Exodus 33:4

_AND WHEN THE PEOPLE HEARD THESE EVIL TIDINGS, THEY MOURNED: AND NO MAN DID PUT ON HIM HIS ORNAMENTS._ When the people heard these evil tidings - from Moses on his descent from the mount. God, indeed, had promised (Exodus 33:14) that He would not inflict upon them the punishment either of national destruction or the threatened withdrawal of His symbolical presence. But that promise was made to Moses privately. It was necessary that the menace of so terrible a calamity should be publicly announced to the people, the more especially as their exemption from it was suspended on their exhibiting a humble and contrite spirit....

4._And when the people heard these evil tidings _Hence it more clearly appears that, as I have said, it was like a thunderbolt to them when God withdrew Himself from the people; for this divorce is more fatal than innumerable deaths. It might indeed at first sight seem delightful to be the masters of a rich and fertile land; but dull as the people generally were, God smote them suddenly, so that all its delights became insipid, and its fruitfulness like famine itself, when they perceived that they would be but fatted unto the day of slaughter. A useful piece of instruction is to be gained from hence, viz., that if we neglect God’s favor and are captivated by the sweetness of His blessings, we are ensnared like fishes on a hook. God promised the Israelites what might attract them for a little season: He denied them what they should have alone desired, that He would be their God. The evil...

1-6 Those whom God pardons, must be made to know what their sin deserved. "Let them go forward as they are;" this was very expressive of God's displeasure. Though he promises to make good his covenant with Abraham, in giving them Canaan, yet he denies them the tokens of his presence they had been blessed with. The people mourned for their sin. Of all the bitter fruits and consequences of sin, true penitents most lament, and dread most, God's departure from them. Canaan itself would be no pleasant land without the Lord's presence. Those who parted with ornaments to maintain sin, could do no less than lay aside ornaments, in token of sorrow and shame for it....

EXPOSITION THE THREAT OF GOD'S WITHDRAWAL, AND THE HUMILIATION OF THE PEOPLE. The intercession of Moses, and his offer to sacrifice himself for his people had obtained from God some great concessions, viz.— 1. That the people's lives should be spared (Exodus 32:14); 2. And that they should be led into Palestine (Exodus 32:34) But a change had been introduced into the conditions under which the future journeys were to be made, somewhat obscurely indicated in the words—"Behold, mine angel shall go before thee" (_ibid._)—which was now to be more distinctly set

AND WHEN THE PEOPLE HEARD THESE EVIL TIDINGS,.... That God would withdraw his gracious presence, and go not up with them himself, only send an angel with them; and especially this may respect what is threatened, Exodus 33:5 and had been said at this time: THEY MOURNED; were inwardly and heartily grieved for their sin, whereby they had provoked the Lord to depart from them, and gave some outward and open tokens of it: AND NO MAN DID PUT ON HIS ORNAMENTS; they used to wear at other times, their rings and jewels, which the princes and the chief among the people especially were wont to wear; and in common the people did not put on their best clothes, or what they usually wore, but clothed themselves in mournful habits, in sackcloth and ashes, or in some such like manner....

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

HEARD. This shows Moses had descended again. man. Hebrew 'ish (App-14)....

_these evil tidings_ that Jehovah would not accompany them to Canaan. _and no man_, &c. The removal of ornaments was a mark of mourning and grief: Ezekiel 24:17; Ezekiel 26:16, Jdt 10:3 f. (Kn.)....

AND NO MAN DID PUT ON HIM HIS ORNAMENTS— The ornaments of dress have always been esteemed marks of cheerfulness and festivity. The laying aside these, and putting on sackcloth or other melancholy robes, has always been usual in times of trouble and sorrow, especially in the East; see Isaiah 32:11.Nehemiah 9:1. The children of Israel, deprived of their greatest blessing, the presence and protection of the God whom they had grossly offended, were commanded to appear before him in the habit of mourners, confessing their sorrow for their offence, and deprecating his just indignation. The 5th verse is explanatory of the 4th. _That I may know,_ Houbigant renders, _that I may declare,_ or _make known. By the mount Horeb,_ Ex