What happened when Moses encountered the Glory of God?

Moses’ Encounter with the Glory of God In Exodus 33, we have one of the most remarkable passages in the Old Testament concerning God’s glory, filled with as many enigmas as clarities. The context of the passage is the sin with the golden calf. While Moses has been on the mountain receiving the law, the people, under Aaron’s leadership, have indulged in false worship, either the worship of a false god or the worship of Yahweh in a false way. In either case, they break the first two commandments and deserve God’s judgment. They have broken the covenant (as indicated by Moses’ smashing the tablets of the law). 

The Levites respond to the call to come to “the LORD’s side” (Ex. 32: 26). They execute God’s judgment on their brothers and sisters. In his continuing anger, God also sends a plague on Israel (Ex. 32: 35). In a word, the continuing covenant relationship between God and his people is thrown into question. Will God continue to be with his people as they travel toward the Promised Land? 

This is the question that racked Moses’ mind as he approached God in prayer. In Exodus 33: 17–23, Moses intercedes with the Lord on behalf of his people, seeking assurance that he will still travel with the Israelites. Moses knows only too well that if God does not go with them, their journey will be in vain. In spite of God’s assurances (“ My presence will go with you,” v. 14), Moses remains concerned and asks, “For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people?” (v. 16). 

In other words, Moses wants a demonstration that God will indeed be present with the people as they travel on from here. Out of love for Moses, God says that he will act in a way that will assure him of his continuing presence with the people. Moses then asks that God show him his glory (v. 18), his active and manifest presence, 6 so he knows for certain that God is still with them. God’s response is interesting, but not immediately clear. In response to the request that God show his glory, God says, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name” (v. 19). 

So Moses will see God’s goodness and hear his name. The name is presumably Yahweh; thus there are connections to Moses’ call at the burning bush in Exodus 3. Peter Enns rightly points out that the force of these echoes is to show us that there is the need for a second commissioning after the disturbance in the Israel-Yahweh relationship in Exodus 32.7 After saying what Moses will encounter (“ goodness” and “name”), God announces that Moses will not see God’s face. Why? Because people cannot see God’s face and live. In other words, full exposure to the divine presence would overwhelm and destroy a human observer. 

The same point is communicated by the language pertaining to God’s “back.” God says Moses cannot see his face but can see his back. Moses is to stand in the cleft of a rock. When God passes by, his hand will obscure Moses’ vision from God’s face, but then, after he passes by, Moses will be able to see his back. The language of “face,” “hand,” and “back” is boldly anthropomorphic. God is a spirit and does not literally have these body parts. 

That is not to say that Moses saw nothing, but we should acknowledge that this is metaphoric language that, in essence, points out that though human beings, even Moses, cannot be exposed to God’s full presence, his real, though partial, presence is impressive enough—indeed, so impressive that when Moses descended from the mountain with the new tablets of the law, his face shone, presumably with the reflective glory of God.