Exodus 33:12-23/vv.12-17 – “Our Faithful God”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹²And Moses said to the LORD, “Look, You [are] saying to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ and You have not declared whom You will send with me, and You have said, ‘I know you in name and also you have found grace in My eyes.’ ¹³And now, if (na) I have found grace in Your eyes, cause me (na) to know Your ways, and I will know You, so that I will find grace in Your eyes; and see (impv.) that this nation is Your people. ¹⁴And He said, “My faces will walk [with you] and I will give you (sing.) rest.”

¹⁵And he said to Him, “If not Your faces [are] walking [with us], do not send us up from here, ¹⁶and in what then will it be known that I have found grace in Your eyes, I and Your people, [if] not in Your walking with us, and we are distinguished, I and Your people, from the all of the people which [are] upon the earth?”

¹⁷And the LORD said to Moses, “Also this word which you say I will do because you have found grace in My eyes and I know you in name.”

In studying the Bible, one of the things I always try to watch for is repetition. Whenever a term or phrase gets repeated, there is usually a reason. And so, as I studied this passage, I can’t help but notice that the phrase “have grace in Your eyes” gets repeated five times – twice by the Lord and three times by Moses. Five times in just six verses is a lot of repetition! There may be a lot of reasons for the repetition (such as a chiastic structure I’m not seeing), but what it does for me is that it calls attention to the faithfulness of God. Here’s what I mean:

Once again, remembering the emotional intensity of the context, Moses is deeply distressed about two things: The Lord has threatened not to go with the Israelites any longer and He no longer calls them “His people.” Moses is desperately interceding for these people. He wants to persuade the Lord to change His mind … so he pulls out the atom bomb.  And what is that? What is the atom bomb of our relationship with God? May I suggest it is His faithfulness?

Moses goes to God and says, “You have said, ‘I know you in name and also you have found grace in My eyes.’ And now, if (na) I have found grace in Your eyes, …” Notice how he starts with “You have said.” What is he doing? Standing on the promises! The requests which Moses brings to God he bases on the promises of God. In the end the Lord says, “OK. I will do it, because you have found grace in My eyes.” “I’ll do it because you are right, that is exactly what I said.”

They really truly are “very great and precious promises.” Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. I have been marveling the last few years how much God’s promises mean to us. We literally build our lives on His promises. And we can do that because He is faithful. He is totally dependable. He will do exactly what He promised. We can totally count on Him. Whatever He says He will do. It may be in His time and in His way, but, rest assured, His Word is true – and you can count on it.

Moses goes to the Lord to make bold requests, but he bases those requests on God’s Word. He bases his requests on the things God has already said.

Seems like I can never too often rehearse God’s promises in my mind. They are the only reason we have hope. They are the only reason we can be confident and live with resolve. They are the only real reason we can take the risk of loving. They are the only reason we can face death without fear.

“For I know the plans that I have for you; plans to do you good and not to harm you; plans to give you a future and a hope!”

“Fear not, I am with you; don’t be discouraged, I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand … I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not; I will help you.’”

“All things work together for good to them that love God.”

“I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.”

His promises are sure. His Word is true. Moses hung on His faithfulness at what was perhaps the lowest point of his earthly existence. He took his fears, his hopes, and his requests to His faithful God, and His faithful God answered with more faithfulness: “Also this word which you say I will do because you have found grace in My eyes and I know you in name.”

May we ever do likewise.