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Parsha 21:
Ki Tissa (continued)
“When you take” • Exod. 30:11-34:36
c. God’s Presence and the Isra'elites (33:1-23)
1 Then ADONAI[GN] said to Moshe, “Depart, leave here, you and the people that you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land about which I swore to Avraham, Yitz’chak, and Ya‘akov, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2 I will send an angel ahead of you, and I will drive out the Kena‘aniCanaanite, the EmoriAmorite, the HittiHittite, the P’riziPerizzite, the HiviHivite, and the Y’vusiJebusite.[2] 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up among you, because you are a stiff-necked people. Otherwise I might destroy you on the way.”
4 When the people heard this terrible news, they went into mourning and noboody put on their jewelry, 5 because ADONAI had said to Moshe, “Tell the Isra'elites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people! If I were to go up with you for one moment, I would destroy you! Now take off your jewelry and I will decide what to do to you!’”
6 So the Isra'elites remained stripped of their jewelry from Mount Horev6] onward. 7 Now Moshe used to take the tent and pitch it at a distance outside the camp. He called it “The Tent of Meeting,” and anyone seeking ADONAI would go out to the Tent of Meeting which was outside the camp. 8 Whenever Moshe went out to the Tent, all the people would stand up, each one at the entrance of his tent, and watch Moshe until he had entered the Tent. 9 As Moshe entered the Tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the Tent, and ADONAI would speak with Moshe. 10 When all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance the Tent, they would stand up then prostrate themselves in worship at the entrance to their own tents. 11 ADONAI spoke to Moshe face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When he returned to the camp, his assistant Y’hoshuaJoshua ben the son of Nun, a young man, wouldn’t leave the Tent.[11]
(iii) 12 Moshe said to ADONAI, “Look, You tell me, ‘Bring up this people,’ and You haven’t let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ 13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in Your sight, please show me Your way now, that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight; and consider that this nation is Your people.”
14 He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 Moshe said to him, “If Your presence doesn’t go with me, don’t carry us up from here. 16 For how would people know that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Isn’t it that You go with us, so that we are separated, I and Your people, from all the people who are on the surface of the earth?”[16]
(iv) 17 ADONAI said to Moshe, “I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”
18 Moshe said, “Please show me your glory.”
19 He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim ADONAI’s name before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” 20 He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.” 21 ADONAI also said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23 then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”
2. “I will send an angel before thee. — ‘An angel’ is ambiguous. It might designate the Angel of the Covenant, the Angel of God’s presence, as in Exodus 23:20; or it might mean a mere ordinary angel, on a par with those who presided over the destinies of other nations besides the Hebrews (Daniel 10:13; Daniel 10:20). That here the expression is used in this latter sense is made manifest by the declaration of the next verse: ‘I will not go up in the midst of thee.’” (Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers)
Only six nations are mentioned, though there were seven; the Girgashite is omitted, but added in the Septuagint version. Note carefully that it is the angel who drives the nations out of the land, not the Isra'elites. HaShem absolutely did not just arbitrarily kick these people out of their land to give it to the Jews, as critics of Isra'el are fond of claiming. These people were incredibly evil. Their “gods” were actually “demons” (or Benéi Elohim) (see Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17; 2Chronicles 11:15; 1Corinthians 10:20) and their religious rites consisted of gross sexual immorality, including sacrificing their children by fire (Deuteronomy 18:10, Psalm 106:37). Refer to Don Stewart’s article HERE. See also: “What Does the Bible Say about Moloch?” and “The Cult of Moloch.” [BACK]
6. Please refer to note 1 in chapter 3 for the location of Mount Horev. [BACK]
11. Apparently Y'hoshua just could not get enough of God’s presence. Perhaps this is why God would anoint him to be Isra'el’s leader after Moshe’s death. [BACK]
16. It is important that those who are ethnically Jewish remain identifiable as distinct from the rest of the world. [BACK]
Other commentaries on Exodus 33
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Pulpit Commentary
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
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ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!
