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Exodus 33

05 Jun 2026 - Theology

The Face of the Lord


Ancient Eastern Weddings:

  1. Betrothal (Cup of the Covenant) - Genesis 12
  2. Groom leaves to prepare the house - Exodus 1-12
  3. Arrival of the bridegroom - Exodus 12
  4. Bride is consecrated - Exodus 19:10-15
  5. Shofar is sounded (bride’s entrance) - Exodus 19:16
  6. Gather under the chuppah - Exodus 19:17
  7. Presentation of the ketubah - Exodus 20-23
  8. Exchange of wedding gifts - Exodus 25-40, Leviticus
  9. Consummation of the marriage
  10. “Honeymoon” year (Deuteronomy 24:5)

Exodus 33

This entire chapter is a conversation between Moses and the Lord. The Lord starts by repeating a similar promise to Moses that He made at the end of Exodus 32, with one main noticeable difference:

Exodus 33:1-3 - “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: And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.”

In this promise, the Lord promised to send an angel. In the promise in Exodus 32, the Lord promises to send His Angel.

Exodus 32:34 - “Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.”

We have already established that the Angel of the Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ, as this Angel speaks as God, has the power to forgive sins, and carries God’s unique name. Because of the sin of the golden bull, the Lord is now stating here in Exodus 33 that He is withdrawing His personal presence from the camp. He will still fulfill the promise to give them the land, but He will do so via a proxy messenger rather than coming along Himself. In verse 3, we see that He is withdrawing His personal presence as an act of mercy, saying, “for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.”

Moses then sets up the Tent of Meeting outside of the camp, and there he met with the Lord “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend” (11). This phrase “face to face” is an ancient Hebrew idiom, meaning they had a close, intimate conversation rather than a literal viewing of the Lord’s physical features.

While the Lord was with Moses, a pillar of cloud stood at the entrance to the Tent. The people would come to the openings of their tents and bow low to the Lord. Afterward, Moses would return to the camp, but Joshua stayed to guard the Tent of Meeting.

Moses then asked the Lord a question because he did not understand who the Lord would send as a proxy for the people (“an angel”).

Exodus 33:12-13 - “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, shew 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.”

Moses is essentially saying that an anonymous angel is not enough, Moses wants to know exactly who is leading the people. The Lord then responds:

Exodus 33:14 - “And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.”

There are three different manifestations of the Lord in the Old Testament, each greater than the previous:

The Hebrew word translated “presence” in verse 14 is panim, meaning “face, countenance.”

When Moses and the Lord are negotiating here, they are talking about a Theophany of Christ, a manifestation of God’s “face” via cloud, fire, or glory. The Lord’s promise to send His panim here is a mediated version of His Divine Essence.

In verse 18, Moses asks for a personal favor to see the Divine Essence itself, beyond a Theophany or Christophany:

Exodus 33:18 - “And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.”

The Lord responds saying:

Exodus 33:20 - “And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”

The word panim is also used here, but this time the phrase “see my face” refers to the unmediated Divine Essence.

Exodus 33:21-23 - “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 clift 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.”

This would be a Christophany, as the Lord took on a physical shape to interact with Moses on the mountain. Even in this temporary form, His glory was so intense that looking directly at the “face” of it would kill a sinful human. To protect Moses, the Lord physically shielded him, passed by, and allowed Moses to look out and see the trailing majesty of His form after the worst of the blinding glory had passed.

“When God says to Moses at Horeb, ‘I will let you see achorai, my back,’ the Hebrew is not, as frequently misunderstood, anthropomorhpic. The word achorai also has a temporal sense. What God says means, ‘Moses, you cannot know Me at the time when I am present. That would only mean that some part of your brain was hiding behind a rock trying to observe what was going on. No, Moses, you can only see achorai - what it’s like just after I have been there.’ Only then does Moses understand. Now he is able to lead the children of Israel through the wilderness. Now he remembers the first time he met God and was afraid to look [Exodus 3:1-6]. Now he realizes that the bush was a metaphor for his self. Now he sees that a person can be fully present, lose all awareness of self, and yet miraculously not be consumed by the ‘flame’ of God’s presence.” 5

References:

  1. The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
  2. The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)
  3. Exodus 33 - Hebrew Interlinear
  4. panim
  5. God Was in This Place & I, i Did Not Know




Exodus 32