Exodus 33.1-6-The Command To Leave Sinai And Go To Canaan
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday September 9, 2012
Journey Through The Bible Series: Exodus 33:1-6-The Command To Leave Sinai And Go To Canaan
Lesson # 51
Please turn in your Bibles to Exodus 32:15
This morning we will study Exodus 33:1-6, which records the Lord commanding Moses to lead the Israelites out of the Sinai region and head to the land of Canaan, which the Lord promised to the progenitors of the nation of Israel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Exodus 33:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ 2 I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 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, and I might destroy you on the way.” 4 When the people heard this sad word, they went into mourning, and none of them put on his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘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 shall do with you.’” 6 So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. (NASB95)
In Exodus 33:1, the Lord tells Moses to lead the Israelites from the Mount Sinai region to the land, which He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 12:7; 13:14-16).
This promise of land to the descendants of these three men is called the Palestinian covenant which is connected to the Abrahamic covenant and was first mentioned in the book of Exodus in 3:8 and reiterated in Exodus 3:17, 13:5, 23:23, and 34:11.
Like the “Abrahamic” covenant, the “Palestinian” covenant that the Lord established with Abram denoted the Lord’s gracious undertaking for the benefit of Abram and his descendants.
Like the “Abrahamic” covenant, the “Palestinian” covenant was “unconditional” meaning that its fulfillment was totally and completely dependent upon the Lord’s faithfulness.
The Lord’s promise of land to Abram and his descendants in Genesis 13:14-17 is an “extension” upon His promise to Abram in Genesis 12:1 and is thus related to the “Abrahamic” covenant.
The “Palestinian” covenant was a confirmation and enlargement of the original “Abrahamic” covenant and amplified the land features of the “Abrahamic” covenant (Gen. 13:14-15; 15:18).
The “Palestinian” covenant was confirmed to Isaac (Gen. 26:3-4) and Jacob (Gen. 35:12), reiterated to Moses (Ex. 6:2-8) who described the geographical boundaries of the land in Numbers 34:1-12 and who prophesied of its ultimate fulfillment during the millennium in Deuteronomy 30:1-9.
The land grant under the “Palestinian” covenant: (1) Most of the land in Turkey (2) Most of East Africa (3) Saudi Arabia (4) Yemen (5) Oman and Red Sea (6) Syria (7) Iraq (8) Jordan.
The land grant has boundaries on the Mediterranean, on Aegean Sea, on Euphrates River and the Nile River.
The Lord promises that this land would be given to Abram’s descendants and this promise was fulfilled to a certain extent by Israel under Joshua (Josh. 21:43-45; cf. 13:1-7) and David and Solomon (1 Kgs. 4:20-25; Neh. 9:8).
The prophets of Israel prophesied of the “Palestinian” covenant’s literal and ultimate fulfillment during the millennial reign of Christ (Isa. 11:11-12; Jer. 16:14-16; 23:3-8; 31:8, 31-37; Ezek. 11:17-21; 20:33-38; 34:11-16; 39:25-29; Hos. 1:10-11; Joel 3:17-21; Amos 9:11-15; Micah 4:6-7; Zeph. 3:14-20; Zech. 8:4-8).
Now, in Exodus 33:2, the Lord tells Moses that He will not be present in their midst when they travel to Canaan.
However, He does promise that He will send His angel.
He made this same promise to Moses in Exodus 23:20 and 23 as well as in Exodus 32:34.
Exodus 23:20 “Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21 Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him. 22 But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them.” (NASB95)
Notice God says to the Israelites that the Israelites are to obey this angel and not be rebellious towards Him since He will not pardon their transgression.
This clearly implies that this angel has the ability to forgive sin, which is God’s prerogative alone.
Also, God says that He will not pardon the transgression of the Israelites because His name is in this angel.
Nowhere in Scripture is this said to be the case of any angel but only Jesus Christ.
Exodus 23:23 also reveals that this angel will lead them in conquering the inhabitants of the land of Canaan.
So it appears that this angel was manifesting God’s presence to the Israelites and doing all the things that the Lord promised Moses and the Israelites.
Exodus 23:20-23 makes clear that to have this angel present with them was equivalent to God being present.
Furthermore, if you recall, the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush in Exodus 3:2.
It was the angel of God who had led the Israelites by means of a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night in Exodus 14:19.
Therefore, the Lord’s promise to Moses that He will send His angel before the Israelites in order to drive out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan is a reiteration of the same promise which appears in Exodus 23:20-23.
In Exodus 33:14, in response to Moses’ intercessory prayer, the Lord promises him that His presence would go with them to Canaan.
“My presence” must be a reference to this angel since if the Lord was going to tell Moses that He would be personally present with them He would not have used this expression but rather simply said “I will go with you” or something similar.
Instead, the Lord says “His presence” would go with the Israelites and Moses, which clearly implies that “His presence” is representing Him and equal to Him but not Him personally.
Therefore, this angel that the Lord promised Moses to go along with the Israelites to Canaan was in fact the preincarnate Christ which would also indicate that the Father was speaking to Moses here in Exodus 33 and not the Son of God.
In Exodus 33:3, the phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey” has appeared several times up to this point in the book of Exodus (3:8, 17; 13:5).
This phrase describes the goodness of God’s provision for His people in Canaan (cf. 3:17; 13:5).
It indicates that the Israelite flocks will thrive in the land of Canaan and is a place where honey bees were abundant.
Exodus 33:4 records the Israelites mourning over the fact that the Lord would not be present with them but would instead send His angel because He might destroy them on the way to Canaan.
The fact that the Israelites constructed a golden young bull to lead them to Canaan reveals their desire for God’s presence.
Of course, God rejected their sinful attempt to misrepresent Him with the bull.
But nonetheless, the people expressed this desire for God’s personal presence among them.
The Lord’s refusal to be personally present with the Israelites caused the latter to feel rejected by the Lord.
This was severe punishment.
This does not mean that the Lord would not have further contact with them or help them because He was sending His Son who is the angel.
However, it does mean that because of their sinful natures, He would not directly accompany them in the same degree that He did prior to the golden young bull incident.
Moses’ intercessory prayer as recorded in Exodus 33:12-17 results in the Lord reversing His decision and promising Moses that His presence will go with them to Canaan.
In Exodus 33:5, the Lord told Moses to command the Israelites to take off their ornaments in order that He might know what He should do with them.
This was to demonstrate overtly their mourning for their sin and the Lord telling them He would not be personally present with them but would send His angel in His stead.
These ornaments were jewelry of all types and would often be of gold.
By having the Israelites remove their gold jewelry the Lord was reminding the Israelites of their great sin in making the young golden bull.
The removal of the gold would remind them that their mourning was the direct result of this great sin.
For the rest of the Exodus the Israelites would no longer wear their gold jewelry.
They would be dressed as if in mourning.