Bible Text: Exodus 33:12-23 |  

“Moses’ View,” Exodus 33:12-34:10

Open:  A burning bush, commands on a mountaintop, smoke and fire, plagues and deliverance.  Moses had seen a whole lot of God.  He even got God’s name.

I.       “Show me your Ways”

          A.     (v13) “Show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight.”

                  1.      Rather than complacency in God’s favor, Moses hungered to please God.

          B.     (v14) The LORD responds, “My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.”

                  1.      Matthew 18:20, “Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, there I am among them.”

                  2.      John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

                  3.      Matthew 28:20, “I am with you even to the end of the age.”

          C.     (v16) “In this way we shall be distinct from every other people…”  Favoritism.

II.      “Show me your Glory”

          A.     Moses, who had seen so much of God, hungered to go deeper.

                  1.      33:18, “Please show me your glory.”  Show me your unfiltered fullness.

          B.     (v19)  God responds favorably

                  1.      “I will make my goodness pass before you.”

                  2.      “I will proclaim before you may name ‘The LORD’”.

                  3.      “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”

          C.     What we see of God is that He plays favorites, imparts forgiveness according to his grace.

III.     Glory Revealed

          A.     (v6) “The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD…”

                  1.      “…a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

                  2.      (v7) “…keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and sin.”

                  3.      We like this God and are perhaps surprised to find him in the Old Testament.

          B.     “But”

                  1.      “…who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the parents on the children”

                  2.      Important warning: Exodus 20:5-6, Numbers 14:18-19, Jonah 4:2, Psalms 103:8-10

Conclusion:   Why Moses?  Why Israel?  Why us?  What we all deserve and what some get.  Why Jesus?