God takes the original Canaan-entry plan off the table
Exodus 33:1-6
Exodus 33
2 And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
4 ¶ And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.
5 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.’ ”
6 So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.
Well…the repercussions from the Hebrew uprising against God and Moses in Exodus 32 (see notes) continue. Remember back in Exodus 23 (see notes) when God explained how systematically the Hebrews would be able to move through Canaan and conquer it with the Angel of the Lord going before them and God’s hand guiding them? That whole scenario of victory rested upon the conditions of Exodus 23:22, “But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak…” So what has happened here? It’s obvious that they have not obeyed God. Subsequently, God retracts the offer of Exodus 23. We see in verse 3, “…for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” Well, nobody is happy about that stipulation; without God’s presence before them, who wants to dare make an attempt to move into Canaan. Moses…go do something about this!
NOTE: The wording here is a little difficult to follow. We see the Exodus 23 (see notes) promise recited down through the middle of verse 3. The retraction of that promise begins in the second half of verse 3. We do see, however, that Moses pleads with God in the balance of chapter 33 to reinstate the Exodus 23 plan. The plan is fully reinstated in Moses’ meeting with God in Exodus 34:10-11 (see below).
Moses and God meet in the tabernacle that’s not “The Tabernacle”
Exodus 33:7-23
Exodus 33
8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle.
9 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.
10 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.
11 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.
12 ¶ 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.’
13 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.”
14 ¶ And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 ¶ Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.
16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”
17 ¶ 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.”
18 ¶ And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
19 ¶ Then He 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.”
20 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
21 And the LORD said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.
22 So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.
23 Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
Moses has a face-to-face meeting with God – albeit through the veil of the tent Moses had erected for his meetings with God. This tent is not the Tabernacle which will be built later, but verse 7 indicates that this was not an unusual procedure for seeking God’s presence…for “everyone who sought the LORD,” not just Moses. This tent was erected “far from the camp” and was the designated meeting place between God and Moses at this point in time while Moses is negotiating with God concerning Israel’s rebellion in Exodus 32 (see notes). Israel has gotten off track with that whole golden-calf ordeal, and Moses is looking for some answers on how to get back into God’s favor. Moses gets right to the point: “Without God’s presence among them, they don’t want to go into Canaan.” Well…it’s a good thing one man (Moses) still has favor with God! Look at God’s reply to Moses in Exodus 33:17, “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.'” One man’s faithfulness to God bails out some 2 million (or so) people who had sorely disappointed God with their faithlessness. Just one more thing: Moses wants a glimpse of God. After some negotiations on how this might be done without resulting in Moses’ death, arrangements are made in verses 18-23. This pre-arranged event takes place in chapter 34 beginning with verse 6 (see below).
Incidentally, verse 11 might seem confusing in light of the remaining verses of this chapter, “So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” Moses actually talks to the “pillar of cloud” (verse 9). The reference of “face to face” addresses the difference between talking to God in Heaven as opposed to having a conversation with God standing directly before Moses, though in the form of a “pillar of cloud.” Actually, another distinction is made regarding Moses’ communication with God in Numbers 12:6-8 (see notes) when God says, “Then He said, ‘Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?'” As prophets of God go, that definitely sets Moses apart as unique, a point which is also emphasized at Moses’ death in Deuteronomy 34:10 (see notes), “But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.”
Moses makes new Tablets
Exodus 34:1-9
Exodus 34
2 So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain.
3 And no man shall come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain; let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain.”
4 ¶ So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.
5 ¶ Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
8 ¶ So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
9 Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
God instructs Moses to make the tablets upon which God will write the Law. You will recall that Moses had cast the first set to the ground and broke them upon his early return from the mountain in Exodus 32:19 (see notes). This time Moses provides the blank stone tablets and God will write on them; then he heads up to the mountain…alone. There he has the meeting which had been negotiated in 33:18-23 (see above). In verse 9 we see Moses again asking for God’s favor and presence among the Israelites as they go to inhabit Canaan. God’s reply to Moses begins in verse 10. Perhaps we should point out here that God had made the first tablets (the ones that Moses broke), but God will write upon these new tablets which will be made by Moses.
Forty days without food or drink
Exodus 34:10-28
Exodus 34
11 Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
12 Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst.
13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images
14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice,
16 and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.
17 ¶ “You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.
18 ¶ “The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
19 ¶ “All that open the womb are Mine, and every male firstborn among your livestock, whether ox or sheep.
20 But the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem him, then you shall break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. ¶ “And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.
21 ¶ “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
22 ¶ “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.
23 ¶ “Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the LORD God of Israel.
24 For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.
25 ¶ “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning.
26 ¶ “The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27 ¶ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Moses was there on Mount Sinai receiving the Word from God – no food nor drink for forty days. God gives Moses exhaustive instructions and replaces the words on the stone tablets – the Ten Commandments. God restates to Moses the provisions of the laws which would govern Israel well beyond just the Ten Commandments. God renews his covenant with Israel regarding their promised land.
Let’s take a look at those provisions:
- God will do marvels before the Israelites (verse 10).
- God will drive out the current inhabitants of Canaan (verse 11).
- Israel is to make NO covenants with the Canaanites nor entertain any worship of their gods (verses 12-16).
- There is to be no idolatry in Canaan (verse 17).
- Israel is to keep the feast of unleavened bread (verse 18). (See Jewish Festivals)
- The firstborn in the land will belong to God (verses 19-20). In Numbers 3 (see notes) the Levites were substituted for the firstborn.
- Rest on the sabbath day (verse 21).
- Israel shall keep two additional festivals: Feast of firstfruits (aka Pentecost aka harvest) and Feast of ingathering (aka tabernacles aka booths) (verse 22) Click here to see a list of the Jewish Festivals (aka “feasts”).
- Israel will observe three annual pilgrimages each year for the three festivals listed above (verse 23). These are restated in Deuteronomy 16:16 (see notes), “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.”
- The passover meal is to be free of leaven (verse 24).
- The firstfruits are to be offered, presumably on the occasion of these three annual pilgrimages which correspond to the agricultural year of Israel (verse 26).
- Feast of Unleavened Bread – beginning of barley harvest; Feast of Pentecost – end of the early-summer wheat harvest; Feast of Tabernacles – beginning of a new agricultural year (See Jewish Festivals)
Verse 26 ends with an interesting stipulation: “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” While this food-preparation restriction does not seem to fit with the other provisions found in this section, it is also stipulated in Exodus 23:19 (see notes) and Deuteronomy 14:21 (see notes).
These provisions form the basis of God’s covenant with Israel. Notice verse 27, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.'”
A bonus: the shining face of Moses
Exodus 34:29-35
Exodus 34
30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them.
32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.
33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.
34 But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded.
35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.
Whoa…a glowing face! That’s right, Moses’ face glowed after being in the presence of God and receiving the Law. Remember what Paul says in I Corinthians 1:22 (see notes), “For Jews request a sign…” Well, if you’re looking for a sign, this ought to do it. Paul would later use this “face shine” of Moses to make a very important point about the Law in II Corinthians 3:7-11 (see notes). He would point out that despite the unmistakable glory of the Law (with the face shine to prove it), it would “be done away” upon the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. So, how noticeable was this glow on the face of Moses? Well…it was so unsettling to Aaron and the rest of the people that Moses had to put a veil on his face – must have been pretty bright.
Again, here are your Sabbath regulations
Exodus 35:1-3
Exodus 35
2 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.
3 You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
Moses, just down from the mountain with a shiny face, had their attention as he spoke to Israel on this occasion. Here’s the restatement of the Sabbath regulations again…and in really strong words. It’s a death sentence to work on the Sabbath with a particular notation to kindling a fire: DON’T DO IT! I just can’t stop myself from saying it again. Don’t try to convince me that you keep the Ten Commandments while you completely ignore the provisions of Commandment #4, sabbath keeping. Jesus fulfilled the law (Matthew 5:17-18, see notes); it has been done away (II Corinthians 3:7-11, see notes); it has been nailed to the cross according to Colossians 2:14 (see notes), “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” How can something so clearly stated in the scripture get so mixed up by Believers today? Believers are neither made righteous by obeying the Law of Moses, nor are they kept righteous after salvation by doing so. The scripture is very clear on this, but if you’re still a little confused on the relationship between Christians and the Ten Commandments, click here for more information.
Incidentally, notice the fire-on-the-sabbath prohibition in verse 3. Observant Jews today still adhere closely to this provision. While one may let a fire burn on the sabbath that was previously lit, nothing can be done to maintain the fire throughout the entire sabbath. This is an integral part of the Law of Moses…just as binding as any other provision of the Law.
Contributions and construction of the Tabernacle
Exodus 35:4-35
Exodus 35
5 “Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze;
6 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair;
7 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood;
8 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense;
9 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.
10 ¶ “All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the LORD has commanded:
11 the tabernacle, its tent, its covering, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets;
12 the ark and its poles, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering;
13 the table and its poles, all its utensils, and the showbread;
14 also the lampstand for the light, its utensils, its lamps, and the oil for the light;
15 the incense altar, its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, and the screen for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle;
16 the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles, all its utensils, and the laver and its base;
17 the hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court;
18 the pegs of the tabernacle, the pegs of the court, and their cords;
19 the garments of ministry, for ministering in the holy place—the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.’ ”
20 ¶ And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
21 Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.
22 They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the LORD.
23 And every man, with whom was found blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, goats’ hair, red skins of rams, and badger skins, brought them.
24 Everyone who offered an offering of silver or bronze brought the LORD’S offering. And everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it.
25 All the women who were gifted artisans spun yarn with their hands, and brought what they had spun, of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.
26 And all the women whose hearts stirred with wisdom spun yarn of goats’ hair.
27 The rulers brought onyx stones, and the stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate,
28 and spices and oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.
29 The children of Israel brought a freewill offering to the LORD, all the men and women whose hearts were willing to bring material for all kinds of work which the LORD, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.
30 ¶ And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
31 and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship,
32 to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze,
33 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.
34 ¶ “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
35 He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.
Moses concludes his presentation with a call for contributions to build the tabernacle. Notice Exodus 35:21-22, “Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the LORD.” Note the emphasis here in the contribution for the building of the Tabernacle that these contributions be from a willing heart. Let the work begin! And Hur’s grandson, Bezaleel (aka Bezalel), is the man who will head up the building project with a special unction seen in verse 31, “…He has filled him with the Spirit of God.” He will be assisted by another man named Aholiab.
Incidentally, a very small tax (1/5th of an ounce of silver) had been placed on every male Hebrew back in Exodus 30:11-16 (see notes). Whether they chose to bring a contribution here or not, every Hebrew male had at least a small stake in the tabernacle.