Exodus 33 to 34: Farting around in the desert

Exodus 33

God tells Moses that he will wipe out the Canaanites and Amorites and Hittites etc, so his lot can have the land of milk and honey.

Moses takes the tabernacle out of the camp

Verse 8 “And it came to pass when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses until he was gone into the tabernacle.”

Drum roll please...

Verse 11 “And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.”

Yeah, I think later on in the Bible we are told that no man has ever seen God's face. I'll keep you posted.

Oh, here we go, that didn't take long.

After Moses gets the LORD back on-side again,

Verse 20 “And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”

And God comes up with a cunning plan.

Verse 21-3 “And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”

So, I wonder which part of his body God will be talking out of?

Exodus 34

God replaces the tablets Moses broke.

And here's a familiar bit:

Verse 7 “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children unto the third and to the fourth generation.”

Er, isn't that collective punishment? Someone call the Hague...

God gives instructions and covenant on ethnic cleansing. (Verses 12 to 16)

Lots of repetition, more promises

Verse 24 “For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders...”

Moses spent 40 days and nights with God this time, and when he comes back to Aaron etc, his complexion is kind of out of whack.

Verse 35 “And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone and Moses but the vail upon his face again, until went in to speak with him.”