Exodus Worksheet - Chapter 33

Moses has come down after 40 days on the mountaintop, only to find an idolatrous party going on. He smashes the tablets, orders men to be killed until the party stops, then goes back up on the mountain to intercede for the people. God tells Moses to go lead the people into the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But, He says, He Himself would not be leading them, but an angel. The people will be getting the promise of God, yet without the presence of God. The people put away their jewelry and Moses goes out to the tent of meeting to plead with God to go with them or not send them out. .....

Exodus 33

1.  Where does the Lord instruct Moses to go to at this point? vs. 1
2.  What will God send along with them to drive out the nations they will possess in the promised land? vs. 2
3.  What will the land be like when they possess it? vs. 3
4.  Why does God Himself say He will not be going up to be in their midst with them? vs. 3
5.  When the people heard this, they were sad.  What did they stop wearing after that? vs. 4
6.  Who had told them to take the ornaments off? vs. 5
7.  Where were the sons of Israel at when they stripped themselves of their ornaments and did they ever put them back on? vs. 6

Note:  Jewish Enclyclopedia > Mt. Sinai and Mt. Horeb are the same mountain with different names for it.

8.  Where did Moses go to speak to the Lord when he was needing guidance? vs. 7a

Note:  Remember this was before the "tabernacle" was built that God gave the instructions on the mountain about when Moses was there 40 days and nights, 2 different times.  He has been on the mountain the first time and came down and shattered the stone tablets that God had written on.  Now he is going out to this place before going up again for the 2nd giving of the stones.

9.  Who else could go out to the tent of meeting when they wanted to seek the Lord? vs. 7b
10.  What would happen when Moses went out to the tent? vs. 8
11.  What would happen when Moses went inside the tent? vs. 9
12.  What would the people do when they saw the pillar of cloud? vs. 10
13.  How did the Lord speak to Moses? vs. 11
14.  Does the contradict the fact that God said if anyone saw His face they would surely die?  No, because God the Father and God the Son are both God and yet God the Son showed up in Pre-Incarnate ways to many of the patriarchs.  Jesus said that Abraham saw His day and others claimed they had seen the living God and were kept alive such as Hagar, Jacob, Joshua and others.  In the New Testament, we are also told that no one has seen the face of God at anytime.  Comment on this verse:

• 1 John 4:12

Yet, this same John, the apostle, said this in his gospel account of seeing and touching and hearing the Word of God and said that He is God - Jesus.  Read these verses and comment:

• John 1:1-4 -
• John 1:14 -
• John 1:18 -

And comment on what the writer of Hebrews tells us in the verse below:

• Hebrews 1:3-5 -

 15.  Jesus spoke with Moses face to face just as a man speaks to his friend.  How does the Lord speak to us and what does He call us?

• 2 Corinthians 4:6 -
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 -
• John 15:15,16 -

 16.  Who stayed in the tent of meeting with God even when Moses left to go back into the camp with the people? vs. 11

Note:  We have seen Joshua a few times now.  He was the one who fought Amalek while Aaron and Hur held Moses arms up in prayer.  He was the one who went up the mountain to assist Moses even though he did not go to the very top to be in the presence of God with him.  He was there waiting to come back down with Moes and assist him again.  Now we see that he goes out to pray with him and stays when he returns back to the camp.  He is getting groomed and we will find out that he is the very one that will lead the children of Israel into the promised land after Moses dies.  Wow.  How awesome it would be to be the assistant/servant to Moses at that time. 

17.  We have the record of the prayer that Moses prayed to the Lord and how the Lord responded back to him!  (vs.12 - 23) - How awesome it is.

• What does Moses need to know from God? vs. 12a
• God has told him He knows him by name and that he has found favor (grace) in His sight. (12b).  What does Moses need to know in order to know the Lord better? vs. 13a
• What does Moses want the Lord to remember? vs. 13b
• How did God respond to Moses? - vs. 14 - Name 2 things
• What did Moses say to Him in return? vs. 15
• How did Moses say others would 'know' that he and God's people have His favor? vs. 16
• This is the same today, isn't it?  How do people know that you belong to God? Read 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 and 1 Peter 2:9-12 and make comments.
• Back to Ex.33. - What did the Lord say to Moses in return? vs.17a -
• How did the Lord know Moses? vs. 17b -

18.  What does Moses cry out? vs. 18
19.  What did God say His glory would be? vs.19a - Name 2 things
20.  Who will God be gracious to and have compassion on? vs. 19b
21.  Why could God not allow Moses to see His face? vs. 20

Note:  Again, this is why most believe it was the Son of God, Jesus, in Pre-carnate form speaking with Moses in the tent face to face and not God the Father's face that he would have seen.

22.  Where did Moses stand to be beside the Lord? vs. 21
23.  God put him in the cleft of the rock as His glory passed by and covered him with His hand until He passed by. (vs.22)  Then God took His hand away and allowed Moses to see what? vs. 23

Application:

24.  Moses longed to know God deeper; to know His ways so that He would know Him better.  This should be the heart of every child of God.  Paul had this longing so deep that he even longed for suffering to help him know his Lord more intimately.  Read and comment on these verses.

• Philippians 3:10 -

25.  Jesus prayed for you and I to taste this glory of knowing Him and knowing God in all the fullness of oneness with Them.  Let's read John 17 and catch the phrases that Jesus prayed for us.

• Who shall we know in order to have eternal life? - vs.3 - Name 2
• What glory does Jesus want to have once again? vs. 5
• What did Jesus manifest to His own while on earth? vs. 6
• How did Jesus keep those while He was with them? vs. 12
• How will we be sanctified (set apart) for God? vs. 17
• As the Father sent the Son into the world, where is the Son of God sending us? vs. 18
• Who was Jesus praying for other than His disciples at that time? vs. 20
• What was His prayer for all of us who know Him for all time? vs. 21
• What did God give to Jesus and in turn Jesus gives to us? vs. 22
• Wasn't this the prayer of Moses also?  Think about it!
• What was Jesus' final requests to the Father for us? vs. 24

26.  To know Jesus is to know the glory of God.  Amen!  How will this lesson effect your prayer life from this point forward?

27.  Summarize the chapter and post a prayer if you would like.