Exodus 33
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CHAPTER 33
God Sends Moses to Lead the People (33:1–6)
1–3 God then told Moses to leave with the people and start out for the land of Canaan, which He had promised to give to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 15:18–21; 17:8; Exodus 3:8). But God said He would not go with them, because they were a stiff-necked (rebellious) people (see Exodus 32:9), and any further act of rebellion might cause Him to destroy them if He was with them.119
But then God promised to send an angel before them to drive out the ungodly occupants of the land of Canaan (verse 2). This angel may have been different from the angel of God who had been leading the Israelites thus far (Exodus 14:19), because the previous angel, along with the pillar of cloud, had been a manifestation of God’s actual presence with the Israelites (see Exodus 13:20–22 and comment). It is also possible that it was the same angel but that God had simply withdrawn His presence from the scene. It is hard to identify with certainty these various manifestations of God—with or without His “presence.” But one angel does stand out, the angel in which God’s Name resided; this angel was a pre-incarnate representation of Jesus Christ Himself (see Exodus 23:20–22; 33:12–14 and comments).
4–6 The Lord ordered the Israelites to take off all the remaining ornaments they had acquired from the Egyptians (Exodus 12:35–36). This was to be a sign of mourning on the Israelites’ part, mourning for the loss of God’s presence. The casting away of these ornaments was similar to the casting away of an engagement ring or wedding ring; it signaled the breakup of the relationship between God and Israel.
The Tent of Meeting (33:7–11)
7–11 The “tent of meeting” referred to in verse 7 is not the same as the Tent of Meeting, or tabernacle, first mentioned in Exodus 27:21. The “tent of meeting” described here was a temporary structure where Moses went to meet with God before the main tabernacle was built. It is clear from this section that God had not completely abandoned the Israelites, but was willing to meet with Moses, their mediator, outside the camp (verse 7). When the pillar of cloud stood at the tent’s entrance, the Israelites knew that God was speaking with Moses. God and Moses spoke as friends speak, face to face (verse 11)—that is, directly (see Genesis 32:30–32 and comment). However, with God on the outside and Moses on the inside, the curtain of the tent entrance must have shielded Moses from looking immediately into God’s “face,” since no man can do that and live (see verses 18–23).
We can also understand from this section that the people had started again to worship the Lord (verse 10). Their change of heart would soon open the way for God to renew His covenant with them, as we shall see in the next chapter.
Moses and the Glory of the Lord (33:12–23)
12–14 Here we see Moses and God speaking together like friends (verse 11), openly and frankly. God had said He would send an angel to go with the Israelites (verse 2), but that did not satisfy Moses. “Who was this angel?” Moses wanted to know. Moses didn’t want just an angel; he wanted God’s presence to go with the Israelites. Moses also asked God to teach him His ways (verse 13), a request that God would grant in Exodus 34:5–7.
“. . . teach me your ways so I may know you.” Moses had encountered God in a burning bush; he had seen God humble Pharaoh and the Egyptians; he had seen God part the sea and provide water out of a rock; he had spent forty days and nights with God on top of Mount Sinai. Moses had experienced God’s signs and wonders; now he wanted to experience God Himself. He wanted to know God personally. God is more to be desired than all of His wonders and works and blessings. To know God personally is the highest blessing any human can experience (see John 17:3).
God graciously responded to Moses’ desire to know who would go with him, saying, “My Presence will go with you” (verse 14)—that is, with Moses. (The “you” is singular in Hebrew.) Thus, because of Moses’ intercession, God partly reversed His decision not to go with the Israelites (verse 3); He would agree to go “with Moses.” We can understand God’s “Presence” to be the special angel mentioned earlier, in whom God’s Name was placed (Exodus 23:21).
15–17 But Moses was still not satisfied. He wanted God to accompany not just him but the people as well; he wanted God to accept the Israelites as “His people” once again. Moses knew that without God’s presence there would be nothing to distinguish the Israelites from the ungodly nations around them. Other nations had laws, priests and sacrifices; only the Israelites had God’s presence with them.
God was pleased with what Moses had said, and so He agreed to go with the people. For a second time, God told Moses, “I know you by name” (verses 12,17); “I have chosen you for a special purpose.”
Surely Moses has given us a marvelous example of intercession and mediation with God. What a great man of God he was! God was pleased with him (verse 17). Yet there was a greater mediator than Moses yet to come—Jesus Christ (Hebrews 3:1–6)—in whom God was also well pleased (Matthew 17:5). And because of Christ, Christians also have the same privileges Moses had: we too can know God (John 14:6–7); we too are friends of God, and can speak with Him “face to face” (John 15:14–15).
18–23 Then Moses was emboldened to make a final special request: “Now show me your glory” (verse 18). Moses wanted to know more about God; he wanted to know Him intimately.
Again God heeded Moses’ request, and agreed to show him His glory—that is, His goodness (verse 19). God would also proclaim His name120 as He passed by, so that Moses would know even more of His nature and character. God would demonstrate His goodness by showing mercy and compassion121—even to the undeserving Israelites. It was, above all, God’s mercy and compassion that led Him to renew His covenant with Israel.
God then explained how He would show His goodness (glory) to Moses without causing Moses’ death. He used the terms “hand,” “back” and “face”122 to describe how He would appear to Moses. Since God is spirit and has no physical form, it is best to understand His “back” as being the “after-glow” of His radiance, and his “face” as being His full blazing radiance, which no human can look upon and live (John 1:18; 6:46; 1 Timothy 6:15–16).
The fulfillment of God’s promise to show Moses His goodness (glory) occurred a short time later and is described in Exodus 34:5–7.