Exodus 33:16

_AND HE SAID UNTO HIM, IF THY PRESENCE GO NOT WITH ME, CARRY US NOT UP HENCE._ If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence - i:e., I should infinitely rather spend a wandering life in the wilderness, in the enjoyment of thy presence and favour, than be settled in Canaan without it, God's own words are eagerly caught hold of, and His promise made the subject of a prayer, in the full and just persuasion that the Israelites could appear "a chosen generations, a peculiar people," in the eyes of contemporary nations and of future ages, only by unmistakeable evidences of the divine presence and favour accompanying them and prospering their way. Moses throughout this intercessory scene displayed the disinterested zeal of a patriotic leader, no less than the humble but earnest piety of an eminent saint, and the prayer of faith prevailed....

12-23 Moses is very earnest with God. Thus, by the intercession of Christ, we are not only saved from ruin, but become entitled to everlasting happiness. Observe here how he pleads. We find grace in God's sight, if we find grace in our hearts to guide and quicken us in the way of our duty. Moses speaks as one who dreaded the thought of going forward without the Lord's presence. God's gracious promises, and mercy towards us, should not only encourage our faith, but also excite our fervency in prayer. Observe how he speeds. See, in a type, Christ's intercession, which he ever lives to make for all that come to God by him; and that it is not by any thing in those for whom he intercedes. Moses then entreats a sight of God's glory, and is heard in that also. A full discovery of the glory of God, would overwhelm even Moses himself. Man is mean, and unworthy of it; weak, and could not bear it;...

Verse Exodus 33:16. _SO SHALL WE BE SEPARATED_] By having this Divine protection we shall be saved from idolatry, and be preserved in thy truth and in the true worshipping of thee; and thus shall we be separated from all the people that are upon the face of the earth: as all the nations of the world, the Jews only excepted, were at this time _idolaters_....

THOU GOEST WITH US - It was this which alone distinguished (rather than “separated”) them from other nations, and which alone would render the land of promise a home to be desired. Compare 2 Samuel 7:23....

EXPOSITION THE REVOCATION OF THE THREAT OF WITHDRAWAL. After some days' "wrestling with God" in the "tent of meeting," Moses prayed to know definitely what God had determined on. "Show me thy way," he said (Exodus 33:13)—"Whom wilt thou send with me?" To this demand, God made the gracious reply—"My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest" (Exodus 33:14). This was satisfactory, except that it did not distinctly include the conduct of the people—it might be merely a promise to himself. So Moses (Exodus 33:15,...

FOR WHEREIN SHALL IT BE KNOWN HERE,.... At Sinai, among the mountains in the wilderness: THAT I AND THY PEOPLE HAVE FOUND GRACE IN THY SIGHT: were acceptable to him, highly esteemed by him, and had received peculiar favours from him; what evidence would there be of this? how would it appear to others? what knowledge could they have of it? [IS IT] NOT IN THAT THOU GOEST WITH US? in such a grand majestic manner, and so visible as in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night: this is a full proof, and a strong and convincing argument, even to a demonstration, that they were a special and peculiar people, the favourites of God, highly esteemed and honoured by him; but should this be discontinued, as seemed to be threatened, there would be nothing to demonstrate that they had found more grace and favour than other people; but this being the case, so shall we be separated, I a...

5. MOSES' INTERCESSION AND ITS RESULTS CHAPTER 33 Repentance and Intercession _ 1. The word of the Lord and the people's repentance (Exodus 33:1)_ 2. The tabernacle without the camp (Exodus 33:7) 3. Moses enters the tabernacle (Exodus 33:8) 4. Moses' prayer and Jehovah's answers (Exodus 33:12) 5. Moses' request (Exodus 33:18) The words of the Lord, with which this chapter begins, reveal Him as the covenant-keeping Jehovah. He remembers His covenant, though they are a stiff-necked people. Yet He is a holy Go

EXODUS 33:1 J, EXODUS 33:5 E, EXODUS 33:12 J. YAHWEH'S PRESENCE. The sections of 34 have been glossed and disarranged. In Exodus 33:1 J, Yahweh's refusal to go up in the midst of Israel leads the people to put off their ornaments. In Exodus 33:5 f. follows from E Yahweh's order to put off ornaments and its execution. This may have been connected with the construction of the sacred Tent which is assumed as known in Exodus 33:7, the details being dropped in view of Exodus

WHEREIN... ? Figure of speech _Erotesis (App-6)._ SO SHALL WE BE: or, "and by our being". EARTH. Hebrew. _'adamah,_ ground....

Moses resumes the intercession broken off at _v._3; and starting from the command given him in Exodus 32:34 a, Exodus 33:1 a obtains from Jehovah (_vv._14 16, as the text stands; see, however, on _v._14) the promise that He will not carry out the threat of _v._3, but will Himself accompany the people on their way to Canaan, and also (_vv._17 23) that He will vouchsafe Moses himself a glimpse of His glory....