Message 177
(2)
Scripture Reading: Exo. 32:30-35; 33:1-23
In the foregoing message we saw that Moses was not only a friend of God, but also a companion, an associate, of God. Moses and God were partners in a single enterprise. As God’s companion, Moses knew God’s heart and could converse with Him in an intimate way.
The fact that Moses was a companion of God was made manifest by the idolatrous people and among them. From this we who serve the saints in the churches may learn an important lesson. This lesson is never to blame the situation. The elders should not say, “Oh, all the brothers and sisters here are troublemakers. This makes it hard for us to go on. Let us resign, and let others come in to be the elders. Then they will taste how bitter it is to be an elder in this locality.” Sometimes this thought is in the heart of the elders. On a number of occasions I have heard elders speak in this way.
The elders need to see that how much we have been dealt with by the Lord and how much we have learned of the Lord will always be made manifest by the difficulties we face with the saints. It was the idolatrous people who made manifest Moses’ qualifications as God’s companion. Likewise, it will be troublesome saints who will create an opportunity for the Lord to manifest what He has done in us. If the elders only have to be involved with positive brothers and sisters, what the elders are would not be manifest.
The making of the golden calf was a severe blow to Moses. What should he do about the situation? This was determined by the kind of person he was. The evil situation among the children of Israel provided an opportunity for Moses to be manifested as a companion of God.
In 32:30 Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Jehovah; perhaps I can make propitiation for your sin.” Here we see that Moses was willing to make propitiation in behalf of a people who were stiff-necked and idolatrous. In a human sense, this required a great deal of patience. If you had been Moses, would you have been willing to appease God for the sake of such a rebellious people? If we had been there, we might have urged God to wipe out such a people. It requires patience to do the work of appeasing or propitiating.
Moses sought to propitiate God by conversing with Him intimately. Exodus 32:31 says, “And Moses returned to Jehovah and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and they have made for themselves a god of gold.” Notice that Moses here uses the neutral expression “this people.” He does not say to the Lord “Your people”; neither does he refer to them as “my people.” God had said to Moses that it was Moses who had brought the people out of Egypt (32:7). But Moses said to God that it was God who had brought them out (32:11). But here Moses, following the way of a middleman, a mediator, uses a neutral expression and speaks neither of God’s people nor of his own people, but of “this people.”
There is no record that Moses gave God a report of how he dealt with the idolatrous people. He did not tell God that he ground the calf into powder, scattered the powder on the water, and forced the people to drink the water. Neither did he tell the Lord that he had called for some to slaughter the idolaters. What we have is a friendly, intimate conversation between Moses and the Lord. Moses simply told God that the people had sinned a great sin in making a god of gold.
Moses sought to make propitiation for the people even at the risk of his eternal destiny. According to verse 32, he said to the Lord, “And now, if You will forgive their sin — and if not, wipe me out, I pray, from Your book which You have written.” Notice that Moses did not complete the first part of his statement. He simply said, “If You will forgive their sin.” If we had been Moses, we may have said something like this: “Now, if You will forgive their sin, everything will be all right.” Moses, however, left the matter open. To indicate this, some translations use an ellipsis and say, “If You will forgive their sin....” Sometimes it is necessary to speak in this way to those close to us. In speaking to our husband or wife we may need to say, “If you will do this....” We should not always complete our thought. Moses spoke in such a way because he realized that he was not the Lord. Only the Lord is the Lord. Therefore, Moses did not presume to say what would be the result or consequence if the Lord forgave their sin.
The latter part of Moses’ word in verse 32 makes it clear that he was propitiating for the people at the risk of his spiritual destiny. He said to the Lord, “If not, wipe me out, I pray, from Your book which You have written.” It seems that Moses was saying, “Concerning my own destiny, Lord, I would ask you to wipe me out if you would not forgive this people. But I leave with You the question concerning the destiny of the people. Only you can say what their destiny should be.”
Do you think that Moses’ word in verses 31 and 32 is an ordinary prayer? He did not pray in an ordinary way for the children of Israel; instead, he conversed with God intimately in their behalf. That was the wise way followed by Moses to appease God in that situation.
Moses made propitiation for the people according to God’s heart (32:33—33:3). From what the Lord says in verse 33, apparently He did not heed Moses’ word. Outwardly it may seem that God resisted Moses’ word, but inwardly He had already honored it. God was happy to have such a companion. God may have said to Himself, “I am glad to have Moses for a companion. He is intimate with Me, and He knows My heart and what I want to do. Moses knows that I want to forgive this people and continue to use them. However, I would not initiate this conversation in their behalf. But Moses, My companion, one who knows My heart, has initiated this talk.”
In verse 33 God said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will wipe him out from My book.” This word was an outward expression to uphold God’s honor. But what the Lord goes on to say in verse 34 indicates that He had forgiven the people: “And now, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My angel shall go before you, and in the day of My visitation I will visit their sin upon them.” Moses, the mediator, realized that God’s word here was an indication that He had forgiven the people. Moses had said, “If You will forgive their sin....” It seems that he was saying to the Lord, “Lord, I won’t say anything further. You speak a word. Now You tell me to go lead the people to the place of which You have spoken to me. I have no problem with this.”
The King James Version and Darby’s translation capitalize the word angel in verse 34. I agree with this, for it is an indication that the angel here is Christ. The Lord promised Moses that His angel would go before him, and in the day of His visitation He would visit the people’s sin upon them. On the one hand, the people were forgiven. But on the other hand, there was still a problem, and God said that He would deal with it. Sometimes the relationship between a father and his children is like this. The children may do something wrong, and the father will forgive them and release them. However, he may intend to deal with them in some way at a later time.
Exodus 33:1-3 say, “And Jehovah spoke to Moses, Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To your seed I will give it (and I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite), unto a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in the midst of you, because you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you in the way.” This indicates that the conversation between the two partners, the Lord and Moses, had arrived at an agreement. God, the first party, agreed to let the offenders go, but He still insisted that He would deal with the people at a later time. When Moses and the children of Israel heard this, they knew that it was not a pleasant word. Verse 4 says, “And when the people heard this evil word, they mourned, and no man put on his ornaments.”
Verses 5 and 6 say, “Now Jehovah had said to Moses, Say to the sons of Israel, You stiff-necked people! If I should go up in the midst of you for one moment, I would consume you! And now, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I shall do to you. And the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward.” Here we see that Moses caused the people to mourn and to cleanse themselves.
This can be compared to what happened in Genesis 35:1-4. The Lord told Jacob to go up to Bethel and make an altar there unto God. Then Jacob said to his household and everyone with him, “Put away the strange gods which are among you, and be clean, and change your garments” (Gen. 35:2). Then we are told that “they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods that were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears” (v. 4). In order to be cleansed, it was necessary for them to put off all their ornaments.
As we mentioned in a previous message, the ornaments worn by the children of Israel were for their self-beautification. This self-beautification was the preliminary stage of the golden-calf idol. The idol came out of self-beautification, for the gold of the ornaments was used to make the golden calf. Even after the golden calf had been destroyed and three thousand of the children of Israel had been slain, the people still had their ornaments. But when they heard the “evil word” about the Lord’s not going up in their midst, “no man put on his ornaments.” Actually, the people should have put on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of true repentance, repentance from a broken heart. The people, however, still had their ornaments. When they heard this evil word, they began to realize that they could no longer wear these ornaments. Therefore, we are told that “the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward” (v. 6).
In chapters thirty-two and thirty-three we see the result of Moses’ work as a mediator between God and the children of Israel. First, he appeased God’s anger for the sake of the people. Then he caused the people to repent and to put off their ornaments as the sign of repentance. The people gave up their self-beautification. This was the outcome of Moses’ making propitiation for the stiff-necked and idolatrous people.
Exodus 33:7 says, “Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And it came about that everyone who sought Jehovah would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.” According to verses 9 and 10, the glory of the Lord was at the door of the tent. In verse 11 we are told that “Jehovah would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his companion.” All the children of Israel who wanted to seek the Lord went out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.
Moses, an experienced person, knew that God according to His holiness would no longer stay among the people, for the camp had become idolatrous. Therefore, Moses took his tent, which formerly had been in the camp, and pitched it outside the camp. This action was according to God’s heart.
Knowing the heart of God, Moses realized that he could not stay in an idolatrous situation. This was the reason he moved his tent outside the camp. This tent then became the tent of God. The tabernacle had not yet been constructed. Hence, Moses’ tent became the tent of meeting for the meeting between God and His people. “And it came about, when Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the door of the tent, and He would speak with Moses” (v. 9). If the people wanted to seek God, they had to go to the tent of Moses.
Moses’ tent outside the camp is a type. In Hebrews 13:12 and 13 we have the fulfillment of this type: “Wherefore also Jesus, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Let us therefore go forth unto Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.” The Lord Jesus was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem. The people of God rejected Him, the sent One of God. Even though He is the Son of God, the children of Israel had Him crucified outside the city. In Hebrews 13:13 we are urged to go forth unto Christ outside the camp, which signifies human organization.
In the last century certain teachers wrote strongly on this matter. They pointed out that today’s Christianity is a “camp,” and this camp has become idolatrous. The Lord would not remain in such an idolatrous camp. Because He has come out of that camp, whoever seeks the Lord must go forth unto Him outside the camp. We need to go unto this rejected One, the One rejected by idolatrous religion. We need to leave the idolatrous camp and go to the rejected One. This is the narrow way we must follow.
We need to ask ourselves if we are still in the “camp,” or if we have gone forth unto the Lord outside the camp. We may be able to testify that we are outside the camp. Nevertheless, we need to be careful lest we again become a camp. As soon as there is idolatry among God’s people, they become a camp.
Whatever Moses did in these chapters was according to God’s heart. He made propitiation in behalf of the children of Israel according to God’s heart, and he moved his tent outside the camp also according to God’s heart. Moses, therefore, had the ground to bargain with God for His presence and glory (33:12-23).
In 33:12-17 we see that Moses bargained with God for His presence (His face) to go with the people He had set apart as the way for them to take. In verses 12 and 13 Moses said to the Lord, “See, You are saying to me, Bring up this people, but You have not let me know whom You will send with me; and yet You have said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My eyes. And now, I pray, if I have found favor in Your eyes, let me know, I pray, Your way, that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your eyes; and consider that this nation is Your people.” Although Moses did not make known his request altogether clearly in words, God understood him. In verse 14 He replied, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses further said to the Lord, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. And by what shall it be known then that I have found favor in Your eyes, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, that we might be distinguished, I and Your people, from all the people which are on the face of the earth?” (vv. 15-16). Once again the Lord agreed to Moses’ request: “Even this thing which you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in My eyes, and I know you by name” (v. 17).
If we read this portion of chapter thirty-three carefully, we shall see that God’s glory is His presence, and His presence is His way. If we have God’s presence, we have His way. God’s presence is the “map” that shows us the way we should take. For example, when God called Abraham, He did not tell him exactly where to go, because God’s presence was itself His guidance of Abraham.
In 33:12-17 we see that Moses wanted God’s presence and glory. God had already been appeased by Moses, but He had made it known that He would not go with them. However, Moses was not entirely satisfied with the terms of the agreement. Hence, after he had gained a certain amount of ground with the Lord, he sought to gain more ground. He did this by asking the Lord who it was that would go with the people. Moses said to Him, “You have not let me know whom You will send with me.” Eventually the Lord agreed to Moses’ request and seemed to say, “Moses, I will give you what you want. I know that you want Me to go with you. All right, I will go.”
Still not completely satisfied, Moses went on to say to the Lord, “Show me, I pray, Your glory” (v. 18). Moses surely was experienced and knew how to negotiate with the Lord. We should learn from Moses that the proper way to pray is not to offer religious prayers. On the contrary, it is to have prayers that are an intimate conversation with God.
The Lord replied to Moses’ request by saying, “I will make all My goodness to pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before you; and I will show favor to whom I will show favor, and have compassion on whom I will have compassion. And He said, You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me and live” (vv. 19-20). Here we see that the Lord’s goodness, name, favor, and compassion would be shown and proclaimed directly to Moses. However, the Lord’s face, His glory, could not be seen. Here the Lord seemed to be saying, “Moses, I can show you My goodness, My favor, and My compassion. I can also declare to you My name. But one thing I cannot do — I cannot show you My face. If you were to see My face, Moses, you would die. Therefore, for your sake, I will not let you see My face.”
According to 33:21-23 the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, there is a place with Me, and you shall stand upon the rock. And it will come about, while My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand until I have passed by. And I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” Christ is the cleft rock, the everlasting rock cleft for us. Only in the crucified Christ can we see God. I am not able to explain in full what this means. I can only speak in a general way that in the cleft Christ we can see God to some extent. According to 33:23, we can see His back, but not His face.
In these verses Moses’ bargaining with God has reached the “bottom line.” Moses could not proceed further in his negotiations with the Lord. He had received everything that he could receive. He realized from the Lord’s direct word that he could not see His face, only His back.
In this portion of the Word there are some theological problems for which there is no solution. First, in 33:2 the Lord said that He would send His angel before the people. No doubt, the angel here refers to Christ, and Christ is God Himself. As long as Christ goes with the people, this means that God goes with them. Why, then, did God say that His angel would go, but that He Himself would not go? Furthermore, why, after further bargaining by Moses, did God say that His presence would go with them? God said that both His angel and His presence would go with the people. The angel refers to Christ, and the presence actually denotes God’s face. Therefore, we have the problem of God’s angel and His presence going with the people, yet God still said that He Himself would not go with them.
Another problem is related to God’s word to Moses in verse 20 concerning seeing His face. The Lord said, “You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me and live.” However, verse 11 says, “Jehovah would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his companion.” How can we explain this?
Furthermore, in these verses we see that God’s face is His glory, that His glory is His presence, and that His presence is His face. How are we to understand all this?
As I have indicated, I do not have the solution to these problems. I can only speak according to our limited understanding of what God is. In a sense, we can talk to God face to face. But in another sense, we cannot see God’s face. This is not a contradiction. Rather, it is a matter of degree or extent.
The principle is the same with God’s angel going with the people. For the angel of God to go with the children of Israel meant that to a certain extent God went with them. For God’s glory to go with them meant that God went with them to a further extent. In Exodus 14 we see that the angel of God is one thing and the pillar of cloud is another (v. 19). Both the angel of God and the pillar of cloud were there leading the way. It was possible, however, for the children of Israel to have one without the other. It is better, of course, to have both.
After Moses pitched his tent outside the camp, God’s glory was at the door of the tent, but it was not within the camp. This indicates that God’s presence was at the door of Moses’ tent, not in the camp. However, we should not say that God was not at all in the camp with the children of Israel. This principle applies to us today. We may say that God’s glory is not present in a situation where there is idolatry among Christians. However, we cannot say absolutely that God is not among these Christians. As we have pointed out, this is a matter of degree.
From 32:30—33:23 we learn the serious lesson that we need to know God’s heart and also be a person according to God’s heart. Then we shall have God’s presence as Moses did. Moses had God’s presence to the full extent. But the children of Israel had God’s presence in a very limited way, for they were far from God’s heart. Moses, however, was a person very near to God’s heart, a person according to His heart. This was the reason he could have God’s presence to the full extent. We all need to learn that only a person like Moses can be a companion of God. Only this kind of person can share a common interest with God and be used by God to carry out His enterprise on earth.
