The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus
Exodus 33
Chapter XXXIII · Vol. I, pp. 352–353
1 The Lord refuseth to go with the people. 4 The people mourn thereat. 7 The tabernacle is removed out of the camp. 9 The Lord talketh familiarly with Moses out of the cloudy pillar. 12 Moses desireth to see the glory of God.
1 AND the LORD said unto Moses, a 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 b sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:
2 And c 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:
c ch. 32.34; 23.20. De. 7.22. Jos. 24.11.
3 Unto a d land flowing with milk and honey: for I will e not go up in the midst of thee;4 for thou art a stiff-necked people, lest I consume thee in the way.
d ch. 3.8, 17; 13.5. Nu. 13.27; 14.8; 16.13. De. 6.10, 11; 8.7-9; 11.9-12; 32.13, 14.
e ch. 32.9; 23.21. De. 9.13. Am. 3.13, 14.
4 The Lord God had said, ch. 32.34, 'I will send mine Angel,' and no alarm was excited either in Moses or the people, for they knew this phrase meant 'God manifest;' but here he merely says, 'I will send an angel, for I will not go up in the midst of thee,' and the people 'mourn,' recognizing the distinction, and Moses intercedes till the Lord promises his accompanying presence.—Note, The importunity of Moses is a fit model of imitation for every Christian. See ver. 15.—C.
4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they f mourned; and no man did put on him his ornaments.
f 2 Sa. 14.2. Da. 10.2, 3. Jonah 3.5, 6, 8. Is. 32.11, 12. Nu. 14.39. Ju. 10.10, 15. Joel 1.13; 2.16. ver. 6.
5 For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a g stiff-necked people; I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now h put off thy ornaments5 from thee, that I may i know what to do unto thee.
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
g ch. 32.9. Lu. 13.3, 5.
h 2 Sa. 12.20. Is. 22.12. See ver. 4, 6.
5 They had made themselves either partially or wholly naked by putting off their garments, ch. 32.25, now God strips them of their ornaments.—Note, When men abuse one gift, such as riches, health, opportunity of good, God frequently deprives them of these or something they value more. So it was with David, 2 Sa. 11.27; 12.15, 18. Yet in this we see the mercy of God, that sinners may be awakened, and backsliders restored.—C.
6 And the children of Israel k stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.
k ch. 32.2. Je. 2.17, 19; 3.25; 4.18; 5.25. Pr. 3.35. Ro. 6.21. 1 Sa. 2.30.
7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, l afar off from the camp, and m 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.6
l Is. 59.1. Pr. 15.29. Ps. 10.1; 35.22.
m ch. 29.42, 43. This was not the tabernacle that was to remain the typical residence of God's worship, and of the symbols of his presence.
6 Distinguishing the special congregation of worshippers of Jehovah, from the idolatrous worshippers of the calf. The emblem of the true church, called out, gathered out from the world, and surrounded and endangered by the idolatries of mystical Babylon; and to which God continually warns and exhorts, saying: 'Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues,' Re. 18.4.—C.
8 And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and n stood every man at his tent-door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.
9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the o cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses.
10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle-door; and all the people p rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent-door.
p See ch. 4.31. 1 Ki. 8.14, 22. Ps. 78.34-37.
11 And the LORD q spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp; but his r servant Joshua the son of Nun; a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.
q Perhaps in human shape, Ge. 32.30. Nu. 12.8. De. 5.4; 34.10.
r ch. 24.13; 32.17; 17.9. Nu. 27.18-21. De. 31.3, 23. Jos. i.-xxiv.
12 And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, s Bring up this people; and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me: yet thou hast said, I t know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.
s ch. 3.10; 32.34; ver. 1.
t ch. 4.11, 22; 31.2. Je. 1.5. 2 Ti. 2.19. See Ge. 6.8. De. 7.8. 1 Jn. 4.9, 10, 19.
13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now u thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight; and consider that this nation is x thy people.
u Ps. 25.4, 8, 9; 77.20; 5.8; 27.11. Pr. 3.5, 6.
x Not mine, ch. 32.7, 11.
14 And he said, My y presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
y Jos. 1.5. Is. 41.10, 15; 43.2; 63.9. 2 Sa. 17.11. Ps. 136.16, with ver. 3.
15 And he said unto him, If z thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
z ch. 34.9. Ps. 90.13-17; 80.1-7; 31.20; 91.1-10.
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 a separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
a ch. 8.22; 19.5, 6; 34.10. Ps. 4.4. De. 4.7, 34; 7.6, 8; 14.2. i.e. distinguished.
17 And the LORD said unto Moses, b I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
18 And he said, I c beseech thee, show me thy glory.
c Ps. 4.6; 27.4; 80.3, 7, 19. Phi. 3.8, 9. ver. 20.
19 And he said, I will make all my d goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; e and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.7
d Ps. 119.68; 65.4. Je. 31.14; 34.5-7.
e Ro. 5.6-8; 9.15. ch. 34.6, 7. De. 7.8. 1 Jn. 4.9, 10, 19.
7 It does not mean that grace and mercy are mere arbitrary decisions, without reason, but that the moving cause lies not in the sinner, who is utterly unworthy, and guilty before him; but in God, whose will is essentially gracious and merciful, who, indeed, 'worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,' Ep. 1.11, yet ever worketh, and merely worketh, 'according to the good pleasure of his will,' Ep. 1.5.—C.
21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee g in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my h back parts; but my face shall not be seen.
h 2 Co. 4.6; 3.18. 1 Co. 13.12. 1 Ti. 6.16. Job 11.7. Back parts denote less bright manifestations.
Notes
Ver. 5. That I may try whether thou wilt repent of or persist in thy sin, and act towards thee accordingly.
Ver. 7. This tabernacle was a tent, erected by Moses for the worship of God till the appointed one should be finished; and the removal of it from the camp intimated the Lord's displeasure with them, and departure from them.
Ver. 9, 11. God's familiar talking with Moses was a public approbation of what he had done against the calf, and the worshippers thereof.
Ver. 18. The highest manifestation of thy glory that I am capable of bearing.
Ver. 19. God reckons the display of his goodness his distinguished glory.
Ver. 20. God's face here denotes the brightness of majesty and glory which attended the external shape he now assumed.
Ver. 23. [No portion of Scripture is more remarkable or more mysterious than this. We observe, 1. The request of Moses. It could not have been prompted by curiosity. It must have arisen from the natural aspiration of an exalted genius and a loving spirit, to know and see and fully comprehend that glorious Being with whom he had such close converse; and to comprehend the fountain of that mingled power, justice, and mercy which had been so signally exhibited, and which required to be continued to Israel. 2. God's reply. He did not grant all that was asked. It could not be. Man's weak nature could not bear it. The manifestation of the full glory of God is incompatible with man's present condition. God did grant, however, all that it was possible for Moses to endure—his goodness passed before him. How this was done we know not. But there must have been some wondrous display of divine goodness, love, and mercy. May it not have been some clear insight, some glorious vision, of the atoning work of Him who is 'the brightness of God's glory, and the express image of his person?' P.]
Reflections.—Fearful is the danger and woe that attend apostasy from God, and the worshipping of idols in his room! His eye beholds the inward hardness and obstinacy of our hearts. And painful indeed are the convictions of an awakened conscience, when God displays his terrors and appears as an enemy! There is need of uncommon humiliation and prayer when God's wrath is once kindled against a people, and he has begun to remove his ordinances from them. But when a gracious God, and a multitude of groaning hearts, meet together at the throne of grace, it is a token of his merciful designs; for he is ready to return to his praying people, and indulge them with the most astonishing familiarity. Their desire of fellowship and boldness of faith increases in his presence: and he will not refuse them anything they ask, though it were to the whole of his kingdom. What blessing of direction, presence, or spiritual manifestation, can he deny us, who have Jesus our advocate within the vail! Come then, my soul, be no more a trifler in prayer, but make intercession with groans which cannot be uttered. Whatever I ask, believing, for myself, or my family, or the church, God will give it. Let me, adoring the universality of his grace, press after clearer and clearer displays of his glory, his goodness, till at last I see him as he is! Awake, ye prayerless wasters of time!—Base and unprofitable are your fellowships with men, if compared to this of Moses with his God!