Baptist Catechism 36

Q. 36. What is justification?

A. Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein He pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone. (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 5:19; Phil. 3:9; Gal. 2:16)

Scripture Reading: Galatians 2:15–21

“We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” (Galatians 2:15–21, ESV)

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Q. 36. What is justification?

1. “Justification is an act of God’s free grace…”
   1. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 3:23–24, ESV)
2. “Wherein He pardoneth all our sins…”
   1. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace…” (Ephesians 1:7, ESV)
3. “And accepteth us as righteous in His sight…”
   1. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV)
4. “Only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us…”
   1. “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19, ESV)
   2. “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…” (Philippians 3:8–9, ESV)
5. “And received by faith alone.”
   1. “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16, ESV)

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 33

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.’ When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the LORD had said to Moses, ‘Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’’ Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. 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 favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.’ And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ And he said to him, ‘If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?’ And the LORD said to Moses, ‘This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.’ Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory.’ And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’ And the LORD said, ‘Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen’” (Exodus 33, ESV).

New Testament Reading: John 17:1–19

“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.” (John 17:1–19, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

Did you know that Israel was encamped at Sinai for about a year? In Exodus 19:1 we read, “On the third new moon (or three months) after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai” (Exodus 19:1, ESV). And in Numbers 10:11 we read, “In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran” (Numbers 10:11–12, ESV). So then, from the time that Isarel entered into the wilderness of Sinai, to the time that Isarel fully departed the wilderness of Sinia, nearly a year had passed. 

A lot of things happened during that year. I would like to very briefly tell you about what happened. And the reason for this overview is so that we might better understand and appreciate the passage that is before us today. 

When Isarel encamped at Mt. Sinai, God spoke to them through Moses and introduced the covenant that he would make with them. After this, the LORD spoke the Ten Commandments to Isarel directly. The people received the moral law and begged that no further word be spoken to them, but that Moses function as a middleman. After this, Moses drew near to God while the people stood afar off. The LORD gave Moses additional laws – laws about worship, and laws to govern Israel’s unique society. During this time, the Lord did also restate the unconditional promises that he had previously made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob concerning the land of Canaan and Israel’s possession of it as a nation.  The LORD did also promise to “send an angel before [Israel] to guard [them] on the way and to bring [them] to the place that [he had] prepared” (Exodus 23:20, ESV). After all of this – that is to say, after the proposal of the covenant, and the communication of the terms of the covenant – the Old Mosaic Covenant was confirmed. Exodus 24 tells us all about that. And after the covenant was confirmed, Moses was called to go up on the mountain and into the glorious presence of God. He was up on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. There he received instructions for the building of a tabernacle. He was also given instructions concerning the priests who were to minister there, what they were to wear, and how they were to be consecrated. 

Do not miss the significance of this, brothers and sisters. That tabernacle was designed by God to be the place where he would be present with his people in a special way to bless them. Yes, God is omnipresent. He is not confined to heaven, which is the realm that he created in the beginning wherin he manifests his glory to the angels he has made. And nor would he be confined to the Most Holy Place of this tabernacle that he told Moses to make. When we say that God would be present with his people through this tabernacle we do not deny his omnipresence, instead, we acknowledge that though God is everywhere present, he is also able to manifest his glory in a special way to bless his people on earth, with whom he has entered into covenant. The tabernacle was designed to be such a place. It was a replica of the heavenly throne room of God. It was a replica of Eden. It was a prototype of the new heavens and earth. And this tabernacle was designed to be placed in the midst of the tribes of Isarel. There Isarel would be invited to come before the LORD, to worship and serve him, in the way that God had commanded. It was to be a little taste of heaven for them. It was to be a little taste of what Adam and Eve enjoyed in Eden before sin entered the world. It was to be a little foretaste of the New heavens and earth, as well as a picture of Jesus the Messiah and the work that he would do to take his elect into the new heavens and earth, through the veil, that is, through his broken body and shed blood.

The tabernacle was a wonderful and gracious gift to Isarel, wouldn’t you agree?  It marked them off from all of the other nations in a most glorious way. Through the tabernacle, and later, the temple, the LORD would present in the midst of Israel in an utterly unique way. While the LORD is God of all people, under the Old Covenant, the LORD was Israel’s God in a special way, and they were LORD’s special people, unique from all of the other nations on earth, through the covenant that God with Abraham, and with them through Moses. You must see this. The tabernacle was all about God’s presence – the presence of God in the midst of his people – and the way that God had provided for his people to come before him to worship and serve him. 

So then, what happened after these instructions concerning the building of the tabernacle were given to Moses up on the mountain? It was then that the people fell into idolatry and broke the terms of the covenant that God had made with them only 40 days earlier, making them liable to the curses of the covenant that had been threatened.

 Moses was gone for 40 days, remember? The people grew impatient. And so they convinced Aaron, who was to be the high priest of Israel to make an image for them to worship. The people wanted a god who would be present with them – something visible, tangible, and I would argue, controllable. And so Aaron foolishly crafted gold into an image of a young bull, and many within Isarel took that image and ran full speed into polytheistic idolatry. They forgot the LORD who had redeemed them, led them, and fed them in the wilderness, with whom they had entered into a special covenantal bond. They broke that covenant of works by violating its terms and deserved to be cut off.. 

You will probably remember from the sermon last Sunday that the LORD threatened to blot Israel out entirely, and to start fresh with Moses. But what did Moses do? He interceded for Isarel. He prayed to the LORD and appealed for mercy. And what did the LORD do? The LORD relented from the judgment he had threatened. In this way – through the means of the threat of righteous judgment and Moses’ faithful intercession, and the LORD relenting from following through on his threat – the mercy and grace of God was shown forth, which was LORD’s decree from all eternity.

So then, the LORD did not blot Isarel out to start fresh with Moses. No, for his namesake, and for the sake of the promises he had previously made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he showed mercy. Some of the individual idolaters were judged by the priests with the sword. Other individual idolaters were judged through a plague that God poured out on the people. But by the mercy of God, the nation as a whole was spared.

There is a question that remains, though. What about the tabernacle? Would it be built? Would the LORD still dwell in the midst of this people, given their stiff-necked, hard-hearted, idolatrous rebellion? Would he relent from the pouring out of his wrath for his name’s sake? Yes. Would he bring this people into the land of Canaan in fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham concerning his descendants? Yes. But would the LORD tabernacle in the midst of Israel and invite them to draw near to him in worship? That is the question that is still looming as we come to our text for today.

Of course, we know how the story goes. We know that Isarel would eventually build the tabernacle according to the design that God revealed to Moses on the mountain. Exodus 36:1-40:33 tells us all about that. And we know that the LORD did fill this tabernacle with his special presence. In fact, the book of Exodus concludes with an account of the glory of the LORD filling the tent. In 40:33ff we read, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.” (Exodus 40:34–38, ESV). 

So you can see that the year Israel spent at Sinai was an eventful one. In addition to what has already been stated, there at Sinai the people of Israel would build the tabernacle and observe the first of the yearly Passover feasts (Numbers 9) before moving on in stages toward Canaan, the land of promise.

Let us now go to our text for today. And as we go there we must feel the unresolved tension concerning the question, would the LORD tabernacle in the midst of his people now that they broke the covenant through their idolatry? 

The text may be divided into three parts. Firstly, in verses 1-11, the LORD threatens to withhold the blessing of his presence from Israel. Secondly, in verses 12-16, Moses intercedes on behalf of Israel. Thirdly, in verses 17-23, the LORD shows mercy to Moses and to Israel and agrees to dwell in the midst of them. 

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The Threat

First, let us consider the threat. 

Verse 1: “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it’” (Exodus 33:1, ESV). Two things must be noted about this verse. 

One, building upon the last passage, the LORD here reiterates his promise to bring the people of Israel into the land which he swore to give to them as the offspring of  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So God’s grace and his covenant faithfulness are here put on display. According to the terms of the Mosaic Covenant, Israel deserved to be cut off. But the LORD made unconditional promises to Abraham regarding the land. Paul this Apostle speaks to this reality when he says in Galatians 3:17, “This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise “(Galatians 3:17–18, ESV).

Two, though God’s grace is shown forth, there is also in this statement the threat of judgment, for the LORD commanded that Israel move on from Sinai without the tabernacle. It’s as if the LORD said, Ok, I’ll give you the land because of my promise to Abraham, but I’m withholding my special presence. You’ve lost that blessing because you have broken the terms of this covenant that I have made with you at Sinai. 

Verses 2 and 3 confirm that this is the case. There the Lord says, “I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people” (Exodus 33:2–3, ESV). So then, the LORD would go before Israel trough his angel just as he did before in the pillar of fire and cloud, but he would not “go up among” the people – that is to say, he would not dwell in the midst of the in the tabernacle according to the plan that he had shown to Moses on the mountain. Why? Lest he consumed the people because of their sin, for they were a stiff-necked people. 

In verse 4, the response of the people to this disastrous word is described to us. In fact, the response is surprising. It is very different than what you might expect given how wicked the people were only a short time before. “When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’ Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward” (Exodus 33:4–6, ESV).

Clearly, Israel had been purified somewhat. The idolaters had been put to death by the sword and the plague. And clearly, Israel had been humbled. If the people were still arrogant and worldly, they would have been content to have the land without the LORD’s presence. But because Isarel had been purged of the egregious idolaters and humbled, they mourned over the thought of the LORD’s presence being withheld from them. They mourned inwardly in the heart, and they mourned externally by removing their jewelry. In fact, they would not put it back on from that day onward. 

I suppose I should press you all with a question at this point. Would you be content to have earthly blessing without the LORD’s presence? Or to state it another way, would you be happy to enter into the new heavens and earth if God was not present there? If you were to answer that question honestly, it would reveal a great deal about your heart. The worldly man – the idolater – has his heart set on the things of this world – health, wealth, and prosperity –  and thinks very little of God and far surpassing value of knowing him, being in a right relationship with him, and dwelling in his glorious presence forever and ever.

So many passages of scripture come to mind which speak of the surpassing worth of knowing God and being in a right relationship with him through faith in Christ Jesus so that we might behold his glory forever and ever. Indeed, only a fool would exchange that – what theologians call the beatific vision – for the treasures of this earth. One passage that came to mind what Psalm 27:4 where King David famously says, “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4, ESV). Using the langue of our passage for today, the one thing that David desired above all was to be in the presence of the LORD in his holy temple. Is that your highest desire? That is the question. Or is your heart set on the things of this world?

Verses 7-11 of Exodus 33 are very interesting. Here we have a kind of parenthetical remark inserted to more cleary show what the LORD meant when threatened to “not go up among” the people. Verse 7: “Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent” (Exodus 33:7–11, ESV).

This tent was not the tabernacle, for the tabernacle had not yet been constructed, but is meant to be contrasted with the tabernacle. During this time, after Moses had come down from the mountain to find the people in idolatry, and before the covenant was graciously renewed and the tabernacle finally built, Moses would set up a tent. There he would commune with God. And there people could come to inquire of the LORD. When Moses was gone from the tent, Joshua would guard it. 

As I have said, this was not the tabernacle but is to be contrasted with it. Notice, first of all, where it was set up. Not in the middle of the tribes of Israel as the tabernacle was to be, but outside the camp. Secondly, notice who ministered at this tent. Not Aaron and the Levites, but Moses alone. Joshua, his trusted servant would keep it. The reasons for this are obvious given Aaron’s recent rebellion. Three, notice that the people do not draw near as a community, but stand afar off at the door of their tent. They stood afar off and observed. They did not freely draw near. They would worship, “each at his tent door” (Exodus 33:10, ESV). This tent that Moses set up was a temporary substitute for the tabernacle, and sent a very strong message – the people were alienated from YHWH because of the sin and rebellion, and the LORD withheld his presence from the people. 

We are not told how long this arrangement lasted. Was it weeks or months? Really, it does not matter. The message is clear. There was a period of time between the breaking of the Mosaic covenant and the renewal of it (34:10ff) where the LORD threatened to lead his people into the land but to withhold his presence. This tent and Moses’ ministry there are put forward as an illustration of that period of time and of that dynamic.

I think it is very important for us to view this period of time as a time of testing and purification for Israel. They sinned as a nation. The Lord judged them and withdrew his presence from them. What would they do? Would humble themselves before the Lord? Would they sorrow over their sin?  Would they cry out for mercy? Or would they grow even more hard-hearted, stubborn and rebellious?  In this text, we see that the nation mourned and that Moses interceded. 

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The Intercession

Let us now consider Moses’ intercession in verses 12-16. The same thing must be said here which was said in our consideration of the previous passage. Whenever the LORD reveals to one of his people the judgment that he is about to pour out, it is an invitation for that person to intercede. Here the LORD threatens to withhold his presence from Israel as a consequence of their sin, and here Moses proves himself yet again to be a faithful servant in God’s house as he intercedes on behalf of the people. 

Verse 12: “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 favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” (Exodus 33:12–13, ESV).

What does Moses request here except an even greater knowledge of God than what he had previously enjoyed? This is a truly incredible request, for we know that the LORD had already revealed himself to Moses in very profound ways. He spoke to him out of the burning bush, and revealed the meaning of his name YHWH, as the I AM. Moses was given a glimpse into heaven along with Aaron and the 70. He was invited up on the mountain to receive the law of God and instructions concerning the tabernacle. Indeed, we have just heard that the LORD spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11, ESV). What did Moses seek, then, when he said to the LORD, “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.” Clearly, he wished to know the LORD more deeply. He wished to see the LORD to the degree that he was able to comprehend and withstand. He wanted to know the LORD’s “ways” –  “please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.” You see, Moses was not merely seeking a vision of the glory of God, he wanted to know more about who God is – his character –  his ways.  

When he says in verse 13, “Consider too that this nation is your people”, he means, do not forget Isarel. Do this for me, and do this for them. Taken in context, the request is clear. Give us more of you, LORD. Do not hold your presence, but come near to us, and draw us near to you. Reveal your glory to us. And more than this, reveal your ways. Show us who you are so that we might honor you. That is what Moses requested for himself and on behalf of Israel. 

I wonder, brothers and sisters, do you have the same desire to know God? And when I say, “to know God”, I do not mean to see a vision of him, or to feel an emotion concerning him. This is not how God is known. To know God is to be in a right relationship with him. To know God, is to enjoy his presence. To know God, is to understand who he is, his attributes, and his ways. This is really the point of it all, and Moses understood this. 

I’m reminded of that prayer that Jesus prayed as recorded in John 17. “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:1–3, ESV). Did you hear it? “And this is eternal life, that they know you…” When I say that “Moses understood this”, I mean that he understood what God was doing with Isarel. The LORD had redeemed them, entered into covenant with them, and would give them Canaan so that the Messiah might be brought into the world through them in order to provide salvation for all whom the Father had given to him. The point of it all was to reconcile sinners. The point of it all was to bring sinners into the presence of God to enjoy eternal life. “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God”, Jesus prayed. Moses understood that this was the end goal – the highest prize – and so he cried out to God, saying, “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.” And he did not forget Israel, but interceded for them, saying, “consider too that this nation is your people.”

The LORD was quick to show mercy, saying in verse 14, “And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest’” (Exodus 33:14, ESV). Presence and rest. Presence and rest. These two words could be used to describe the new heavens and earth! And by the grace of God, Israel would be given a little foretaste of the presence of God in the tabernacle and the rest of God in Canaan, once they took possession of it. 

The LORD was quick to show mercy, but Moses continued to intercede in verse 15 with even more boldness in verse 15: “ And he said to him, ‘If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:14–16, ESV). I’ve already said that Moses got it. He understood that the real treasure was not rest in Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, but God’s presence. “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.” For Isarel to go up from there and into Canaan without the presence of the LORD would be like setting off on your honeymoon vacation without your bride! You see, sometimes it’s not about the destination but the one you are with. And certainly, this is the case with Canaan, and the new heavens and earth. It is God’s presence that will make heaven heavenly. 

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The Mercy

Let us now briefly consider the mercy of God. The LORD has already relented from his threat to not go up amongst the people in verse 14, saying, “And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest’” (Exodus 33:14, ESV), but the LORD was especially kind to Moses. 

In verse  17 we read, “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name’” (Exodus 33:17, ESV).

Verse 18: “Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory’” (Exodus 33:18, ESV). Indeed Moses, and all of Israel with him, had seen the glory of God manifest on Sanai. This must mean, show me more of you. LORD. Give me all that I can handle. 

“And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19, ESV). When the LORD said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you”, this does not imply that there is badness in God. No, the word “goodness” can mean “beauty”. Here the LORD agreed to show Moses his beauty. And when the LORD said that he would proclaim his name before him “the LORD” it does not only mean that God’s name, YHWH, would be uttered or pronounced for Moses (indeed, the name YHWH was already known), but that the LORD would reveal more of its meaning to Moses. The names of God reveal truths concerning who he is. By the name YHWH, we know that the LORD is the self-existent one. And here it is stressed that he is merciful and gracious. In connection with the name YHWH, the LORD said, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19, ESV). Certainly, that truth concerning God was revealed in the episode surrounding the worship of the golden calf. All of Israel deserved to be cut off. Some were judged. Some were spared. Aaron was one who was spared. YHWH is merciful, and he has the sovereign right to show mercy to whomever he wills. To know YHWH is to know this about him. 

In verse 20 it is clarified that although Moses would be shown the beauty and glory of the LORD, and though he would receive a greater revelation of the LORD than what he had previously received, he would not see the LORD as he is, for no man can see the LORD as he is and live. The LORD spoke to Moses saying, “‘you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’ And the LORD said, ‘Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen’” (Exodus 33:20–23, ESV). 

We know that God is spirit. He does not have hands, a back, or a face. He is a most pure spirit. He does not have body parts, therefore. And yet in this passage, human body parts are attributed to him so that we might comprehend the truth of what Moses experienced up on the mountain. He was blessed to behold the beauty and glory of the LORD and to receive a greater revelation concerning his name and his ways. The revelation he received was true, but it was in no way a complete and unmediated revelation of the divine nature. Man, much less sinful men, and women, are incapable of fully comprehendeing God. We may know God truly, but not exhaustively. A finite creature is incapable of comprehending the infinite One, the Creator of all things seen and unseen. 

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Conclusion

You know, there are some passages in Holy Scripture that really seem to get the heart of things. This is one of them, in my opinion. 

What is the point or aim of our redemption in Christ Jesus? Why has he freed us from bondage to sin? Why has he washed away the sins of those who believe in him? Why has he made us right in the sight of God by clothing us with his righteousness? Why has he promised to bring us into the new heavens and earth wherein we will enjoy eternal rest? What’s the point? What is the aim? Is it not that we would be reconciled to the Father, to be in a right relationship with him, so that we might worship, serve, glorify and enjoy him forever and ever?  Indeed, this is the aim or highest objective of our redemption in Christ Jesus. 

You have been freed, so that… You have been washed, so that… You have been justified, so that… So that you might know God, behold his glory, worship, serve, and enjoy him forever and ever. You were made for this. You were redeemed for this. We were made to commune with you Maker, and through Christ it is possible.

And it is possible now, brothers and sisters. If God has been merciful to give you the gift of faith and repentance, then your communion with God is be enjoyed now. You have been freed, washed, justified, and clothed in Christ’s righteousness now, so that you might enjoy communion with God, not only in the new heavens and earth, but now, for God is present with his people. He dwells in the midst of us, for you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. 

What God did with Israel so long ago to redeem them, entering to covenant with them, and to set his tabernacle in the midst of them wherein his glory would be manifest, was an early picture of these heavenly and eternal realities that are ours now in Christ Jesus. In Christ, the eternal Word of God tabernacled amongst us. And through Christ, you, church, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. May David’s song be ours now and for eternity: “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4, ESV).