God’s Glory (Exodus 33:7-34:35)

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Good morning church and go ahead, grab your Bibles, open up to Exodus 33. Exodus 33. We’ll be starting in verse seven. As you’re turning there, I dropped my daughter off for basketball practice this past week. We were there a little bit earlier, I was on my way to Journey Group, so I was kind of dropping her around…dropping her off as we were going and stuff. And so because we were early enough, I had her check the door, just make sure it’s unlocked before I dropped her off. I’m a good father, right? And so she did. The door was open. She gave me the thumbs up. I took off. Thankfully, it was a circular drive, so I went around like this, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught her running frantically towards me, waving her arms, because I’m not that good a father, and the interior doors were locked. She only got into the thermal vestibule and not farther than that. And so she was a little bit panicked, you know, I drove back around. We waited until somebody else showed up, unlocked the doors, all that good stuff. But as we’re reflecting on this, that if I hadn’t just been dropping her off, you know, while the car was still moving. Basically, if I’d gone in with her, it wouldn’t have mattered to her in the slightest that those doors were locked. We would have just sat there together until somebody else came. Her coach was there, and we would have been fine. Just mere presence is so important, especially somebody who knows what they’re doing if they’re there right next to you. That’s kind of all you need. We feel that, especially during transitions, don’t we? I can remember going both to college and then to seminary, being so grateful that I just knew some people there already who could kind of help me find my way. We didn’t have as much of that on the mission field. It was great that I had Amy’s presence with me, but we got to Colombia, and we’re like, Uh oh, like, I guess we’ll just figure this out. We just want somebody there. Well, Israel is, of course, going somewhere new at this moment in their history. They’re going to the promised land. And so you can imagine how important presence, especially the presence of God would be for them. Will God go with them? Because if not, that would be absolutely devastating. They’ll be running across the desert, you know, waving their arms frantically. Please. Somebody help. Now, this is a live question, though, isn’t it? Will God go with us into the promised land because of what came just before. Now, I know this wasn’t last week because we had to switch things around because we’ve got sick, but if you remember two weeks ago and the story of the golden calf, where we ended that story, it’s right here in Exodus 33 here’s verse three in particular, verses two and three, God says, I will send an Angel before you verse two, and then verse three, I will not go with you. I will not go with you, because you are a stiff necked people, and I might destroy you on the way. And so this is very much a live question, like, Will God go with us? It seems like maybe not. Will he stay with them, even despite their sin? And now that starts to feel like a really live question, even for us, doesn’t it like that’s a question we need answers to. Will God stay with us even when we’re stiff necked and rebel against him? So to get our answers to this most important question, we will listen in on a conversation here between Moses, the mediator for Israel and his God, four requests that Moses makes of God, and as he gets answers to those requests, reveals the glory of God in magnificent ways. So let’s dig in. We’re going to look at the first two requests together here in verses seven to 17, and we’re going to see that both of these requests have to do with God’s presence. God’s presence, they read for us, 33 seven to 17. Now, Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the Tent of Meeting. Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent. All the people rose and stood at the entrance to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped each at the entrance to their tent, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend, then Moses would return to the camp, but his young age, Joshua, son of Nun, did not leave the tent. Moses said to the Lord, you have been telling me lead these people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, I know you by name, and you have found favor with me. If you are pleased with me, teach me Your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people. The Lord replied, My presence will go with you and I will give you rest. Then Moses said to him, if your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people, unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth. And the Lord said to Moses, I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name. So we ended with this moment of suspense again. Will God go with his people or not? And there’s this like cliffhanger ending right there, you know, the credits roll, and so you tune in next week to see what’s going to happen and whatnot, and what always happens in those shows, right? If you’re, like, worried if the person got killed or not, and then you start the next show, and it’s a totally different scene, right? They don’t give you that information right away. It’s the same thing here, right? Like we’ve got this moment of suspense, and all of a sudden we’re talking about the Tent of Meeting. Why? Exactly? Will God dwell with His people? Will he go with his people? But instead of an answer, we get an interlude. Now, what is the Tent of Meeting? The Tabernacle has not been built yet. We’ve gotten all the instructions for it, but we haven’t actually had the construction just yet. And so this, we got this temporary structure, the Tent of Meeting in the meantime. But notice that it is outside the camp that’s really significant, because the tabernacle is supposed to be right in the center of the camp. God dwelling in the midst of his people. But instead, now he’s he’s over here. It’s like God hasn’t divorced Israel, but they got a trial separation going on right now, that’s how it would feel. And so there is this like, Oh no, heightened attention in this moment. Nevertheless, we get a ray of hope breaking through these clouds of gloom, because Moses is able to go out speak to God as Israel looks on and and the Lord actually comes to speak to him. In fact, they speak, it says face to face, which is a Hebrew idiom, just for as you would speak to a friend. So they’re having this personal conversation, friend to friend, which is really significant in its own right. I mean, of course, I’m reminded here that Jesus says to His disciples, I have called you friends. So this is the God of the universe, our Creator and sovereign saying, We can be friends, absolutely. But will Moses’s friendship with God be enough for the nation? Can he as a mediator, reconcile these two parties? That’s the question we’re wondering about. But before we move on, and I get to the actual conversation, like, let’s not leave this in the Old Testament, because if you are in Christ, you are now the Tent of Meeting, like you can speak to God face to face as a friend whenever you want, because God’s not just dwelling in the center of the camp. He’s dwelling in the center of the camp, he’s dwelling in the center of your very life. Now, how could we neglect so great a privilege as that? Like, in some ways, I know we’re still ringing in the new year, and so a lot of us are still thinking through, you know, resolutions, goals, all that kind of stuff like this is a great time to examine your devotional habits, to examine your prayer life, which is why we’ve been talking about some of these things, even in our pulse articles. But just as you consider this, as you look at the tented meeting here, what do you want to have change in 2026 about your prayer life, maybe just jot that down or something. So you’ve got it in mine. But then we get in verses 12 and 13. Moses’s first request, and it’s kind of a blunt opening bid. As he opens negotiations with God, he says, Look, which isn’t translated in the NIV, but it’s there, like, look, God, you’re telling me to go, but who’s going with me exactly? And what’s fascinating about this question is God already told him who’s going with him. In fact, I already read it for you, even 33 verse two, I’m gonna send an Angel with you. So why is Moses asking? Most likely, he’s remembering not only his great need, but God’s initial promise to him all the way back Exodus chapter three and the burning bush. When God says, Hey, you’re going to go to Pharaoh and you’re going to deliver my people out of Egypt and into the promised land. And Moses says, Who am I? That Pharaoh is going to listen to me? And God says I will be with you. And Moses is going, Lord, not much has changed. The needs aren’t any smaller. At this point, I still need to know that you are going to go with me. I couldn’t talk to Pharaoh without you. I couldn’t, you know, plagues, that’s not happened the Red Sea, that wasn’t happening without you. But I can’t get the people into the promised land without you either. And so there’s this commendable humility in Moses.
And I wonder, as we read this, if you see that same humility in yourself, do you have that recognition? I cannot do this on my own. God, I need you, or this is not going to come off. Is your default mode? In other words, self reliance or Grace dependence. If you’re at all like me, then it’s the wrong answer. I’m very prone to laboring in my own strength, and so my instinct, and again, maybe yours, is to go something’s off, so I better fix it, as opposed to Something’s off. Lord, we need your help. Now, it was Jesus who said, John 15, verse five, apart from me, you can do nothing. And Moses recognizes this. That’s right. When Jesus says he’s the vine and we’re the branches, and where the branch is, and he’s saying, Look, if you’re a branch, you get separated from the vine, you’re gonna be withered really quickly. And Moses is going don’t separate us, Lord, we need to be attached to you still. Will you come with us? And he pleads, in light of his special status, I found favor, favor in your eyes. Again, you’re calling me a friend, and maybe that discourages you, because you think, right, but I’m not Moses, which you’re not, by the way, but you’re actually in a better spot than Moses. We can also plead in light of our special status, because not a question whether or not we found favor in God’s eyes, but a question of whether or not Jesus found favor in God’s eyes. Spoiler alert, if you haven’t gotten there yet, he did, and he gives that favor to us so that God says, anything you ask in Jesus’s name, I will do for you. That’s the confidence we should have when we march into the tent of meeting right here in our own hearts. But he pleads with God. He says, Remember, this nation is your people. That word nation is significant. It’s only used of Israel twice so far, in Exodus. One of those times was in Exodus 32 the golden calf story, when God says to Moses, look, they messed up. I’m going to wipe them out, and I’ll make you into a great nation. The other one is in Exodus, 19 verse six, when God says, of all nations, you will be my treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.
And that was their mission. Remember going to be the nation of nations they are, as a nation, going to be priests to the rest of the world. And so Moses is reminding God, not that God had forgotten, of course, but he’s reminding god of this truth. This is your people. You brought them out of Egypt. You gave them the promises of Abraham. You said we’re going to be priests to all nations. You better come with us and protect your investment. And how does God respond? Verse 14, his response is actually ambiguous, more ambiguous than most of our translations have it. It says, My presence will go with you and I will give you rest. It reads, literally, my face will walk and I will give you rest. So my face, which means presence, absolutely, will go, but there’s no with you. It just says, My face is going, and then I will give you singular rest. This is usted, not ustedes, if you studied Spanish ever, just one. So my presence is going and Moses, you’re going to get rest. You can understand why Moses isn’t totally satisfied with that response yet. So he makes his second request, which reads literally there in verse 15. If your face isn’t walking, don’t send us like there’s no point in going without you. And so he cranks it up a notch in the in the rest of that paragraph, verses 15 and 16. First of all, he binds himself to his people as mediator. You notice, he says two times, me and your people. Me and your people, we go together at this point. So he’s binding them together. And then in verse 16, he adds those key words that we’re missing. How will anyone know unless you go, unless you walk with us, those words are there in the Hebrew that’s actually there. So he adds those keywords. And then third, he reminds God about his ultimate purpose, which is to make his glory known among all nations, right? That His glory would cover the whole earth. That’s what he says in verse 16, right? So how will everyone else know? Unless you stick with us, prove your goodness and glory in the eyes of a watching world. And of course, we know how the rest of the story goes, and God does exactly what Moses asked here. God proves himself time and time again. He proves himself as they go into Promised Land, like at Jericho, for example. You think of David and Goliath. He proves himself to. Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, when 120,000 Assyrian soldiers die in a night, he proves himself even when he sends his people into exile in Babylon, he goes, Hey, Nebuchadnezzar, let’s talk for a moment. I need you to know that I’m God and you’re not, and this is happening according to my will. He proves himself to Cyrus, who sends Israel back into the promised land after exile, he proves himself to Caesar in a moment we celebrated not that long ago. You think you’re given a decree. Actually, I’m given the decrees because my Messiah needs to be born in Bethlehem. So that’s why you’re given your Census decree. And of course, he proves himself supremely in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And now we know the glory of God is reaching all nations, and one day we’ll cover the face of the earth. What a great reminder, though, that of all things that we can’t do apart from God, Mission tops the list. Like who would ever want to evangelize without prayer? Anyone feeling bold enough to do that, no, our prayer should be as we go to evangelicals to say, Look, Lord, I’m about to have a conversation with my friend, my family member, my colleague, my neighbor. But here’s the thing, Lord, if you don’t go with me, I’m not sharing the gospel with them, but you can follow that right up with the promise of Jesus Christ, of Jesus Christ, of course, you said, go make disciples of all nations. And lo, I am with you always to the end of the age. So it’s a good reminder for us at that moment as well. I’m not going unless you go and you said you’re going. So let’s go. Or at Cityview, we can think of this corporately as well. You know, what would be a really dumb idea planting a church without the presence of God, am I right? Yeah, what a great time. Because we could probably do it, in a sense, with some strategic planning, some good marketing, get the right people in play. We could probably start a church as an institution.
It just wouldn’t be a church in any meaningful sense. No, we want to be pleading for God’s presence like we won’t move without you, Lord. So show us where to go and when and how, and God and all these requests. Verse 17 acquiesces, because he’s pleased with Moses. He’s pleased with Moses. Interesting. So far, there’s only been one other person in Scripture with whom God has said he’s pleased using this same word, and that’s Noah. Noah, who, you know, goes on the ark as God starts over. And so there’s this sense of, right? This is a new Noah sort of moment. This is a new stage and God’s unfolding redemptive plan. He is starting something new with Moses and Israel. And so you get to this point and you think, okay, like, great work, Moses, you did it. You got what you asked for. So that’s, that’s, that’s enough, right? We can start moving right, right? Right. No, not yet. So we got to go. Keep going. Third request, let’s see where Moses goes next. Keep reading. A third request has to do with God’s glory. God’s glory. Specifically I read 3318 to 34 Seven. Then Moses said, Now show me your glory. And the Lord said, I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name the Lord in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But he said, You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live. Then the Lord said, there is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by. I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen. The Lord said to Moses, chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready in the morning and then come up on Mount Sinai, present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain. Not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain. So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord, and he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming the Lord, the Lord the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to 1000s and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation. When you first read this, Moses’ third request feels a little self indulgent, doesn’t it? Like you got what you were doing for the sake of the nation in particular. Now all of a sudden, it’s like I’d like to see your glory, but give.
Been God’s response. There is a clear logic to the request, because Moses says, Would you show me your glory? And God says, I will have my goodness pass by you. And then he proclaims His grace. So there’s this glory, goodness, Grace, connection, His mercy, His compassion. That’s important, right? It’s important we see that, because God is going to go with Israel, but the danger is still there. And remember 33 verse three, God says, You’re a stiff necked people. I might destroy you along the way. That hasn’t changed, so we still have a problem. Will God destroy them? Then, as he goes and so Moses asks God here to reveal himself more fully, for as Walter Moberly puts it, only in the very depths of God can a final solution to the people’s sin be found, and that’s what we’re looking for, the solution to the problem of sin. So God gives Moses a glimpse of those very depths His goodness, which is heavily weighted towards mercy, compassion, but Moses can’t see his face, which is a little interesting, of course, because we just said they talk face to face. So how does that work? Bible is full of contradictions. You shouldn’t trust it. No, not that at all. Okay, just to be clear, remember, he speaks with God face to face, and there’s that idiom, like as a friend, but it’s a difference between speaking face to face and seeing God’s face that would be the the fullness of His glory, which he could not do and live. And so we have this tension that we feel so often, even today, between God’s transcendence, His holiness, His awesomeness, and his imminence, as in Emmanuel, God with us, the one who is near to us, like God is Father, He is friend, he is also creator and sovereign and Lord and judge. We have to hold those two intention, which gets tricky. But because of this, we get this delightful little anthropomorphism, which is a fancy way of saying God. It takes on human characteristics. God is Spirit. God does not have a body, which means he does not have a face, he does not have a hand, he does not have a back. And yet, that’s how He reveals Himself to Moses here in this moment. And so since Moses can’t see the fullness of His glory, He God stuffs him in a rock and covers him with his hand, and then he gets to see the back, you know, his muted glory, something like that. Even still, we cannot see the fullness of God’s glory and live which may remember when we did revelation like John kept falling down, right? That that’s kind of the the experience. Now, one day we will, this is what we’re longing for, the Beatific Vision is what theologians call it, that moment when we will actually get to see God in all His glory, face to face. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God, and what a day that will be. Until then we can see God because we can see Jesus. Jesus told his disciples, anyone who’s seen me has seen the Father. But even in Jesus, of course, we are seeing what we sang not that long ago, veiled in flesh, the Godhead. See he’s veiled. So it still is this muted glory at this point. So we can see the fullness of God’s glory, but we can certainly know the fullness of his character, which is what he’s going to proclaim. But even before he proclaims it, he demonstrates it. Because, did you notice he reestablishes His covenant with sinful Israel? In this moment, they chisel out new tablets. This is significant. This is would be a little bit like, you know, a husband whose wife has been unfaithful, welcoming her back in. And then this is, you know, like renewing the vows. And that’s sort of what happens here, renewal of the covenant, which sounds great, except it’s actually still a really big problem, if you think about it, because how did Israel do keeping the covenant? It lasted about 12 minutes, if memory serves, and then they started making a golden calf. So God is still holy. Israel is still going to fall short, still going to rebel, still going to disobey. So we’re here in this moment going, No, no, we need something better than just reestablishing the covenant at Sinai, which, by the way, God knows, which is why He sends His prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel to promise this New Covenant that would be coming when the law, what is given at Sinai, is written on our very hearts. And better still, God will give us his very spirit to change us so that we can actually keep the law. And of course, he promises still. To forgive our sins. We know that New Covenant is coming. Of course, at this point we are under the New Covenant, because God is who He always is, and that’s then what he proclaims He is the Lord, the Lord. What a moment, by the way. Remember Aaron, just a little while before this pointed at a shiny cow and said, Here are your gods, and here’s God going, here is your God. And there is no comparison between the two, the Lord, the Lord the compassionate and gracious God, who is slow to anger, doesn’t mean he never gets angry. He does get angry with sin, and we’ve seen it, we’ll see it again. But he’s slow to anger. He’s abounding, like brimful and overflowing with love. That’s his covenant, love and faithfulness. He is true to his word. He keeps his promises. He maintains love to 1000s. And here that means not 1000s of people, which would be great, but probably not enough of us. But we’re talking 1000s of generations, which, by the way, we have not even had 1000 generations of human history yet. So that’s a long time. And then forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin and the word there is carrying it away, removing it from us, yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. Was the contrast between those last two. That’s so hard, isn’t it, you want to go. Which one is it? Do you forgive or do you judge? But Scripture affirms both, and so must we then. So there is this tension, though, we’ve seen the tension already again, even in the last story, they’ve got the golden calf. They’re in rebellion against God. Moses, at one point though, he comes down. He says, if you’re for the Lord, come to me. And many come, and some don’t. And there’s the answer to the tension, right there. God is willing to forgive all those who would be forgiven, all those who want to be forgiven. More than willing. He even saw it in his proclamation there, right? We get a five fold declaration of His love and then one statement on his judgment. Because mercy, compassion. He does that with his whole heart. But judgment, Scripture says in some interesting places, in the prophets, that his heart’s not in it. It’s not what he wants. It’s his strange work. Plus he lavishes love on 1000 generations, whereas the wicked are punished to the third or fourth generation. That can be tricky enough in its own right, though. But why third or fourth? Because that’s how many generations you get to see, right? You’re talking grandkids, maybe great grandkids. That’s what third and fourth generation would be. So these are ones who would have experienced the impact of your sinful decisions, right? Like an affair or something like that, that would reverberate through a few generations and also maybe complicit in those sinful choices. I think of Achan when he steals the silver and the clothes that belong to the Lord just after Jericho, and he, like he hid it in a hole in his tent. Guess who saw him hide it in a hole in his tent? His family, right? And so they were there with him. That’s why it’s the third or fourth generation. But the point is, we’re going to struggle with this tension between God’s mercy and compassion and his holiness and judgment until the cross, and then we’re going to get it, because at the cross of Jesus Christ, God displays His mercy and His compassion to the utmost and his judgment and holiness to the utmost simultaneously. At the cross, we know God does not leave sin unpunished, and yet he is willing to bear it and to bear it away himself, in the person of Christ, so that we can experience that forgiveness and love to 1000 generations. And so he proves himself, and using Paul’s words in Romans three just because he punishes sin, and at the same time, the justifier of those who trust in Christ, the one who makes us righteous, declares us innocent again. And you think of that, and you think if Moses bowed down as he will here in verse eight in a second in response to God just proclaiming His character, how much more so should we bow down this side of the cross an empty tomb Tony Morita sums it up so neatly in his commentary in Exodus, he says to those in need, God is compassionate to those who cannot measure up. God is gracious to those who are rebellious. God is slow to anger to the unfaithful. God abounds in faithful love and loyalty to the guilty. God is forgiving to the unrepentant. God is just, and that is the glory of God, right there. And surely that’s enough, right? But no, we’ve got one more request still, and for good reason. So fourth request, which is all about God’s grace, I’m going to read parts of eight to 35 here. So start in verse eight. Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshiped Lord. He said, If I have found favor in your eyes and let the Lord go with us, although this is a stiff necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin and take us as Your inheritance. Then the Lord said, I am making a covenant with you before all your people. I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I the Lord, will do for you. Obey what I command you today, I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Do not worship any other God, for the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God. And drop down to verse 27 Then the Lord said to Moses, write down these words, for in accordance with these words, I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. Moses was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 days and 40 nights without eating bread or drinking water, and he wrote on the tablets the words of the Covenant, the 10 Commandments. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets the covenant law on his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant, because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, they were afraid to come near him, but Moses called to them. So Aaron and all the leaders the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward, all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. When he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord. So what more does Moses need? God’s promise to go with them? God’s promise to forgive them. He’s willing to put it in writing even Well, the key to the fourth request is in the phrase stiff necked people. That phrase has been used three times already, and every time it’s been used by God, and every time it’s been used by God to explain why he’s going to leave or destroy Israel. And so Moses takes this and throws it on its head. He says, actually, that’s the reason why we need you to be merciful and forgive us. In fact, when it says it there in verse nine, it’s translated, although this is a stiff necked person, the word that’s used there is because, because, and that’s significant. In fact, it’s exactly what God said, almost, you know, verbatim. So 33 verse three, again, I will not go with you because you are a stiff necked people. And Moses says, because we are a stiff necked people, forgive our sin. Moses is all too aware that they’re going to rebel and disobey again. So because of that, Lord, would you please keep on forgiving like there’s no need to plead for God to be merciful unless you know you’re sinful, and that’s what Moses is acknowledging. Here, there’s a humorous story of a photographer taking a photo of a celebrity female. She was aging. She was consciously aware of this, and so she said, make sure the camera does me justice. And he looked at her and he said, Ma’am, you don’t need justice. You need the camera to give you mercy. That’s what Moses is saying here. Like, if the camera gives us justice, we’re going to get destroyed. Lord, would you give us mercy? Because we’re a stiff necked people. And notice, do not miss the glory of this moment. We’re gonna mess up. God, would you forgive us? And God says absolutely, absolutely I will like I’ve been struck by this since I started prepping this sermon. Kyle cries during the sermons. I cried during prep. I’ve been crying all week long. I was at Phantom of the Opera on Wednesday with my daughters, and all of a sudden, in the middle of masquerade, my least favorite number in the show, I was reminded because I’m a stiff necked person, God says, I will forgive you. That’s so glorious, and he makes the covenant, still reestablishes it so, to quote Walter Moberly again, he says, how before God can a sinful world in general, or a sinful people, even God’s chosen people in particular, exist without being destroyed? And each time the answer is given that if the sin is answered solely by the judgment it deserves, then there is no hope. But in addition to the judgment, there is also. No Mercy, a mercy which depends entirely on the character of God. It’s what we saw in the psalm of David that Katelyn read for us earlier. David, who knew something about messing up, rebelling, disobeying more than once, and he goes, I remember what you said to Moses, you’re gracious and compassionate God, and that’s why I can say he does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities. Thank God. Instead, he reestablishes the covenant, and in so doing, he repeats selections from the law. I didn’t read that for us, but that’s what I skipped over, although it is narrowly focused on idolatry in light of that, you know, Golden Calf incident. So they’re called to worship this glorious, gracious God alone. We get some information on how to do it, like the festivals, and how not to do it. Look at verse 17, do not make any idols. The word that’s used there for make is talking about metal idols. Like, don’t sculpt any metal idols, right? Guys, you know? Like, that’s what he’s talking about. Okay? So that’s why we get these laws in particular, it includes, then no treaties with the Canaanites people. Why? Because Israel’s already compromised enough, just within themselves. They don’t need any help from anyone else, and so they cannot make peace with the world. What a good word for those of us who are still called to the exclusive worship of the one true God. We are also already compromised enough, and we can’t make peace with the world. We are in the world. We love the people of the world, but we cannot be worldly. We don’t make treaties with the world. And that, by the way, should affect how we engage with culture. Like this word. This changes how we listen to music or consume media. This. This changes how we engage with politics like I think you could translate this for today to say, don’t make treaties with the Republican Party with the Democratic Party. May vote for them, okay, sure, but we’re not going to make peace with people who have made compromises in areas of conviction and character. This changes even friendships, partnerships. How can light and darkness be yoked together? So God is a gracious God, but he’s not offering us cheap grace. Cheap grace, as Bonhoeffer reminds us, is preaching forgiveness without requiring repentance. We don’t get that here. So you get forgiveness. Boy, did we get forgiveness in this passage, but you get law also. Of course, even the law is gracious and loving. Though you ever tried to play a game without rules, it doesn’t go well, does it? Somebody keeps changing the rules. I got toddlers in the house, so you know, it’s just, they just win. Whatever happened. It’s less fun for the rest of us. Of course, like boundaries free us. You might put a fence up in your backyard so that your kids can play in the backyard safely, without getting onto the train tracks or something like that. And so that is why God brings the law here. Moses brings down the law, but he also brings down a glow. He’s a little bit like a glow in the dark sticker. You leave him in the light long enough, and then even when the darkness comes, they’re still bright. That’s what happened to Moses here. His face is radiant with God’s glory. Now there’s a difference here. God’s glory is from within himself. God is luminous, whereas Moses is illuminated. The difference between the sun and the moon, right? But the point is, this should be true of us too. I mean, Jesus said, I’m the light of the world. He’s the sun. He’s luminous. And then he says, You’re the light of the world illuminated. We should glow with the glory of Christ. The world should be able to see his light in us, even more so than they did with Moses, in fact, because Second Corinthians three Paul talks about this. So in verses seven and eight, it mentions the transitory glory of the old covenant, which is, you know, letters written on stone that brings death ultimately, because we cannot keep the law perfectly. But then we read, later in second, Corinthians, three, verse 18. We all Christians who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory are being transformed into His image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the spirit. So we are transformed into Christ likeness as we contemplate God’s glory. Exactly what we’ve been doing together this morning, what Moses asked to see is what we asked. See every time we open his word like help me to understand your revelation, to see wondrous things in your law, so that some of your glory gets on me.
We rehearse gospel truths, especially in light of our sin, so that we can see and understand His glory, so that we are radiant as a result. Notice that it’s after speaking with God. Every time, like Moses takes the veil off, speaks with God, and the glow comes back. This isn’t a one time thing, like you want to glow like that glow in the dark sticker, right? It fade now to keep exposing it to the light. And so this involves constant devotion to the Lord in prayer and in His Word, there are few passages of Scripture so magnificent as this, which is probably why the Old Testament quotes it seven different times. In fact, this phrase the Lord, the Lord the gracious and compassionate. That whole section, they just called that the characteristics. It had its own little name, like, What’s God? The characteristics? This is what you need to know. That’s what keeps getting quoted. Think about it, though. It was just a preview. It was just a preview. Like, yeah, we got to hear about God’s glory, but we didn’t see it fully, and also we haven’t gotten to see the glory of the new and true Moses, because Moses, as mediator, represents both parties, demonstrates solidarity with both parties. So he’s got solidarity with God. He seeks God’s glory, but he’s got solidarity with Israel. He won’t abandon them. And in the same way, Jesus represents both sides, solidarity with both. Jesus, solidarity with humans, became human, took on flesh for our sake. Solidarity with God, fully. God speaks and acts on God’s behalf, because he demonstrates solidarity with both. He can do what only the God man can do because he’s human, he can pay humanity’s penalty because he’s infinite God, he can pay an infinite penalty. So God can punish wickedness, even as he lavishes mercy, compassion, love and grace on those who trust his son. What more can we do but your big idea, your takeaway for today? What more can we do but worship and obey the good, gracious, glorious God who goes with us. God doesn’t just stay with us like a father staying with his kid, waiting for a practice to start. God makes a way for him to be able to stay with us, to satisfy his love and justice all at once. Grace may be free from our perspective, but it costs God much. It cost our father the blood of His perfect son, and he did that for you. So worship and obey your good, gracious, glorious God who goes with you. Let’s pray, Father. We stand in awe of your glory. Our Lord, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to 1000s, forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin, yet not leaving the guilty unpunished, but bringing perfect justice in the end, we are in awe of You, Lord. Draw our hearts to worship you now, and in worshiping you, Lord, draw us to obey you. So fill our hearts with your glory and goodness and grace that we are moved to keep your law, to bring your glory to the nations before whom we stand as priests in your name, ambassadors speaking your truth and transform us, Lord from glory to glory as we contemplate who you are and all that you’ve done for us, we ask this in Christ’s name, Amen.