and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land, [who] have heard that thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of this people, that thou, Jehovah, lettest thyself be seen eye to eye, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night;
God offers Moses a fresh start — a nation of his own. Moses turns it down. He points instead to what Egypt and Canaan already know: the Lord lives among this people and goes ahead of them in cloud and fire. His whole case rests on one point. God's name is now tied to the people He redeemed.
Israel's neighbours knew something no other nation could claim. God Himself lived in the middle of this camp.
The Lord was with them and among them in a symbolic presence. This was the glory of Israel's position among the nations of the earth. It was also the guarantee their hope of the promised inheritance rested on.
Moses points to the cloud that stands over them and goes before them. It gave both shelter and direction.
This pillar of cloud stood for the divine presence. It protected them from the burning heat by day, and from the countless dangers and terrors of the darkness by night. It guided these vast crowds of wayward and ignorant people through the empty, howling wilderness, home to the promised land. But to do this, the movements of the cloud had to guide the people on every stage of their journey. Here we have the two great essential principles: protection and subjection.
His plea is not sentiment about Israel. He takes hold of what God has revealed about Himself. In the eyes of the world, God and this people now stand or fall together.
The intercession of Moses comes in, based on the testimony the Lord had given of Himself. (Compare Ex. 34:6-7.) The principle of it is this: the perfect identification of the Lord with His people. He presses on the Lord that His own glory is tied to the keeping and blessing of His people, and cannot be separated from them.
God had just offered to make Moses into a greater and mightier nation. The offer drew out what filled his heart.
The heart of Moses answered to the heart of God. He would not hear of it. The offer was to bring out the love that held to what God can afford to be to His people. What He might do for Moses, he would not now think of.
One thing he could not bear was that the nations should ever say God had failed.
What if all this personal glory and greatness could only be bought by giving up a single ray of God's glory? Then away with it all. Let the name of Moses be blotted out for ever… He could not bear the thought of the nations blaspheming God's name, which he loved so well, or of anyone ever saying, "The Lord was not able."
Moses' plea raises a hard question. How can God refuse to excuse sin and still refuse to give up the people He redeemed?
Still, God cannot allow sin. Neither could He give the people up; for had He not redeemed them? as Moses pleaded with Him (Num. 14:13-16)… He cannot give them up; He cannot allow sin; and therefore He brings in priestly grace to meet the difficulty.
Moses ends by holding God to His own description of Himself. God answers.
So Moses could not bear to see the Lord's character compromised. He holds Him fast, as it were, to His own word… He clings to the word of God and to His ways. He clings to the love God had so often proved, even towards the unbelieving people He had known so well from the first. If He had borne with them before, surely He would not turn from them now. "And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word: but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord."
- Presence — The nations knew one thing about Israel. God lived among them, face to face, with His cloud over the camp. That nearness was their standing in the world.
- Guidance — The cloud by day and the fire by night gave protection and called for subjection. Israel moved only when the cloud moved.
- Identification — God had tied His name to this people. If He destroyed them, Egypt and Canaan would call it His failure.
- Selflessness — God offered Moses a nation of his own. Moses set himself aside. He would sooner lose his own name than let anyone say, "The Lord was not able."
- Pardon — Moses held God to His own revealed character. God met the difficulty with priestly grace and answered, "I have pardoned" — and promised that His glory will fill the whole earth.
if thou now slayest this people as one man, then the nations that have heard thy fame will speak, saying,
Israel has just refused to enter the land God promised them. God offers Moses a personal future: destroy this people, and make Moses into a greater nation. Moses looks past himself. He asks what the watching nations would say if the LORD killed this people as one man.
The offer tested what Moses valued most.
Here Moses takes the very highest ground. He is completely taken up with the Lord's glory. He cannot bear the thought of that glory losing its brightness in the eyes of the nations. What if he became a founder and a head? What if millions in the future looked back to him as their famous ancestor? If all this personal glory and greatness could only be bought by sacrificing a single ray of divine glory — what then? Away with it all. Let the name of Moses be blotted out for ever... He could not bear to hear the nations speak against the name he loved so well. He could not bear anyone to say, "The Lord was not able."
The plea works because of something God has done. He has tied His own name to this nation.
The intercession of Moses rests on what the LORD had said about Himself. (Compare Ex. 34:6-7.) The principle is this: the LORD identifies Himself completely with His people. Moses urges on Him that His own glory is bound up with keeping and blessing His people, and cannot be separated from them.
The same principle reaches past Israel to believers in Christ.
God must accomplish His purposes to His glory, but in grace He has tied them to us... This marks faith: not just believing that God is glorious, but connecting His glory with the blessing of His people. So Moses says, "What will You do to Your great name?" and "The Egyptians will hear of it." He pleads with God this way all through. What a source of security and ground for praise, that God should have joined His glory to our blessing and to His promises to us in Christ!
Moses does not argue that Israel deserves to be spared, or even that they are sorry.
The sin was deep, and God had threatened to disinherit them. How instructive, then, to learn the true ground of appeal for mercy and forgiveness. It is not our need, great as it may be. It is not even repentance, heartfelt and true. It is the glory of God, the honour of His name, the written pledge of His faithfulness to those who are under the blood... We pray, we make our requests known, we ask a Father's forgiveness. But do we fully grasp the meaning of "for the sake of" or "in the name of Jesus Christ"? Is it merely a closing formula in our minds?
Moses then holds God to God's own words about Himself.
So Moses could not bear to see the LORD's character compromised. He holds Him tightly, as it were, to His own word... He clings to the word of God and to His ways. He clings to the love God had so often shown, even to this faithless people He had known from the first. If He had borne with them before, surely He would not turn from them now. "Then the LORD said, 'I have pardoned, according to your word'" (verse 20). And He goes on to promise that all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD (verse 21).
God answers the prayer, and two things stand together in it.
God hears the prayer and passes over the people's sin. What a combination! God keeps the honour of His name and shows mercy to Israel, while His judgment upholds His righteousness. This is the glory that will fill the earth.
Moses standing between God and a guilty people points beyond himself.
Moses protests that the Egyptians would hear of Israel's destruction. So would other nations who had heard that God was with Israel. They would all dishonour God by saying He was unable to keep His promise of bringing Israel into the land (vv. 13-16)... Again, in this wonderful instance, Moses gives a beautiful picture of the interceding grace of the Lord Jesus. That grace keeps and sustains His people despite their wayward ways.
- Name at stake. Moses' whole case rests on one sentence he cannot allow the nations to say: "The Lord was not able."
- Name over fame. Offered a nation of his own, he would rather have his own name erased than see one ray of God's glory dimmed.
- Name links God to us. God has tied His glory to the blessing of His people. Their ruin would look like His failure. That is the believer's security too, not Israel's alone.
- Name as our plea. Forgiveness rests on the honour of His name, not on our need or even our repentance. That is the real weight behind praying "in the name of Jesus Christ."
- Name answered. God answers, "I have pardoned, according to your word." He promises that His glory will fill the whole earth. The same interceding grace keeps His people today.
Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land that he had sworn unto them, he has therefore slain them in the wilderness.
Israel has just refused the land, and God has offered to destroy the nation and start again with Moses alone. Moses refuses. He asks what Egypt and the nations nearby would say if the whole nation died in the desert: that Israel's God promised more than He could deliver.
God's offer to make Moses into a great nation was real. It was also a test, and one writer shows what it drew out of Moses' heart.
God was willing to begin again — to make a fresh start. As with Abraham, He would start a new family line from Moses. He was willing to make him such a name as Moses otherwise could not hope for. The heart of Moses answered to the heart of God. He would not hear of it. The offer was meant to bring out the love that held on to what God is willing to be to His people. What He might do for Moses he would not now think of.
The words he dreads are a verdict on God's power, spoken by outsiders. Moses would sooner lose everything God promised him than hear them said.
What if he did become a head and a founder? What if future millions looked back to him as their famous ancestor? If all this personal glory and greatness could only be bought by giving up a single ray of God's glory — what then? Away with it all. Let the name of Moses be wiped out for ever… He could not bear to have the name he loved so well insulted among the nations. He could not bear that anyone should ever say, "The Lord was not able."
Two things were at stake for him at once.
Look at the love he has for Israel on the one hand, and the care for God's character on the other. He says, Lord, I do not want to be made much of, but I do want something for others.
Moses does not argue that Israel deserves rescue. He appeals to God's own name and God's own promise.
The sin was deep, and God threatened to disinherit them. How instructive, then, to be shown the true ground of appeal for mercy and forgiveness. It is not our need, great as it may be. It is not even repentance, heartfelt and true. It is the glory of God, the honour of His name, the written pledge of His faithfulness to those who are under The Blood… When we pray, we make our requests known and ask a Father's forgiveness. But do we enter into the full meaning of "for the sake" or "in the name of Jesus Christ"? Is it just a closing formula in our minds?
Spare them, and their rebellion goes unanswered. Destroy them, and His redeeming work looks like failure. One writer shows how God met that problem.
Still, God cannot allow sin. Neither could He give the people up; for had He not redeemed them? as Moses pleaded with Him. He cannot give them up; He cannot allow sin; and therefore He brings in priestly grace to meet the difficulty. To take away their murmurings, He does not use the rod of Moses, but that of Aaron. The rod of Moses could only judge them for their sin… But Aaron's does it by priestly grace.
God pardoned Israel, and still that generation died in the desert. Both stand together, because Moses had held God to words God Himself had spoken.
Notice this. Even as the Lord pronounces judgment, He acts according to the very word to which Moses had tied Him in faith… He would hold fast His mercy, but He would by no means clear the guilty. There was pardon, or Israel would never have entered the land. Yet He would "by no means clear the guilty", and so that generation fell. So God kept His character intact, and His hand made good what His mouth had spoken.
Writers also see in this scene a picture of a greater intercession.
Again, in this wonderful case, Moses pictures the interceding grace of the Lord Jesus. That grace keeps and sustains His people despite their waywardness.
- Offer — God proposed a nation built on Moses. The offer drew out a heart that cared more for God than for promotion.
- Refusal — Moses would sooner lose his own name than let anyone say, "The Lord was not able."
- Ground — the plea that wins is not our need, or even our repentance. It is the honour of God's name. That is what praying "in the name of Jesus Christ" means.
- Tension — God would not excuse the sin, and He would not abandon the people He had redeemed. Priestly grace, not the rod of judgment, met the need.
- Answer — God pardoned, and that generation still fell. He kept both His mercy and His word. Moses pleading here pictures the Lord Jesus interceding for His own.