The Glory of the Lord Exodus 33:18-23

www.insidethebible.ca /the-glory-of-the-lord-exodus-3318-23/
Micah Hackett
(18) And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. (19) And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee,
and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew
mercy on whom I will shew mercy. (20) And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and
live. (21) And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: (22) And it shall
come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand
while I pass by: (23) And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be
seen.
33:18 Moses desire to have Gods presence with him went far beyond just having it on Israels journey. He had a
passion for it and even desired to see the Lords glory. We cannot fathom the communion Moses had with the Lord;
perhaps Moses did not even fathom it. Perhaps he did not really know what he was asking, for the glory of the Lord
is beyond human comprehension. Should we not strive for even a fraction of this communion?
33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee The Lords goodness is His nature; it is His
holiness and love all wrapped up in one description. It is not todays definition of good, a definition that is full of selfsatisfaction. It is one to be awestricken at. When we consider what Moses experienced, perhaps it was a fraction of
what Christ experienced, except in a positive way. Moses had the goodness of the Lord pass before Him when he
was in the Lords favor. Christ, however, had the goodness of God abide on Him when he was made sin for us. This
goodness of God is a mystery, yet it is one we do not need to fear, because He is good; His mercy endures
forever.
And I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee The name of the Lord is a powerful one. Demons and
even the Devil himself tremble when the name of the Lord is proclaimed with all His honor and glory attributed to it.
Imagine the awesomeness of His name when it is spoken by Himself! Saying the name of the Lord would
emphasize His character, something which is needed when He is the focus. No doubt this implies that His attributes
are eternal and than His goodness and glory are everlasting.
And will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. The Lords mercy
and grace go hand in hand. He is merciful in withholding wrath, and He is gracious in giving salvation. To think that
the Lord would give mercy to us, even in His goodness, is unthinkable. But yet His mercy is part of His goodness, as
His justice is part of His goodness. Again we have a mystery of His character that cannot be explained except
through His name.
33:20 These are profound words, more than we can fathom. Stop and think of what these words really mean.
Think about this: if the glory merely around Him can consume a man, how incomprehensible is the glory that His
very face possesses! This is the most beautiful yet holy and righteous expression of glory throughout eternity. No
one can see this face and live, because it is so holy. Sin has no place in His presence. Should my heart not melt to
tears when I realize that my Saviour, the only One worthy to see His face, left the presence of the Father to become
of no form nor majesty?!
The expression of Gods holiness is truly revealed to an extent in this portion. He does not tolerate sin, even in the
least. How fearful it will be for a sinner to stand before Christ in His glory and realize his sin.
33:21 What beautiful words: Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock. Moses could see
the Lords glory when he stood on a rock, the rock the Lord would place him upon. For us, those to whom God has

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chosen to give grace, we have a place by the Lord. We stand upon a Rock; this is Christ. We have a place in His
presence because our Rock has cleansed us from sin and prepared a place for us. No other foundation can be laid
than that which has been laid by the Saviour. We must never underestimate the strength and the implications the
death of Christ has. He satisfied the goodness of the Father and made it possible for us to live even though we are
in the glory of His presence. We can rest assuredly and say with all confidence: Behold, there is a place for me; I
will stand upon the Rock!
33:22 If Moses saw the full image of the Lord, surely he would be consumed. The Lord had to shield His goodness
from Moses and place Moses on a rock to protect him. The Lord was actually merciful in not allowing Moses to see
His full image. If glory is merely an expression of the Lords character, how great his character itself is.
33:23 The Lord is able to manifest Himself in several forms, and this was one of them. He revealed His back parts
to Moses. However, since God is a spirit, one has said that this was an afterglow which is a reliable indication of
what the full splendor is to be (Hywel Jones, obtained from Believers Bible Commentary). Again, if the glory of the
Lords back parts were as much as Moses could handle, how great would His face be to behold!

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