (v.7). Why did Moses do this? Surely this was to indicate that, since the Lord could not go with the camp of Israel, therefore they should leave the camp and go with the Lord. The camp had been defiled. Just so, if in personal life we find the Lord cannot go along with our actions, we should give up those actions and go with the Lord. The same is true in assembly life. If a group (even of Christians) will not judge and forsake the evil it has embraced, then individuals must leave that group and go out to the Lord.
The people watched Moses as he went out to the tent of meeting, and when he entered it the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door, and there the Lord spoke with Moses (vs.8-9). The sight of this so affected the people that they worshiped, whether out of fear or whether in humble sincerity. We are not told what the Lord said to Moses, but He spoke to him as to a friend, face to face (v.11). This does not mean that Moses saw God’s face (Exo 33:20), but that there was a close intimacy.
Then Moses returned to the camp, but Joshua, a young man, did not return. Why did Moses return? Certainly not to express any fellowship with the camp, but very likely to seek to bring others outside. A man of experience. and wisdom may be able thus to do what a younger, less experienced man could not do.
For the third time in connection with this entire occasion, Moses prays in lovely intercession for Israel (v.12). The Lord had told him, he says, that he was to bring the people up to their land, but that he feels helpless to do this without the Lord’s presence. Yet, he insists, the Lord had told him He knew Moses by name and Moses had found grace in His sight (v.12). Therefore, this being true, God surely had a way that He could show to Moses. For Moses realized that this great God of heaven and earth was not defeated by the worst of evils that Israel committed. So Moses wanted God’s way that he might really know God Himself. For it is only in a person’s own circumstances that we can rightly know the person. He adds also, “that I might find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people” (v.13).
How full of grace is the Lord’s answer to Moses’ prayer, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest (v.24). This shows the value of the intercession of one righteous man (Jam 5:16). Yet Moses recognized that God had only spoken of Moses, not the people. Did Moses desire the presence of the Lord only for himself? No, he loved the people and was persistent in his intercession for them. “If your presence does not go with us do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight except You go with us?” He adds another consideration also. Israel’s identification with the Lord involved their separation from all the nations. Could the Lord think of ignoring this most significant fact?
Certainly the Lord knew perfectly well how Moses would act in this whole situation, and He gave him this opportunity to prove his faithfulness and love for the people in this intercessory prayer. Above all, the reason for this is that we might be given a picture of the grace of the intercession of the Lord Jesus on behalf of those redeemed by His blood, though overcome by the folly of disobedience, as we too often are.
Moses therefore is given the answer to his insistent prayer, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken” (v.17). Yet the Lord makes it clear that His reason for a favorable answer is that Moses had found grace in God’s sight, just as is predominantly true of the Lord Jesus. He has above all found grace in God’s sight, and God knows Him by name.
Two of Moses’ prayers have been fully answered, while one was denied (vs.31-33). Now for a fourth time Moses addresses God in prayer, “Please show me Your glory” (v.18). When one has learned something of God’s faithfulness, His truth, His holiness and His grace, then the heart of such an individual cannot but deeply desire to actually see the beauty of God’s glory. In fact, it is God who puts this desire into the heart of a believer.
Yet at this time Moses was denied the full answer to his prayer. Moses could not see God’s face, for no one could see Him and live (v.20). Yet the Lord would encourage him by what we may consider a partial revelation of His nature or character. He tells Moses to stand on a rock, and that God would put Moses in a cleft place in the rock while God passed by. He would cover Moses with His hand, however, so that Moses would only see God’s back parts, not His face.
On God’s part this was a condescending act of grace. For God’s glory is so great that it is impossible for a creature to even imagine what He looks like. How can we ever comprehend a Being like this? But Moses seeing God’s back parts is only symbolical of people in the Old Testament seeing the evidence of God’s having been there. We too can read the Old Testament and conclude that God has manifestly passed that way, but without His face being seen.
However, though even today and for eternity God dwells in light unapproachable, never to be seen by the creature (1Ti 6:15-16), yet in the person of the Lord Jesus in Manhood form we are privileged to see the face of God. “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Co 4:6). To the believer this is a fully satisfactory revelation of God’s glory. Only in Christ will anyone ever see the face of God. Indeed, Moses had the complete answer to his prayer when, after his death, he appeared with Elijah when the Lord Jesus was transfigured on the mount (Mat 17:1-3), and by faith “We see Jesus” — crowned with glory and honor (Heb 2:9), though visibly this honor awaits our being with Him in a day soon to come. The sun presents us with a beautiful illustration of this. It is too bright for us to actually see it with our eyes, yet in seeing the light from the sun we do in this way see the sun. Christ is the light that manifests the glory of God, in whom there is such brilliance that we could only be blinded by it. But Christ is God, and we shall see His face.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

33:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, [and] {a} go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:
(a) The land of Canaan was surrounded by hills: so those who entered it, must go up by the hills.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

God would not now dwell in the midst of the Israelites as He intended to do in the tabernacle because they had repudiated His covenant with them (Exo 33:3).
The announcement of the change in God’s relation to Israel and the consequent loss of blessing led the people to mourn and sacrifice out of sorrow (Exo 33:4-6). They willingly gave up the use of the ornaments that they had used in the rebellion and that were, therefore, an offense to God.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

CHAPTER XXXIII.
PREVAILING INTERCESSION.
Exo 33:1-23
At this stage the first concession is announced: Moses shall lead the people to their rest, and God will send an angel with him.
We have seen that the original promise of a great Angel in whom was the Divine Presence was full of encouragement and privilege (Exo 23:20). No unbiassed reader can suppose that it is the sending of this same Angel of the Presence which now expresses the absence of God, or that He Who then would not pardon their transgression “because My Name is in Him” is now sent because God, if He were in the midst of them for a moment, would consume them. Nor, when Moses passionately pleads against this degradation, and is heard in this thing also, can the answer “My Presence shall go with thee” be merely the repetition of those evil tidings. Yet it was the Angel of His Presence Who saved them. All this has been already treated, and what we are now to learn is that the faithful and sublime urgency of Moses did really save Israel from degradation and a lower covenant.
It was during the progress of this mediation that Moses distracted by a double anxiety–afraid to absent himself from his wayward followers, equally afraid to be so long withdrawn from the presence of God as the descending of Sinai and returning thither would involve–made a noble adventure of faith. Inspired by the conception of the tabernacle, he took a tent, “his tent,” and pitched it outside the camp, to express the estrangement of the people, and this he called the Tent of the Meeting (with God), but in the Hebrew it is never called the Tabernacle. And God did condescend to meet him there. The mystic cloud guarded the door against presumptuous intrusion, and all the people, who previously wist not what had become of him, had now to confess the majesty of his communion, and they worshipped every man at his tent door.
It would seem that the anxious vigilance of Moses caused him to pass to and fro between the tent and the camp, “but his minister, Joshua the son of Nun, departed not out of the tent.”
The dread crisis in the history of the nation was now almost over. God had said, “My Presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest,”–a phrase which the lowly Jesus thought it no presumption to appropriate, saying, “I will give you rest,” as He also appropriated the office of the Shepherd, the benevolence of the Physician, the tenderness of the Bridegroom, and the glory of the King and the Judge, all of which belonged to God.
But Moses is not content merely to be secure, for it is natural that he who best loves man should also best love God. Therefore he pleads against the least withdrawal of the Presence: he cannot rest until repeatedly assured that God will indeed go with him; he speaks as if there were no “grace” but that. There are many people now who think it a better proof of being religious to feel either anxious or comforted about their own salvation, their election, and their going to heaven. And these would do wisely to consider how it comes to pass that the Bible first taught men to love and to follow God, and afterwards revealed to them the mysteries of the inner life and of eternity.
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary

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