Read Exodus 33:12-34:26 at Bible Gateway.
What does Hosea have to do with Exodus? Stay tuned …
The chiastic structures formed by the strong paragraphs of chol ha’moed pesach, it turns out, revealed the single chiastic structure formed by chol ha’moed pesach:
1a) Exo 33:12-16 {p} My Presence will go with My people and I will give them rest:
1a) Exo 33:12-13, Bring up this people + grace + knowing + the Lord’s people:
1) Exo 33:12a, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but who will You send with me?;
2) Exo 33:12b-13a, If I have found grace in Your sight, show me Your way that I may know You;
3) Exo 33:13b, This nation is Your people;
central axis) Exo 33:14, And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest;”
2a) Exo 33:15-16, Do not bring up this people + grace + knowing + Your separate people:
1) Exo 33:15, If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here;
2) Exo 33:16a, How will it be known that we have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us?;
3) Exo 33:16b {p} This nation — Your people — is separate from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.
1b) Exo 33:17-19, And Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory:”
1a) Exo 33:17a, For you have found grace in My sight;
1b) Exo 33:17b, And I know you by name;
central axis) Exo 33:18, And Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory;”
2b) Exo 33:19a, My goodness will pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you;
2a) Exo 33:19b, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
2b) Exo 33:20-23 {p} “So it shall be, while My glory passes by:”
1a) Exo 33:20, You cannot see My face;
1b) Exo 33:21, Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand upon the rock;
central axis) Exo 33:22a, “So it shall be, while My glory passes by;”
2b) Exo 33:22b, I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand;
2a) Exo 33:23 {p} You shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.
2a) Exo 34:1-26 {p} Observe the words of this covenant (rest) / I am merciful and forgiving / worship:
1a) Exo 34:1-4, Two tablets of stone like the first tablets + the words of the first tablets;
1b) Exo 34:5-7, The glory and the name of YHVH proclaimed: merciful, gracious, longsuffering, good, true, forgiving, just;
central axis) Exo 34:8, So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped;
2b) Exo 34:9, Moses: As You are gracious and forgiving, go with us + take us for Your inheritance;
2a) Exo 34:10-26, The words of the covenant renewed (observe My commandments):
1a) Exo 34:10-17, The Lord’s covenant: flee idolatry and worship the Lord only:
1a) Exo 34:10-11a, The Lord’s covenant: observe what I command you this day:
1a) Exo 34:10a, Behold, I make a covenant;
1b) Exo 34:10b, Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth;
central axis) Exo 34:10c, And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord;
2b) Exo 34:10d, For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you;
2a) Exo 34:11a, Observe what I command you this day.
1b) Exo 34:11b-12, Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land;
central axis) Exo 34:13-14, “But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God);”
2b) Exo 34:15-16, Beware lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land;
2a) Exo 34:17, You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.
1b) Exo 34:18-20a, Instructions for the Feast of Unleavened Bread:
1) Exo 34:18, Keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread;
2) Exo 34:19-20a, The firstborn belong to the Lord;
1c) Exo 34:20b, None shall appear before Me empty-handed;
central axis) Exo 34:21, Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest;
2c) Exo 34:22-24, You shall appear before the Lord your God three times in the year;
2b) Exo 34:25-26a, Instructions for the Feast of Unleavened Bread:
1) Exo 34:25, Do not offer the blood with leaven (during the Feast of Unleavened Bread);
2) Exo 34:26a, The firstfruits belong to the Lord;
2a) Exo 34:26b, You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk (forsake the pagan practices of the land).
The B pairs butt up against each other, just as we saw last week in the chiastic structure for Lev 16:1-18:30, acharei mot. Each B pair also forms its own chiastic structure, and their central axis’ pair.
But the A pairs are the most interesting. The 1A pair has as its theme, the presence of the Lord going with His people, and giving them rest. Moses says, “If I have found grace in Your sight, show me Your way, that I may know You, (Exo 33:12-13).” In fact, we learn that the witness to the rest of the world, and all the nations round about, that we have in fact found grace in the Lord’s sight, is that His presence go with us. His presence being present with us, that is our testimony in the face of the world, that God has gifted us with grace.
His presence with us, makes us separate from the world. But let’s not forget Moses’ request. If in fact we have found grace before the Lord, then show us Your way, O Lord, that we may know You (please notice that the grace precedes the observance of the Lord’s way, but does not preclude it).
The 2A pair explains the way of the Lord. This is His covenant, and these are the words of His covenant – the Ten Commandments. Listen, those who are His are separate from the world. We are not just separate from the world because His presence is with us and not with them. We are also separate because our way of living is distinct and different from the way the world lives. Our way of living is an imitation of His way of living. He does not proclaim His name in vain, and we do not. He rested (and rests) on His day of rest, and we do also. He is not unfaithful to us, His intended bride, and we are not unfaithful to our spouses. He does not murder innocents, and we do not. He does not bear false witness, but His words are truth, and we do not bear false witness. He does not steal, kill, and destroy – that is the fruit of the enemy’s work (Joh 10:10).
When the LORD revealed His glory to Moses, and proclaimed His gracious, forgiving, and merciful nature before him, Moses made haste, and bowed His head to worship. Our worship is covered by the Lord’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness of all our transgressions of His way, which He terms, His covenant, and the observance of His commandments. But because He is merciful, we do not take His commandments lightly. We do not despise our obedience to Him because He has forgiven our disobedience. But with a circumcised heart, we set ourselves, because we are in a relationship of knowing with Him, to walk as He walks, and to honor the path of His ways.
When Israel lived in the lust of their flesh, as Hosea describes, despising the grace and mercy of the Lord for their sins, simply bringing their flocks and herds to be sacrificed because the the sin sacrifice will cover their sins, then the Lord withdrew from them. His presence departed. The modern church is dangerously close to making the same mistake. This week, as we are celebrating the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, let us not despise Jesus, our sin sacrifice, by living in the lust of our flesh, and trampling upon His covenant, His commandments, and His grace, because He is so good to have forgiven us all our trespasses. Rather, let us honor Him in worship, and order our lives to reflect His way, becoming truly separate from the world. ♥
Truly you have divided the word and such a blessing for this time …. thank you Shalom