Introduction
In this second part of the book of Exodus God's people, who now have God's law, are about to embark on the journey to God's land. One of the privileges of being God's people is that they are to have God live amongst them and so most of these later chapters deal with the design and building of the tabernacle which will be placed in the middle of the camp. Sandwiched in the middle of these chapters we find chapters 32 to 34 that chronicle what we might call a rebellion against God.
The Israelites build and worship an idol that mimics the Egyptian gods they should have left behind. They are not abandoning Yahweh as such but are borrowing pagan ways of religiosity – what we in the 21st century call syncretism. They are guilty of breaking relationship with God.
God decides to destroy the Israelites and start again with Moses, and so we witness the first of the three prayers from Moses on which this whole three chapter episode hinges. In our look at chapter 32 we looked at prayer No 1 ("Lord, don't destroy the Israelites" - 32:11-13) where Moses appeals against their destruction on the basis of Scripture and on the character of Yahweh. We also looked at his second prayer ("Lord, forgive them" - 32:32) where Moses tries to make atonement for the nation. And so we come to chapter 33.
Who's Going Where? Verses 1-11
God instructs the Israelites to be on their way again, following the angel in verses 1- 3a. He repeats his promises and so it appears to us that the first two prayers of Moses have fulfilled their purpose.
There is of course a seemingly difficult time scale here. There is no linear time-line and the text flits back and forth as events are described. The Israelites are sent on their way in the first three verses as we’ve noted, but verses 3b to 10 take place before they have decamped! Both events seem to have occurred before the plague of 32:35 occurs. This is confusing but the writer’s main aim is to convey spiritual truth rather than time-line history so we must not let this deter us.
The major focus of these verses is the issue that is as yet unresolved for God which we see most clearly in verses 3 and 5: God will not go with them because a holy God cannot live amongst an unholy people. It's rather like the problem God has in Genesis 3. How is he to bring fallen humanity back into his presence?
Moses pitches the Tent of Meeting outside the camp because if it were inside the camp God would come amongst an unholy people when he met with Moses, so it has to be outside. The camp is ‘unclean’ if you like. God’s plan had been to pitch his own tent in the midst of the camp but that become impossible so he goes for the only other alternative.
Details and Fundamentals
There are some lovely details in this text. Notice that there is an overriding interest in the Peoples' ornaments (referred to three times) and there is this lovely image of all the Israelites watching Moses go into the Tent of Meeting with such interest. The removal of their ornaments will help them not repeat the golden calf incident by taking away their immediate temptation. The gold was plundered from the Egyptians and reminds them of Egypt's underway things were done there.
So often it is the little things that lead us into big sinfulness. "I’ll just have one drink," could be a door into getting drunk for some. Going out with a credit card for some could lead to all sorts of financial trouble. The best way to not get started on the road to ruin is to try and takeaway trigger points by which I mean the things that remind us of the action and tempt us. When you're trying to give up smoking, if you normally had a cigarette whenever you made a cup of coffee you're going to find it very difficult not to have a cigarette when you make cup coffee now. One of the better ways of dealing with a situation like this is to cut right back on coffee so that the idea of having a cigarette doesn't occur in the first place.
There may also be a much bigger point to the Israelites watching Moses. They are wondering what God will ultimately do with them. They are afraid to lose his protection and they are afraid of his punishment. Their worship (verse 10) is a little late in the day to be effective in placating the Lord.
Moses’ Third Prayer – "Lord, Please come with us" - verses 12-17
There can be no doubt that the basic request posed by Moses in this section is, Lord go with us, but his question first 12 is not so straightforward. Here I think the sense of what is asking is this, "Who is coming with me? How many other Israelites have found sufficient favour in your sight like me to come with you?" Notice that the heart of Moses is for others as well as himself. He wants no one to be left behind.
In verse 14 Yahweh says, "my Presence will go with you," but Moses is not satisfied. It’s a singular you in the Hebrew text meaning that God is only prepared to go with Moses but not the whole nation. In verse 16 Moses pushes the point and stresses, "me and your people". This is important to Moses because having Yahweh’s presence would distinguish the Israelites nation from other nations. It’s no good having a distant God.
Christians want a close-by God so we can understand this concern that Moses has. God’s willingness to go with the Israelites despite all they have done seems to acknowledge that need. The reason that God relents however, is because of Moses being virtuous in God's sight and here he is acting as a pre-echo of Jesus. It is because of the perfection of Jesus that God continues to be gracious and contend with man and plan for our eventual home in heaven. Note also the effectiveness of prayer of a righteous man. "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective," says James in and the New Testament (James 5:16). Moses’ passion for God is unbeatable and this is a remarkable demonstration of this conviction that he has.
Of course the Israelites are still an unforgiven people, so in relenting we are learning something important about God’s nature, indeed perhaps his primary characteristic, that Moses understands and has been counting on. It is the grace of God. that grace is most clearly shown in Jesus Christ whose mission was to reconcile God to humanity and humanity to God, to bring both parties back into relationship and do so for eternity.
As we are exhorted by the new Testament writers to emulate Jesus in everything we do them say so I suggest that graciousness should be a natural fruit of relationships. God specifically says that he knows Moses by name and if you know someone by name you are in relationship with them. Be gracious!
Seeing God Again - Verses 18-23
In verses 18 to 23 Moses is asking for a visible sign to mark or guarantee God's undertaking. What is happening should be understood as a re-commissioning, a new start. Moses is seeking a renewed authority to lead the whole people of God towards Canaan. Commissioning of the leaders for God’s people do seem to take place on mountains and we get here a pre-echo of the Transfiguration and the 'commissioning' there of the inner circle of disciples, Peter, James and John. In his letters, Peter makes his appeals on the basis of the Transfiguration. There is more to say about the Transfiguration but we will pick that up in the next study on chapter 34.
The re-proclamation of God's name in verse 19 is an echo of chapter 3 where Moses is called by God to lead the nation out of Egypt into Canaan and God reveals himself by the name Yahweh. Ralph Dale Davies says that Yahweh's goodness is really seen in his name which is the proclamation of his character. If we look at 34:6-7 where God carries out this promise factors associated with his name we will see that God describes his character verbally to Moses.
God warns Moses that he will not be able to see his face or he will die. Notice how as in the Passover, God provides a means to escape his judgment, this time using his hand over the cleft in the rock. The Rock must be an allusion to Jesus. Furthermore, it is interesting that God talks about showing Moses his goodness. I understand this as meaning God's goodness as when they saw his glory in the desert. It is a shorthand indicating God's power, protection and provision.
For those people who want to see the glory of God in our age, surely that is done again by the name of God, specifically the name of Jesus and by encouraging them to read and understand the Bible. For the Christian who has lost that sense of God's glory, surely the best way to read gain it is through telling others about Jesus - after all, we should all be teachers of the Gospel.