Jesus In Exodus
Chapter 33
· Exodus 33:1-3, Then the LORD said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.' 2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way."
Moses had secured the temporary safety of his people but God had yet to show them the consequences of their sin, and though an angel would go before them, God Himself would not. (Bear in mind that the Tabernacle had not yet been built)
If the Israelites had no Moses to plead their case before God, Israel would have perished. And if we had no Great High Priest to plead our case before God we too would perish in this wilderness in which we find ourselves. It is the ministry of Jesus which sustains us while we journey to the promised inheritance. The Israelites did not appreciate Moses and even doubted that he was coming back, not unlike so many today, whose view of Jesus is that they don’t think He is coming back.
Did you notice that God in verse 1 says to Moses that these are the people that you brought out of Egypt? God is really ticked off with His chosen people. They are called stiff-necked, or stubborn and they must be humbled.
· Exodus 33:4-6, When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites, 'You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.'" 6 So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.
We see here a bit of a glimmer of hope that the people are sorry for their behavior because they mourn when God so strongly expresses His displeasure with them. The removal of their ornaments was for the purpose of showing the sincerity of their hearts. So the people humbled themselves and removed their ornaments.
· Exodus 33:7-11, Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the "tent of meeting." Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. 11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
It was the tent” and not the Tabernacle which Moses took and pitched outside the camp, for the Tabernacle had not yet been built. This was an act of faith on his part. He had been on the mountain and he was now applying the faith that had come to him while he was with God. He felt that God could no longer dwell in the midst of a people who had defiled themselves by the worship of the golden calf.
The “going out” here is intended to speak to us of “separation”. True believers are to separate themselves from false systems that claim to have the truth. It was corporate idolatry that caused God to refuse to remain in Israel’s midst. What a message there is here for us today in our country. The nation is moving corporately closer to idolatry than at any time in the past.
Verse 8 would indicate that not many of the Israelites responded to the call for separation. They stood at the door of their tents. They seem to be interested in Moses and watched what was happening, but didn’t get involved. They represent those who seem to revere God, but who “stay in the camp”.
· Exodus 33:12-17, Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.' 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people." 14 The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." 15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" 17 And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
Here is another foreshadowing of Jesus as our Mediator, interceding before God on our behalf. It was Jesus who had found favor with God and His appeal on our behalf is acceptable to God. Moses knew full well who would go with him but in view of Israel’s sin he takes the place of an intercessor. God intimately knew Moses as He did Jesus. We are unable to discover God’s ways for ourselves. We need to be taught them. And only God can show us His way. And Moses asks God to show him His ways so that he, Moses, can know God’s ways.
Does God promise that His Presence will go with Moses in verse 14? It would seem so, but there is another view. Some believe that God was saying, “Shall My Presence go with you after the way these people have rejected Me?” Then Moses’ comment makes more sense when he said that if God’s Presence doesn’t go with him, then don’t send us to that land.
Then Moses asks a very contemporary question when he asks, “How will anyone know that you are pleased with me unless you go with me?” It is often said today that people cannot tell the difference between Christians and the world because they don’t act any differently. Finally God assures Moses that He will do what Moses requested.
· Exodus 33:18-23, Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." 19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." 21 Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."
As we have said earlier, Exodus is a book about redemption, and redemption not only provides deliverance from sin and slavery, but through the mediation of a Redeemer, it secures a continuation of God’s grace and mercy while His redeemed are still on their earthly journey.
Wouldn’t we all agree that the goal of all the redeemed is to see His glory? Revelation tells us that there is no need for the sun or moon because the glory of God is the light and Jesus is the temple.
In response to Moses’ request to see God’s glory, God said that His goodness is His glory. And He amplifies this with a statement that clearly defines His sovereignty. This is one of the most definitive truths in all Scripture. These words in verse 19 involve “mercy” and “grace”.
These words are not synonymous. Mercy is the provision of God to meet the needs of a people who have failed to respond to His grace. For example: From Egypt to Sinai God had dealt with Israel on the ground of pure grace. In themselves, they were no different from the Egyptians, yet God, in His sovereign grace, brought them out of their bondage with miracle after miracle. But the people revolted, complained, and even worshipped an idol. How long would God go along with such a people? It was His “mercy” that then evidenced itself and it is only the “mercy” of God that prevents sinners from the deserved punishment of eternal damnation.
Mercy then is the quality of God’s nature which meets the deep needs of those who have sinned against His grace. Finally, it should be noted that the history of Christendom has followed the same pattern as that of these early Israelites. Christendom has abused His grace and now must rely on His mercy.
Some are puzzled by verses 21, 22, and 23. We need to distinguish between God’s absolute character and the way He makes Himself known to us. God is Spirit, therefore unseeable. God here seems to be saying that Moses will have a perception and impression of His presence to the extent that he was capable of understanding.
A story will serve to explain this. It goes like this:
A man was talking about Christ to an impenitent neighbor. The neighbor said, “Why can’t I feel about Him as you do? I have read the Bible a good deal and I have heard a good deal of preaching, yet I can’t get up any enthusiasm in regard to this Savior that you talk so much about.” The Christian replied, “You make me think of my visit to the White Mountains some years ago. We were told that there was a wonderful piece of natural statuary there, a man’s face chiseled out of a granite cliff. When we went to see it, he found what was supposed to be the cliff, but there was no appearance of a human feature, no form such as he had been told of. He was about to turn away disappointed when a guide came along and said, “You are not looking from the right point.” He took the man to a road a short distance away and then said, “Turn and look.” As he did, there was the face as distinct as any he had seen. Until he reached the right spot he could see only a jagged rock, and a not a symmetrical face. The vision depended on the angle of observation. He told the man that it was the same with him. He invited the second man to come with him to the cross where sinners can clearly see the One who had died for him.
Chapter 34
God’s Governmental Principles
Earlier in this study we saw God covenant with Abraham. This was a unilateral covenant, that is, God promised certain things to Abraham without any commitment on Abraham’s part. But at Sinai God formed a new covenant which the Israelites agreed to be obligated to support. The people were faced with God’s laws that we call the Ten Commandments.
· Exodus 34:1-3, The LORD said to Moses, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain."
The first tablets of stone were broken in view of Israel’s sin---a figure of man’s inability to keep God’s Law. The first tablets were provided by God Himself, but the second set were to be supplied by Moses---a type of Jesus the Mediator who said that He had come not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it.
The covenant that God made with Israel at Sinai, which brought in the establishment of His rights and the good of the people on earth, foreshadowed the present government of God over His people, showing our responsibilities and obligations, making known to us the terms on which we receive blessings form Him in this life, and revealing the principles which regulate God Himself in His dealings with us.
Moses did as he was told in verse 4.
· Exodus 34:6-7, And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
These are very important verses. In them the Lord makes known the principles which are exercised in the government of His people. The perfections of that government appear in the seven principles seen here. They supply the key to all of the subsequent dealings of God with Israel.
The Lord would be:
· merciful
· gracious
· long suffering
· abounding in goodness
· faithfulness
· forgiving
· enforce consequences of sin
The conclusion is that God is a God of love, but He is also a God to be feared and obeyed.
· Exodus 34:11-17, Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. 15 "Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same. 17 "Do not make cast idols.
From this we see clearly that our God is a jealous God. He is jealous of His glory. He will not share His glory with another. He is jealous of the affections of His people. He is grieved when our love is given to another, whether person or object. And He is jealous of His people. We are the apple of His eye.
Then there is the positive side of what God requires of His people.
· Exodus 34:18, "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread was inseparably connected with the Passover. The Passover provided that sacrifice upon which the feast itself was based. The Feast was to reflect that God’s people would be gathered around Him. The unleavened bread was a symbol of Jesus, the Living Bread which came down from heaven. Because He is holy, unleavened bread was selected as the symbol.
The Glorified Mediator
In the closing verses of chapter 34 we see Moses descending from the mountain with a radiant face. They come after the legal covenant which God made with Israel. How appropriate in the book of redemption!!
Man’s trial under the Mosaic economy demonstrated two things: first, that he is ungodly; second, that he is without strength to do anything about it. Man is not under probation, he is under condemnation. Man is not on trial, he is under sentence. No pleading will change his case. No excuses are accepted.
· Exodus 34:27-28 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." 28 Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments.
Notice the comparisons and contrasts in this 28th verse. The “forty days” recalls to mind the forty days in Matthew 4. Here it was on the mountain. There it was Jesus in the wilderness. Here it was Moses favored with the revelation of God. There it was Jesus being tempted by the Devil to repudiate the Law of God.
· Exodus 34:29-32, When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai.
You will remember that when Moses came down from the mountain in chapter 32, there he was angry; here he comes down with a radiant face. There he saw the people in idol worship; here he comes down to deposit the tablets of the Law in the ark.
The radiance of Moses’ face was a reflection of God’s glory and was confined to his face, but the radiance of Jesus was inherently His. To a lesser degree it is true of all committed Christians: you appear different to others.
As with Moses, communion with God conforms us to His image. Moses did not take any pleasure in the radiance of his face and wished it were not so. This is the difference in true godliness and self-righteous phariseeism.
The people were afraid because the glory on his face searched their hearts and that was hard for them. Imagine yourself looking into the face of Jesus and realizing that He was able to see all the things in your heart. Wouldn’t you have some fear?
Chapters 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 and 40 deal with the making of the various parts of the Tabernacle and the setting it up. This is essentially a repetition of what we have already covered when God was giving Moses instructions of what to build.