This article is part of a series on Old Testament Christophanies. For important background information, see An Introduction to Old Testament Christophanies–with Justin Martyr.
Immediately after successfully interceding for Israel, Moses had another request; he said to the Lord, “show me Your glory!” (v. 18). The Lord answered His servant:
And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen” (Exod 33:19–23).
One Targum replaces “and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you” with “and I will give utterance in the name of the Word of the Lord before thee” in verse 19.[1] By proclaiming His name, Yahweh would manifest His character before Moses. It is the Word, God the Son, who manifests the name of the Father to men (see John 17:6).
John Gill wrote that Yahweh’s goodness, which would pass before Moses,
may be understood of Christ himself, who is the goodness of God itself, is not only good, but the Lord’s good One, emphatically good; as he is called his holy One, so his good One; because all his goodness is laid up in him, is prevented and filled as Mediator, with the blessings of his goodness; all are proclaimed in him, displayed through him, and communicated by him; and he is that glorious Personage that Moses might be desirous of having a view of, and was favoured with . . .[2]
Moses had previously seen the Lord’s glory on multiple occasions. Here, his request seems to be for the Almighty to reveal His full glory. For this reason, the Lord declared that no man could see His “face” and live. Though Moses asked to see the Lord’s glory, the Lord promised that all His goodness would pass before him. However, the Lord’s glory too would pass by Moses while he was in the cleft. Yahweh’s goodness, personified in the Son, would pass by Moses, with the glory of the Lord surrounding Him.
The Lord covered Moses in some way, presumably with a cloud of protection to prevent him from seeing outside the cleft. Even though Moses didn’t get to see the full majesty of the Son as He passed by, His sure presence must have been beyond description. In this context, the Lord’s “back” in verse 23 refers to something left behind. Once He had passed, Moses would see some of the glory remaining where the Lord had just been—a Shekinah afterglow.
Beginning in Exodus 34, Moses obeyed the Lord’s command to cut out two stone tablets for the Lord to write on again, replacing the first set that was shattered, and to climb up Sinai by himself (vv. 1–4). Once Moses had ascended, the Lord descended:
The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD (Exod 34:5 [ESV]).
Some versions of the Bible mistranslate Exodus 34:5, resulting in Moses being the one who proclaimed the name of Yahweh. As you’ll see, verse 6 makes it clear that the above translation is accurate; Yahweh descended, stood beside Moses, and from the cloud, Yahweh proclaimed the name of Yahweh.
The Lord kept His promise to have all His goodness pass before Moses:
Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations” (Exod 34:6–7).
Yahweh passed before Moses, proclaiming the name of Yahweh. He declared Yahweh’s good character and attributes, including His certain justice. The Yahweh on earth was the Son, revealing God and making Yahweh known.
In response, Moses could only bow toward the earth and worship. He again asked the Lord to travel with the Israelites in their midst, pardon their iniquity and sin, and to take them as His own possession. The Lord answered that He would renew the covenant, performing new miracles for the nations to behold (vv. 8–10). The Lord again said that He would drive out the inhabitants of the Promised Land (v. 11). The Lord’s statement in verse 11 is reminiscent of when He promised to send the Angel with Yahweh’s name in Him to bring the Israelites into the Promised Land (Exod 23:20–23). The divine Angel, Yahweh the Son, would still travel in the midst of the Israelites.
Moses received instructions and laws for the Israelites, including the new tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them (vv. 12–28). For the second time, Moses abstained from both bread and water while he was in the presence of the Lord for forty days and forty nights (v. 28). You might expect that after such an extensive fast that Moses would appear gaunt and sickly. But when he climbed down from Sinai, with the tablets in his hand, Moses had never appeared so radiant. Speaking with the Lord had caused Moses’ face to shine. His face glowed so brightly that Aaron and the other Israelites were afraid to approach him. Moses took the opportunity to gather the congregation together and commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken on Sinai. Afterward, he placed a veil over his face—one he would remove whenever he went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with the Lord (vv. 29–35). Being so near to the Lord caused some of the splendor of His glory to attach itself to Moses. You could say that some Shekinah rubbed off on him. Moses’ face shone brightly because he had been in the presence of the Son.
[1] Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus 33:19.
[2] Gill, Exposition, Exod 33:19.
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