Bible Commentaries

Exodus 33:14

This is a word in season to every one who is weary. It is as surely ours as if, like the message of the shepherds at Bethlehem, it came to us, with stroke of light and rush of mystic music, straight from the eternal throne.

I. In what sense has God said, "My presence shall go with thee"? He is present to the believer as a Friend whose love has been accepted, and whose conversation is understood with all the intelligence of a kindred nature.

II. In what sense does the presence of God give rest? (1) It tends to give rest from the terror incident to a state of condemnation. (2) It gives rest from the anguish which springs from a discordant nature. (3) It gives rest from the cravings of an unsatisfied spirit. (4) It gives rest from the distraction felt amidst uncongenial scenes and associations. (5) It gives rest from the disquietude which results from want of human sympathy. (6) It gives rest from apprehensions regarding the future. (7) The presence of God with us now is the pledge of perfect rest in the next life.

C. Stanford, Central Truths, p. 227.

I. The Angel's presence refers to Christ, the same who is elsewhere called the "Angel of the covenant."

II. The presence of God in Christ showed itself in the desert by the pillar and cloud in which it tabernacled, and also by the shechinah, which, as it hung over the sacred tent, testified to God's faithfulness and glory.

III. Note the imperatives of God's futures. No uncertainty shall harbour here; it comes in the infallibility of a prophecy and the sovereignty of a fiat: "My presence shall go with thee." It is personal, intimate, minute, appropriate.

IV. The presence of God brings rest. There is (1) a rest by God, when a justified soul rests through the blood of Jesus from the torment of its fear; (2) a rest on God, when the sanctified spirit reposes on the bosom of the promises; and (3) a rest with God, when the battle of life is over, and the victor-saint lays down his armour.

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons; 9th series, p. 249.

References: Exodus 33:14.—J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 1st series, p. 64; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 467; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii., No. 1583. Exodus 33:15.—Expositor, 1st series, vol. vii., p. 467.

Exodus 33:18

It was a fine aspiration, worthy of the man who uttered it and the occasion on which he spoke. It was the reaching out of a darker dispensation after Gospel light, the reflections wishing to lose themselves in the great original. It was earth longing after heaven—the restlessness of earth longing for that which should be Divine, the rest of desire.

I. There are three kinds of glory: (1) the glory of circumstances; (2) moral glory; (3) the glory of the sense or consciousness that everything goes back to the Creator, encircling Him with His own proper perfections, the living of God in the adoration, gratitude, and service of His creatures. Moses saw all three. His prayer had an answer on the Mount of Transfiguration.

II. It was a very remarkable answer that God made to him. "I will make My kindness pass before thee." Kindness is glory. The glory of God was in Jesus Christ. That was the manifestation of the glory of God—that is, kindness. God is love. He has many attributes, but they meet to make love.

All God's attributes unite together, and His glory is His goodness.

J. Vaughan, Meditations in Exodus, p. 91.

Exodus 33:18-20

I. Consider what Moses desired when he prayed, "I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory." It could not have been a mere external display of glory and power. He had seen enough, and more than enough, of these to satisfy the most enlarged desire. It could not have been to behold the glory of God as manifested in His past government of the world. In this he had been already taught. He had been the world's sole historian for nearly two thousand years. It is probable that in this prayer, "Show me Thy glory," he desired to comprehend the merciful purpose of God towards the Israelites, and through them to the world. He wished to understand more fully the whole plan of salvation, and to see the things that should happen in the latter days.

II. Consider how far this desire was satisfied. God made His goodness to pass before Him. (1) This was probably a prophetic view of His mercy to the Israelites as a nation. (2) God showed him His administration as a Sovereign. (3) He gave him a prophetic view of the mission of Christ. "Thou shalt see My back parts" might be translated "Thou shalt see Me as manifested in the latter days."

III. Why was not the petition of Moses fully granted? The reason why man could not behold God's glory would not be because of its terror or majesty, but because the view of the riches of His grace, His compassion, and benevolence, would excite emotions of reverence, admiration, and love too terrible for humanity to bear.

Bishop Simpson, Sermons, p. 347.

References: Exodus 33:18.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xiv., p. 234; J. M. Neale, Sermons for the Church Year, vol. i., p. 64; J. Hamilton, Works, vol. v., p. 252; Parker, Fountain, May 30th, 1878. Exodus 33:18, Exodus 33:19.—S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii., p. 264; H. Wonnacott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiv., p. 107; J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 1st series, p. 50. Exodus 33:19.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x., No. 553. Exodus 33:20-23.—A. L. Mansel, Bampton Lecture, 1858, p. 67.