Exodus 34:5-10 says, “Jehovah descended in the cloud and took His place there with him [Moses] and proclaimed the name of Jehovah. Then Jehovah passed by before him and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, God compassionate and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, keeping lovingkindness with thousands of generations, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; but He will by no means clear the guilty, but visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the grandchildren, to the third and fourth generations. And Moses made haste and bowed to the ground and worshipped. And he said, If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, let the Lord please go in our midst; although they are a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us for Your inheritance. And He said, Now I hereby make a covenant: Before all your people I will perform wonders such as have not been produced in all the earth, nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of Jehovah, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.” In this portion the Trinity is implied by the mention of Jehovah, God (El), and the Lord (Adonai).
Exodus 33 and 34 are in the section concerning the children of Israel’s sin of the worshipping the golden calf, which occurred after they had experienced salvation by the Passover lamb and the enjoyment of the heavenly manna and the living water from the cleft rock. In this dealing, God proclaimed His name, Jehovah, in showing mercy according to His character and in His governmental dealing according to His standing. God’s character is merciful, and His standing is governmental. He declared His name in these two things, which indicates that He has to take care of these two things for His name. If either of these two things were neglected, it would damage His name. Both His merciful character and His governmental standing were preserved in carrying out this dealing through His trinity. The Trinity is needed for carrying out God’s dealing by taking care of His mercy and government. In dealing with His redeemed and rebellious people, God was nine items—the Angel, the pillar of cloud, the presence of Jehovah, the glory of Jehovah, the rock, the hand of Jehovah, Jehovah, God, and the Lord. These are all details of the Trinity.
God’s dealing with His redeemed people through the Trinity was for the purpose of keeping them in the enjoyment of His riches through His divine dispensing. Without the Angel of Jehovah, Jehovah had no way to go with them in their midst. For Jehovah to be with His people, there was the need of the Angel. Today without Christ, God has no way to be with us. Furthermore, the cloud and the pillar of cloud were necessary for God to come to His people and stay with them. Similarly, today the Spirit, the pneumatic Christ, enables God to come to us and stay with us so that we may enjoy His presence. The crucified Christ as the cleft rock is our standing and hiding before the manifested God. Hymns, #298 says, “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; / All other ground is sinking sand.” Hymns, #206 says, “I stand upon His merit; / I know no other stand.” Because the crucified Christ, Christ in His death, is our standing and our hiding, we can communicate with and contact God. The merciful and governmental God and the rebellious, stiff-necked people can be brought together only through the Angel, the pillar of cloud, the cleft rock, and the hand of Jehovah, which typify Christ as God’s sent One, the pneumatic Christ, Christ in His death, and Christ as the covering in God’s manifestation. Because of the operation of the Trinity in this way, we now enjoy God’s continual presence. Moreover, He manifests Himself to us, and we see Him in a hidden way. We have a standing and a hiding, a covering. This all-inclusive care of the Divine Trinity is for the purpose of His remaining with us to dispense Himself for our enjoyment.