The Need for God's Presence (Context)
The Need for God's Presence (Context)
a commentary on Exodus 33
Thank you, Lord, for this day. May it be used for your glory!
Good morning everyone and welcome back to another Biblit!
First of all, if you are new, welcome! Make sure you are subscribed so you can get these Biblits straight in your inbox!
This week, just like last week, will be divided into 3 days: Context, Interpretation, and Application.
Starting next week (hopefully), I am also planning to record these for those that prefer listening to a podcast over reading a blog post!
Let’s start with a question…
Have you ever been given exactly what you wanted only to then be disappointed?
Well, that is exactly what happened to the Israelites in Exodus Chapter 33! Let’s jump in!
Context
This is a super interesting (and slightly confusing) passage because it takes place right after the golden calf scandal.
The last we heard, Moses was pleading with God to forgive Israel, and God said He would let them live. But then He threw in a minor plague for good measure.
Here we pick up and God delivers some pretty brutal news to Israel.
He tells them that He is sending them to the Promised Land!
The land He promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The land flowing with milk and honey!
I’m still not sure why milk and honey are the basis for a great time, but it is what it is.
And, God said He would even drive all of Israel’s enemies out of the land for them!
This is great news, right??
So, what’s the catch?
The Catch
The catch is that God would NOT go with them.
He would give them exactly what they wanted: delicious food, a place to call home, no more enemies, and a place to do whatever they wanted. BUT, if they took this, God would not be with them.
This news demolished the Israelites. They tore all their jewelry off and mourned.
Side note, the taking off of their jewelry denoted that they truly wanted to be right with God. So they seemed to have learned their lesson after the calf.
Moses, once again, ran to the rescue. He had a special tent outside the camp where he would go meet with God. The Tent of Meeting, as he called it.
Remember, they only got the instructions for building the Tabernacle, they have not built it yet. So this is the only way Israel’s mediator could talk to God.
Moses Mediates…Again
Moses has a long conversation with God, and it goes back and forth a good bit.
He tells God that he knows he has found favor in the Lord’s eyes, and only requests a small favor.
Moses asks God:
“Now if I have indeed found favor with you, please teach me your ways, and I will know you, so that I may find favor with you.” (Exodus 33:13 CSB).
And God answered him. He told Moses that He would be with him; His presence would be with Moses and He would give him rest.
To most, this would be enough.
But not for Moses.
I’m sure he was ecstatic the Lord wasn’t leaving him on their journey to the Promised Land. But the Lord only said He would be with Moses. He didn’t say He would be with Israel.
So Moses pleaded again. He told God that they would refuse to leave if God was not with them.
Bold!
And God said, “OK”
He would go with Israel and dwell with them!
The Greatest Question Man Ever Asked
Then Moses dropped one more bomb on God.
“Then Moses said, “Please, let me see your glory.”” (Exodus 33:18 CSB)
Hadn’t he already seen enough of God? He gets to meet with Him for a special dinner with the elders, meets Him on top of the mountain, and meets with Him for these special talks in the Tent of Meeting.
Is it not enough for Moses?
I think the answer to that question is that it’s a bad question.
It’s not that God was not enough. It’s that Moses could not get enough of God.
He had tasted a glimpse of God’s glory and could not stop thinking about it; he wanted to see more of God!
Super cool! And God obliges again!
Though, this time it comes with a caveat.
God says that if a man sees His face, they will drop dead.
So He basically tells Moses He will walk in front of him and hide Moses behind a rock when they are face to face, and then reveal Himself to Moses after He’s passed by so Moses can see His back.
Then, that’s it! We’ll see how that plays out next week!
Tune in tomorrow to see what all of this means, and then on Thursday, we’ll jump into some application points!