Exodus 33

33 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ ² I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ³ Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”

⁴ When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments. ⁵ For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’” ⁶ So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.

The Tent of Meeting

⁷ Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. ⁸ And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. ⁹ As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. ¹⁰ Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. ¹¹ The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

Moses and the Glory of the Lord

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ ¹³ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
¹⁴ The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
¹⁵ Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. ¹⁶ How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
²¹ Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

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Most of the time when I read scripture, I find myself reading it with a good amount of levity.  Life is not as serious and dramatic as we tend to assume.  The worst things that can happen to us here are just a small blip on the eternal scale and God's promises are so good, His mercy and grace so lavish and abundant, that our miscues generally just make me shake my head and smile.

There is no levity here.  God tells Moses to take the people to the promised land.  He will send an angel to clear it so that the people may have it as promised.  God fears that if He spends another moment with these people, His anger will burn so intensely that He will destroy them.  I've been there as a parent...I needed to leave or there would be irreparable damage done.  The voice drops low, with no emotion, and a whisper comes out, "Time to go."  As a kid that is when you are terrified.  I imagine that on a nation scale.  Every Israelite is walking on eggshells, waiting to hear their fate.

Into this steps Moses.  Boldly.  I thought that Abraham's pleas for Sodom and Gamorrah were intense.  They are nothing next to this when you consider the context.  Not only does he talk God down from destroying the people and starting over, he talks Him into accompanying them to the Promised Land, teaching His ways and then Moses says it is time for a face to face meeting.

I see the smile coming back onto God's face as his dear child comes to negotiate for the family.  I've had a four year old daughter negotiate with me.  They ask audaciously and have great conviction that they are right.  They are not saying that you need to meet their demands or they are finding other parents; they are simply stating the truth of what they want and what part they think you should take in that.  Moses is not threatening to leave God to worship someone else.  He has no leverage, no position of strength from which to bargain other than he knows God.  He knows God does not break His promises.  God wants to testify to the peoples of the earth through His children.  God wants His children to love Him.  Moses wants all those things too and he wants to see God's glory.  It is an amazing interaction.