Exodus 33
McGeeCHAPTER 33THEME: Israel’s journey continues; the tabernacle is placed outside the camp; Moses’ prayer and the Lord’s answer
Exodus 33:1
ISRAEL’S JOURNEY CONTINUESGod is preparing Israel to enter the land. We will see them resume their wilderness march in the Book of Numbers. (The Book of Leviticus is the continuation of the instructions for the service of the tabernacle which they are just setting up in the Book of Exodus.)
Exodus 33:3
These ornaments, as we have already seen, were heathen. Their earrings, for example, demonstrated the fact that they were still worshiping the gods of Egypt. The earrings were a sign of it. This is very much like the wearing of a cross, although it is meaningless today as an identification of a Christian.
Exodus 33:5
This is the third time God has called Israel a stiff-necked people. God is making it clear to them that He had not come to redeem His people because they were superior. God asks them to remove the signs that show they are heathen and pagan and take a stand for God. I personally believe that is the reason that baptism (water baptism) was so important in the early church. It was an evidence that a person had left the old and was taking a stand for the new. This should give that type of testimony today. And so:
Exodus 33:7
THE TABERNACLE IS PLACED OUTSIDE THE CAMPAs the tabernacle is being constructed, Moses has it set up without the camp, or outside the camp. The tabernacle at this point is only a tent of meeting. It was probably just a tent or maybe the outer fence that later enclosed the tabernacle.
Exodus 33:8
The question arises, “Has anyone seen God?” Joh_1:18 tells us that no man has seen God at any time. Joh_14:9 reveals that those who have seen Jesus Christ have seen the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ is the revelation of God veiled in human flesh. In the Old Testament one of His names was “Angel of the Lord.” It was the Angel of the Lord that talked with Moses.
Exodus 33:11
Just as friends speak to each other face to face, God and Moses talked. Yet Moses did not see God. Once again Joshua is mentioned. He is the man God is preparing to succeed Moses. I do not think that anyone suspected it at the time, but when we get to the Book of Joshua, we will see that he was probably the most unlikely person of all to succeed Moses.
Exodus 33:12
MOSES’ PRAYER AND THE LORD’S ANSWERMoses was asking for the same thing that Paul did in Php_3:10, “That I may know him….” It is the same thing that Philip meant when in Joh_14:8 he said, “…shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” I believe every sincere child of God has a desire to know God.
Exodus 33:14
Moses knew that he needed the presence of God with him. He knew that he could not make it on his own.
Exodus 33:16
It is important to notice that God made the Israelites a peculiar people for a very definite reason. The church is also to be a peculiar people today. This means we are to be a people for God; it does not mean that we are to be oddballs.
Exodus 33:17
Moses is becoming very intimate with God.
Exodus 33:18
Moses could not actually see God face to face.
Exodus 33:19
Paul uses this verse in Rom_9:15 when he says, “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
Exodus 33:20
It is a fact, friend, you are not going to see God face to face.
Exodus 33:21
This passage is speaking about the glory being a representation of God. The Lord Jesus said that when He comes the second time, there would be the sign of the Son of man in heaven. Mat_24:30 states: “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” I think that sign is the Shekinah glory spoken of in Exo_33:21-23. When Christ took upon Himself human flesh, the glory was not there. He took a humble place and put aside His glory, but He was still God. That is why He could say, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” We are not going to see God. We will see the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will be in human form because that is the form He took here on earth. Today He is in a glorified body, and someday we shall be like Him we are told in 1Jn_3:2 which says, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” This is the anticipation and hope of believers who are walking by faith. That is the way Moses is going to walk. He knew that God’s presence had to go with him or failure would be the result. We need His presence today also to face the problems of everyday life.