The Book Of Exodus
Exodus 3:14 "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say
unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."
This chapter opens in the same scene that closed chapter 32. God is still speaking with Moses. In the aftermath of the sin of the Israelites described in chapter 32, the covenantal relationship with God is broken. God will still keep His promise to Abraham’s seed by giving the children of Israel the promised land (v.1-2), but He will not go with them on this journey in the way that they had once envisioned. “…for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.” (v.3) In the same way that Adam and Eve lost their fellowship and communion with God because of their sinful choice, so the children of Israel have lost what would have been a direct and close relationship with God during their journey to the promised land. From here on out, only Moses will have that close and personal relationship with God as he serves the dual role of leader of the people and their mediator before God. We see an example of this in the remaining scenes of this chapter.
Take note of the fact that it was the sin of idolatry that broke this covenantal relationship. Even after the Israelites had grumbled and complained about the lack of food and water during their journey to Mount Sinai God did not deal with them as harshly as He is now in the wake of their apostasy from the previous chapter. While it is true that there are no degrees of sin with God – all sin is sin, whether it be ingratitude or idolatry and sexual immorality – it is true that God often reserves harsher and more severe consequences for certain types of sin. We see this time and again throughout the OT. God repeats his promise to Moses of sending an angel before the Israelites into the promised land to drive out the heathen nations already there. (v.2-3) (Exodus 32:34) Verses 4-6: The news that God would not be dwelling among them as they had once hoped for is very distressing to the Israelites. (v.4) God instructs Moses to tell the people to put off their jewelry as a sign of mourning. (v.5-6) (Ezra 9:3, Esther 4:1, 4, Job 1:20, Ezekiel 24:17, 23) “Perhaps after they had stripped off their gold rings for the folly of the golden calf they had made other ornaments to hide that they had given up their precious personal possessions. Now they would become bare-fingered and vacant-eared (no finger rings, no earrings). The absence of these items would be a sad reminder of what they had lost, not merely physically but more importantly, spiritually—of their relative lack of the presence of God.” (Moody Bible Commentary) Verses 7-11: The tabernacle mentioned in verse 7 is obviously not the same structure described by God in chapters 25-31. This is instead just an ordinary tent that Moses pitches some distance outside the camp, perhaps as a further demonstration of the Israelites’ broken relationship with God. Rather than dwelling in the magnificent tabernacle in the heart of the camp as described to Moses up on the mount (Exodus 29:42-43), God is now, for the time being, going to meet with His people in this temporary tent “…afar off from the camp…”. (Deuteronomy 4:29) Whenever Moses enters this tabernacle the men of Israel stand at the door of their tents, watching from a distance until they see him going into the tabernacle. (v.8) (Numbers 16:27) At this point there is the familiar sight of the cloudy pillar that descends upon the tent whenever Moses is inside, indicating God’s presence. (v.9) As they wait for Moses to come out of the tent, the Israelites worship at the door of their own tents. (v.10) (Exodus 4:31) Verse 11 states that “…the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” (Numbers 12:8, Deuteronomy 34:10) There are very few men of the Bible who can claim to be called a friend of God, and Moses now joins that honored rank. (Though scripture does not state it specifically, we can logically presume that, until this point, only Abraham, Noah, Enoch, and Adam are in this group.) It’s also stated here that Joshua, son of Nun, is assisting Moses during these times with God. The phrasing here probably indicates that Joshua remains with Moses even after Moses leaves the tent, not that Joshua remains inside the tabernacle after both Moses and God depart. The description of talking with God “face to face” is anthropomorphic language, meaning that Moses’ fellowship with God is being described in human terms that we can understand. It’s not meant to be taken literally. God does not have a “face”, much less a mouth, hands, eyes or any other human anatomy, yet we see often in scripture phrases such as “the hand of the Lord” or “the eyes of the Lord”, etc. God is a spirit, and He cannot be seen or experienced by human faculties unless he assumes human form, i.e. a theophany in the OT or Jesus Christ in the NT; or, as in this case, manifests as something non-living such as the cloud or a pillar of fire. “The fact that the Lord spoke to Moses ‘face to face, as a man speaketh to a friend’ (33:11a) indicated the warm communication that Moses had with his God. The expression denotes familiar conversation” (Davis, Moses and the Gods, 303). This likely refers to direct revelation as opposed to dreams and visions (Numbers 12:6-8).” (Moody Bible Commentary) Verses 12-23: The remainder of this chapter is Moses’ conversation with God. Moses’ first request of the Lord is reassurance of two things: 1) that Moses is still to be the leader of the Israelites (Exodus 3:10, 32:34), and 2) that God’s presence will continue to be with His chosen people. (v.12-13) Moses displays genuine humility and a sincere desire to seek the will of God, as indicated by his plea in verse 13: “…if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee…”. (Psalm 25:4, 27:11, 86:11, 119:33) Moses is afraid for the people, afraid of losing God’s presence forever because of their sin of idolatry. He is seeking God’s reassurance that He will not abandon His chosen people because of this one transgression, and God reaffirms His initial promise to Moses and the children of Israel. “…My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” (v.14) (Exodus 3:12, Deuteronomy 4:37, 12:10, 25:19, Joshua 21:44, 22:4, Isaiah 63:9) But despite God’s reassurance, Moses repeats his request, insisting once more that without the presence of the Lord there is no reason for the Israelites to go any further from this place. (v.15) The only outward evidence that God’s chosen people have found grace in His sight is by His continual presence with them, both to guide them and protect them. (v.16) Without the presence of God, there is no difference between the children of Israel and all the other “…people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Exodus 34:10, Numbers 14:14, Deuteronomy 4:7, 34) While Moses acknowledges the one thing that distinguishes the children of Israel from all other nations of the earth, he also understands the great gulf of sin that separates God from His people. Moses’ statements in these verses indicate His understanding of God’s fundamental characteristics: His righteousness, holiness, justice, wrath, and, most importantly, His mercy and lovingkindness. Without God, the children of Israel are utterly helpless and at the mercy of both their own sinful natures as well as the heathen nations around them. God’s answer to Moses’ intercession must have been of great comfort to Moses: “…I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in My sight, and I know thee by name.” (v.17) (James 5:16) How blessed to have the God of heaven and earth, the Lord and creator of the universe, say to us, “I know thee by name”! For this is true of each of us today if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior! God knew Moses by name, and He gently, lovingly assures Moses that he “…hast found grace in My sight…”. One would think that Moses should be content with this response and leave it at that! But instead, he makes a bold request, one which shows us why he had earned the title “friend of God”. Moses asks the Lord to “…shew me Thy glory.” (v.18) (Exodus 24:16-17, 1 Timothy 6:16) God honors the request (v.19), and then describes to Moses how it will be done, for “Thou canst not see my face…and live.” (v.20) (John 1:18, 6:46) What this means is that no human can experience the unveiled and pure glory of God in our current, fallen state. (Romans 3:23) The various references in the OT of men claiming to have seen the face of God are, as noted above, speaking either of a theophany or anthropomorphically. (Genesis 32:20, for example.) The Lord also gives a reason for granting this unusual favor. I “…will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” (v.19) Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9:15 in his discussion of God’s sovereignty and divine will. What the Lord is saying to Moses is that he (Moses) has done nothing of his own merit or work to earn this special favor. Instead, God is choosing to show grace and favor to Moses because that is His sovereign desire, which is also the point Paul makes in Romans 9:16, as well as Romans 4:4, 16. As described by God, Moses will stand in the cleft of a nearby rock (Song of Solomon 2:14, Isaiah 2:21), and, as God is passing by, He will veil Moses with His hand (Psalm 91:1, 4, Isaiah 49:2, 51:16), taking it away in time for Moses to see the Lord’s back. (v.21-23) (If verse 22 sounds awfully familiar, it’s because Fanny Crosby paraphrased it in the chorus of one of her most famous hymns, “He Hideth My Soul”.) The Moody Bible Commentary sums up the last section of this chapter as thus: “It seems that Moses’ encounter transcended those other types of seeing or meeting the Lord, but precisely how is not indicated. Although it might be that Moses saw only the Shekinah glory of God and not the Lord Himself, any speculation as to what really happened is just that, speculation. ‘What really occurred on Mount Sinai between Moses and God on this occasion will never be fully known. Undoubtedly Moses saw things which the human tongue would be incapable of uttering’ (Davis, Moses and the Gods, 305; compare 2 Corinthians 12:4).”
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