After the
display of outright rebellion against the Redeemer and His covenant (a covenant
that Israel consented to), their leader went with fear and trembling before a
wrathful and angry Elohim, to intercede on behalf of Israel. Moses and Joshua entered the tent of meeting,
pitched outside the camp, and waited to see if the cloud would descend and land
in front of the entrance. YHVH’s words were
still ringing in Moses’ ears:
"Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Now
therefore, go, lead the people to the
place of which I have spoken
to you… Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit
punishment upon them for their sin" (Exodus 32:33-34). This did not bode well with Moses, who knew
what the consequences may turn out to be. YHVH’s recent proposal, to destroy
the people of Israel and to start all over again with his seed, was fresh on
his mind (Ex. 32:10).
Fortunately the
cloud did come down and positioned itself in front of the tent, while Moses intoned
the following: "See, You say to me,
'Bring up this people.' But You have not let me know whom You will send with
me. Yet You have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found grace/favor
in My sight.' Now therefore, I pray, if
I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and
that I may find grace/favor in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people" (Exodus
33:12-13 emphasis added). Moses was
not ignorant of YHVH’s “grace”, as he understood the deliverance, the “eagles’
wings”, the manna, the water from the rock, and the total provision for the people
of Israel. Yet there was still something
missing in his relationship with the Almighty. He did not have that quite
assurance that YHVH would totally forgive them and would not forsake them. The grace
that he had in mind was still somewhat shaky.
When the people
first arrived at the mountain, Israel’s Deliverer presented Himself to His “subjects”
in an awesome and overpowering way that left them in fear and trepidation. This
initial impression, upon the initiation of the first Sinai covenant, was at the
foundation of their relationship with their Elohim. Signed and sealed by the
blood of the bulls that Moses sacrificed and sprinkled on the people, this
covenant had been a conditional agreement. It is worthy to note that this overwhelming
display of sight and sound did not instill in the people a desire to walk in
obedience to their Deliverer. Their attitude was similar to that of children
who grow up in families where strict laws and punishments are enforced.
In his quest
for a deeper relationship with Elohim, Moses suspected that there was another “face”
to this Master of the Universe, and so his intercession continued: "If Your Presence (panim – face) does
not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people
and I have found favor/satisfaction/appeasement in Your sight, except You
go with us? So we shall be separate (palah - distinguished, marked out), Your
people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of
the earth" (33:15-16 emphases added). What was Moses driving at here? Was he
reminding YHVH that these people, this nation, was His own testimony as to Who
He was/is? Moses remembered full well
what Elohim had said to him during the negotiations with Pharaoh, at the time when
the Hebrews were extremely upset at he and Aaron for making their burdens even more
difficult.
Here is what
Elohim said to Moses at that auspicious time: “And Elohim spoke to Moses and
said to him: ‘I am YHVH.
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as Elohim Almighty (El
Shaddai), but by My name YHVH I was not known to
them. I have also established My
covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their
pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the
children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My
covenant. Therefore say to the children
of Israel: 'I am YHVH; I will bring you out from under
the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will
redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you
as My people, and I will be your Elohim. Then you shall know that I am
YHVH your Elohim who brings you out from under the burdens of the
Egyptians. And I will bring you into the
land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to
you as a heritage: I am
YHVH'" (Exodus 6:2-8). In
this declaration YHVH repeats His name five times. It is necessary to take to heart this entire dialog,
when we intercede for Yah’s people. But
more important will be the next episode, as YHVH is about to call Moses back up
the mountain.
Just before the
cloud lifted from the tent of meeting, Moses made his last plea: "’Please show
me Your glory.’ Then He said, ‘I will
make all My goodness (tuv) pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of YHVH
before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion.’
But He said, ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live’"
(Exodus 33:18-20).
Moses no doubt
was greatly relieved by YHVH’s positive response to allow him to get a glimpse
of the glory of His presence. But for
that to happen YHVH needed to put him in the cleft of a rock, and additionally also to cover him with His hand and only after His glory passes by would He
lift off His hand, so that Moses would see His… back. This event is encouraging for us, who have
been placed in the cleft of the Rock of our salvation - “Yeshua” - so that we too may get a glimpse, and even more than a glimpse, of the glory of the
great goodness (tuv) of our Elohim, for it
is the goodness of YHVH that leads to repentance, and if I might add, to obedience (see Romans 2:4). (To be continued)
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