Exodus 33:17

Exodus 33:17

Thoughts from Dayna Spaulding

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“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.’”

Exodus 33:17

QOP- Behind the Scenes
Slide

The original Hebrew name for the writing we call Exodus was Shemot, meaning “Names.” The title Exodus comes from a Greek translation of the Old Testament. In Greek, the word literally means “the road out,” referring to the Israelites’ departure from Egypt. Over time, the word exodus became so associated with this Biblical account that English dictionaries like Merriam Webster now define exodus as “a mass departure.”

Slide

The Exodus story has remained influential, even in secular culture, throughout millennia. Because of its popularity, many outside of the Jewish and Christian faiths are familiar with stories like the burning bush, the parting of the Red Sea, and the giving of the Ten Commandments. Today’s passage is lesser known and comes soon after this series of miraculous events.

Slide

Hundreds of years before the birth of Moses, God foretold the Israelites’ time in Egypt as well as their exodus to Abram: “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Genesis 15:13-14). God also promised Abram a great land inheritance for his offspring, which came to be known as the promised land (Genesis 15:17-21).

Slide

Fast forward now to Exodus 33. The Israelites had indeed come out of Egypt with great possessions and were anticipating their entrance to the promised land. But, while Moses was receiving the ten commandments on Mount Sinai, the people were worshiping a golden calf. The Lord then told Moses he could go ahead and lead the people into the promised land. God would even send an angel before them to drive out their enemies. God’s presence, however, would not go with them. Moses discerned that without God’s presence, this opportunity was not worth taking.

Slide

Moses interceded for the people, and God then promised his presence would journey on with them. Moses replied, making clear his conviction, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here” (Exodus 33:15). We find the Lord’s reply in today’s verse: “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

Slide

In commenting on this passage of scripture, John Piper said, “Moses is holding out for something unspeakable — that a holy God will have so much mercy upon a stiff-necked people that he will not only go up with them to the promised land, but also, as it says in Exodus 33:16, that God would make them distinct among all the peoples of the earth. If Moses’s request was unthinkable, God’s answer in Exodus 33:17 was doubly so.”

QOP- Make it Real
Slide

I encourage you to read the whole of Exodus 33 for yourself, because my summary does not do justice to the exchange that occurred between God and Moses. Pastor and author David Mathis wrote, “We might even call Moses’s prayer ‘dialogical.’ It is striking how relational his process and sequence of prayer is in these chapters.” Can you relate to this description of conversational prayer?

Slide

It’s easy to let prayer become something we check off our to-do list. We deliver a short monologue to God and proceed with our busy days. That’s not at all what Moses did. He set aside time to truly engage with God. Verse seven actually tells us, “Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.” In verse 11, it is revealed, “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

Slide

It is from here that the conversation between the Lord and Moses ensued. In his analysis of Moses’ Exodus 33 prayer, Mathis continued, “Prayer, by human persons to the living and personal God, is far more than transactional. It is relational, and often incremental, with measured, humble boldness. God leads us, like Moses, into prayer. We make our requests. He answers in time. We learn more of him, which leads us to ask to see more of him.”

Slide

This is such a beautiful vision of what our prayer lives can look like. Maybe you can relate. Have there been times when you intentionally sought God and awaited his response? Were you surprised by the way God moved in your heart and in your circumstances? Did His response encourage you to continue the conversation? How can you be intentional with your time and your attention to make space for this kind of interactive relationship with the Lord?

QOP- End in Prayer
Slide

Lord, thank you for all you have revealed to us in your Word. Thank you for telling us the story of your faithfulness to your people. And thank you for inviting me to be one of your chosen. Please reveal your heart and your will to me, as you did to Moses. Help me to seek you first, confident you will meet me. I have seen you move in mighty ways, and I know you will be faithful to complete what you began in me. I am yours, God, amen.

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“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.’” 

Exodus 33:17

Behind the Scenes

The original Hebrew name for the writing we call Exodus was Shemot, meaning “Names.” The title Exodus comes from a Greek translation of the Old Testament. In Greek, the word literally means “the road out,” referring to the Israelites’ departure from Egypt. Over time, the word exodus became so associated with this Biblical account that English dictionaries like Merriam Webster now define exodus as “a mass departure.”  

The Exodus story has remained influential, even in secular culture, throughout millennia. Because of its popularity, many outside of the Jewish and Christian faiths are familiar with stories like the burning bush, the parting of the Red Sea, and the giving of the Ten Commandments. Today’s passage is lesser known and comes soon after this series of miraculous events.  

Hundreds of years before the birth of Moses, God foretold the Israelites’ time in Egypt as well as their exodus to Abram: “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Genesis 15:13-14). God also promised Abram a great land inheritance for his offspring, which came to be known as the promised land (Genesis 15:17-21). 

Fast forward now to Exodus 33. The Israelites had indeed come out of Egypt with great possessions and were anticipating their entrance to the promised land. But, while Moses was receiving the ten commandments on Mount Sinai, the people were worshiping a golden calf. The Lord then told Moses he could go ahead and lead the people into the promised land. God would even send an angel before them to drive out their enemies. God’s presence, however, would not go with them. Moses discerned that without God’s presence, this opportunity was not worth taking. 

Moses interceded for the people, and God then promised his presence would journey on with them. Moses replied, making clear his conviction, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here” (Exodus 33:15). We find the Lord’s reply in today’s verse: “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 

In commenting on this passage of scripture, John Piper said, “Moses is holding out for something unspeakable — that a holy God will have so much mercy upon a stiff-necked people that he will not only go up with them to the promised land, but also, as it says in Exodus 33:16, that God would make them distinct among all the peoples of the earth. If Moses’s request was unthinkable, God’s answer in Exodus 33:17 was doubly so.”  

Make It Real

I encourage you to read the whole of Exodus 33 for yourself, because my summary does not do justice to the exchange that occurred between God and Moses. Pastor and author David Mathis wrote, “We might even call Moses’s prayer ‘dialogical.’ It is striking how relational his process and sequence of prayer is in these chapters.” Can you relate to this description of conversational prayer? 

It’s easy to let prayer become something we check off our to-do list. We deliver a short monologue to God and proceed with our busy days. That’s not at all what Moses did. He set aside time to truly engage with God. Verse seven actually tells us, “Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.” In verse 11, it is revealed, “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” 

It is from here that the conversation between the Lord and Moses ensued. In his analysis of Moses’ Exodus 33 prayer, Mathis continued, “Prayer, by human persons to the living and personal God, is far more than transactional. It is relational, and often incremental, with measured, humble boldness. God leads us, like Moses, into prayer. We make our requests. He answers in time. We learn more of him, which leads us to ask to see more of him.” 

This is such a beautiful vision of what our prayer lives can look like. Maybe you can relate. Have there been times when you intentionally sought God and awaited his response? Were you surprised by the way God moved in your heart and in your circumstances? Did His response encourage you to continue the conversation? How can you be intentional with your time and your attention to make space for this kind of interactive relationship with the Lord? 

Hailey Schroeder

Hailey Schroeder

ACF Devo Team

End in Prayer

Lord, thank you for all you have revealed to us in your Word. Thank you for telling us the story of your faithfulness to your people. And thank you for inviting me to be one of your chosen. Please reveal your heart and your will to me, as you did to Moses. Help me to seek you first, confident you will meet me. I have seen you move in mighty ways, and I know you will be faithful to complete what you began in me. I am yours, God, amen. 

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