YouTube video sermon
Exodus 33:18-34:9, 29-35
Well, we made it. Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me (one final time) to Exodus 33-34. As you are finding your place, which ought to be worn out by now, let me ask you: Do you remember a time or an event when you needed to know God was with you?
Possibly it was when you were walking that final mile with a spouse or family member. You knew where things were headed. You knew the outcome. You needed God’s presence, strength, and assurance like you needed air to breathe. Or maybe you were the patient. Maybe you were learning how to walk again or recovering from a stroke or a major surgery and simply needed the strength to get out of bed. You needed to know God was there. You wanted desperately to sense His presence. Or it could be accepting a new job or position at work. The task of merging two corporations or leading a workforce of thousands and knowing that their livelihood and employment was, to a great degree, resting on your shoulders is just too much. Some of you have volunteered to lead Bible studies or taught classes and groups. Maybe you were asked to serve on a Board of Directors or as a Trustee for a non-profit organization; the weight and responsibility were just heavy, and you felt ill-prepared.
Whatever the situation, event, or scenario… you just prayed for, longed for, and desired more than anything to get assurance from God that you were capable, that you were doing the right thing, and that you would not be alone in this journey. That is what we are going to see this morning. Moses has received instruction from God to leave Mount Sinai and travel to the Promised Land. He knew the task before him was huge, and he wanted reassurance that God would be with him – and the Lord will be with you, too, if you will, but trust Him. Follow along with me as we read from Exodus 33, beginning in verse 18:
18 Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.” 19 And [God] 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. 20 But,” He said, “you cannot see My face, for man shall not see Me and live.” 21 And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 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. 23 Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
1 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. 2 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. 3 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.” 4 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. 5 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 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, 7 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.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9 And [Moses] 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.”
29 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. 30 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. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the LORD had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
34 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, 35 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.
“O Lord, we acknowledge that Your Word is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. The Scriptures expose us for who we really are. So, with great awe and humility, we bow before Your Word. Speak to us, convict us, cleanse us, and equip us to obey Your will. This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”
We have been in this book and following this storyline since January. We have covered a lot of ground, read a lot of verses, and marked a lot of pages (hopefully). And like any good road trip, when you return home, you flip back through the photos you took along the way and reflect upon the memories that you made. It all started when a king rose up in Egypt who did not know Joseph and, more importantly, Joseph’s God. Consequently, the Israelites became enslaved to the Egyptians. Then, God met Moses in the desert and called to him from a burning bush – that he would lead God’s people out of Egypt. The LORD sent ten mighty plagues on Pharaoh and the Egyptians. He judged them, yet He passed over those who had the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. He did it all to reveal Himself as the one true God and so that His people (the Jews) could worship Him.
We watched as God parted the Red Sea and delivered Israel and destroyed Pharaoh and the Egyptians. He provided physical nourishment in the wilderness by feeding them with bread from heaven and water from the rock. Israel saw God’s glory on the mountain, as He gave Moses the law and instructions for building the tabernacle. And we observed the Israelites wander into idolatry at the bottom of the mountain with their golden calf. Now, we find ourselves sitting beside Moses as he feels the weight of the task ahead. And there are three questions that I want to draw out for us this morning (before we close the pages of Exodus). The first is…
Do We Long To See God’s Glory, Or Have We Seen Enough?
Think about all that Moses had seen of God? It started at the burning bush. You would think that experience, that sight, that reality would have been enough, but not so. Then Moses got to see and experience all of the plagues that God brought against Egypt. He had a front-row seat for the parting of the Red Sea, and the manna from heaven, and water from a rock. He was invited to a dinner party with the 70 elders on Mount Sinai in the presence of God. He had talked with God face to face in the tent of meeting, and yet, he still had the audacity to say (in verse 18), “Please show me Your glory.” Charles Spurgeon, the great expositor, said, “Why, that is the greatest petition man ever asked of God” (A View of God’s Glory. Sermon #3120. Published November 26, 1908). Moses had already tasted God’s glory, but the taste only made him want more. Do you want to see more of God’s glory, or have you seen enough?
All of us know what it’s like to taste something for the first time and really like it. We like it so much that we go back for seconds and thirds. In fact, there are times where we are sitting in the living room watching something on television and the thought of that dish causes us to actually get up and make it. We might even make an entire meal, for no other reason than we remember the taste and we want to experience it again.
If truth be told, we only say we want to see more of God’s glory, but we don’t really mean it. We are too busy and distracted to want to know more. We are satisfied with the introduction. We got saved one day. We met Jesus at camp. “I’m going to heaven one day, and I’m satisfied with an introduction.” Moses wasn’t satisfied with simply an introduction at the burning bush, or the fireworks of the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. He wanted to see more. So, he took time, made time, and boldly said, “Then show me Your glorious presence” (Exodus 33:18, NLT).
And just before you say to yourself (under your breath while the preacher is preaching), “Sure, I’d like to see more of God, but He’s not going to give it to me” notice that God responds positively to Moses’ request. No; it wasn’t everything that Moses wanted, I’m sure, but it was positive, nonetheless. God would pass by and cover Moses with His hand and declare His name (the LORD) as He walked by, and after passing by, He would remove His hand so that Moses could glimpse His back. God said, “I can’t let you see all of Me, because it would kill you. But I’m going to let you see enough of Me that you’ll know that I have so much more to offer.” Do you want to see His glory?
I believe this is the cry of every human heart, either consciously felt or not. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). We see God today through the eyes of faith, but later, we shall see Christ face to face. I love how Stephen saw glory in Acts 7. You remember Stephen, right? He was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Sanhedrin and the high priest and they couldn’t stand it, so they decided to stone him to death. And Acts 7:55-56 says, “But [Stephen], full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’”
The psalmist said, “As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with Your likeness” (Psalm 17:15). To see Christ is to behold God. Jesus told Philip, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Paul spoke, in 2 Corinthians 4:6 of “God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ,” and in 1 Corinthians 13:12 he said, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” John, in his first epistle, wrote, “we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).
Do you long to see God’s glory displayed in the salvation of unbelievers – in your family, in your neighborhood, among the nations? In longing to see God’s glory, we are saying that we want to know Him intimately. This leads me to the second question.
Do We Know God As He Truly Is, Or Is He Fashioned In Our Likeness?
And if we want to see God’s glory and know God more intimately, then we better know God as He reveals Himself in the Bible, rather than the way we want Him to be, or the way we’ve decided He is. Look at Exodus 34:6, “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…’”. Now, remember, this is God who is describing Himself. Some of you say, “Yeah, but Moses is writing it. So, this is Moses’ biased view of God.” I disagree, but even if I grant you the argument, then your position actually makes the case stronger and we’ll see why in just a moment.
It is no exaggeration to say that this verse is one of the most important verses in the Bible. It is repeated time and time again (Psalm 86:15; Psalm 103:8; Psalm 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2, to name but a few). In fact, this could be a sermon in itself, but let’s just consider the attributes of God that are listed here (briefly).
To those in need, God is compassionate (or merciful).
God cares about His children. David said, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:13). We need a compassionate God. It is no surprise that when Jesus came along, Matthew said He looked at the crowds, and “He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). Praise God that He is compassionate and merciful.
To those who cannot measure up, God is gracious.
Grace is undeserved favor. Many of you know the acronym for GRACE – God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense. There are a lot of verses that use the word grace and speak about grace, but there’s one, in particular, that defines it best, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). That’s it. Praise God that Jesus has done the work for us and made us right with the Father – not because we deserved it, or because we did part of it and He agreed to do the other part, but because of His grace.
To those who are rebellious, God is slow to anger.
This speaks of the patience of God. Are you glad that God is slow to anger? Our world knows nothing about this. We are so quick to get angry, and even quicker to do something in our anger. Israel needed a patient God. Remember? They were a stiff-necked people. They murmured and complained and rebelled (kind of like us), but God was patient. Praise God that He is patient.
To the unfaithful, God abounds in faithful love and loyalty.
This speaks of the covenant nature of God’s love. God is loyal. God always follows through. He absolutely keeps His every promise. Israel needed a covenant-keeping God! They are forever going back and forth from faithfulness to disobedience – walking with the Lord one moment and then running in the other direction the next. Again, kind of sounds like someone else I know (me AND you). God remained faithful to Israel despite their fickleness. Praise God that He remains faithful to us in spite of ourselves being rebellious.
To the guilty, God is forgiving.
That word “forgiving,” in verse 7, means “to lift” or “to carry.” It describes what God does with our sins; He lifts the guilt off our shoulders and carries it away. And notice the three types of things that God forgives: (1) iniquity (which is guilt or blame – you’re only guilty when you’re at fault for a wrong); (2) transgression (it’s a word that means rebellion or revolt against a king); and (3) sin (it’s the most generic term for a moral failure). I don’t know about you, but I think that pretty much sums it up? Don’t you think?
But here’s why I said that if you take the position that Moses was describing his own biased view of God, then it’s actually an even stronger argument than God describing Himself (although I believe God is describing Himself in verse 7). See, if Moses is describing how he views God, then surely, he would leave off the justice part. Right? Just talk about the love of God and the grace of God and the forgiveness of God, but don’t muddy the waters and pour salt into the wound by talking about justice and punishment and accountability. But no, God is also described as just.
To the unrepentant, God is just.
Those who choose to reject God will be held accountable. Just because God is compassionate and gracious does not mean the guilty who remain unrepentant get a free pass. NOTE: I do want to clarify the latter part of this verse. The mention of God’s consequences on several generations does not mean that grandchildren will be punished for something their grandparents have done. It means that as sin continues from one generation to the next, so too, God’s justice
continues.
So, how do you reconcile His justice and His love? It is reconciled at the cross. There, God poured out justice and at the same time displayed love. Paul tells us that God was both the Prosecution and the Defense; “[God] show[ed] His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). Don’t misunderstand this. God will judge and punish sin. Either Jesus received your judgment at the cross, or you will face God’s judgment on your own. Do we know God as He truly is, or have we fashioned Him in our own liking. And that leads me to our final question…
Do We Shine Forth God’s Glory, Or Is It Our Own?
When Moses came down from the mountain, he brought the new set of the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law with him. But he also brought a glow with him. Because he had been talking with God, he radiated the glory of God. In fact, it was so bright and distracting that he had to put on a veil until it faded. This happened every time that Moses met with God. In Psalm 34:5, David writes, “Those who look to [the LORD] are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”
When we truly spend time in the presence of God, on a daily basis, we will shine forth His glory. Remember what the Pharisees and Sadducees said about Peter and John in the early days of the church? Luke writes, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Do people know that you have been with Jesus? Do you shine forth His glory or is it your own?
When people recognize the joy you exhibit, or the peace that you have, or your servant’s heart, or your patient demeanor, or the boldness and courage you display in sharing the gospel, or your extraordinary generosity and forgiveness, what do you say? Do you say, “Well, you know, folks always said my mom was a servant. Yeah, my old man had the patience of Job. I guess I’m just a happy person.” Do you humbly claim the glory for yourself, or do you use that as an opportunity to share the glory of Jesus. “Yeah, I was always restless until I met Jesus. Now, most of the time, I have a peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7). I climbed the corporate ladder for years, making more money with each job, then one day, the Holy Spirit convicted me of my idols and placing my trust in the wrong thing(s) and ever since then I’ve tried to be generous with what I have.”
In 2 Corinthians 3:7-18, Paul explained that because of the Holy Spirit’s dwelling in the believer’s heart, the glory of the New Covenant is superior to the Old Covenant glory that Moses knew. He writes, “We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.” It’s through Christ and in Christ that we gaze upon the glory of God. As we behold Jesus, we’re transformed. This is the privilege that we share. Do we shine forth God’s glory, or do we shine forth our own sense of goodness?
Let me close with a story that’s told by author Paul David Tripp in his book Awe: Why it Matters to Everything We Think, Say, and Do. He writes:
I remember taking my youngest son to one of the national art galleries in Washington, DC. As we made our approach, I was so excited about what we were going to see. He was decidedly unexcited. But I just knew that, once we were inside, he would have his mind blown and would thank me for what I had done for him that day.
As it turned out, his mind wasn’t blown; it wasn’t even activated. I saw things of such stunning beauty that brought me to the edge of tears. He yawned, moaned, and complained his way through gallery after gallery. With every new gallery, I was enthralled, but each time we walked into a new art space, he begged me to leave. He was surrounded by glory but saw none of it. He stood in the middle of wonders but was bored out of his mind. His eyes worked well, but his heart was stone blind. He saw everything, but he saw nothing.
Do we long to see God’s glory, or have we seen enough? Do we know God as He truly is, or is He fashioned in our likeness? Do we shine forth God’s glory, or is it our own? As we close the pages on Exodus, may we not be surrounded by glory but see none of it. Rather, considering all that we have experienced in our own personal lives and the stories of the Israelites, may we join Moses in proclaiming, “Please show me Your glory.”