Comments on Exodus 33 v1-6 The Lord is so angry with Israel over the idol incident He must leave them, otherwise His Justice will require Him to destroy them. This forms the basis for the Semitism of God hiding His face from you when you are sinning. He turns His face away from you in Mercy lest His Justice require you be punished. v7-11 While the Lord has left the general presence of Israel, those who seek after Him may still do so in the Tabernacle. Thus, the Tabernacle is akin to the Temples today where the Lord is not generally found among the Gentiles, but those who seek after Him can find Him there. v12-23 Moses again acts in the role of intercessor between Israel and the Lord. He reminds the Lord of his calling and requests the Lord honor prior commitments. v20-23 This matter of not seeing God's face receives quite a lot of attention. What it boils down to id when you are in His favor you may speak with Him face to face, as Moses did in v. 11. However, when He is angry with you, He will hid his presence from you out of mercy as is the case in v. 1-6. There are numerous references establishing plainly that this is the correct interpretation, and not any nonsense about it being impossible to see God's face, cp. Gen. 4:14, Deut. 31:17-18, Deut. 32:19-22, Num. 6:22-27, 2 Chron. 7:14, Ps. 11:17, Ps. 17:15, Ps. 27:8-9, Isa. 54:8, Jer. 18:17, Ezek. 39:23-24, Dan. 9:17, Micah 3:4, 1 Peter 3:12, Moses 5:39. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.