The Book of Exodus

Hebrew Study

Explanation

In the aftermath of the golden calf, God tells Moses to lead the people up to the land He promised Abraham, and He offers to send "an angel before thee" to drive out their enemies, and to give them "a land flowing with milk and honey." But there is a terrible condition: "I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way." God would give them everything, the land, the victory, the blessing, but not Himself. His holy presence in the midst of so sinful a people might break out and destroy them. When the people heard "these evil tidings, they mourned," and stripped off their ornaments. The threat that grieved them most was not the loss of comfort but the loss of God. To go on without His presence, even to a land of milk and honey, was unbearable.

Gospel Focus

Here is a searching question: would we take every blessing if it meant going on without God Himself? God offered Israel the land and the victory, everything but His presence, and to the people this was "evil tidings." That they grieved shows a right heart; they had learned that the gifts are nothing without the Giver. It is possible to have prosperity, success, even religious activity, and yet be missing the one thing that matters, the presence of the living God. Many would gladly take the milk and honey and never notice the absence of God. But the true child of God says with the psalmist, "whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee" (Psalm 73:25). And notice the fruit of their repentance: they "stripped themselves of their ornaments." True mourning over sin strips off self-adornment and pride; it humbles us before God. The way back to His presence runs through honest grief over sin and the laying aside of everything that exalts self.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

Moses took a tent and "pitched it without the camp, afar off," calling it the Tabernacle of the congregation, and "every one which sought the LORD went out unto" it. Because the camp had defiled itself with the calf, to seek God now meant going outside it. When Moses entered, "the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door," and the LORD talked with him, while all the people rose and worshipped at their tent doors. There God "spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend," a picture of the closest, most direct fellowship. Young Joshua so treasured the presence of God that he "departed not out of the tabernacle" even when Moses returned to the camp. In a season of judgment, God still met intimately with those who sought Him, outside the camp, at the place of His presence.

Gospel Focus

"The LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." God does not keep His people at a cold distance; He calls them friends. Abraham "was called the Friend of God" (James 2:23), and Jesus said to His disciples, "I have called you friends" (John 15:15). The God of glory stoops to speak with us as a friend, in honest, intimate fellowship. And notice where this friendship was found, outside the camp. When the camp was defiled, those who wanted God went out to seek Him. The New Testament calls us the same way: "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach" (Hebrews 13:13). To walk with God often means to step away from the compromised crowd, to seek Him where He is, even if it costs us the camp's approval. Like Joshua, let us be those who linger in the presence of God and are reluctant to leave it. The friendship of God is worth more than the comfort of the camp.

Explanation

Moses presses the matter with God. Leaning on the fact that God had said, "I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight," he asks, "shew me now thy way, that I may know thee," and reminds God, "this nation is thy people." God answers with the promise that is the heart of the chapter: "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." But Moses will not let it rest on a bare promise; he throws his whole weight on it: "If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." Better to stay in the wilderness with God than to enter the promised land without Him. Moses saw that God's presence is the one thing that sets His people apart from all the nations of the earth. And God grants it, "for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name."

Gospel Focus

"If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." This is the cry of a heart that has learned what matters most. Moses would rather have God in the desert than the promised land without Him, for the presence of God is the one thing that distinguishes His people from everyone else. It is not our buildings, our numbers, or our success that marks us as God's, but that He is with us. So we must never be content to labor for God without the presence of God, nor to have the form of religion while His presence has departed. And what a promise God gives: "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." The presence brings rest, for where God is, the soul is at peace. This is the promise made sure in Christ, who is Immanuel, God with us, and who said, "lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20), and "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). Ask for nothing less than His presence, and go nowhere without it.

Explanation

Emboldened by grace, Moses asks for the deepest thing of all: "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory." God answers in a striking way. He does not offer a display of blazing majesty first, but says, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD," and speaks of His grace and mercy. God's glory is revealed above all in His goodness, His grace, and His mercy. Yet there is a limit: "Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live." No creature can bear the unveiled sight of God. So God provides a way: "there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock," and while His glory passes by, He would hide Moses "in a clift of the rock," cover him with His hand, and let him see only His "back parts," the afterglow of His passing glory. God would show Himself, but safely, sheltering Moses in the rock.

Gospel Focus

That God answered "shew me thy glory" with "I will make all my goodness pass before thee" teaches that God's glory shines brightest in His goodness, grace, and mercy. The most glorious thing about God is not merely His power but His character of steadfast love. And the cleft of the rock is a beautiful picture of Christ. No man can see God and live, but hidden in the rock, sheltered and covered by God's own hand, Moses could behold the glory pass and survive. So it is only in Christ, the Rock, that we can safely behold the glory of God. We see "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6); the invisible God whom no one can see is revealed and made approachable in His Son. Sheltered in Christ, covered by His hand, we look upon the glory of God and are not consumed but transformed. What Moses saw only in passing, from behind, we behold in the face of Jesus. Hide in the Rock, and there the glory of God, His goodness, grace, and mercy, will pass before you, and you will live.