And Jehovah said to Moses, I see this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
On the mountain God gives His verdict on the people He had just rescued. Two questions follow: what does "stiff-necked" charge Israel with, and why does God say "let me alone"?
Earlier in the book God spoke of these same people in very different words. One writer sets the two sentences side by side:
At the opening of this book, when the people were suffering in Egypt, the Lord could say, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows." But now He has to say, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people." An afflicted people is an object of grace; but a stiff-necked people must be humbled. God answered the cry of oppressed Israel with grace; but He must answer the song of idol-worshipping Israel with stern rebuke.
What does that charge mean? One writer puts it in a sentence:
Being stiff-necked refers to the stubbornness of wanting our own way.
Israel had agreed to be blessed on the basis of their own obedience.
They had freely promised to obey God's law as the condition of blessing, and the covenant was sealed by the sprinkling of blood — a sign of death — as the penalty for breaking it. They had now brought that penalty on themselves. So God no longer treats them as His people. They had rejected Him, and had spoken of Moses as the man who brought them up out of Egypt; and the Lord takes them on the ground they have chosen... So if God dealt with Israel by the righteous demands of the law they had accepted, they were lost beyond recovery, and would perish through their own deliberate sin and turning away from Him.
The next verse says, "now therefore let me alone." One writer finds mercy in those words, not only anger:
How great was the mercy of God, that He stopped to consider the feelings of His servant in this great crisis. He knew well what Moses would think and want. He already feels the pleading of His dear servant's heart before it is spoken, for He says, "Let Me alone." Israel's sin had brought down on them the righteous anger of a holy God, but intercession mixed mercy with judgment.
The threat came with an offer: God would make something of Moses himself.
That "let me alone" said a great deal. It was God saying to His dear servant, I know you have a true heart for Me and My people. If there had been self-importance in that dear man of God, what a fine opportunity this was! He could have stood up and said, "Well, the people have brought this judgment on themselves. I could not help it, and now God is going to make something of me. I will take it." How lovely it is of Moses: he refuses. He refuses himself. He refused the world when he was in Egypt; that was the first thing, and now he refuses himself.
Two chapters later Moses uses the same phrase again — but now as his reason for asking God to come with them:
In Exodus 34:9 Moses pleads, "If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, please go among us, for it is a stiff-necked people." And we know — I know — that sin in me is the ground of my being lost; and yet sin in me is the very ground of my going to God to keep me, now that sacrifice has come in. It shows a wonderful character of grace, its overflowing fullness, to give as the ground of God's being with us what was the ground of judgment — once sacrifice has come in.
- Seen. God's word moved from "I have seen the affliction of my people" to "I have seen this people." Affliction draws out His grace; stubbornness must be humbled.
- Stubborn. Stiff-necked means the stubbornness of wanting our own way.
- Owed. Israel had promised obedience as the condition of blessing. On that ground the calf left them lost beyond recovery, and God no longer treated them as His people.
- Opened. "Let me alone" was mercy as well as anger. God already felt His servant's pleading before Moses spoke, and Moses refused the chance to have God make something of him.
- Reversed. Once sacrifice came in, the ground of judgment became the plea. "It is a stiff-necked people" is now the reason to ask God to go among us.
And now let me alone, that my anger may burn against them, and I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation.
Israel broke the first commandment while Moses was still on the mountain with God. Now God tells His servant to stand back so judgment can fall — and offers to build a new nation out of Moses himself. Everything in the chapter turns on what Moses does with that sentence.
The threat is not arbitrary. Israel had agreed to the terms themselves.
They had freely promised to obey God's law as the condition of blessing. The sprinkling of blood sealed the covenant, and that blood was the emblem of death — the penalty for breaking it. They had now brought that penalty on themselves. So God no longer treats them as His people. They had rejected Him. They had spoken of Moses as the man who brought them up out of Egypt, and the Lord takes them on their own ground... So if God dealt with Israel by the righteous requirements of the law they had accepted, they were lost beyond recovery, and would perish through their own wilful sin.
The threat carries an opening inside it. God asks Moses not to hold Him back — which shows Moses that he can.
How great was the mercy of God, that He stopped to consider the feelings of His servant in this great crisis. He knew well what the thoughts and desires of Moses would be. He already feels what His dear devoted servant is pleading for before the words are spoken, for He says, "Let Me alone." Israel's sin had called down on them the righteous anger of a holy God, but intercession mingled mercy with judgment.
The second half of the verse offers Moses everything a man might want.
Was that not a splendid chance for Moses, if he had not been what he was? If there had been self-importance in that dear man of God, what a fine opportunity for him. He could easily have stood up and said, "Well, the people have brought this judgment on themselves, and I could not help it. Now God is going to make something of me, I will take it." I think it is so lovely of Moses — he refuses. He refuses himself. He refused the world when in Egypt, that was the first thing, and now he refuses himself.
God had called Israel Moses' people. Moses hands them back to the One who redeemed them.
He does not for one moment make the sin of the people look smaller — this he could not do. Nor does he ask for mercy, for there was no room for mercy in the covenant of Sinai. So he throws himself upon God, and upon what His glory required for the people He had redeemed... God had said to Moses, "your" people; but Moses pleads that they are "His" people. He will not accept the breaking of the link.
God already knew how Moses would answer. The point of the words lies elsewhere.
How could Moses alone bury over two million people? Also, would a nation fathered by Moses be any better than Israel? God knew all this, and He knew the heart of Moses toward Israel. But He spoke this way for our sakes. He wanted to draw our attention to the intercession of Moses for Israel, as a picture of the intercession of the Lord Jesus for us even when we fail badly. On the one hand, we must realise how fierce is the anger of God against every evil thing put in the place He alone is entitled to. On the other hand, we are to see the great value of the intercession of the one Man, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The picture has a limit. Moses pleaded God's glory; Christ pleads sin already put away.
What comfort for us to know of Christ that He is at the right hand of God, and that He is also interceding for us. He knows the righteous judgment of God. He knows too the evil of our sin. But His intercession rests on this: He Himself has vindicated the righteousness of God by putting away our sin.
Moses' answer to "let Me alone" was to refuse to leave God alone.
More than once you can see the tremendous power of prayer — tremendous because God gives it. It can even turn the mighty God from His purpose when He means to deal in judgment. Think of that!... But Moses would not let the Lord alone. He would not let God make him a great nation at such cost to stiff-necked Israel.
- Cause: Israel accepted the covenant on their own terms. The calf brought down the penalty they had agreed to, and the law left them beyond recovery.
- Opening: "Let Me alone" is a threat with a door in it. God feels His servant's pleading before he speaks it.
- Refusal: Moses turns down the greatest offer of his life. Having once refused the world, he now refuses himself.
- Ground: He never makes the sin look smaller. He pleads God's glory and insists they are still God's people, not his.
- Result: Intercession turns the judgment aside — a picture of Christ pleading for us when we fail, though His plea rests on sin already put away.