Exodus 33 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence
After the Israelites had angered the Lord by fashioning their golden calf and bowing down to it, the Lord told Moses that He would still send his angel ahead of them to drive out the Canaanites in the Promised Land, yet He would not go with them personally lest He destroy them. Hearing this news, the people mourned and Moses ministered on their behalf interceding for them. He went into the tent of meeting to speak face to face with the Lord. Of course, this is just an expression of the closeness of the intimacy between Moses and the Lord in that he could speak to God as a friend and not just a subject. Moses never actually saw God’s face though, for we read in v.20 the Lord telling him, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” Even the seraphim in heaven do not see God’s face, for they cover their eyes in worship, and the apostle tells us later on in John 1:18 that no one has ever seen God’s face except Jesus.
When Moses begins to speak directly with the Lord, he pleads with Him to reclaim Israel as His people and to accompany them on their journey. But Moses desires even more than that, for the Lord to show him His ways that he might know the Lord in order to find favor in His sight. He says very bluntly, “Please show me your glory.”
In answer to his first requests, the Lord promises to go with them into Canaan and to show the world His favor upon them. But in regards to his second, more personal request, the Lord grants it only in part. Speaking figuratively again, He agrees to hide Moses in the cleft of the rock and to pass by him, only allowing Moses to see His backside, but not his face. However Moses does learn something of God’s ways that are so encouraging for us to trust God when walking through the wilderness of this world.
First, God proclaims His name, Yahweh to Moses. The word is often translated to mean, “I am that I am.” This shows us that God is the uncreated one, the only self-existent, and self-sufficient being. He is before all time, and now and forever the God who is the same. He doesn’t change, thus He can be trusted and relied upon to consistently be and act in accordance with His being.
And there are three things that we learn about God through this revelation to Moses in regards to His unchanging character. First, He is good, for He has all His goodness pass before Moses in the proclamation of his name. Thus his name itself is good, inferring that everything about Him is good. And that goodness never changes. Second, He is gracious and merciful by His own sovereign choice. In other words, Moses can’t earn God’s favor as He was hoping to do through greater knowledge of His ways. God has already bestowed it upon him. And if God had been gracious to him, He will continue to be gracious to him, because God doesn’t change. And third, God is just, for the very fact that He gives grace and mercy to some implies that He gives justice to the rest. And He will always be just in that regard. He will not change His mind. He will not be subject to manipulation, and He will not disregard His own commands in order to take pity on some. His justice still needs to be maintained. Death is still the proper wages for sin.
In John’s gospel, the apostle tells us that his co-disciples saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. “We have seen his glory,” they said. And he states that God Himself had become flesh and dwelt or “tabernacled” among men. Thus the very thing that Moses sought to see, the Lord showed to the disciples. Of course, Moses later would see the face of God in Christ as well on the Mount of Transfiguration. And it is proper that Moses only sees Christ at this point for the mystery of the justice and mercy of God had not yet been revealed. Moses had seen evidence of His mercy through the sacrificial offerings, and evidence of His justice at times when the Lord consumed some of the Israelites because of their sin. But he had not yet seen how God could maintain both of these ideals consistently in His own character. It is only in Jesus that God’s mercy and faithfulness meet, and righteousness and peace kiss each other.