Exodus 33: Moses' Intercession and God's Presence

Now, when we move to Exodus 33, we're still in that mindset. And then we'll end with Exodus 34, which will be Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

"Exodus 33: Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, "To your descendants I will give it," and I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up into your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.'" And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, "Say to the children of Israel, 'You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you.'" So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments on or by Mount Hor or Mount Sinai.

So this is an awesome time with Moses and the Lord right here. One of my favorite stories. Let's look at this encounter and receive what it says to us. "Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of Meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the Tabernacle of Meeting which was outside the camp. So it was whenever Moses went out to the Tabernacle that all of the people rose and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the Tabernacle. And it came to pass when Moses entered the Tabernacle that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the Tabernacle. And the Lord talked with Moses. All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the Tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend, and he would return to the camp; but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the Tabernacle."

A couple of points real quick. It's interesting that a tent outside of the camp, right? They understood what time it was because 3,000 people just died. So again, the sword will get people's attention. I know that that's not going on right now, but it will go on because people come to the Lord when the sword is wielded. So, my friends, this is super important to realize this, but also it amazes me that Joshua did not depart from the Tabernacle. We all know that that is a foreshadow of Yeshua, even the name itself. So I find that very interesting that he did not depart from the Tabernacle because he was just filled with the presence of the Most High, of course.

"So now the promise of God's presence. Then Moses said to the Lord, '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 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 in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people." And He said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Then he said to Him, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except that You go with us? So we shall be separate—Your people and I—from all the people who are on the face of the earth." So the Lord said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken, for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name."

My friends, why do you think Moses found grace in His sight? Have we ever thought about that? Because of the heart position, you know, that he had for God and for his neighbor. Again, he was fulfilling the two greatest commandments throughout this process over and over, even through the righteous anger that he had. Right? So, this is totally amazing. Again, this really shows people why God chose Moses. Again, all the story of Exodus and all the story of Moses, but really this section right here shows you the humbleness and the love of God and the love of neighbor that he didn't want anybody to be destroyed. And that's the mindset that we have to have today. There's too many Jews and Christians right now that want people killed and murdered. There's too many that are bloodthirsty. We've got to get back to Moses and understand the mixed multitude that he was speaking about, the house of Judah, the house of Israel, and even our enemy. We've got to really understand the heart position of Moses.

"And in verse 18, he said, 'Please show me Your glory.' Then Yahweh said, 'I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD 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."'"

So let me stop there. So in Exodus 24, this is a paradigm shift for people. Exodus 24, they said that the 70 elders, Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, Joshua saw the God of Israel. They saw Him. They ate with Him; they drank with Him, is what Exodus 24 said, once the blood was sprinkled on the book of the covenant and on the people, they saw Him and ate and drank with Him. Well, you just read right here in Exodus 33 that no one could see God's face. So who were they meeting with in Exodus 24? It was Yeshua, the Messiah. Just like when Yeshua met Moses and Elijah in the transfiguration. Well, it was the reverse. Every time God wanted a divine appointment on this earth, He sent Yeshua down here over and over again. Mount Sinai, first coming events, second coming events, of course, and all throughout the scriptures where you see the Angel of Adonai. My friends, if He, if everybody Christianity, if they believe that He was the fire by night and the cloud by day from the beginning of the Exodus to Mount Sinai, then do you think He just left them? Of course not. He was the presence. He was the one on Mount Sinai. He is the "I AM" in Exodus 3:14. That's what He said in John 8, verse 48 or something, that He told the Jewish people, "Before Abraham was, I AM." Well, that's Exodus 3:14. "I AM" is what He told Moses, right? So, we've got to put this together that if He told the disciples that if they have seen Him, they have seen Yah. So, they are together. The Word was in the beginning. He is the Word of God. So, we've got to really understand that and put Yeshua in the beginning with Him, because all of this makes sense when we read the scriptures.

All right. So, let me see where I left off. "But He said, 'You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me and live.'" Going back to the point I was making with Exodus 24. "And the Lord said, 'Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be while My glory passes by that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take My hand away, and then you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.'"

So this is an amazing dialogue between Moses and also Yah during this time period with the cleft of the rock. "Will You go in front of Me?" He's saying, "I don't want to go unless You go in front of Me." My friends, right now, who wants Adonai to go before them? We all want Adonai to go before us as well, right? His presence. So again, this is a personal application as well during this time period of Tammuz 17th, Tammuz 18th, and on forward, excuse me, on the second set of 40, because we've just entered into, or not now, but tomorrow night we'll enter into the second set of 40 days during the summer months. And I'll go back through that here once we get through with the scriptures.