A Place Of Favor With God (Exodus 33:1-17) Series

Today, I want to read through three separate, but related, episodes in Exodus. Each of these three, by themselves, would make a great devotional, or sermon. There's something in each of them that is worth stopping, and just thinking about. But when we combine them, like I think we are supposed to, the end result is absolutely amazing (and this is a great example of how a literary/narrative approach to the Bible is helpful).

Before we jump in, we need to backtrack just a bit, to remind ourselves of where we are. Let's turn to Exodus 32:9-10, and read God's response to the golden idol:

(9) and Yahweh said to Moses,

"I have seen this people,

and LOOK! A people hard of neck, it [is],

(10) and so then, Give rest to me,

that my anger may burn against them,

and that I may consume them,

and that I may make you into a great people/nation,

So God had this three part plan, to burn in anger against Israel, to consume them, and to start over with Moses.

But Moses persuaded God to not carry out his plan in its entirety.

That doesn't mean that He wasn't still angry. That doesn't mean the covenant made through Moses is still valid. That doesn't mean that the path forward for God and Israel, is straightforward. When people enter into a covenant, and one of them is unfaithful, the future is murky (we are working our way toward Exodus 34:10, but we are definitely not yet there).

So we shouldn't assume everything is okay.

Now, let's skip down to Exodus 32:33:

(32:33) and Yahweh said to Moses,

"Whoever sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book (Rev. 3:5),

(34) and so then, Go lead the people to where I have spoken to you.

LOOK! My angel/messenger shall go before you,

and on the day of visitation/punishment, I will visit/punish upon them their sin,"

(35) and Yahweh struck/plagued (same verb as Exodus 12:23) the people

because they made the calf that Aaron made.

What we saw, at the end of last week's passage (and I deliberately ignored this part), was God setting out a path forward for Israel. In the midst of the talk about sin, and punishment, we get this hopeful note in verse 34. The people will still get to go to the promised land. And God will send his messenger before them. There is still a future for Israel.

Does this mean everything is okay?

We continue this week, starting in Exodus 33:1-3:

(1) and Yahweh said to Moses,

"Go! Ascend from this place-- you and the people who you brought up from the land of Egypt--

to the land that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying,

"To your seed I will/shall give it,"

and I will/shall send before you a messenger/angel,

and I will/shall drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the

Jebusites,

(3) to a land flowing with milk and honey,

but I will not go up in your midst,

because a people stiff/hard-necked, you [are],

lest I finish/consume/destroy you on your way/road,"

What we see in these verses, is that the relationship between God and Israel is still broken. It's not back to what it was. So Yahweh will still send his messenger before them, but He will not himself personally go. There is a chance, if He goes with them, that He will still consume all of them (same verb as initially) on the way. I don't think this means he's still angry with everyone. But what I think, is that God is acknowledging that Israel's basic character hasn't changed. They are still a stiff-necked people. God hasn't done anything about that (Ezekiel 36:26-27), and neither have they. And so things have to be different, from this point forward. God had planned to dwell among his people in the tabernacle. That's what the entire covenant pointed toward, as the goal. And that's been lost. God will only send his messenger, and that messenger will stay out in front of the people-- not in their midst.

Verse 4-6:

(4) and the people heard this evil/harmful word,

and they mourned,

and no one put on their ornaments/jewelry upon themselves,

(5) and Yahweh said to Moses,

"Say to the sons of Israel,

'You [are] a people of stiff/hard neck.

[If] one moment I would go up in your midst, I would finish/consume/destroy you,

and so then, take off your ornaments/jewelry from upon yourselves,

that/and I will know what I should/will do about you,"

(6) and the sons of Israel stripped off their ornaments/jewelry from Mount Horeb, onward.

We should see three things in these verses. The first, is that the people rightly mourn. They've lost their chance to have God live among them. They will be missing out on God's greatest blessing. So they do well to mourn.