The Command to Leave Sinai
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Depart and go up from here, you Ex. 32:1, 7, 13; Josh. 3:17and 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, Gen. 12:7‘To your descendants I will give it.’ 2 Ex. 32:34; Josh. 5:14And I will send My Angel before you, Ex. 23:27–31; Josh. 24:11and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 GoupEx. 3:8to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest Num. 16:21, 45I consume you on the way, for you areEx. 32:9; 33:5a stiff-necked people."
4 And when the people heard this bad news, Num. 14:1, 39they mourned, Ezra 9:3; Esth. 4:1, 4; Ezek. 24:17, 23and 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 (Ps. 139:23)know what to do to you.’ " 6 So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.
Moses Meets with the Lord
7 Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and Ex. 29:42, 43called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who Deut. 4:29sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood Num. 16:27at 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 theLordEx. 25:22; 31:18; Ps. 99:7talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and Ex. 4:31worshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So Num. 12:8; Deut. 34:10the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but Ex. 24:13his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.
The Promise of God’s Presence
12 Then Moses said to the Lord, "See, Ex. 3:10; 32:34You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, Ex. 33:17; John 10:14, 15; 2 Tim. 2:19‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray, Ex. 34:9if I have found grace in Your sight, Ps. 25:4; 27:11; 86:11; 119:33show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation isEx. 3:7, 10; 5:1; 32:12, 14; Deut. 9:26, 29Your people."
14 And He said, Ex. 3:12; Deut. 4:37; Is. 63:9"My Presence will go withyou, and I will give you Deut. 12:10; 25:19; Josh. 21:44; 22:4rest."
15 Then he said to Him, Ex. 33:3"If Your Presence does not go withus, 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, Num. 14:14except You go with us? So we Ex. 34:10; Deut. 4:7, 34shall 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, (James 5:16)"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 Ex. 24:16, 17; (1 Tim. 6:16)Your glory."
19 Then He said, "I will make all My Ex. 34:6, 7goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. (Rom. 9:15, 16, 18)I will be gracious to whom I will be (Rom. 4:4, 16)gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." 20 But He said, "You cannot see My face; for (Gen. 32:30)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 Song 2:14; Is. 2:21in the cleft of the rock, and will Ps. 91:1, 4; Is. 49:2; 51:16cover 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 Ex. 33:20; (John 1:18)not be seen."