There was an element of remorse in the attitude of the people recorded in Ex.33.4. Was it apprehension of the consequences of Divine displeasure? There was a season of national humiliation and general self-condemnation.

The fearful prospect of retribution yet to come, at an unspecified time and manner, lay heavily upon Israel. In fact it came during the forty years of wandering, with all its disasters and calamities. None of the adult population present at Sinai would enter the Promised Land. As yet they were unaware of that fact. They readily accepted the institution of a formal centre of worship, a place where God's presence might be approached, yet away from the terrors of the mountaintop. "Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp." has often been misunderstood to refer to the "Tabernacle in the Wilderness" the construction of which is described in Exodus 36 onwards. This became the centre of Israel's worship for five centuries or so. But this was a different tabernacle for they had been at Sinai less than three months and the Levitical priesthood was not yet organized. The word 'tabernacle' only means a tent or temporary shelter. The tent that Moses put up after the affair of the golden calf, had no priesthood and no ritual. It was a place where Moses himself could go, in the full sight of Israel to consult with the Lord and from which he could emerge with the Lord's word for Israel. When Moses was inside the tent interceding with the Lord on Israel's behalf, the pillar of cloud descended from the top of Mount Sinai and stood guard at the door. And when the people saw the cloudy pillar thus they "rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door" (v.10). It seems that a measure of genuine contrition for their grievous lapse pervaded Israel and that a healthier spirit now prevailed.

There was no ceremonial associated with this tabernacle, nothing of the sacrifice and symbolism characteristic of the later and greater tent to be built in the next few months. Within the tent "the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend" (v.11), and when Moses went back to Israel after his audience with God only his faithful lieutenant, Joshua, remained to guard the sanctity of the place.

Moses audience with God in that desert tent is remarkab1e because of his insistence that he was unable to lead Israel into the Promised Land without Divine power. Unless God would go with them they must surely fail (vv.13-16). So he won a promise from God that was not only a source of assurance and relief to Israel but has been an inspiration for all generations of believers to this day, "My presence will go with you and I will give you rest." So Moses was content, he had at last effected a reconciliation between God who had been so grievously outraged by the incident of the golden calf and the repentant people who now bitterly regretted their lapse. Thus was the stage set for the final scene on the mountain top, in which Moses at his seventh and last ascent of the sacred height, was to receive two new Tablets of the Law in replacement of those he had dashed to pieces.

The responsibility of retaining the detailed instructions concerning the Law and the Tabernacle, coupled with the mental strain of Israel's apostasy would have broken a lesser man. He had the Lord's assurance that He would go with Israel, yet his troubled heart yearned for some further evidence that all was well and he prayed "Now show me your glory". All those expressions of the Divine presence which they had seen in the last three months, of fire and smoke and shaking earth had greatly impressed him but somewhere hidden amongst it all, God Himself dwelt. The glory of the Almighty was so much more than all the gods of the Egyptians and Canaanites. He wanted to glimpse it but God said that was not possible. "You cannot see my face for no one can see me and live" (Ex.33.20). In later year Solomon at the dedication of the Temple had said "But will God really dwell on earth with men? How much less this Temple that I have built." (2 Chron.6.18). Later still Paul wrote "God the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light whom no one has seen or can see" (1 Timothy 6. 15,16).

Moses must have been well content with what he was able to see. God hid him in the cleft of the rock and in some inexplicable way all His goodness passed in front of him. Then the Lord proclaimed "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished, he punishes the children for the sin of the father to the third and fourth generation."

This statement about God punishing children for their father's sin seems out of character and sometime provokes inquiry. Firstly, wrong doing sometimes does badly affect future generations, logically and in the nature of things. Secondly, this did affect Israel's immediate children because five or six generations together came out of Egypt. Thirdly, God has said that such a state of things will not last forever and Ezekiel 18.1-4 makes this clear when the proverb about fathers eating sour grapes and children's teeth being set on edge will no longer be appropriate. In fact this effect of sin from generation to generation largely concerns the immediate future of Israel before they settled in the land.

What was really important to Israel then, and to the Israel of God now, is the immeasurable contrast between the mighty Creator of the Universe in character, purpose and action and the gods which men create and worship in their ignorance and sin. The imagined gods represented in gold, silver, wood and stone were gods in the image of man, with all their weakness and frailty of spirit. The gods of today, representing the great financial and commercial interests of the rich nations, fortified by technology and run on the principles of greed and selfishness contrast with the great Creator of the universe who is unimaginably kind, tender, patient and gentle.

Moses descended the mountain for the last time, unaware that something of the glory of the One with whom he had enjoyed fellowship, now shone from his face. Once more, Paul was to take this story and use it in relation to a better covenant, and the changes that must be affected in those who are involved. The vital issue for us is whether we spend long enough with and at close enough proximity to God to catch some of His glory that will then be seen by the children of men. Does the glory of His faithful compassion really shine from our lives?