Let's read that together now.
Verse 12, please go to verse 12 with me. Exodus chapter 33
and verse 12. And Moses said unto the Lord,
See, thou sayest unto me, bring up this people, and thou hast
not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said,
I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore I pray thee, if
I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may
know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that
this nation is thy people. And he said, my presence shall
go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him,
If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein
shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in
thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest
with us? So shall we be separated, I and
thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the
earth. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also
that thou hast spoken, for thou hast found grace in my sight,
and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all
my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee. and will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show
mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see
my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord
said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon
a rock, and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth
by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee
with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away mine hand,
and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. We must not forget or ignore
the close connection that exists between the Old Testament expectation
and anticipation of the Lord Jesus Christ and the New Testament
fulfilment in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. These two
are closely connected. And yes, there is a break between
the Old Testament and the New Testament. at least in our Bibles,
and in time, from the end of the prophets to the coming of
Christ, but there is a continuity, and there is this sense in which
that expectation became the fulfilment. And we must see the Old Testament
believer and the New Testament believer, and indeed, we today,
as being connected with this one great work of the revelation
of Jesus Christ. All who seek the kingdom of God
and his righteousness, all who ever sought the kingdom of God
and his righteousness, do so and did so by coming to God by
faith in Christ. trusting God, trusting the Lord
for cleansing and covering by the blood and righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. All who seek peace with God,
all who seek reconciliation, find it in the cross of Jesus
Christ and in the substitutionary work of Christ. and they rest
and hope entirely upon the God-man and all that he has done. Now you might say to me, but
isn't there a big difference in the amount that was known,
in the detail and the information that we have now in the New Testament
than what was there in the Old Testament? and we acknowledge
and recognize that there was an unfolding of revelation. But let us not imagine that that
meant that there was widespread ignorance. Rather, and I hope
to show this today, this passage here before us, this passage
in Exodus, shows us by the written word, by the language, the vocabulary
that is used by the assumptions that Moses expressed and the
hope that he revealed. That he knew exactly what he
was doing and he knew exactly what he was saying when he approached
God on behalf of Israel. Sinful, rebellious Israel. Here we find Moses the intercessor. We find him interceding with
God for mercy on behalf of Israel in this affair of the making
and worshipping of the golden calf. Now I set out a few verses
from Exodus chapter 33 for us to read and to consider today.
Indeed, I might have given you chapter 32 in its entirety and
chapter 33 and chapter 34 to read. So if you want to, you
can go back and read these three chapters together and I think
you'll find the fullness of the narrative and the story there
to be helpful to you. But the children of Israel had
made to themselves a golden calf. When Moses was in the mountain
speaking with God, they had made this golden calf and they had
bowed down and worshipped it. It was an act so heinous as to
deserve the instant falling from heaven of judgment and condemnation
upon them. If ever there had been a case
for fiery judgment from God, it was here. Here in the desert
while Moses was in the mountain and the people were engaging
in this idolatry. Moses was in the mountain speaking
with God and while he was there the children of Israel were making
an image of a calf and bowing down before it. Scripture tells us that fire
fell from heaven for lesser crimes than these. And having brought
the idolatry to a swift end, we find that Moses confesses
before the Lord what he calls the making gods of gold. And he asks God here in these
verses that we have read for mercy on behalf of the people. And so Moses interceded for the
people of Israel. And in so doing, he became a
type of the great intercessor of the Lord's elect for the whole
of the people. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
intercessor of his people. So let us remember, brothers
and sisters, that we are no different from any other sinner in this
world, except for what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us,
and except both for that saving work and that interceding work
that He fulfils on our behalf. Except for the grace that has
been given to us, we are the same as everyone else. If God were for a moment to withdraw
His preserving hand from us, then we would be lost and we
would be helpless and we would be hopeless and we would be just
as ignorant of spiritual things as any fallen soul. All we are, all we have, all
we ever hope to be is due to the unmerited love of God in
Christ and his grace and mercy towards us. With Christ we have everything.
Without Christ we have nothing. And we need the Lord Jesus Christ
to intercede for us in the presence of God. And it's that picture
that we have here in Exodus chapter 33. That picture of Moses interceding
for the sinful people of Israel. Moses seems to have realised
just how much offence had been caused to God by this horrible
idolatry of the children of Israel. In response to that, in speaking
to Moses, indicated that he no longer would give his presence
to the people in the wilderness as they passed through on the
way to the land of Canaan. Because of their sin, he would
absent himself. He would turn away his presence
from them. And that reminds us that to be
outside of Christ, to be away from the presence of Christ is
a fearful thing. Holiness, the holiness of God
without the covering of grace and the covering of righteousness
is a truly terrifying thing. and men and women are heading
to a terrifying reality, the dawning of a terrifying judgement
if they are without Christ. It is a warning that ought to
be given. To be without Christ is to be
in a dangerous and a terrifying place. Moses acknowledged God's
right to judge the people and to judge the sin of the people.
But Moses, when he went before God, not making any excuses for
the people, acknowledging their sin, wisely drew attention to
God's mercy also. And he drew attention to God's
way of salvation in Christ. Think about this for a moment.
Moses had just been given the law of God and there is Moses
standing with the law of God on these tablets of stone in
his hands and he knows that those laws could not help the people
now. He knew those laws They were
effectively redundant for the sake of the people at that moment. What these people needed was
not the condemnation of the law. but was the mercy of God. They
needed to find mercy with God and God needed to forgive them. And that was what Moses' motivation
was. He went before the Lord asking
for mercy. They needed gospel, they needed
forgiveness. They needed a way of escape,
they needed a way of redemption. And in the course of this intercession,
this conversation between Moses and God and God and Moses, Moses
asks for three things. The first thing that Moses asks
for is to see God's way. We read that in verse 13. He says, now therefore I pray
thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, so if I am able to
come before you and intercede for these people, if you are
graciously willing to receive me as an intercessor, he says,
show me now thy way. that I might know thee. Now,
you and I know, because the Lord Jesus Christ has told us so,
that Christ is the way. The Lord Jesus Christ in one
of his great I Am sayings of John's Gospel tells us, I am
the way. So when Moses asked to see the
way, He was asking to see the way
of salvation. He was asking to see God's way
of salvation. He was asking to see the Lord
Jesus Christ. And Moses did see the Lord Jesus
Christ. We saw that towards the end of
our verses, that the Lord Jesus Christ passed by and Moses saw
him. Moses had the whole way of salvation
set out before him and explained to him. Moses asked to see the
way and God acquiesced, God agreed. The second thing that Moses asked
for was he asked to know God's presence. And we know that God's
presence is God with us. That is Emmanuel. That is the
Lord Jesus Christ coming into this world as a man. So Moses
understood something of the God-man relationship. Having asked to
see the way of salvation, Moses asked to see the man of our salvation. He asked to see the Lord Jesus
Christ in his physical form. To know the physical man, Christ
Jesus, and to know the union that that physical man, the Son
of God, had with men in the flesh. Realising and knowing something
about the need for the Lord Jesus Christ to die as a representative,
as a man. So Moses was permitted to glimpse
the hind parts of the Lord Jesus Christ, the garments of the Son
of God. Now we know that Moses wrote
of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ tells us that. And so here we
see where Moses got the information that he might be able to write
about the Lord Jesus Christ. The third thing that Moses asked
for in this intercessory conversation that he had with God was that
he would see God's glory. And God's glory, Moses is told,
is the acceptance and reconciliation of sinners by God upon the merit
of Christ's blood and sacrifice, according to the sovereign will
of God. And here Moses was given to understand
what we now call sovereign grace, that God would have mercy on
whom he would have mercy. And I want to take each of those
three requests that Moses gave to God today very briefly and
to open them up slightly and to prove the truth of them from
the word of God. So that we might see also in
both the understanding of Moses and in the fulfilment of the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, where our great intercessor satisfies
all these things that Moses sought and spoke about. So the first
one, once again, was this, that Moses asked God to show me now
thy way that I may know thee. he wisely called upon the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the God-man, to
reveal himself as the way of salvation. Now, note what Moses
says here. He says, show me thy way that
I might know thee. Now, Moses knew God. We're told that Moses spoke face
to face with God, God in the cloud, and that God spoke to
Moses, remember, from the burning bush, where he declared himself
to be, I am that I am. And so Moses knew God in the
triune God. He knew God, Jehovah. But there was yet to be an unfolding
of God's way of salvation to Moses. Moses knew from talking
to the Lord God that Christ would come to reveal his people. He
knew that there was a Redeemer prefigured in the sacrifices
that were offered daily on the altars of Israel. He knew that
deliverance would be provided because he understood the significance
of the children of Israel coming up out of Egypt and the Passover
lamb being slain. He knew that there was justification
to be found in Christ's death. It was Moses, after all, who
wrote the words, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And so here we see, in this approach
to God, this first intercessory request, boldness on Moses' part. He's standing before God, holding
the law that condemned, standing before an offended God on behalf
of a people who had bowed down and worshipped a golden calf. A God who threatens judgment
and death. And Moses says, show me the way
of life. Show me the way of salvation. I think that was bold. I think
Moses entered into a place there where he was asking God not to
look at this law, but rather to look away from the law and
to look to the Saviour. Moses was drawing Christ to the
attention of God. What a wonderful prayer that
is. And what a wonderful thing that
we should be given such an example in the Word of God. Surely, brothers
and sisters, this ought to be your request and mine. As we
are guilty sinners, confronted with a law that condemns us and
judgment to come, what better thing could we say to God than,
Show us thy way of salvation. Show us Christ. And the next
thing that Moses asked of God was that he appealed for the
presence of God with the people. Now, a little later in the word
of God, in the book of Isaiah, in chapter 63 and verse 9, we
are told that what this was the angel of his presence. So that the presence of God with
his people, Isaiah calls the angel of his presence. And God
had promised the angel of his presence to the children of Israel
as they travelled through the wilderness to the land of Canaan. But because of the sin of the
people, because of this egregious sin, this sin that might well
have called down judgment upon the people instantaneously, the
idolatrous worship of this golden calf, God said, I am going to
take my presence from you. I can't be in this camp because
my wrath would emanate forth from my presence like lightning
upon these people because of the wickedness and hard-heartedness,
the stiff-necked people that they were. And so God says, I'm
going to take my presence from you. And Moses says, Lord, give
us your presence. Show me your presence. Show me
the eternal word. Show me the Son of God. And why
was this so important to Moses? Well, he tells us in verse 16,
Moses suggests to us there that the only distinction, the only
difference that exists between all the people on the face of
this earth is that some have the angel of his presence and
some do not. Men and women can have religion
and not have the angel of his presence. Men and women can have
a profession of faith but not have the angel of his presence. What separates one from another
in this wilderness world in which we are travelling through is
simply that some have the angel of his presence and thereby have
union with Christ and have God's grace upon them. That 16th verse
of Exodus 33 says, wherein shall it be known here that I and thy
people have found grace in thy sight. Is it not that thou goest
with us? So shall we be separated, so
shall we be sanctified, so shall we be revealed to be the people
of God, I and thy people from all the people that are upon
the face of the earth. How? Because we have the presence
of God with us, the angel of his presence. And this glimpse
granted to Moses of the physical person of Christ shows us that
Moses understood that the Son of God would come into the world
and join himself to humanity for the salvation of their souls
from sin and from judgment. Moses knew, he saw and he knew
the man that was coming, and he knew that the man who was
coming was God. Therefore he speaks of him as
the Messiah. In Deuteronomy 18 and verse 15, Moses says to the people, the
Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst
of thee, of thy brethren. like unto me, unto him ye shall
hearken. So Moses asked to see the presence
of the Lord and he knew the man Christ Jesus thereby. And the
third, the final point that I want to draw from this intercessory
prayer that Moses made is this. Moses asked to see God's glory. And I see these three things
as being distinct. He asked to see the way of salvation. He asked to see the presence
of God upon earth. And he asked to see God's glory. Now, we might wonder, having
asked to see the way of salvation, which is the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the sacrifice of the Lamb of God upon it. And having asked to see the person
of Christ in union with the church and people as the incarnate God-man,
we might wonder, what more could be asked of God by Moses? But let's remember the situation
that Moses found himself in. He was going before God as a
representative of the people. He was going before God to intercede
for a sinful people. God was angry at Israel for their
sin. God was threatening separation
and judgment there and then. So that Moses' intercession is
a request for mercy for the people right now. And when he says show
me your glory, what he is saying is show me the end of the way
of salvation. Show me the conclusion. Show me the outcome. of this
great plan of salvation and redemption and this great union between
God and man. Moses was saying, in effect,
who is going to benefit from this plan of salvation? Are these people who I am interceding
for today going to benefit from your mercy? Tell me, let me see. Your mercy, let me see your glory.
And it's truly an amazing revelation that is given to Moses at his
request. Not in any way that God is reluctant
to save. God delights to save. But what we find here, and we
find it in Moses, and we find it in Christ, is that God would
first be pressed by an intercessor upon the terms of justice, and
then he will show his glory in the salvation of men and women. The glory of God is, in a word,
distinguishing grace. It is the grace that distinguishes
between one and another. We call that today sovereign
grace, but it is of the very essence of this intercessory
work. God says, I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will
show mercy. And the Apostle Paul uses this
verse from this passage in his great chapter on grace in Romans
chapter nine and in verse 15. The glory of God is his sovereign,
discriminating grace. freely given to sinners, who
are under judgment of sin, yet who are saved despite their iniquity,
despite their guilt, by the interposing of a substitute, the Lamb of
God, and redemption by His blood. And thus we see how out of this
terrible, rebellious act of idolatry, God is pressed by the intercessor
to show himself merciful to sinners. Moses was a type, the anti-type,
the reality, the fulfilment of this great spiritual work of
intercession falls upon the shoulders of our dear Lord Jesus Christ. Our divine intercessor is Christ
and it is He, our Saviour, who goes before Almighty God, having
shed His blood as the God-Man, and asks This is what Christ asks. Upon
the grounds of covenant promise, for a full acceptance with God
and access into heavenly life and peace for all for whom he
has died. John chapter 17 and verse two
to four read like this. give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given me and this is eternal life that they might
know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. Do you see what the Lord Jesus
Christ is saying here? We call this in John chapter
17, we call this the Lord Jesus Christ's great intercessory prayer,
just as this was Moses' intercessory prayer in Exodus chapter 33.
So the Lord in John chapter 17 goes, as it were, before his
father in his prayer and asks for eternal life to as many as
have been committed into his hand. God will be pressed by
the intercessor on behalf of the people for whom the intercessor
approaches him. And this is the Lord Jesus Christ's
work today on our behalf, interceding for those for whom he died. The second thing that the Lord
Jesus Christ asks for on our behalf is that all for whom he
came in the flesh be eternally united to him in glory. So where Moses said, show me
Christ in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ says, all for whom
I have died in the flesh, let them be united with me in the
spirit. It's a beautiful parallel here,
the way in which the Lord comes in the flesh and, as it were,
carries us back into the presence of God in the Spirit. So that
in verse 24 of John 17, the Lord Jesus Christ says, And thirdly,
the Lord Jesus Christ, our great intercessor, asks that God the Holy Spirit
would gather together all for whom atonement is made, being
gracious to whom he will be gracious. and showing mercy on whom he
will show mercy. And that by the gift of faith
and by the preaching of the gospel here in this world in time, there
might be gathered in a bringing together of many sons and daughters
to glory. You see what the Lord Jesus Christ
is doing here? He is praying to his Father that
the Father would accept the sacrifice of his blood. He is praying to
the Father that those for whom he has died might enter into
that spiritual union to the very presence of God. And he is praying
to his Father that the Spirit will be sent to open the hearts
of men and women, boys and girls, by the preaching of the Gospel
and bring together all those individuals into this one body
that is the Church of Jesus Christ. So Paul writes in Ephesians chapter
1 verse 10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he
might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which
are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. That we might
be gathered together in Christ through the preaching of the
gospel. And let me mention one more thing about this intercessory
work by Moses and what it teaches us of Christ's intercession for
us. God complied with Moses' requests
and it's a joy to behold and to hear what God did for Moses
in these final verses of this chapter. Everything Moses asked
for, was granted and more. The Lord agrees that the people
will enter into their rest by being brought up out of the wilderness
and into their inheritance in Canaan. He also agrees that the
presence of God, what Isaiah calls the angel of his presence,
will attend the journey of the people on their pilgrimage up
through the wilderness. And he also agrees, the third
point, that God's sovereign power would be seen in his bringing
some to spiritual glory despite the sins of which they were all
guilty. and the broken law under which
they were all condemned. And what God prefigured in the
experience of Moses he does and more so for his dearly beloved
son. The Lord God denies nothing that
the Lord Jesus Christ requests and intercedes for. Psalm 2 verse 7 and 8 says, I
will declare the decree. The Lord hath said unto me, thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee, ask of me and I shall give
thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. Thou art my son, today I have
begotten thee, ask of me and I'll give you all you've asked
for. And the Lord Jesus Christ asks the Father for all those
for whom he paid the price of their sin by his own precious
blood. Christ, as the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, did in the counsel and covenant
of grace and peace ask many things of his Father, and all of them
were granted. He asked for the persons of all
the elect to be his bride, to be his spouse, to be all his
heart's desire and all were given to him. He asked for all the
blessings of grace to be bestowed upon them. He asked for spiritual
life for them here in this world and he asked for eternal life
for them forever in glory. and all were given to him, and
all were put into his hands. May the Lord bless us as we both
consider the mediatorial intercessory work of Moses, but more so as
we see ourselves being reconciled with God and the Lamb of God,
our precious Saviour, our Bridegroom, interceding for us in the Father's
presence and securing for us every blessing of the eternal
covenant of peace. Amen.