Bible Commentaries

Exodus 33:1 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:

Ver. l. Which thou hast brought.] {See Trapp on "Exodus 33:7"}

Exodus 33:2 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:

Ver. 2. An angel before thee.] A created angel to conduct thee. But Moses would none of that; he would not be so put off. [Exodus 34:9] Low things satisfy not a high spirit.

Exodus 33:3 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.

Ver. 3. I will not go up,] sc., By those visible signs of my gracious presence as heretofore.

Exodus 33:4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.

Ver. 4. They mourned.] As good cause they had: for "woe be unto thee when I depart from thee." [Hosea 9:12]

Exodus 33:5 For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye [are] a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.

Ver. 5. And consume thee.] God’s threatenings are cordial, but conditional. Minatur Deus ut non puniat. "Fury is not in me." [Isaiah 27:4] He punisheth not "till there be no other remedy," [2 Chronicles 36:16] as the bee stings not till provoked.

Exodus 33:6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.

Ver. 6. Stripped themselves.] As in a day of restraint.

Exodus 33:7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, [that] every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which [was] without the camp.

Ver. 7. Afar off from the camp.] In token of God’s deep displeasure and departure from them.

Exodus 33:8 And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, [that] all the people rose up, and stood every man [at] his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.

Ver. 8. And looked after Moses.] To see what success, what acceptance: as David looked up after his prayer to see how it sped. [Psalms 5:3]

Exodus 33:9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood [at] the door of the tabernacle, and [the LORD] talked with Moses.

Ver. 9. And the Lord talked with Moses.] Out of the cloudy pillar: which was a sign of favour. [Psalms 99:7] The Turks honour Moses, and call him the talker with God.

Exodus 33:10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand [at] the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man [in] his tent door.

Ver. 10. Rose up and worshipped.] Though obnoxious, they would not despair of mercy. See 1 Samuel 12:20-22.

Exodus 33:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

Ver. 11. Face to face.] Friendly and familiarly, as Numbers 12:8. And perhaps in human shape, as he spake with Abraham his friend. Genesis 18:16-33

Exodus 33:12 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.

Ver. 12. See, thou sayest unto me.] See, saith one, ^(a) how Moses here encroacheth upon God. God had done much for him, he must have more. [Exodus 33:13] "Show me now thy way," &c. This God grants him. [Exodus 33:14] This serves not the turn; he must have more yet. [Exodus 33:16] Well, he hath it. [Exodus 33:17] Is he satisfied? No, he must yet have more. [Exodus 33:18] "I beseech thee show me thy glory." It is done. [Exodus 33:19] Is he satisfied yet? No. [Exodus 34:9] God must pardon the sin of his people too; and take them and him for his inheritance: this fruit of his favour he must needs be entreated to add to the rest.

Exodus 33:13 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.

Ver. 13. That I may know thee.] Moses knew more of God than any man; he was but newly come down from the mount, and at the tabernacle door God spake with Moses "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." [Exodus 33:11] The more a man knows of God, the more desirous he is to know him.

Exodus 33:14 And he said, My presence shall go [with thee], and I will give thee rest.

Ver. 14. I will give thee rest.] Full content of mind, in the sense of my presence and light of my countenance.

Exodus 33:15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not [with me], carry us not up hence.

Ver. 15. If thy presence go not with me.] What is it to have the air without light? What was all Mordecai’s honour to him when the king frowned upon him?

Exodus 33:16 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.

Ver. 16. So shall we be separated.] Heb., Marvellously separated. The separation of the saints is a wonderful separation. See Deuteronomy 4:7; also Isaiah 20:6, where Judea is for this cause called an "isle."

Exodus 33:17 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.

Ver. 17. I know thee by name.] As princes do their favourites, who easily forget others, as Saul did David. [1 Samuel 17:55]

Exodus 33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

Ver. 18. Show me thy glory.] None ever knew God’s glory; our cockle shell can never comprehend this sea: yet it may be apprehended that it is incomprehensible.

Exodus 33:19 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.

Ver. 19. I will make all my goodness.] My glorious goodness. Thus Moses may have what he will of God. "The king is not he that can do anything against you," said Zedekiah to his courtiers. [Jeremiah 38:5]

Exodus 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

Ver. 20. Thou canst not see my face.] Otherwise than in his words and works. [Romans 1:20] As we cannot see the sun in rota, in the circle, but in the beams. Some have seen Mercabah velo harocheb, as the Hebrews speak, ^(a) the chariot in which God rode, but not the rider in it: they saw some created image, or glory, whereby he testified his more immediate presence, but not himself.

No man shall see me, and live.] But be oppressed and swallowed up with majesty: as the sight of the eye is dazzled with the sun; or a crystal glass broken with the fire.