Exodus Chapters 33-34

INTRODUCTION:

After their dramatic escape from Egypt, the Isrealites are now camped at the foot of Mount Sinai, kind of trying to figure out what it means to be God’s chosen people. But things have gotten messy, and it reads like they are at a crossroads— it reads like God’s rethinking His hands-on role with these stubborn people, while Moses steps up to plead for their relationship to stay intact. Quick recap on last week...

In Exodus 31, God was in full planning mode, calling out skilled artisans to craft the tabernacle—and its sacred items, like the Ark of the Covenant. He laid out detailed instructions for the work, reminding them of the Sabbath as a holy day of rest, a sign of their covenant. It was all set to be a beautiful partnership—God providing the blueprint, the people building it, and His presence dwelling among them. But we have people “doing people stuff” and....

Fast-forward to Exodus 32, and the wheels come off. Moses is up on the mountain for 40 days, getting the Ten Commandments straight from God, when the Israelites lose patience. Panicked that Moses might be gone for good, they pressure Aaron—his brother and the soon-to-be high priest—into making a golden calf from their melted-down jewelry. They feast and play, worshiping this idol and crediting it with their exodus from Egypt, which is a bold statement in the face of God. 

God, furious, tells Moses about their betrayal and suggests wiping them out and starting fresh with him. Moses intercedes, reminding God of His promises to Abraham, and God relents from total destruction. When Moses sees the chaos himself, he smashes the tablets in anger, confronts Aaron (who blames the people of course), and rallies the loyal Levites to punish the ringleaders—about 3,000 die. Moses then climbs back up the mountain to beg God for forgiveness, showing his heart for the people despite their mess-up. 

• Last week’s one thing I wanted us to take away was that God called Moses up the mountain- away from the distractions. Up on the mountain, it wasn’t about performance or position, It was personal… It was God and Moses

This week let’s see what happens…

• Exodus 33 picks up after the golden calf incident, where the Israelites messed up big time by worshiping an idol while Moses was up on Mount Sinai getting the Ten Commandments. God is understandably upset and tells Moses that He’ll still send the Israelites to the Promised Land, but He won’t go with them personally because they’re a "stiff-necked" bunch—basically, stubborn and prone to screwing up. Instead, God will send an angel to lead the way, ensuring they can take the land from the Canaanites and others, but His direct presence is off the table for now. He says that if He sticks around, their rebellious attitude might push Him to wipe them out.

• Moses, though, isn’t okay with this. He sets up a tent outside the camp—called the "tent of meeting"—where he goes to talk to God face-to-face, like you’d chat with a close friend. The people watch in awe as a pillar of cloud descends, signaling God’s presence, and they worship from a distance. Moses pleads with God, saying, “If you’re not coming with us, what’s the point? We’re supposed to be your people—your presence is what sets us apart from everyone else.” He’s basically asking for God’s direct involvement, not just a stand-in angel, to show the world that the Israelites are chosen.

• God listens to Moses and agrees to go with them, saying, “I’ll do what you’ve asked because I know you, and you’ve found favor with me.” But Moses, still craving reassurance, pushes further and asks to see God’s glory—His full, unfiltered essence. God warns that no one can see His face and live, but He offers this: He’ll let Moses see His back as He passes by, covering Moses with His hand for protection in a cleft of a rock. It’s a moment of intimacy and grace, showing God’s willingness to meet Moses where he’s at, despite the Israelites’ failures.

• There is a lot of theology around this time where Moses met “face to face” with God then all of the sudden he isn't allowed anymore.  That's what it sounds like right? When God told Moses, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live”, He was saying that truly seeing God as He is, in the fullness of His glory, is more than mortal man can tolerate. Therefore, to protect Moses, God was only going to reveal that portion of His majesty and power that was humanly possible to absorb. God communicated this plan to Moses in a way we can all understand: “You cannot look Me full in the face [it is impossible for you to know everything about Me], but I will allow you to see my back [I will reveal to you a small portion of My nature so as not to overwhelm you].”

• Flashback - Do you remember Moses from the beginning of Exodus, who was a bit timid and reluctant to lead?  The man who says he was not eloquent enough to talk to Pharaoh?  Now look at him.  He intercedes for the Israelites directly with God in dialog...

Time to Leave - Exodus 33:1-3

The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

Tent of Meeting - Exodus 33:9-11

When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

Intercession - Exodus 33:12-23

Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and 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. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

• Notice.. Such a bold prayer by Moses in vs 13. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.”

• In verse 19 we see God’s character And he said, ““I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

  • I love how He basically says I will do what I want. 

  • We need to remember that God gets to decide. We can certainly ask, plead our case, petition… whatever the case may be. But it’s His Will not ours. 

Exodus 34

• In Exodus 34 we are walking through the restoration process from the golden calf drama and Moses’ intense heart-to-heart with God in the last chapter. After the Israelites’ idol-worshipping fiasco, the original stone tablets with the Ten Commandments got smashed by Moses in a fit of frustration. So, God tells Moses to carve out two new tablets and meet Him again on Mount Sinai—no entourage, just Moses, alone. It’s early morning, and God shows up in a cloud, declaring His name, “The Lord,” and describing Himself as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, full of love and faithfulness, but also just—He won’t let the guilty off the hook and will hold people accountable for their sins, even across generations.

• Moses, overwhelmed by this divine encounter, bows down and worships, asking God to forgive the Israelites and stick with them despite their stubbornness. God agrees and renews His covenant, promising to do wonders for the Israelites that’ll make the surrounding nations take notice. He warns them to stay faithful—no making treaties with the locals, no intermarrying, and definitely no worshiping their gods. God even tells them to smash the altars and idols of the Canaanites when they get to the Promised Land to avoid any temptation.

• Then God reiterates some key rules: keep the Sabbath, celebrate the feasts like Passover and the Feast of Weeks, and don’t offer sacrifices with yeast or leave offerings sitting out overnight. He also reminds them that the firstborn males—both human and animal—belong to Him, and they need to redeem them properly. It’s a mix of practical and spiritual instructions to keep the Israelites distinct and devoted to God.

• Moses stays on the mountain for 40 days and nights, no food or water, while God writes the Ten Commandments on the new tablets. When Moses finally comes down, his face is literally glowing from being in God’s presence—so much that the Israelites are a bit startled and rightfully so right?  He has been in the presence of the Lord! He has to put a veil over his face to talk to them, only taking it off when he goes back to speak with God. It’s a powerful sign of how close Moses is to God, but also a reminder of the gap between the people and God’s holiness after their recent betrayal.

New Tablets - Exodus 34:1-9

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

The Covenant Renewed - Exodus 34:10-14

And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

Moses' Face - Exodus 34:29-35

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.  Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.  Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

• This chapter is all about restoration—God giving the Israelites another chance through a renewed covenant, Moses stepping up as a mediator, and the glowing face of Moses showing both God’s glory and the people’s distance from it. It’s a blend of grace, accountability, and a call to exclusive devotion to our Lord.

Conclusion:

Exodus 33 and 34 challenge us to pursue a deep, personal relationship with God.  Are we doing that? Through time in His word and prayer?  Do you lean into grace when you fail, but also take responsibility to grow, so your life reflects a “glow” that points to Jesus?  

Personal Challenge:

We learn several things about God in these chapters. 

He is Holy. He is personal. He is gracious. He is compassionate. He is jealous for the hearts of His people. This is the same God we worship today. Do you know Him in these ways? Pray as Moses did in 33:13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.