12 Then Moses said to the Lord , "See , You say to me, ' Bring up this people !' But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said , 'I have known you by name , and you have also found favor in My sight .' 13 "Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight , let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight . Consider too, that this nation is Your people ." 14 And He said , " My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest ." 15 Then he said to Him, " If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here . 16 "For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight , I and Your people ? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people , may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth ?" 17 The Lord said to Moses , "I will also do this thing of which you have spoken ; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name ." 18 Then Moses said , "I pray You, show me Your glory !" 19 And He said , " I Myself will make all My goodness pass before e you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious , and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion ." 20 But He said , "You cannot e see My face , for no man can see Me and live !" 21 Then the Lord said , "Behold , there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock ; 22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23 "Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back , but My face shall not be seen ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 33:12-23
Commentary on Exodus 33:12-23
(Read Exodus 33:12-23)
Moses is very earnest with God. Thus, by the intercession of Christ, we are not only saved from ruin, but become entitled to everlasting happiness. Observe here how he pleads. We find grace in God's sight, if we find grace in our hearts to guide and quicken us in the way of our duty. Moses speaks as one who dreaded the thought of going forward without the Lord's presence. God's gracious promises, and mercy towards us, should not only encourage our faith, but also excite our fervency in prayer. Observe how he speeds. See, in a type, Christ's intercession, which he ever lives to make for all that come to God by him; and that it is not by any thing in those for whom he intercedes. Moses then entreats a sight of God's glory, and is heard in that also. A full discovery of the glory of God, would overwhelm even Moses himself. Man is mean, and unworthy of it; weak, and could not bear it; guilty, and could not but dread it. The merciful display which is made in Christ Jesus, alone can be borne by us. The Lord granted that which would abundantly satisfy. God's goodness is his glory; and he will have us to know him by the glory of his mercy, more than by the glory of his majesty. Upon the rock there was a fit place for Moses to view the goodness and glory of God. The rock in Horeb was typical of Christ the Rock; the Rock of refuge, salvation, and strength. Happy are they who stand upon this Rock. The cleft may be an emblem of Christ, as smitten, crucified, wounded, and slain. What follows, denotes the imperfect knowledge of God in the present state, even as revealed in Christ; for this, when compared with the heavenly sight of him. is but like seeing a man that is gone by, whose back only is to be seen. God in Christ, as he is, even the fullest and brightest displays of his glory, grace, and goodness, are reserved to another state.