Exodus 33 Notes

In our salvation, our protection within the rock, our being hidden in Christ, it is not ultimately the schemes of Satan from which we are protected, but rather from God himself.

By the shear glory of God sinful man cannot bear to look upon his face, thus through Christ in this life we are given the grace of communion with God yet we are not consumed

But also, in Christ the Rock (), we are preserved from the just wrath of God due sinful man.

For God does not say “I will be angry with whom I will be angry,” for he is not angry by prerogotive, but rather his wrath is always just and holy. Therefore anger is the universal and just response of God toward all who commit the apostasy of sin, that is, all men. But it is his prerogative to show mercy to whomever he wills, all whom he purposes to save from destruction.

This salvation is not in accord with their righteous deeds, but rather in accord with the glory of God’s grace which he sovereignly purposes to pour out on those whom he decides to give mercy. Paul defends this in .

He never damns by prerogative, but by prerogative he saves. (MH Commentary)

NT Quotations

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The Lexham Bible Dictionary The Necessity of Following God (Exod 40:36–38)

Exodus demonstrates that it can never be advisable to take one’s own direction if God is available to lead. In Exodus, Israel learns that their proper role before God is that of follower. Following a divine leader would provide the highest good for the followers. Although Moses was Israel’s proximate leader, God was their supreme leader.

Tent of Meeting: this predates the Tabernacle, which came to be known by the same Hebrew term after it was erected. It seems the significance of the tent of Meeting in is that it was not yet the “permanent” dwelling place of God, but rather was the means by which Moses had communion with him. It illustrates Moses as the intercessor for the people, and is important that it was pitched outside the camp, that is, God’s presence was not with the people but outside the people at this point.

Compassion

Hebrew expression: racham

Pronunciation: raw KHAHM

Strong’s Number: 7355

KEY VERSES

Exodus 33:19; Isaiah 13:18; Jeremiah 21:7

It is not overstating the case to say that Israel exists because God is a compassionate God who lives and acts according to who He is. Yet, in His sovereignty and divine wisdom He will show compassion (Exod. 33:19). The word “compassion” translates the Hebrew verb racham in the Exodus passage. The word also means “to have compassion, to show love, or to show mercy.” Racham is a tender word that is formed from the noun rachamim or racham meaning “womb” or “compassion.” God has a motherly feeling toward His people whom He made and the “womb” is a place of compassion and deep emotion. Rachum is the adjective that describes God as a “compassionate” God (Exod. 34:6), and usually refers to God’s compassion toward His people (2 Kgs. 13:23),

In the time of Israel’s rebellion with the golden calf at Mount Sinai, the Lord showed Himself to be compassionate by forgiving His people and reestablishing the covenant on the basis of who He is, not who they were (Exod. 34). Israel’s rebellion in the time of Micah had reached such proportions that again Israel was on the verge of destruction. But, Micah humbly pleaded to a God who pardons and removes the sins of His people. His plea was well informed; he knew the story of Israel’s rebellion and the responses of her “compassionate”—that is, rachum—God. Perhaps He would again have compassion upon His people (Mic. 7:19). In Jeremiah 6:23 and 21:7 the Babylonians and their King Nebuchadnezzar are depicted as having no compassion or pity towards Israel, desiring to utterly destroy them. If it had not been for the compassion of the Lord towards His people, they would not have continued to exist. But, He rescued them and remains eternally compassionate towards them.

This marvelous aspect of God’s character is exhibited clearly in the Bible. It is incarnated in Jesus Christ, the compassionate, loving, supreme, God-Man. When He saw crowds He was moved by compassion (, splagchizomai in Greek) for them. As a result He healed the sick (; ). He was also the compassionate one of Exodus (). In Christ, the Father of compassion (, oiktirmos in Greek) and God of solace dwells. There is no greater comfort than knowing that the Lord continues to show His compassion to us, working miracles of goodness and mercy out of every situation in our lives ().

. Exodus 33:12–23 demonstrates that God is not merely present with His people to provide accurate directions and a safe trip. Rather, His presence allows them to:

• know Him personally (33:11);

• know His favor (33:12);

• understand His character and will (33:13);

• be certain of His establishment as a people in their own land (33:14);

• know His special election (33:16);

• be aware of His personal interest and favor (33:13, 17);

• sense His glory (33:18);

• experience the goodness, mercy, and compassion associated with His glorious presence (33:19).

The Israelites made it to Sinai by following God. Likewise, they could only leave Sinai (33:1) and get to the promised land by following God. Only He could make them—a vulnerable, newly formed people—into a great nation in their own land, living lives centered on the only true God.

CHAPTER XXXIII

PREVAILING INTERCESSION

Exodus 33

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 (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

Filtering God

Study Hosea Like a Pro

The Old Testament tells us that no person can see the face of God and live (Exod 33:20). The New Testament echoes this prohibition (John 1:18). The prophet Hosea, however, seems to disagree.

In Hosea 12:3–4, the prophet revisits the story of Jacob as told in Genesis:

In the womb he [Jacob] deceived his brother, and in his manhood he struggled with God.

He struggled with the angel and prevailed; he pleaded for his mercy.

He met him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him.

If we turn back to Genesis, we find that Jacob “struggled” (sarah) with “a man” in a physical scuffle (Gen 32:27). The same Hebrew word is also used in Hosea 12:3 for Jacob’s struggle with God, thereby linking these two passages. As Jacob wrestled the stranger, he came to realize he was struggling with God (elohim) in human form (Gen 32:28). He named the place “Peniel” (“the face of God”), expressing amazement that he had been allowed to live (32:30). This incident led Jacob to rededicate himself to God at Bethel (35:1–7), where he had first seen God in a vision (28:10–22).

Hosea 12:3–4 summarizes this series of events in Jacob’s life and confirms the divine identity of his opponent by saying Jacob “struggled with God.” But Hosea takes it one step further: Jacob “struggled with God” and with an angel (mal’ak) during that combat. Yet again, the word “struggled” is another form of the same Hebrew word (sor). Here, Hosea is asserting that a certain angel in the Old Testament was the God of Israel in human form.

Later in Genesis, when Jacob was at the end of his life, he blessed the sons of Joseph. The terms for God and angel are parallel as though they are the same being. In Hebrew, the verb translated “may he bless” is grammatically singular, confirming the writer saw the two figures as one.

The God (elohim) before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked,

The God (elohim) who shepherded me all my life unto this day,

The angel (mal’ak) who redeemed me from all evil,

may he bless the boys. (Gen 48:15–16)

So, is there a contradiction between the verses in Genesis and Hosea and those in Exodus and the Gospel of John that say people are forbidden from seeing the face of God?

The key is in the translation of the Hebrew word used for “face” in these passages. The Hebrew word translated “face” in Exodus 33:20 is panim, which colloquially means God’s presence. Old Testament passages that make this declaration actually state that no one can see the presence of God unveiled. That privilege was reserved for those in heaven—such as Jesus before coming to earth (John 1:18).

God’s presence had to be filtered for humanity. In the Old Testament, God sometimes chose the filter of human form (the angel) so he could speak with people. They saw the face of the angel but were protected from direct contact with the presence of God. In the fullness of time, this was accomplished even more dramatically through the incarnation of Jesus—Immanuel, “God with us” ().

John’s gospel has priority, both as a later statement and as a statement that fits well with Jesus’ own description of God as a spirit (John 4:24). But the statement of John 1:18 is also the statement of a more profound truth.

John’s purpose is to describe the magnitude of the incarnation. The greatest man in the history of Israel’s covenant experience was Moses. Even he was not allowed more than a glimpse of the afterglow of the passing glory of God (Exodus 33:18–23).

In contrast with that experience of Moses, John tells us that those who believe have seen, “his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

The gospel writers have a particular interest in the verb to see. For them, seeing is not restricted to the eyes. Indeed, the seeing of the spirit is true seeing. The meaning of John 1:18 may lie more in that direction.

No human being may “see” God unless he or she first “sees” Jesus. Having said that, we may also justify the simpler meaning of the text. At least, and this is inherent in the passage, no human being has ever seen God until God made himself visible and manifest in the human flesh of Jesus.

Luther also finds “christological promises in (‘I will let all my goodness pass before your eyes, and I will preach in the Lord’s name before you.’) as well as in . and 8ff. (the appearance of God and the covenant of God), which point to the promise of Christ.”

According to translations of Exodus 33:7, Moses maintained a separate Tent-Sanctuary outside the camp of Israel. This is based on a common translation: Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp.… This translation suffers in light of the fact that this tent is never referred to again. Rather, Moses was commanded: Now Moses take, a translation that is grammatically preferred, seeing that what follows is Moses’ prayer to reinstate the original plan that God go with Israel via the Tent. Moses prayed, If your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.

In other words, Moses never had a private tent-sanctuary. Once again, after the golden calf debacle, Moses intercedes for Israel. He first saves them from destruction (Exod. 32:10) and then saves His people from not having God go from their midst. While Moses’ intercession saves an elect nation, Christ’s intercession saves an elect nation made up of all nations, tribes and tongues.

The Tent-Sanctuary has been replaced by something far superior, actually something of which it was the replica. That earthly sanctuary has been superseded by a heavenly temple (Heb. 9:11–12). In that temple, God’s people have an altar that can never be desecrated by those who merely serve at an earthly sanctuary (Heb. 13:10). Now, the believer is instructed to participate in the reality that was merely reflected in Old Testament shapes and forms.

VIII.

Allen C. McSween picks up this question in a sermon on Exodus 33:12–13, 17–23 and John 12:27–40.

We preachers are too often tempted to iron out all the wrinkles of life. Sometimes we give the impression that faith in God is the most obvious thing in the world. How could anyone not believe in God, surrounded by all the beauty of the world? On Sunday morning we sanitize the world of its darkness. We cross out its tragedy and terror, and offer a comic-book version of the gospel that sooner or later proves as useless as an umbrella in a hurricane. Faith that is real must find expression in a world of rough edges—a world that hides God every bit as much as it reveals God. To pretend otherwise would be to turn faith into a Sunday School pageant and rob it of its power. ( )

To speak of the “darkness of faith” is a way of saying that whatever else God is, in a world like ours God is not obvious. God is deeply hidden—hidden by our human limitations, hidden by our sin. God is no show-off. The God revealed in the pages of Scripture is a hidden God, who dwells in deep darkness. Isaiah exclaims, “Truly thou art a God who hidest thyself.”

3.4 The Glorious Name: (James Hamilton, God’s Glory in Salvation)

While Yahweh is revealing, instructing, and enabling, the people are busy forgetting, departing, and sinning. They have been redeemed from Egypt that they might serve Yahweh in the wilderness. They agreed to do everything he said when he spoke to them from the mountain, but these commitments are soon forgotten.

When the people see the delay of the prophet, Moses, they approach the priest, Aaron, who at their bidding fashions for them “gods” that will go before them (Ex. 32:1). Yahweh was a man of war (15:3) who reigned (15:18) at the Exodus, but the people have rejected him from being king over them. They have thus placed other gods before Yahweh, the first thing he told them not to do. When they celebrate these “gods,” they proclaim a “feast to Yahweh” (32:5). This seems to indicate that the worship of the calf Aaron fashioned has been added onto the worship due Yahweh alone. They have thus made carved images for themselves, the second thing Yahweh told them not to do.

In response to this, Yahweh distances himself from the nation, describing them as Moses’ people whom he, Moses, brought out of Egypt (Ex. 32:7). Yahweh brought them out of Egypt (20:1) to be his people (6:7), but in response to their idolatry Yahweh is prepared to destroy them (32:9–10). Significantly, Yahweh threatens to do for Moses what he earlier promised to do for Abraham, saying, “I will make you a great nation” (32:10; cf. Gen. 12:2).

Moses understands the implications of such a declaration. If Yahweh does not follow through on his promise to Abraham, how can Moses be sure that Yahweh will follow through on the promise to him, either? Moses pleads with Yahweh, asking him why his wrath is hot against his, Yahweh’s, people, whom he, Yahweh, brought up from Egypt (Ex. 32:11). From there, Moses appeals to Yahweh’s concern for what the Egyptians will think. If Yahweh destroys the people, the Egyptians will conclude that Yahweh took Israel out of Egypt with the evil intent of harming, killing, and consuming them (32:12). Moses appeals to Yahweh that he remember the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he quotes Yahweh’s promises back to him (32:13). “And Yahweh relented concerning the evil which he spoke to do to his people” (32:14).

This episode shows Moses appealing to Yahweh on the very basis of what earlier narratives have shown to be Yahweh’s controlling concerns. Yahweh has acted to make known his matchless name by showing his steadfast love to the children of Abraham and simultaneously showing his unparalleled power and justice by judging Egypt. Yahweh could justly destroy the nation of Israel and start over with Moses, and this might even fulfill the promise to Abraham, since Moses himself descends from Abraham. But when Moses appeals to Yahweh’s concern for his reputation in Egypt, to his commitment to the people, and to the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Yahweh shows mercy. This underscores Yahweh’s supreme concern for his own glory.

Like Adam, the garden priest who shifted blame when confronted with his disobedience, Aaron, the national priest shifts the blame when Moses confronts him (Ex. 32:22–24). Just as Adam the priest failed to restrain Eve from sinning, then followed her into it, so Aaron the priest fails to restrain Israel from sin, then follows them into it (32:1–4, 25). This means war.

Moses summons all on Yahweh’s side to himself, and because of the great worth of Yahweh, they go through the camp and kill brothers, friends, and neighbors. Three thousand fall in Israel that day (Ex. 32:26–28). Through this judgment, salvation comes. Moses understands what Yahweh’s holiness requires, and he offers himself as a sacrifice of atonement for Israel: telling Israel he is going up to Yahweh to seek to make atonement for their sin (32:30) and confessing the sin of the people to Yahweh (32:31), he offers himself to be blotted out of Yahweh’s book if the people cannot be forgiven (32:32). Yahweh responds with both justice and mercy. The justice comes in his immediate answer (32:33–35), and the mercy comes when, at Moses’ insistence, Yahweh agrees to continue with his stiff-necked, obstinate people (33:1–17).

Before the tabernacle is built, the tent where Moses encounters Yahweh’s presence is outside the camp (Ex. 33:7). Yahweh only enters the camp once his holy dwelling is fully prepared and the camp is made clean by his statutes.

Once Moses is assured that Yahweh will go with the people, just as he earlier expressed Yahweh’s own priorities in his petition that Yahweh not destroy the people (Ex. 32:11–13), so now he expresses Yahweh’s own priorities in asking to see Yahweh’s glory (33:18). As we have seen, God often announces that the purpose of what he has done is “so that you will know that I am Yahweh.” When God says this, he is declaring that he wants people to know his name. He wants them to know him as he is. The clearest indication of what this means is found in Exodus 33:18–34:7. Responding to Moses’ request to see his glory, Yahweh says, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim my name, ‘Yahweh,’ before you,” (33:19a, emphasis added). Note that when Moses asks to see God’s glory, God responds that he will show him his goodness and proclaim his name. This means that God’s glory is seen in his goodness, and the proclamation of his name reveals Yahweh’s goodness, which is his glory.

Yahweh then adds, “And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will mercy whom I will mercy” (Ex. 33:19b). These words declare that Yahweh is not obligated to do what Moses has asked. Yahweh chooses when and to whom he will reveal his glorious goodness.

When Yahweh reveals his goodness to Moses, showing him his glory and proclaiming his name, we read,

And Yahweh passed before him and proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and great in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons and on the sons of the sons, to the third and the fourth generations.” (Ex. 34:6–7)

In this revelation of the glory of Yahweh, Yahweh makes known his character by proclaiming his name. Yahweh’s goodness is first explained in the declaration that he is merciful and gracious. This mercy and grace is shown in the way that Yahweh is patient, loves with steadfast extravagance, and forgives. The declaration that he does not give the guilty a free pass also explains Yahweh’s goodness. He is just, and he punishes iniquity for generations. In this declaration of his name, Yahweh announces his mercy and his justice: this is his glory, and this glory of Yahweh is reflected all through the Old and New Testaments.

Yahweh’s declaration of his name in Exodus 34, which is the revelation of his glory, informs the places in the Bible before and after this incident where Yahweh states his intention of making known to people that he is Yahweh. To know that he is Yahweh is to know that he is merciful and gracious, not clearing the guilty but punishing iniquity. To know that he is Yahweh is to know his name, his character. To know that he is Yahweh is to know his goodness—goodness that upholds what is right. If he does not uphold what is right, he is not good. If he does not keep his word, he is not faithful and cannot be trusted. Yahweh’s righteousness, therefore, is an essential component of his love. An unrighteous, unfaithful god is not a loving god but a scary, unpredictable horror in the likeness of the ancient Near Eastern deities or the gods of the Greco-Roman pantheon. But Yahweh is righteous, faithful, and loving. Even when his holiness demands the death of transgressors, this is an expression of his goodness and love as it upholds his faithfulness and shows him trustworthy.

The Bible has established that mankind is set on sin (Gen. 6:5; 8:21), so all deserve to be punished. But God is also pleased to show mercy, which he is not obligated to give to anyone. He mercies whomever he pleases (Ex. 33:19b). To pardon the guilty unjustly would not be loving to those whom the guilty offended, and in this age of the weightless god we do not recognize that the person most offended by sin is God. We can also understand this on analogy with human relationships: if a judge fails to sentence a convicted murderer, the rights of the wronged are not upheld, and those who survive the murdered person probably do not feel that the judge has been loving. In this scenario, the judge has not been loving. He has only been unjust. But God’s mercy is not unjust.

When God mercifully pardons, he upholds his own righteous standard. He satisfies the wrath he justly feels when he has been offended. In the old covenant God’s righteous standard was upheld through the Levitical system of sacrificial, substitutionary atonement, but even this was looking forward to the cross. Paul says God demonstrated his righteousness when he put Jesus forward as a propitiatory sacrifice, explaining that this demonstration of righteousness was necessary because God had previously passed over sins (Rom. 3:24–26). Yahweh’s perfect goodness is displayed in the balance between justice and mercy, which he works together to display his unique character: “Steadfast love and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Ps. 85:10). Yahweh judges the substitute so that the one for whom the sacrifice is made can be saved—mercifully and justly saved. When God causes people to know that he is Yahweh, he shows them his glory in salvation through judgment.

Moses’ response to such a revelation is natural and right: “And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped” (Ex. 34:8). Yahweh’s revelation of his just and merciful character wins him glory. Yahweh then declares that he will reveal more of his own greatness to elicit more praise for himself: “And he said, ‘Behold, I am cutting a covenant; before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people in the midst of whom you are shall see the work of Yahweh, for it is a fearful thing that I will do with you’  ” (34:10).

Yahweh then stirs the hearts of the people to provide the material for the building of the tabernacle (Ex. 35:21–22), so much that the people are told not to give any more (36:4–7). The tabernacle is then constructed, and Israel’s scrupulous obedience is punctuated by almost twenty statements that Israel built the tabernacle “as Yahweh had commanded Moses” (39:1, 5, 6, 21, 26, 29, 31, 32, 42, 43; 40:16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 32).

Disobedience is judged, and through the judgment the people are disciplined to obey. This marked obedience in building the tabernacle is followed by Yahweh’s taking up residence among the people, stiff-necked (Ex. 34:9) though they be:

And the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle. In all their journeys, when the cloud lifted up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out. But if the cloud did not lift up, then they did not set out till the day that it lifted up. For the cloud of Yahweh was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel in all their journeys. (40:34–38)

Israel is saved through judgment, and the tabernacle, with its implements of sacrifice, makes it possible for the glorious Yahweh to take up residence—no longer outside the camp (cf. 33:7), but in their midst. Salvation comes through judgment and leads to the experience of the glory of God, a glory so overwhelming that it dictates the movements of those who perceive it. Israel has constructed the tabernacle “as Yahweh had commanded Moses.” Thus, in obedience to Yahweh’s word, they have built a microcosm—a symbolic picture of the cosmos on a reduced scale. The tabernacle symbolically depicts the world that God has made, and when his people obey him, God does for the tabernacle what he will do for the world: he fills it with his glory. The filling of the tabernacle with the glory of Yahweh is a proleptic enactment of the earth being filled with the glory of Yahweh. This is why the world exists.

3.5 The Center of the Theology of Exodus

The book of Exodus is very clear in its presentation of Yahweh’s intentions. He intends to save Israel through the judgment of Egypt, and he intends this judgment on Egypt to be severe. He intends to humble Pharaoh and his people. He intends to force them to recognize that he, not their gods, is Lord. He wants Egypt, Israel, and all the earth to know that he is Yahweh. And they will know that he is simultaneously just and merciful, so much so that the finite mind can scarcely perceive the glory of the justice and the mercy as they intermingle and radiate with the blinding splendor of the one they reveal. Yahweh glorifies himself at the exodus by saving Israel through the judgment of Egypt.

Genesis leads readers to expect Yahweh’s defeat of evil to be accomplished through a seed of the woman, seed of Abraham, seed of Jacob, and perhaps seed of Joseph or Judah. Unexpectedly, however, the seed of the woman in the book of Exodus is raised up from the house of Levi (Ex. 2:1). This sets an important pattern, as the one who leads Israel to deliverance is from the tribe of the priests and serves as a prophet. Moreover, he is raised in the royal house of Egypt. In a sense, the seed of the woman through whom the seed of the serpent is crushed in the book of Exodus, bringing salvation for the people of God through the judgment of their enemies and putting the glory of God on display, is a prophet, a priest, and a king.

Once the exodus was accomplished, Yahweh took Israel out in the wilderness to make himself known to them. All along it was stated that once out of Egypt, Israel would serve Yahweh in the wilderness. His self-revelation to them at Sinai, trumpet blast, thick darkness, earthquake, lightning, and fire on the mountain, overwhelmed them with the awareness of his frightful greatness. This was meant to discipline them, that they might serve him in fear and holiness, which was meant to keep them from sin. Sin would be disregarding Yahweh to pursue their own course, reflecting gross ingratitude and brazen boldness against their covenant Lord. When the people did not honor Yahweh as God and give thanks to him, Yahweh judged their sin, and through the judgment, he saved them from themselves even as thousands died. With the revelation of the tabernacle, and with its construction, salvation again comes through judgment as Yahweh takes up residence among Israel, glory filling the tent. In the book of Exodus, all things find their place with relationship to the central revelation of the glory of Yahweh in salvation through judgment.

His self-revelation to them at Sinai, trumpet blast, thick darkness, earthquake, lightning, and fire on the mountain, overwhelmed them with the awareness of his frightful greatness. This was meant to discipline them, that they might serve him in fear and holiness, which was meant to keep them from sin. Sin would be disregarding Yahweh to pursue their own course, reflecting gross ingratitude and brazen boldness against their covenant Lord. When the people did not honor Yahweh as God and give thanks to him, Yahweh judged their sin, and through the judgment, he saved them from themselves even as thousands died. With the revelation of the tabernacle, and with its construction, salvation again comes through judgment as Yahweh takes up residence among Israel, glory filling the tent. In the book of Exodus, all things find their place with relationship to the central revelation of the glory of Yahweh in salvation through judgment.

James M. Hamilton Jr., God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology (Wheaton, IL: Cros When the people did not honor Yahweh as God and give thanks to him, Yahweh judged their sin, and through the judgment, he saved them from themselves even as thousands died. With the revelation of the tabernacle, and with its construction, salvation again comes through judgment as Yahweh takes up residence among Israel, glory filling the tent. In the book of Exodus, all things find their place with relationship to the central revelation of the glory of Yahweh in salvation through judgment.

Exodus 20:1–2 LEB

1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves.

Exodus 20 LEB

1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves. 3 “There shall be for you no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a divine image with any form that is in the heavens above or that is in the earth below or that is in the water below the earth. 5 You will not bow down to them, and you will not serve them, because I am Yahweh your God, a jealous God, punishing the guilt of the parents on the children on the third and on the fourth generations of those hating me, 6 and showing loyal love to thousands of generations of those loving me and of those keeping my commandments. 7 “You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, because Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who misuses his name. 8 “Remember the day of the Sabbath, to consecrate it. 9 Six days you will work, and you will do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath for Yahweh your God; you will not do any work—you or your son or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your animal, or your alien who is in your gates—11 because in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore Yahweh blessed the seventh day and consecrated it. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days can be long on the land that Yahweh your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not testify against your neighbor with a false witness. 17 “You shall not covet the house of your neighbor; you will not covet the wife of your neighbor or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbor’s.” 18 And all the people were seeing the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the ram’s horn and the mountain smoking, and the people saw, and they trembled, and they stood at a distance. 19 And they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will listen, but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” 20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you so that his fear will be before you so that you do not sin.” 21 And the people stood at a distance, and Moses approached the very thick cloud where God was. 22 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Thus you will say to the Israelites, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from the heavens. 23 You will not make alongside me gods of silver, and gods of gold you will not make for yourselves. 24 An altar of earth you will make for me, and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you, and I will bless you. 25 And if you make an altar of stones for me, you will not build them as hewn stone, because if you use your chisel on it, you have defiled it. 26 You will not go up with steps onto my altar, that your nakedness not be exposed on it.’

The

On the third day at Mt. Sinai, God descended on the mountain with a grand display of smoke and fire, lightning and thunder. The imagery again is God as an all-consuming fire. Also announced by the trumpet blast.

Moses met God on the mountain, as the people beheld in awestruck wonder this mighty God before their eyes. Bu then moses came down from the mountain and God spoke his Ten Commandments directly to the people, which is significant because it is one of the few times that Moses doesn’t serve as an intercessor.

These Ten Commandments represent the principal requirements which God places upon the people of Israel for the establishment and maintenance of the covenant relationship between them. The first, and primary, commandment is “You shall have no other gods before me” or better stated, besides me. Yahweh is the only one. And this is the very first commandment that Israel breaks, almost immediately after it is given.

God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology 3.5. The Center of the Theology of Exodus

His self-revelation to them at Sinai, trumpet blast, thick darkness, earthquake, lightning, and fire on the mountain, overwhelmed them with the awareness of his frightful greatness. This was meant to discipline them, that they might serve him in fear and holiness, which was meant to keep them from sin. Sin would be disregarding Yahweh to pursue their own course, reflecting gross ingratitude and brazen boldness against their covenant Lord

Exodus 20:20 LEB

20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you so that his fear will be before you so that you do not sin.”

As God spoke and delivered his commandments, the people’s fear increased, so much that they requested Moses to be their intercessor, lest they be consumed by the shear power of the glory of God.

Exodus 20:

Deuteronomy 5:23–31 LEB

23 And then when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, and as the mountain was burning with fire, and and all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me, 24 you said, ‘Look, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire; this day we have seen that God can speak with a human being, yet he remains alive. 25 And so then why shall we die, for this great fire will consume us if we continue to hear the voice of Yahweh our God any longer, and so we shall die? 26 For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire as we have heard it and remained alive? 27 You go near and hear everything that Yahweh our God will say; and then you tell us all that Yahweh our God tells you, and we will listen, and we will do it.’ 28 “And Yahweh heard the sound of your words when you spoke to me, and Yahweh said to me, ‘I have heard the sound of the words of this people that they have spoken to you; they are right with respect to all that they have spoken. 29 If only they had such a mind’; that is, to fear me and to keep all my commandments at all times, so that it will go well for them and for their children forever. 30 Go! Say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But you stand here with me, and let me tell you all of the commandments and the rules and the regulations that you shall teach them, so that they may do them in the land that I am giving to them to take possession of it.’

Chapters 21-23 are called the Book of the Covenant in which is recorded everything God spoke to him concerning the ratification of the Covenant and the stipulations that came with it. There are four sections: laws for daily living, moral imperatives for God’s people, instructions for Sabbaths and religious festivals, and God’s commitments to act on behalf of the Israelites.

Exodus 24:3 LEB

3 And Moses came, and he told the people all the words of Yahweh and all the regulations. And all the people answered with one voice, and they said, “All the words that Yahweh has spoken we will do.”

The people once again affirmed their willingness to do all that God had commanded (cf. ).

Chapters 24-31 chronicle Moses’ next ascent up Mt. Sinai to receive the tablets of the Law from God, and instructions for the construction of the tabernacle and the appointment of priests.

This section can seem mundane if we read it in isolation from the rest of the book, but in reality it tells us so much about God, Israel, and worship. The meticulous details of this section show us that indeed God has a particular way which he demands to be worshiped. He has a particular way in which he has determined to relate to his people. As we see with Nadab and Abihu in , they brought an offering of incense before the Lord, but it was not authorized, not approved by God, and God struck them down. Is God volatile and unpredictable? No, he is holy. And man deserves nothing of his blessed presence, yet in his mercy he decreed a way for mankind to have fellowship with him, to relate to him and to worship him, but it must be according to his commands. The instructions given to Moses here are the mercies of God on display because he is providing the means for Israel to KNOW him; to have his presence dwell among them.

What is more, , God did not leave Israel alone to fulfill his commands; he provided the means for them to do it. He gave his Spirit to enable Israel to do that which he asked. In the same way he never leaves us alone, for if he did, each of us would strive and toil our way right into the pit of hell. Yet he is with all those who believe and rest in him for their salvation, and those who come to him he will never cast out ().

Exodus 32:

Exodus 32:1 LEB

1 And the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, and the people gathered opposite Aaron, and they said to him, “Come, make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Israel experienced deliverance from Egypt by the hand of God; they experienced God’s provision through water from the rock and manna from heaven; they experienced his manifest presence on the mountain in an awesome display of his glory; and Moses has been on the mountain receiving the conditions for God to dwell with this people, and the people commit unthinkable sin.

They break the first two commandments, have no other gods before me and worship no graven image, they commit apostasy in the midst of God’s powerful work among them. But notice, they didn’t create a “new” god in their imagination. They say “this is the god who delivered you from Egypt; tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD, that is, Yahweh.” In their minds they were still “worshiping” the Lord their God. But they were doing in in direct disobedience to his commands. They were not resting in his promises; in fact rest, the Sabbath, was the very sign of the covenant itself. They were a people of little faith and they wanted a symbol of God’s presence. Ironically, thats exactly what God was working to give them through the royal tabernacle where his presence would dwell WITH THEM! They traded riches for rags, and mankind has not changed since. And God’s reaction shows us once again that worship is not approaching God in a way that makes us feel good and satisfies our felt needs, whether according to the traditions of the last 100 years, or the new methods of contemporary culture. No, for worship to be true and acceptable to God, it must be based on a right perception of God.

Worship is the natural overflow of delight. When you delight in something, you praise it in some way. So if you do not know God, truly know him by HIS WORD, how can you truly worship him? You can’t, and that is exactly what we see in .

Psalm 103:10 LEB

10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us according to our iniquities.

Exodus Reflection

On the one hand we see how quickly the Israelites fell away from their covenant commitment to the LORD, and that despite all that they had personally experienced. We should not suppose that this was something confined to the circumstances of those times.

Hebrews 6:4–6 LEB

4 For it is impossible concerning those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and become sharers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 and having fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, because they have crucified again for themselves the Son of God and held him up to contempt.

Hebrews 6:

The point of this passage is not that a true Christian can fall away from the faith; makes clear that all who God regenerates, he keeps. What the writer of Hebrews is saying is that mere experience is not the sole characteristic of salvation. You can see the works of God; you can understand his word; you can experience some of the blessings of the Spirit’s work; yet you can still fall away. Why? Because these experiences alone do not make you converted; what makes you converted is re birth, a new heart, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The Israelites, just like those whom the writer of Hebrews mentions, were uncircumcised of heart. They had seen God, they had experienced him, but they were ultimately unchanged. In this we see our utter dependance on God to complete the work of salvation in us, for if it were up to us, none would be saved.

Exodus The Repentance of the Israelites (33:1–6)

They were no longer worthy of enjoying the riches the LORD had given them from Egypt, because they had already misused the gold ear-rings to make the calf. ‘At Mount Horeb’ might equally well be translated ‘from Mount Horeb’, that is, from that time on they did not wear personal jewellery. We do not know how long this lasted, but it would have made them stand out from other peoples of the ancient Near East.

Exodus The Repentance of the Israelites (33:1–6)

They were no longer worthy of enjoying the riches the LORD had given them from Egypt, because they had already misused the gold ear-rings to make the calf. ‘At Mount Horeb’ might equally well be translated ‘from Mount Horeb’, that is, from that time on they did not wear personal jewellery. We do not know how long this lasted, but it would have made them stand out from other peoples of the ancient Near East.

Matthew 25:29 LEB

29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

Matthew 25:29 LEB

29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

On knowing God and his ways:

Exodus The Lord’s Presence (33:12–17)

If he is left in the dark about what God intends doing, then he will easily stumble into all sorts of difficulties. And of course, if their leader stumbles, the people will not be far behind. Moses pleads with the LORD his duty of care towards the people he had claimed as his own and established his covenant with. Remember (‘see’, ‘take this other fact into consideration’) that this nation is your people.

Exodus The Lord’s Glory (33:18–23)

There is no humanly accessible logic that can explain why the LORD works in the way he does, either at the level of his showing favour to mankind who are in rebellion against him or at the level of the individuals he calls to himself. The contemplation of the divine name emphasises the wonder of his mercy and of his compassion

Exodus The Lord’s Glory (33:18–23)

‘Cover’ is the same word as ‘shield’ (40:3) in reference to the curtain in front of the Most Holy Place. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen (33:23).

Again on knowing God: Moses knew the necessity of knowing him to whom he was an intercessor on behalf of the people of Israel. He also knew the unsearchable blessedness of knowing the one true God. As a type of Christ, we see what Christ does for us in his intercession, yet being fully God, and having had perfect communion with the Father and the Spirit for all time, Christ is the better Moses, the greater Adam, the perfect mediator of a better covenant. For being fully man he knows us, and being fully God, he knows Him.

1 John 3:2 LEB

2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever he is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.