This morning I want to speak about an issue that has plagued many churches in our day, and ours is no exception. The issue is that we have many individuals in the church who are longing for the blessings of the old covenant, the manifestation of God as seen in the old covenant, and the greatness that certain individuals seem to have in the old covenant, all the while they ignore the fact that in the new covenant there is greater blessing, a clearer manifestation of our God, and a greater greatness given to the people of God. So many times we read stories of the saints in the Old Testament with great envy when, in reality, they would have looked to our day with great envy.
In order for us to see how blessed we are, I want to lead us canonically through the Scripture to see what the text in Exodus 31-34 foreshadowed. I want us to see the greater glory that we now know. But first, we will start with the story in these chapters.
As we know (from last week), the Tabernacle was to be built in the midst of the people (Ex. 25:8; 29:45) as God would graciously allow his presence to dwell in the midst of the camp. And at the end of chapter 31, everything seems perfectly headed for that blessing. God had provided skilled workers for the task (31:1-11), he had given Sabbath instructions (31:12-17), and he had given Moses the Ten Commandments (31:18). And on top of all this, we remember the people’s declaration that they would obey all that God commanded them. It is a splendid picture of perfect life in the wilderness. But it didn’t last long.
For in chapter 32, we read that the Israelites commit horrid acts. They refuse to honor Moses as their God-appointed leader (32:1). They worship an idol as God (32:4, 8). And they join in sexual perversion (32:6 – “rose up to play” is a euphemism telling us that they were engaging in perverted sexual relations).
Therefore, God is angry, Moses intercedes, and God decides not to destroy the Israelites.1 However, God does pass down a judicial sentence that he will no longer dwell in the midst of the people; his presence will not dwell in the midst of the camp. God tells them, “Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, lest I destroy you on the way … You are an obstinate people; should I go up in your midst for one moment, I would destroy you. Now therefore, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I will do with you” (33:3, 6). And the people are horribly saddened at this news and went into mourning (33:4).
Therefore, when we read Exodus 33:7-11, in which we are all tempted to marvel at and take note of the blessings of God, we read of God speaking to Moses face to face, having met him in a pillar of cloud at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and of the people worshiping as they see this unfold. However, the key focus of these verses is not simply that Moses is meeting with the Lord but that Moses is meeting with the Lord outside the camp. We read in 33:7, “Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting” (emphasis added). These verses highlight the judicial sentence that had been handed down from the Lord.
But it is in these verses that Moses asks God to allow his presence to dwell in the middle of the camp. Moses asks God whom he will send with him in verses 12-13 (now that Aaron had gotten caught up in the idolatry), but more than that, he requests that God himself be the one who would go with him. Therefore, God responds in verse 14, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” But Moses wants more, he wants God’s presence to be in the middle of the camp, not outside of it; otherwise, how would the people of God be distinguished on the earth (33:15-16). God then says to Moses in verse 17, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight, and I have known you by name.” And after this point, when the Tabernacle is built, it is built in the middle of the camp.
Moses, however, longed for even more. He knew that he was leading a rebellious people and that the events of chapter 32 were probably just a foretaste of what was to come from them. Therefore, needing something to sustain him, he asks to see God’s glory in 33:18. God tells him that he cannot see his face and live but tells him that he will pass by and allow Moses to see his back side and that God would proclaim his name before Moses (33:19-20). And as God passes by, we read what he proclaimed to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7, one part of which is that God is a God of grace and truth, which serves as a description of God throughout the rest of the Old Testament. Therefore, on that day, Moses got to see a little bit more of God than he had seen before.
This is a glorious event in the Old Covenant, but I want you to see its fulfillment in Jesus Christ according to John 1:14-18, for there are numerous allusions to this text in these verses. In these verses John says the following.
1. Having already argued the divinity of Christ, John tells us that Word “tented” among us.
Many translations read, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” but the literal translation is that the Word “tented” or “tabernacled” among us. This sends the reader instantly scurrying back to Exodus 32-34 as we recall that the Tabernacle was the very dwelling place of God, and we realize that John has made yet another declaration of the divinity of Christ.
2. John tells us that in beholding the Son, we behold the glory of God.
He says “And we beheld his glory.” Does this send your thoughts back to Exodus 32-34? It should, for the thing that Moses had asked to see was God’s glory, and he couldn’t. John says that we’ve seen it in Christ.
3. Jesus is the God “full of grace and truth.”
The glory that we see in Christ is not the glory of a God lesser than he who declared his name in Exodus 34:6-7. It is one who is of the same substance. Jesus himself is the God “full of grace and truth.” He is both God and the man to whom John was able to point (John 1:15).
4. Jesus is the fulfillment of the grace given in the foreshadowing of the Law.
John tells us in 1:16 that we have been given “grace instead of [lit.] grace.” That is to say that the Law was gracious in that it pointed us to Christ, but Jesus is the substance itself to which the Law was pointing. Therefore, he says in 1:17, “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”
5. Jesus is the revelation of God to us.
Finally, in verse 18, John reminds us again that no man has seen God at any time (again, this should remind us of God’s conversation with Moses in Ex. 33) but then declares, “The only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has explained him.” Jesus Christ is the revelation to us of the very one who spoke to Moses face to face in Exodus 33:11. We have seen his glory, especially as we recall his work on the cross (John 13:31).
Therefore, let me exhort you to do these two things:
We could read Exodus 33:7-11 and be filled with envy, but Moses would chastise us if he could for doing that, for that passage in Exodus was simply a foreshadowing of something that was to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We have greater blessings today than were ever realized under the old covenant. We don’t have to go inside or outside a camp to know the presence of God, for his Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts. And we are even greater than Moses, for the Scripture measures one’s greatness in how clearly he can point to the person and work of Christ (Matthew 11) and we can do so with much greater clarity than Moses. We are indeed blessed beyond all our understanding. Therefore, if we are going to long for some other time, let’s long for the New Creation, not the old covenant. And let’s enjoy the presence of God in our lives and the glory of God displayed in the cross, for our salvation has been accomplished.
Let God be the foundation, center, and goal of everything that you do in life. Moses was promised a land flowing with milk and honey, and yet it wasn’t enough if he did not have the presence of God himself. We need to long for God as has been modeled for us there. If your life is not utterly about God in all that you do, then you are not obeying that greatest commandment handed down from our Lord.
And allow me to add here that this doesn’t simply mean that we all start having a quiet time in the morning and then going about our days. No, rather walk with constant thoughts of him, affection for him, and enjoyment of him. Let God be the essence of everything you do. Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, let us do it all to the glory of God. Do everything for his sake. Let us say with Moses, “I would forfeit all your blessings if only I could have you, O God.”
Grace be with you. Amen.