331 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, 'Go, ascend from this 'place', thou and the people, whom thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I have sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To thy seed I give it,' 2 (and I have sent before thee a messenger, and have cast out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite,) 3 unto a land flowing with milk and honey, for I do not go up in thy midst, for thou 'art' a stiff-necked people—lest I consume thee in the way.' 4 And the people hear this sad thing, and mourn; and none put his ornaments on him. 5 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Say unto the sons of Israel, Ye 'are' a stiff-necked people; one moment—I come up into thy midst, and have consumed thee; and now, put down thine ornaments from off thee, and I know what I do to thee;' 6 and the sons of Israel take off their ornaments at mount Horeb.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 33:1-6
Commentary on Exodus 33:1-6
(Read Exodus 33:1-6)
Those whom God pardons, must be made to know what their sin deserved. "Let them go forward as they are;" this was very expressive of God's displeasure. Though he promises to make good his covenant with Abraham, in giving them Canaan, yet he denies them the tokens of his presence they had been blessed with. The people mourned for their sin. Of all the bitter fruits and consequences of sin, true penitents most lament, and dread most, God's departure from them. Canaan itself would be no pleasant land without the Lord's presence. Those who parted with ornaments to maintain sin, could do no less than lay aside ornaments, in token of sorrow and shame for it.