Introduction: Meeting God in Exodus
Welcome back to the podcast and the blog.
In our most recent episode, we found ourselves standing on holy ground in Exodus 33 and 34. These chapters are not just ancient history or theological background material. They are a window into the heart of God and into the kind of relationship God has always desired with humanity.
If you have not listened yet, this episode covers February 2nd, reading Exodus 33–34, Psalm 16, and Acts 9 as part of Daily Bible in a Year. What I want to do here is slow things down and linger a bit. There is a depth in these passages that rewards careful attention.
Israel has just committed the golden calf fiasco. Trust has been shattered. The covenant seems to be hanging by a thread. From a human perspective, this looks like the moment where God finally walks away. And yet, this is precisely where God chooses to reveal who he really is.
Moses steps into the breach, not simply as a leader or lawgiver, but as a friend who dares to ask for more. What unfolds here is not a negotiation between an angry deity and a desperate people. It is a revelation of a God whose grace runs deeper than Israel’s failure and whose desire for communion is stronger than human rebellion.
This is not just about then. It is about us. It is about what kind of God we are dealing with, especially when things have gone off the rails.
Moses and the Question That Matters
Exodus 33 opens with a stunning tension. God promises to fulfill the plan. The land will still be given. The enemies will still be driven out. The future is still secure.
But God says he will not go with them.
For Moses, this is unbearable. A promised land without the presence of God is no promise at all. Moses understands something crucial. God is not a means to an end. God is the end.
So Moses presses in. He does not ask for protection, success, or reassurance. He asks for God himself.
“If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”
This is not bravado. This is clarity. Moses is not bargaining for a better deal. He is refusing to settle for anything less than relationship.
From a Kruger-shaped perspective, what is striking here is not Moses’ courage, but God’s response. God does not recoil. He does not scold Moses for being demanding. He leans in.
“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
That word rest matters. This is not rest earned through obedience or moral improvement. It is rest that flows from being with God. It is the rest of belonging.
“Show Me Your Glory”
Moses then asks the most dangerous question a human can ask.
“Show me your glory.”
What Moses wants is not fireworks or spectacle. He wants to know who God really is. And God agrees, with a surprising twist.
God says, in effect, “You cannot see my face, but I will let you know my heart.”
What follows in Exodus 34 is one of the most important moments in all of Scripture. God does not define himself first by power, holiness, or judgment. He defines himself relationally.
“The Lord, the Lord, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
This is not a new mood God slips into. This is who God has always been. Israel’s sin did not force God to become gracious. It revealed that grace was already there.
Baxter Kruger often reminds us that God’s glory is not raw dominance, but self-giving love. God’s name is mercy. God’s character is kindness. God’s posture toward humanity is grace.
Even the language about consequences and guilt sits inside this larger declaration. Justice is real, but it is not God’s final word. Love is.
The Covenant Renewed
When Moses comes down the mountain with new tablets, this is not a reset based on better behavior. It is a reaffirmation of God’s commitment to stay.
God renews the covenant not because Israel has improved, but because God is faithful. The covenant rests on who God is, not on Israel’s track record.
This is crucial. God does not say, “Let’s try again and see if you can do better this time.” God says, “I am still your God.”
That is grace. Not denial. Not cheap forgiveness. But a refusal to abandon relationship.
God’s commitment to Israel is grounded in his own loving nature. The covenant is God saying, “I am not going anywhere.”
What Moses Teaches Us About Knowing God
Moses shows us that intimacy with God grows out of trust, honesty, and desire.
He teaches us to value presence over outcomes. To pray boldly, not because God is reluctant, but because God is generous. To seek understanding, not just experience. To approach God with awe, without fear.
Most of all, Moses shows us that intercession is not convincing God to be merciful. It is participating in the mercy God already intends to give.
From Sinai to the Upper Room
When we read Acts 9 alongside Exodus 33 and 34, the connection becomes clear.
The same God who met Moses in the cleft of the rock meets Saul on the road to Damascus. The same glory that passed by Moses confronts Saul in blinding light.
And the result is the same. Transformation. Relationship. New life.
In Christ, God does not merely walk with us. God dwells within us. The presence Moses begged for is now the gift given freely through the Spirit.
God is not closer to Moses than he is to you.
Closing Reflection
Exodus 33 and 34 tell us the truth about God.
God is not waiting for us to get our act together. God is moving toward us in love. God’s glory is not his distance, but his nearness. Not his threat, but his faithfulness.
Like Moses, we are invited to want God more than answers, more than security, more than success. And when we do, we discover that God has already been there, waiting, gracious, and ready to be known.
He is still there.
Still calling us by name.
Still bringing light and life where we least expect it.
May we, like Moses, refuse to move without him.
And may we find our rest in the God who has never stopped coming toward us.
Finish
