Jesus: Creator, Savior, Lord and King #10 Moses Glimpses God’s Glory – Exodus 33-34

 

Jesus: Creator, Savior, Lord and King
#10 Moses Glimpses God’s Glory – Exodus 33-34

Introduction

We continue in our series on Jesus, Creator, Savior, Lord and King, this morning. We began with Jesus as the Creator and scriptures like Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Then we looked at the passages that dealt with Jesus as the Angel of the Lord and the times where Jesus appeared as a man visiting with Abraham or as the Captain of the Lord’s Host leading Joshua. Jesus, before He was given that name, is all throughout the Old Testament, all throughout eternity because He is God and the mediator between God and man. So wherever we find God speaking to man in the scriptures most times it will be the 2nd person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ.

And then we come to Exodus 33 and it is different, here we may have the appearance, perhaps, of both the Father and the Son. First let’s fill in our timeline at Mt. Sinai. After being delivered from Egypt by the Lord, crossing the Red Sea and seeing the Army of Egypt destroyed, the Hebrews come to Mt. Horeb, aka, Mt. Sinai, aka the Mountain of God. They will camp there for a year while God prepares them to be His covenant nation. It is here that the Mosaic Covenant will begin.

Now look at Exodus 24:16-18. 16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

God gives Moses the law, the tables of stone and all the instructions for the building and running of the Tabernacle of God. Forty days later, forty days in which the people in the camp come to believe Moses must be dead. Then Moses comes down from the Mount of God and finds the people worshipping Apis, Egypt’s Golden Calf, with all the debauchery and sexual immorality that always accompanies paganism. God had defeated all the false gods of Egypt, including Apis, but now His people were literally whoring before it. Worse, they are being led by Aaron the man who will be the high priest of God. This terrible sin, so soon after being delivered from Egypt and saved from the Egyptian army has several horrific consequences.

Consequences of Israel’s Sin at Mt. Sinai

First, Moses calls for “those on the Lord’s side” to come to him and then to mete out God’s punishment upon the camp, 3000 men are killed by the swords of the sons of Levi.

Second, the Lord sends a plague, though we do not know how many are affected or killed by the plague but it is a lingering, continuing reminder of God’s punishment.

Third, and this scared the Israelites more than the sword or the plague, God said He would not travel with Israel to the Promised land but instead send an angel in His place.

Finally, the covenant that the people had vowed to keep when they first arrived at Mt. Sinai, is broken. This is graphically seen when Moses takes the tablets of stone hew by the hand of God and breaks them in pieces.

So now the nation stands under God’s wrath, away from God’s protection and without God’s covenant. To show the reality and consequence of what they had done, Moses moves the tent, where he had been meeting with God, from the center of the camp to outside the camp, apart from all the tribes.

God’s Gone – Exodus 32:33 - 33:3

Exodus And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 34 Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. 35 And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
​1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: 2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: 3 Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way..

God Distanced From Israel

God in his anger at the sin of Israel, tells them that He will not travel with them to the Promised land, instead He will send an angel in His place, but He will not go because He would consume them in His wrath if He traveled with them. “If I go with you, I will kill you.”

God distances himself from Israel because He is a holy, righteous and just God and must punish sin. Throughout the Bible we are shown this aspect God’s character.

Psalms 119:137 Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.

Deuteronomy 32:4 … work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Psalms 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

And so He places Himself away from Israel and their despicable sin, if He did not His holiness with destroy them.

God Distanced From Us

We as Gentiles and as individual souls are also separated from God by our sin. God is apart from us for now because if we were brought before God in our sin all that God could do would be to judge us and punish us, as the warned the Israelites He would do.

But why aren’t we now or why weren’t the Israelites then, immediately consumed by God’s wrath? Paul tells why in Romans 2:4-6 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

Paul says God’s wrath, is postponed because of another aspect of God’s character, His goodness. Yes, He is holy, righteous and just but in that holiness, righteousness and justice there is also this, His goodness, and His love.  

God is distant from us and gives us time by His goodness, time to come to repentance and faith. But when that time runs out for us then all that is left is the holiness of God that now must punish sin, our sin, our disbelief and that punishment is eternal. Afterwards, there is no more time, there is no more chance for repentance.

The day that Moses came down from Mt. Horeb time ran out for the 3000 that were killed by the sword, others had more time but then they were struck by the plagues that followed in God’s wrath. But God did not destroy all His nation and Moses now meets with God in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, apart from the camp, but not apart from mercy and grace. There God speaks with Moses “face to face” and Moses uses this “facetime” to intercede for Israel and plead for God’s grace.

God’s Grace - Exodus 33:12-17

And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. 14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. 16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. 17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

The Lord Face To Face

In this chapter Moses meets with God after he returns from meeting with God upon the top of Mt. Sinai in the Tabernacle of the Congregation erected outside the camp. The Tabernacle of the Lord, the one we are most familiar with, hasn’t been built, but now in this tent, Moses speaks with the Lord.

We are not told how the Lord appears in the tent with Moses, Was it like a man, as He did with Abraham, or as the Angel of the Lord as He did in Egypt, or as the Captain of the Lord’s host as with Joshua later. We aren’t told, all we are told is that Mose and the Lord speak face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

Now this may just mean that Moses is having is having a disembodied conversation, that’s possible, but I think in keeping with the way the Lord has dealt with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and at this same mountain, Moses earlier at the burning bush, that the Lord takes on an appearance, a visible theophany and speaks with Moses. In this case I think Moses speaks to the second person in the Godhead, God the Son who will one day be named, Jesus. I won’t fight over it, not even arm wrestle over it, but I think it fits best this way.

So, the Lord and Moses talk, and what they talk about is grace. Can you think of a better person to discuss grace with that Jesus? In vs. 13, he twice brings up grace, in 16 again he appeals to grace and finally in vs 17 it is the Lord who says, thou hast found grace in my sight.

That grace brings God back into the camp of Israel and reestablishes the covenant with them. Now God will personally abide with them and lead them to the Promised land.

Can you see where this is going?

Grace, Grace God’s Grace

It was only by grace that Israel was not destroyed, only by grace that God forgave their sin and only by grace that He drew them back to His presence again. Grace that established the covenant with them.

And that is what God’s grace does for us! It wasn’t our goodness, but his grace. It wasn’t our works but His grace. It wasn’t even our repentance and faith, that was when grace was applied. No, it was nothing from me, it was all because of God’s amazing grace. The book of Romans is all about God’s wonderful grace.

Romans 4:16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

Romans 5:2  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:15  But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

Grace, grace, grace! God’s underserved, unmerited, unearned love, grace. By grace, God forgave us, by grace God comes to abide with us, by grace God leads us and by grace God will take us to the Promised land one day.

I went to Hymnary, an online database of hymns, and I did a search for hymns that had grace as their subject. There were 4000 hymns written about grace.

Songs like, Grace Greater Than Our Sin, Wonderful Grace of Jesus and most famous of all, Amazing Grace. “How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” And it was all because of God’s amazing, wonderful grace.

Grace! Do you know it. Grace. Have you experienced it? Grace. Are you depending upon it. Oh, I hope you so, I pray you have it, for without God’s grace we have nothing but time running out and the certain judgment of God awaiting us.

Moses speaks to the Lord face to face and he pleads for grace for sinful Israel and God gives abundantly and freely. Now Moses emboldened by grace and his time speaking with the Lord ask for more. He has spoken face to face with the Lord about grace but now he wants to actually see the face of Lord in all His glory.

God’s Glory – Exodus 33:18-23

And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. 19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. 20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. 21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: 22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Glimpsing Glory Standing On the Rock

I would not have dared ask what Moses asked, but I had not walked with God as Moses already has. I didn’t see the burning bush, hear the Angel of the Lord or see the hand of God raised against the gods of Egypt in the 10 plagues. Moses did. I did not tale with the Lord face to face as a friend with the Creator of the universe but Moses did.

After all that he had seen, talked about and experienced with the Lord, he yearns for something more. Something that would also assure him as he took on the monumental task of leading Israel, defining their worship and forging their character as the people of God. So Moses asks to see the actual glory of God.

As incredible as the question was, even more so is the answer, God says yes. Yes, but with precautions. For “No man can see my face, he tells Moses. Now we know that God is a spirit and does not have a body as a man does, so these terms face and back are given so Moses and we can understand what God is saying.

No man can see my face and live, God says, but there is a place by me. You will stand upon a rock and as my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with my had as I pass by. Then God says, “I will take away my hand you shall see my back, the aftereffects, the afterglow of my glory after it has passed by.  

This happened in Exodus 34:4-8 And he (Moses) hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. 5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

Then go to Exodus 34:28-29 28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. 29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

Moses’ prayer was granted and he experienced the effects of God’s glory and heard the proclamation of the Lord’s name. He fell on his face and worshipped God. Then after 40 days with no food or water, he came down from the mountain with the renewed 10 commandments on the tables of stone, and he was changed. On the outside His face radiated the reflection of the glory of God and on the inside he was overwhelmed, empowered and humbled by the truth of God’s name.

Are We Standing On the Rock of Ages

There is much more here but I want to emphasis what God told Moses in Exodus 33:21-22 God says, there is a place by me and you shall stand upon a rock: while my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and cover you…

Do you see the picture, the foreshadowing of Jesus as our savior? We cannot stand in the full glory of God, that glory would physically separate us on the atomic level and spiritually we would be eternally destroyed. But as God made it so that Moses could experience His glory and the power of His name, He has done the same for us through Jesus Christ.

He is the place of safety in the presence of God. He is the rock we stand upon as we hear the proclamation of God’s name. He is the Rock that was cleft and hides us from the unendurable, awesomeness of God’s glory.

Psalms 18 is all about the Lord who is our Rock. Psalms 18:1-2 I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.  Vs. 31 For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God? Vs 46 The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

Jesus is my rock of salvation. He is the Rock of Ages that cleft for me. Millions and billions have found safety, grace and mercy on that rock and in that cleft. Oh, how I pray each one of us here today are standing on that rock and hidden in that brokenness.

Conclusion:

Moses desired to be closer to God, to experience and see the glory of God. God the Father granted that request by placing Moses on the Rock and hiding him in the cleft of that Rock.

 There will never be another Moses, but what God did for Moses that day, He will do for us. He will set us on the Rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ. He will protect in the brokenness of Jesus who died for us on another Mount, Mt. Calvary. And in Jesus we will hear the truth of God’s name which is Exodus 34:6-7 The LORD, The LORD, God. Merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.

In His name is forgiveness, if we will but repent and trust but also in that name is justice and without faith in His grace I must face that justice alone, exposed and unprotected by Jesus the Rock and only hope of salvation.

Where do you stand today? On the rock or exposed in the open? God is coming, time is running out for all of us. Where will we take our last stand?