Exodus 33:1-34:35
Exodus • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Two weeks ago, we were in Exodus 31 and 32. Today, we’ll be talking about Moses’ last time on the mountain. It’s going to be a hard time for him, a time that will change him fundamentally. Moses will speak with God, the way we get to now as we pray. He will prove to the world that prayer changes things. It doesn’t change God’s mind...but it proves to everyone where you stand. Moses shows the weight of our sin, and the freedom of giving it up to Jesus, the attributes of God that will resound thruout history. Let’s get into the Word today, shall we?
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ 2 And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
Ok, for you note-takers today. The Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament is who? Jesus, that’s right. His Angel will drive out the people and prepare the land they will enter. He can’t do it all at once, because the land would go sour as they are moving into it.
But, there’s a catch, the Lord won’t be among the people. The people had made it clear they would rather serve other gods, right? How many of us do rash things when we’re hurt OR WORSE, jealous? It’s like the red cape has come out and all I want to do is break stuff.
Kids, you know how that is, right? Your brother or sister gets what you wanted...then what happens? The sign goes on the door, right: “Keep out!” Meanwhile you’re in the room by yourself having a tea party to ease your tension with all of your teddy bears. Right boys? That’s what we do when we’re angry...no, it’s not right.
Moses receives the message from the Lord and forwards it on to the Israelites:
4 And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you.’ ” 6 So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.
The ornaments were the fine things that Israel plundered from Egypt. Remember, they had already removed the gold imbedded in their bodies...now they were to remove all of the jewelry and other fine things they had received. They would never put them back on.
Think about this for a moment. The Lord allowed the people to get to this point, because He was going to use all of the things that the people brought out of Egypt for His glory. A few chapters ago, the Lord spoke to Moses while he was talking about the offerings of the sanctuary:
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering. 3 And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; 4 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; 5 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; 6 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 7 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.
Moses is on the mountain with the Lord at this time, he hasn’t come down. These things are the ornate things they received from Egypt, the things used to worship their gods back there. Because the people are now humbled because of what they had done, they would be ready to give freely of these pagan ornaments so the Lord could redeem them for use worshipping Him.
So often does the Lord prepare a trial for us to set our hearts in the right place. Moses sought a relationship with the Lord, though, and he knew the Lord would not be around the people of Israel right now.
7 Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.
The Tent of the Meeting would be the name of the Tabernacle when it was built. Moses said: “I’m going to go be alone, where I can meet with the Lord.” And the Lord made it clear to the people He was with Moses.
The people would stand and watch as Moses went to his tent, wanting, straining to see if the cloud would come down. If they wanted to inquire of the Lord, then they would have to trek out to Moses’ tent. Isn’t this how it is today? People will watch you go to church, but are afraid to come with you?
You have to be purposeful about your walk with Jesus. People could have come, but they didn’t. The people would worship God when the cloud came down, worship from afar, not wanting to have that intimate relationship the Lord wants.
Now, also, we can see why God can vent his frustration with Moses and let him know his thoughts. He spoke to Moses as a friend. A friend has your best in mind at all times. God knew Moses had His heart in mind with his decisions. Especially after his heartfelt request to have mercy and save the Israelites. But Moses isn’t done with that:
12 Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” 14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” 17 So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”
What does it mean when God says: I know you by name?” What do you think it means? It means God has an intimate relationship with Moses. Mo sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered.
Moses says, he doesn’t want some angel leading them around. He wants God with them. Mo puts it all on the line, it’s you and us, or let us die here. Show us your grace and mercy. Then, Moses asks for a favor of God:
18 And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” 19 Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 20 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. 23 Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
Glory - Heb Kabod - glory, honour, weight, abundance, riches, honour, splendour, dignity, reputation, reverence.
One word, means all of this. Show me your EVERYTHING, God. Show me who you are, so I can tell the people who You are. Have you ever asked the Lord that, in earnest while in prayer? Until this week I hadn’t. He hasn’t shown me yet...probably because I need to work on my prayer life.
What if He showed you, what would you do? Do you think anyone would believe you? Little old you? I know what you did at the bar last night...or a few weeks ago...and now you’re going to tell me you’ve witnessed the GLORY of God? Yeah.
Moses had a different reputation. Remember, when he came back into the camp, he was an outsider, unknown to His people, they knew him as one of Pharaoh’s son’s, who had murdered someone and ran. He’s built a reputation, though. One worthy to witness his afterglow as He has walked by. I long for that day. Probably none of us will ever see that until we’re in Heaven, we need to be OK with that. I’d still seek it out though. Prayer is such an important part of our lives. I know lots of you kids know it. You pray for amazing things, and have wonderful discernment when it comes to spiritual things. Don’t lose that hunger for prayer time.
Now, the Lord had real work for Moses to do, so the Lord called to him:
1 And the Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. 2 So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain. 3 And no man shall come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain; let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain.”
Last time, God cut the stones and wrote on them. This time, Moses would have to cut the stones AND carry them up the mountain. God would put the words on the tablets again, but Moses would bear the burden of the stones.
Something to keep in mind here, is clearly God gives a command that would make Moses act in haste. He doesn’t say: I’ll give you a week to get ready. No, you be ready in the morning, first thing and I’ll meet you there. Make sure it’s before anyone, even the shepherds get up. Anything that approached the mountain would die, and if they didn’t know that Moses was up there, they wouldn’t try.
4 So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone. 5 Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
The weight of our sin can be very overwhelming. It’s designed to break us, but motivate us to be changed. Moses responded in his anger when He broke the tablets with the commandments before the Israelites when he walked down the mountain.
This would be the cost for Moses to witness the Lord’s Glory. To show the Lord that he was a man prepared to do what was unordinary.
The Lord would then proclaim His attributes before Moses. The attributes that would define how we would see God portrayed thruout scripture.
Merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and not allowing generational sin to happen.
Mercy and Grace - Mercy is not getting what we deserve, Grace is getting what we don’t deserve. We deserve death for our sin. Jesus frees us from that bondage. We, in return for our faith, receive eternal life in Heaven, something we don’t deserve for how we have lived our lives.
Longsuffering - what’s another word for this in some of your Bibles? Slow to anger - patient. He is so patient with us, is He not? He doesn’t want us to perish, that’s why He sent Jesus.
Goodness and Truth, Jesus is the only one who was Good, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, right Jeff?
Keeping mercy for thousands - Jesus, right? forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin - Jesus also. AND giving each one of us the choice to follow Jesus or live for this world.
Yahweh is describing Jesus. Exodus 34:6-7 directly describes our Savior. From the beginning to the end, God is saying I am He. I’m not changing.
So, what does Moses do?
8 So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. 9 Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
What a man. What a man who loves the Lord’s people. I would pray you would see this from me! I pray to see this from you! To be willing to plead before the Lord for your friends, your unsaved friends, your fallen friends...your saved friends who feel overwhelmed by their habitual sin. Pray for deliverance for them. Ceaselessly.
Our Gracious and merciful Lord responds to Moses’ faithfulness and boldness in His name:
10 And He said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. 11 Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst.
13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods. 17 “You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.
18 “The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt. 19 “All that open the womb are Mine, and every male firstborn among your livestock, whether ox or sheep. 20 But the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem him, then you shall break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. “And none shall appear before Me empty-handed. 21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22 “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. 23 “Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel. 24 For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year. 25 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning. 26 “The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” 27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
Remember Me the Lord says. How does the Lord prescribe the people of Israel make sure they remember? “Write that down.” How many of us write down what we’re told. It’s how I remember best...write it down. Imagine if we wrote the Bible out as we read it. Do you think it would be more memorable to you? Start writing scripture as you go. If verses are meaningful as you read, WRITE THEM. Hide them in your heart! They will come in handy.
29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them.
32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.
Did you know that you shine like that? When the Spirit is in you, there’s no doubt. Seeking and hurting people are drawn to you, and evil is repelled by you. You know those people, there’s something special about them. They’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, where? Down in their heart. Where?
That’s from regular meeting with the Lord. There are people in our lives that are like gravity. There are little people in this room right now that are powerful, and it’s because they seek the Lord’s face. They have discernment, boldness, compassion. They know your pain because the Lord revealed it to them...and they spoke, or came and gave you a hug, or just a touch...a knowing look.
You know they know. There are people in your life right now that need delivered. From a season of sadness. From a prideful heart. From a lack of faith. A deaf ear. A blind eye. A stiff neck. A broken heart. Like Moses, the people need deliverers in the flesh.
Moses plead for God’s people to save them from their sin. He obeyed, even when it was hard. Delivering the news that you’re dying and going to hell is the most stressful thing you can do in your life. It’s also the most rewarding, because when those ashes are turned into joy, when the prideful humble themselves, when they become full of faith, when they hear the Word and tend their soil, when those eyes are open, when that stiff neck becomes compassionate, when that broken heart is mended...that’s when the Lord’s Glory shines thru us.
Who needs prayer around you. Are you ready to go to war for them? Who’s going to war for you? Anybody? Do you not see the angels that surround you to quench your fear and help you fight the enemy? Let us stand and pray church. Before you leave today, find someone to pray with and hold them close, lift them up, and let them lift you. Accept the blessing they will impart upon you. In Jesus Name.
Pray
Verse 1
Every night there by your bed
You fold your hands and bow your head
Throwing out another prayer in faith
When you wondering if He's hearing you
Look at me I'm living proof
I'm only right where I am today
Because somebody prayed
Chorus
So I hit my knees
'Cause I've seen all heaven move
I pray Father please
'Cause I've seen what He can do
These hands have no power
But there ain't an hour He don't come through
That's why when mountains move I say
Looks like somebody prayed
Verse 2
For the child of God that's far from home
The one who thinks they're too far gone
I'm throwing out another prayer in faith
Worn out altars tear stained pews
Still I won't give up on you
I believe that anything can change
When somebody prays
Chorus
So I hit my knees
'Cause I've seen all heaven move
I pray Father please
'Cause I've seen what He can do
These hands have no power
But there ain't an hour He don't come through
That's why when mountains move I say
Looks like somebody prayed
Bridge
I've seen miracles come from feeble words
I've seen hospital rooms turned into cathedrals
I've seen freedom come to the prisoner
You can't tell me that prayer don't work
Verse 3
Every night there by your bed
When you fold your hands and bow your head
Not a single word you've ever said in vain
'Cause He hears everything
Chorus
So I hit my knees
'Cause I've seen all heaven move
I pray Father please
'Cause I've seen what He can do
These hands have no power
But there ain't an hour He don't come through
That's why when mountains move I say
Looks like somebody prayed
Chorus
So I hit my knees
'Cause I've seen all heaven move
I pray Father please
'Cause I've seen what He can do
These hands have no power
But there ain't an hour He don't come through
That's why when mountains move I say
Looks like somebody prayed
