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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 33:1 - 33:11
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The Sorrow of the People over their Sins
v. 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. The intercession of Moses in behalf of the children of Israel had been successful: the Lord, in accordance with the promise given to the patriarchs, did not destroy the people, did not even withdraw the special Messianic feature of the promise, although His pardon, for the present, was limited.
v. 2. And I will send an angel before thee, Cf Exo_32:34; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:
v. 3. unto a land flowing with milk and honey, distinguished for its extraordinary fruitfulness; for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people; lest I consume thee in the way. Because they had shown themselves a people with a rigid neck, Exo_32:9, as incorrigible as a stubborn draught-animal, therefore the Lord, for the time being, withdrew His presence from their midst. His purpose was to lead the people to a proper estimate of their guilt and thus to full repentance; for as it was, their willful transgressions continually challenged destruction. This announcement had the desired effect.
v. 4. And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned, they showed their deep sorrow by putting on the garments of mourning; and no man did put on him his ornaments. The repentance was general and sincere.
v. 5. For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiff-necked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment and consume thee; that had been the Lord's intention when His anger first flared up, Exo_32:10; therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. The Lord demanded this evidence of sincere repentance; for if they had refused and He had appeared in their midst for as much as a moment, their total destruction would have resulted.
v. 6. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the Mount Horeb. From this time on, from Mount Horeb onwards, the children of Israel discarded rings, bracelets, and all other jewelry, as in a period of mourning, to remind themselves always of the guilt which they had loaded upon themselves through similar ornaments at Mount Horeb.
v. 7. And Moses took the tabernacle, his own tent, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the "tent of meeting. " Until matters were adjusted between the Lord and the people and the building of the Sanctuary could be undertaken, his own tent had to serve the purpose. The people were to become more deeply conscious of their guilt and of their separation from Jehovah, and yet Moses wanted to keep the way open for the renewal of the covenant, by giving the people an opportunity to keep in touch with Jehovah. And it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out unto the Tabernacle of the Congregation which was without the camp. This was the first step in bringing the penitent people to a new life, that individuals went out to consult with Jehovah, instead of following their own ideas and opinions.
v. 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. This was a second sign of repentance, the expression of reverence with which the people accompanied the going of Moses into the tent of meeting.
v. 9. And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the Tabernacle, the cloudy pillar, which served to show the way by day, descended and stood at the door of the Tabernacle; and the Lord, who was present in the pillar, talked with Moses.
v. 10. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the Tabernacle door, in the place which was afterward occupied by the altar of burnt offering. And all the people rose up and worshiped, every man in his tent door. That was the third proof of their sincerity and of their desire to enter into the former relations with Jehovah once more.
v. 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. It was not a communicating from a distance, nor through any mediating person or agency, but the perfect intercourse of God with the friend of God, although not in the full revelation of His glory. And he (Moses) turned again into the camp, after having communicated with God; but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tabernacle. To him, as an unmarried man, was entrusted the care of the Sanctuary by day and by night. We learn here that unfaithfulness, idolatry, excludes a person from the intercourse, from the fellowship with God, and that it is the will of God that all transgressors should turn to Him in sincere and earnest repentance.