Page 55 - Pentateuch

favor. He quotes God about favor (33:12) and appeals for more for himself (v. 13) and for others (v. 16).
God gives reassurance (v. 17) and even agrees to give Moses a glimpse of his very nature. “I will have mercy
[grace or favor] on whom I will have mercy [grace or favor] (v. 19).”

We come now to the most remarkable passage in the book of Exodus.
God passes before Moses. Moses is actually shadowed by God’s
hand. He cannot see the full effect of God’s presence and live (vv. 22-
23). Yet he sees God at the same time that he hears YHWH describe
himself as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger,
abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands,
and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave
the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for
the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation (34:6-7).”

This is the antidote to Israel’s problem. This is the way God can go
with Israel. His grace, stated here in multiple ways, will overcome
their sin. Here is the fullness of the glory of God. The description
becomes the chief paradigm of God throughout the OT (cf. Num.
14:18; Neh. 9:17, 31; Ps. 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Jer. 32:18; Joel 2:13;
Jon. 4:2; Nah. 1:3). Following the law under the threat of punishment
cannot change a person’s heart. Breaking the law, realizing the rightness of the death penalty for that
rebellion, and experiencing the grace of God in forgiveness, however, is the antidote to the sin problem in
Israel and in any age. This is God’s glory. This is the holy God.

An illustration borrowed from theology might help at this point. God is light. When the Bible speaks of
God’s glory, the comparison is to the strength or brightness of the light. God’s holiness can be represented
by white light. His holiness is the sum of all his other traits. His other characteristics are like the other
colors of the rainbow. “Like white light that shines through a prism and is broken down into its colorful
components, so this truth can be broken down into its many parts. Many elements contribute to the sheer
‘Godness’ that constitutes holiness in its purest form.”
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Moses saw, heard, and, yes, experienced God in the glory of his holiness. Part of his holiness is his grace.
The interaction between Moses and God was meant to teach Moses more about the depth and wonder of
God’s grace. Other events teach a deeper understanding of God’s knowledge or power, or righteousness.
Here, grace is necessary. Only a gracious God could continue to lead Israel, the stubborn calf. Grace has
already been present in the relationship of God and Israel, but here is a new and deeper lesson. God’s
people of all ages have this challenge before them. Even throughout eternity, they will have more to learn
about Him. “Yet the saints can never have an adequate conception of God. They cannot comprehend that
which is infinite…They cannot, with one glance of their eye, behold what grows on every side. But the
divine perfections will be an unbounded field, in which the glorified shall walk eternally, seeing more and
more of God, since they can never come
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to the end of that which is infinite.”

Rejecting the compassion of God results
in judgment. God reminds Moses that
he is a jealous God (34:14). He had

66 D. A. Carson, “Worship Under the Word,” Worship by the Book, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), p.
28.
67 Thomas Boston, “The Kingdom of Heaven.” In The Glory of Heaven (Wheaton: Crossway, 1996), 221.
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