Moses sought to make propitiation for the people even at the risk of his eternal destiny. According to verse 32, he said to the Lord, “And now, if You will forgive their sin—and if not, wipe me out, I pray, from Your book which You have written.” Notice that Moses did not complete the first part of his statement. He simply said, “If You will forgive their sin.” If we had been Moses, we may have said something like this: “Now, if You will forgive their sin, everything will be all right.” Moses, however, left the matter open. To indicate this, some translations use an ellipsis and say, “If You will forgive their sin....” Sometimes it is necessary to speak in this way to those close to us. In speaking to our husband or wife we may need to say, “If you will do this....” We should not always complete our thought. Moses spoke in such a way because he realized that he was not the Lord. Only the Lord is the Lord. Therefore, Moses did not presume to say what would be the result or consequence if the Lord forgave their sin.
The latter part of Moses’ word in verse 32 makes it clear that he was propitiating for the people at the risk of his spiritual destiny. He said to the Lord, “If not, wipe me out, I pray, from Your book which You have written.” It seems that Moses was saying, “Concerning my own destiny, Lord, I would ask you to wipe me out if you would not forgive this people. But I leave with You the question concerning the destiny of the people. Only you can say what their destiny should be.”
Do you think that Moses’ word in verses 31 and 32 is an ordinary prayer? He did not pray in an ordinary way for the children of Israel; instead, he conversed with God intimately in their behalf. That was the wise way followed by Moses to appease God in that situation.
Moses made propitiation for the people according to God’s heart (32:33—33:3). From what the Lord says in verse 33, apparently He did not heed Moses’ word. Outwardly it may seem that God resisted Moses’ word, but inwardly He had already honored it. God was happy to have such a companion. God may have said to Himself, “I am glad to have Moses for a companion. He is intimate with Me, and He knows My heart and what I want to do. Moses knows that I want to forgive this people and continue to use them. However, I would not initiate this conversation in their behalf. But Moses, My companion, one who knows My heart, has initiated this talk.”
In verse 33 God said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will wipe him out from My book.” This word was an outward expression to uphold God’s honor. But what the Lord goes on to say in verse 34 indicates that He had forgiven the people: “And now, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My angel shall go before you, and in the day of My visitation I will visit their sin upon them.” Moses, the mediator, realized that God’s word here was an indication that He had forgiven the people. Moses had said, “If You will forgive their sin....” It seems that he was saying to the Lord, “Lord, I won’t say anything further. You speak a word. Now You tell me to go lead the people to the place of which You have spoken to me. I have no problem with this.”
The King James Version and Darby’s translation capitalize the word angel in verse 34. I agree with this, for it is an indication that the angel here is Christ. The Lord promised Moses that His angel would go before him, and in the day of His visitation He would visit the people’s sin upon them. On the one hand, the people were forgiven. But on the other hand, there was still a problem, and God said that He would deal with it. Sometimes the relationship between a father and his children is like this. The children may do something wrong, and the father will forgive them and release them. However, he may intend to deal with them in some way at a later time.