Exodus by Elder Vernon Johnson

Exodus Chapter 33, Verses 1-6

:1 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: 2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: 3 Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. 4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. 6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.”

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: 2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:” The LORD has given commandment to Moses and subsequently to the children of Israel to depart and go up to the land that God in covenant had promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Also, he now promised to drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: For the children of Israel to inhabit and possess the covenant promised land then these peoples would have to be driven out. There would be war with these peoples. The children of Israel were the seed here to which God had promised the patriarchs to give the land in possession.

“Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.” It would appear on the surface that the LORD is telling these people that he will not go up with them in their midst. The reason given for the LORD not going up with them was that they were a stiffnecked people. Stiffnecked meaning they were obstinate and stubborn and rebellious. This refers to their being obstinate and stubborn to resist the commandments of God and to disobey those commandments. How similar does that sound to describe us, the LORD’s people today. We all have a stubborn, obstinate, and rebellious way about us through our fleshly nature. It would be easy to see why the LORD would not want to go up with these people, however, a little later in this chapter he tells Moses that he will go up in their midst. Thus, the LORD is speaking of a specific way that he will not go up with the people that is spelled out in the immediate context. He is telling them that he will not go up to consume them in the judgment in which they deserve, otherwise, they would never possess the promised land as the LORD would consume them in the way because of their being stiffnecked.

“And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. 6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.”

The people had heard the evil tidings that the LORD would come up in the midst of them to consume them and they mourned and obeyed the Lord in putting off their ornaments. When we are convicted of the exceeding sinfulness of our sins, and of our deserved judgment because of it, it leads us to repent and obey, just as it did to the children of Israel.

Verses 7-11

:7 “And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. 8 And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. 10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. 11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.”

“And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.” This was not the tabernacle that the children of Israel would later build according to the pattern God had given Moses. Rather, it was a temporary tabernacle in which those who sought the Lord could go to. This tabernacle was without the camp. Oftentimes, we have fellowship and communion with God when we go out from the masses of the people that we are often around in our lives. This is akin to when the Lord told the people to go into their closet to pray.

“And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.” Unlike, when the people said, we know what is became of this Moses, now the people have great respect of Moses as a man of God and that he has a close fellowship and walk with the Lord who has given him direction and wisdom and set him as the leader of the people.

“And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. 10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.” This is the same cloudy pillar that had led the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt and was a pillar of a cloud by day to lead them in the way and a pillar of fire by night to give them light. The glory of the LORD was in the cloud. Out of the cloudy pillar the LORD talked with Moses. What an amazing sight this no doubt was to the children of Israel. At this sight of this event the children of Israel rose up and worshipped the LORD in his tent door.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.” What an amazing statement concerning the LORD speaking unto Moses face to face! It is amazing to me when I have had the occasional experience of the Lord speaking to my heart. The joy and calmness that fills my heart at those times I cannot fully articulate. Yet, Moses interaction with the LORD was even more wondrous as the LORD spake face to face with Moses. Moreover, this conversation from the LORD was as though a man speaketh unto his friend. This too is a great wonder. The Lord has called his disciples friends. To have the lord as a friend is to have the best friend that one can have.

There was a young man who went into the tabernacle with Moses and his name was Joshua. After the death of Moses, Joshua would became the leader and captain of the children of Israel as he was appointed of the LORD. No doubt, Joshua was taking in all that he was experiencing both in going up into the mount and in his time in the tabernacle with Moses.