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“search the scriptures” John 5:39
We have come to the last in this series that began with the ‘great sin’ of the molten calf and God’s dealings with Israel’s treachery. Our previous article traced how the Lord had engaged Moses on the question of His presence amongst His people. This led to his third intercession where he dealt with God’s deep and original purposes for His chosen people. The Lord has answered with forgiveness, yet in a way that His disciplinary action would correct and judge the sin. Having a front row seat many months in the theatre of God’s mercy and judgement, Moses now asks of the Lord, ‘Show me now thy way, that I may know thee’, Exod. 33. 13. In real time, Moses witnessed the holy blend of God’s forgiveness and mercy, alongside His visiting iniquity and ‘by no means clear[ing] the guilty’, Exod. 34. 5-7. Set on God’s glory through this great mission, this humble servant wondered in awe. His wonder would soon give way to worship.
And thus Moses’ passion continues to build. His first request, ‘Show me now thy way, that I may know thee’ in chapter 33 verse 13, gives place to the second, ‘Shew me thy glory’, v. 18. Both are quite related. It is the import of holy writ and the experience of every saint of God that to see the glory of God is to:
Observe the Lord’s reply in the following verses, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before thee’, and ‘I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee’, v. 19. This reply gives us a clue as to the nature of Moses’ requests and how God will answer them.
Moses’ thirst was a deep one; but was his petition for visual or physical nearness? The case can be made that Moses had already seen the external, effulgent glory of God in the burning bush, 3. 1-6. He had been with God for forty days and forty nights on the mount of the Lord, 24. 18. He had spoken with God ‘face to face’, 33. 11. We read in chapter 34 that his face shone after the next forty days and nights on the mount. Certainly, Moses, like all believers, longed for a physical closeness to God.
But there is more. The appearance of Moses with Christ on the mount of transfiguration 1, 400 years later may help us understand God’s answer. The face of Christ Jesus shone as the sun; and yet the focus is on the discussion, their ‘talking with him’, Matt. 17. 3, speaking ‘of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem’, Luke 9. 31. And finally, the audible endorsement from the Father, ‘this is my beloved Son: hear him’, v. 35. The moral glory, the character of God, the plan of God, and the ensuing glory were all wrapped together in this appearing.
Consider for a moment his intercessions. Well may we expect to see a man of God pursuing the glory of God in his prayer and actions. We find this in Moses’ intercessions, as he pleads the glory (reputation) of God among the nations as they witness the course of Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness.
His real quest was becoming one that would allow Him to know his Lord more intimately. Contrast this with the psalmist’s commentary on Israel, Ps. 95. 10. Moses sought to understand God’s glorious ways. Commissioned and sent by God, he was finding out how the Lord could make a promise to the patriarchs, and weave it into a world history that involves the future judgement of the iniquity of the Amorites and the exposure of the false gods of Egypt. All the while doing so in a way that pictures God’s redemption by blood and by power.
Included in God’s sovereign weaving of Israel’s journey were His disciplinary actions. In the previous article, we highlighted some of God’s multifaceted responses to the failings of Israel, including His responses to this ‘great sin’, Exod. 32. 30. Yet, God is faithful to His promises, forgiving, and showing mercy to thousands. Moses, like us, is seeking to understand these things more fully.
God is ready to answer Moses and reveal a glimpse of His effulgent glory along with the declaration of His intrinsic moral glory. And so, the Lord would put Moses in the cleft of the rock, and cover him with His hand, while He passed by, 33. 22, 23.
What follows is unique in recorded history. The Lord God Almighty descended in the cloud and stood with him there. Then we read, He ‘proclaimed the name of the Lord’, 34. 5. The declaration immediately becomes one of the scriptures’ longest catalogues of the Lord’s attributes contained in eight statements. These statements focus our attention on the intrinsic glories of the Lord, which truly satisfied the deepest longings of the heart of Moses (and should satisfy ours). When the Lord highlights His divine attributes, He does so under the banner of the declaration of His name. This includes all His actions (both mercies and judgements), designs, and motives. In summary, God’s goodness is defined by His perfect and beneficial words and actions; the results are proven over time.
Underscore the banner: the declaration of God’s name. The sub-banner is the goodness of God. Of His name, one has written, ‘It robes Him in all the majesty, dignity, and grandeur, and boundlessness of changeless unity. It exhibits Him, as the sole fount of every stream of life’.1 The Lord Jesus Christ on earth declared such to the fullest, John 17. 6, 24-26. In this great seventeenth chapter of John, the themes of God’s love, God’s work, God’s glory, and the declaration of God’s name run parallel to those of Exodus 34.
Moses’ desire was aligned with Christ’s. To know the only true God and His Son, was Christ’s prayer on behalf of His disciples, John 17. 3. It was also Paul’s passion as he writes to the Philippians, Phil. 3. 8, 10. Similarly, Paul writes to the Ephesians, ‘that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe’, Eph. 1. 17-19.
The revelation of God’s glory to Moses declared the very moral glories of our Lord. And yet, he did ‘see my [God’s] back parts’ or ‘see me from behind’, Exod. 33. 23 JND. Warren Henderson writes, ‘How are we to understand what Moses saw? It is like the light of the sun: our eyes cannot stare at the sun in its full strength without being damaged, but yet we are able to enjoy beautiful sunsets’.2
Just as Moses ‘rose up early’ in eager anticipation, he now moves with deepest reverence as he ‘made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped’, 34. 8.
Moses now leverages his position of favour in his intercession (fourth in this section). Sin has been acknowledged. Forgiveness has been granted. Moses intercedes in new and surprising terms – words of endearment, ‘take us for thine inheritance’, v. 9. Words that echo those of marriage proposals. How would the Lord respond? Would the Lord go so far as to renew the covenant of espousal?3 The Lord responds firstly with an unconditional promise of future victory, described as ‘marvels’. Secondly, He stresses their sanctification to Him, separated from the pagan idolatry that prevailed in the land.
In the remainder of the passage, the Lord sets forth a list of feasts, gifts, holidays, and sacrifices. Consider this as a list of desirable (required) features in His beloved nation, His new wife. These would serve to continually warm the fires of their hearts. Many of these festive obligations had been given after the tenth plague found in Exodus chapters 12 and 13, and again after the giving of the civil law, chh. 22, 23. Included now in chapter 34 are the keeping of the feast of unleavened bread, the offering of the firstborn, the seventh day rest, the feast of weeks, the feast of ingathering, the required appearance of males at three annual feasts, and the firstfruits of their land brought to the house of the Lord. All these would safeguard and rekindle the remembrance of God’s great power, grace, and love.
After so great a deliverance from Egypt, and so great a promised new land to possess, the children of Israel would continue to move forward. ‘They have well said’, the Lord responds, but continues, ‘O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always’, Deut. 5. 28, 29.
The list of feasts and sacrifices in Exodus chapter 34 verses 10 to 27 picture for us a life lived in the Spirit for the New Testament believer. Let us explore how these themes might apply to us. First, after emphasizing not to make any covenant with the peoples of Canaan, the Lord enjoins Israel to keep the feast of unleavened bread. A lesson for us today, Paul exhorts believers to ‘keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth’, 1 Cor. 5. 8. Second, the redemption of the firstborn may remind us that it is our reasonable response to live our lives given to Christ, Rom. 12. 1, 2. Third, the sabbath reminds us that through faith we have entered into God’s rest and everlasting fellowship with Him. Fourth and fifth, keeping the feasts of firstfruits and ingathering express, ‘but now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits . . . afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming’, 1 Cor. 15. 20-23. The Lord has appointed us that we should go forth and bear fruit for Christ, John 15. 16. Sixth, the three annual required feasts may remind us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as a company of believers, Heb. 10. 24, 25. Seventh, ‘Christ our passover is sacrificed for us’, 1 Cor. 5. 7, the fulfilment of all types and sacrifices in the scriptures. Our obedience to the Lord in each of these matters will go a long way in the path of a life that is pleasing to God.
When we look at these ‘feasts’ and ‘observances’ in the context of this passage, our hearts can beat afresh with a response to our Lord’s desire for His chosen people. God has so richly invested in His people and seeks our grateful response. Such a redemption was planned by His heart, carried out by His power, and rooted in His love. May each of us, like Moses, always seek the glory of God, seek to know Him, and faithfully serve and worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
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