Exodus 33:1-11 And the LORD said to Moses, Depart, and go up hence, you and the people which you have brought up out of the land of Egypt… I. GOD'S SEPARATION FROM THE PEOPLE AND ITS EFFECTS. 1. The separation. (1) In wrath he remembers mercy. They will receive the land, but for the fathers' sake and his oath's sake, not because he has delight in them. God's goodness is not always a proof of his being pleased with us, any more than his chastisements prove his auger. The former may be a loud call to repentance. (2) The reason for God's absence; his presence would be judgment, not mercy: - "Lest I consume thee in the way." If God's face be hidden, and the sense of his presence and guiding gone from us, his next revelation may be judgment. 2. Its effects. (1) The people mourned. It was no satisfaction that God and they were no longer to walk together. (2) Other delights lost their attractiveness: - No man did put on his ornaments." (3) They were troubled by fear of judgment, for the Lord had said, "I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment and consume thee." These are the effects of the Spirit's work to-day. The same cry is lifted: - "Flee from the wrath to come." II. THE SEPARATION OF GOD'S PEOPLE FROM THE MIDST OF SURROUNDING SIN AND ITS RESULTS. 1. Its necessity as a testimony to God's separation from sin. This is the duty of the Church to-day: - "Come ye out from among them and be ye separate." The tabernacle of the congregation, meant though it be for all, must be pitched "without the camp." 2. The results. (1) Moses' example led others to declare themselves on God's side (ver. 7). (2) The people "looked after Moses." Yearning for the light of God's face is stirred up in the hearts of men by those who go forth to meet with him, (3) God manifests himself to the separated (ver. 9). A living Church is ever the means of revealing God's reality. (4) The people worshipped "every man in his tent-door." A true Church will send forth a cry for mercy from the homes of the sinful. - U. Parallel Verses KJV: And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: |
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