And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me.
Yet thou hast said:
- I know / define THEE by name / way – i.e. exactly as Moses’ mother had defined him as belonging to her by identifying him by her attributes of rescuing him from certain death by her way of drawing him out of the water, safeguarding him from all of Pharoah’s subjects who would have thrown him back in.
- Now therefore…shew me now THY way, that I may know THEE: “He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.” (Psalm 18:16-17)
- AND thou [Moses] hast also found grace in my [YHVH’s] sight – exactly as Moses had found grace in Pharaoh’s daughter’s eyes when she raised him up as a prince of Egypt.
- that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that THIS [my] nation is THY people: “Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God…Esteeming the reproach of The Promised Savior greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.” (Hebrews 11:24-26)
For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that THOU goest with US?
Exactly as his mother accompanied him into a Hebrew’s most dangerous place on earth – Pharaoh’s presence.
And YHVH responds in the affirmative:
- I will make all my goodness pass before thee,
- and I will proclaim the name / attributes / way of the LORD / YHVH / Infinite Power before thee;
[But, by the way] Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live…
there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory / power surpassing all the atomic bombs stockpiled in all the nations’ treasure houses] passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:12-23)
Don’t miss out that at some point after, YHVH’s face WAS seen by Moses.
And here is where the timeline gets sketchy. There is not a clear sequence of events in Exodus chapters 33-34. We can expect a certain amount of back and forth in time following a trail of context at that point in the narrative.
Exodus 32:35-33:7 And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made…For the LORD had said [flashback] unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee…And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp [dissociating the LORD from the people.]
And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle [to plead for his peoples’ lives], the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses.
And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.
Here is where it appears to me that there must be a prolepsis – a reference to a future occurrence.
We’ve all teethed on stories that have a clear beginning, middle and end. Any story that deviates from this familiar pattern can vex and confuse us…Explanations are the antidote for tension…Leave it alone. Readers will keep reading to see if they find out/figure out what the heck his deal is.
The reference to the LORD speaking to Moses face to face – which doesn’t begin until the future according to clear statements in the narrative – is used to clue us in to why it became possible for Moses to encounter God face to face and survive while maintaining the timing of when.
It is as he develops his ultimate likeness to YHVH as Redeemer.
This word “friend” is loaded with meaning as the closest relationship, not by birth but by choice.
“This is my beloved, and this is my friend” (Song of Solomon 5:16) is a relationship developed over time through thick and thin.
“A friend loveth at all times” (Proverbs 17:17)
The highest praise that can be given, in hushed tones, is that “he was called the Friend of God.” (James 2:23)
As the narrative proceeds, pay attention to how much more of YHVH’s work is delegated to Moses as a trusted colleague.
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first” (Exodus 34) whereas before it was “I will give thee tables of stone” (Exodus 24:12)
and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest [can’t you just see the LORD giving Moses a sideways look?]
and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai…And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name / attributes of the LORD.
- The YHVH / I AM / Infinite Singularity,
- The Lord God,
- merciful
- gracious,
- longsuffering,
- abundant in goodness and truth
- Keeping mercy for thousands
- forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin
- and that will by no means clear the guilty;
- before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation:
- and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
- But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee (and only through him, with Israel).
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand…Aaron and all the children of Israel saw…the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. And Moses called unto them [obviously as they were fleeing for their lives] and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.
And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai. And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off. (Exodus 34)
“And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,” (Deuteronomy 34:1)
What clearer proof do we need that Moses had developed into the likeness of God?
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called [pronounced, delegated] the sons of God…Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him…
How do we “know that we shall be like him”? Logically. Deduction from Scripture.
“for we shall see him as he is.” (I John 3:1-2)
And if this murderer, stutterer, coward, 80 year old elder can, so can we.
Kingdom Come 