Exodus 33:1-3 say, “And Jehovah spoke to Moses, Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To your seed I will give it (and I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite), unto a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in the midst of you, because you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you in the way.” This indicates that the conversation between the two partners, the Lord and Moses, had arrived at an agreement. God, the first party, agreed to let the offenders go, but He still insisted that He would deal with the people at a later time. When Moses and the children of Israel heard this, they knew that it was not a pleasant word. Verse 4 says, “And when the people heard this evil word, they mourned, and no man put on his ornaments.”
Verses 5 and 6 say, “Now Jehovah had said to Moses, Say to the sons of Israel, You stiff-necked people! If I should go up in the midst of you for one moment, I would consume you! And now, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I shall do to you. And the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward.” Here we see that Moses caused the people to mourn and to cleanse themselves.
This can be compared to what happened in Genesis 35:1-4. The Lord told Jacob to go up to Bethel and make an altar there unto God. Then Jacob said to his household and everyone with him, “Put away the strange gods which are among you, and be clean, and change your garments” (Gen. 35:2). Then we are told that “they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods that were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears” (v. 4). In order to be cleansed, it was necessary for them to put off all their ornaments.
As we mentioned in a previous message, the ornaments worn by the children of Israel were for their self-beautification. This self-beautification was the preliminary stage of the golden-calf idol. The idol came out of self-beautification, for the gold of the ornaments was used to make the golden calf. Even after the golden calf had been destroyed and three thousand of the children of Israel had been slain, the people still had their ornaments. But when they heard the “evil word” about the Lord’s not going up in their midst, “no man put on his ornaments.” Actually, the people should have put on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of true repentance, repentance from a broken heart. The people, however, still had their ornaments. When they heard this evil word, they began to realize that they could no longer wear these ornaments. Therefore, we are told that “the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward” (v. 6).
In chapters thirty-two and thirty-three we see the result of Moses’ work as a mediator between God and the children of Israel. First, he appeased God’s anger for the sake of the people. Then he caused the people to repent and to put off their ornaments as the sign of repentance. The people gave up their self-beautification. This was the outcome of Moses’ making propitiation for the stiff-necked and idolatrous people.
Exodus 33:7 says, “Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And it came about that everyone who sought Jehovah would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.” According to verses 9 and 10, the glory of the Lord was at the door of the tent. In verse 11 we are told that “Jehovah would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his companion.” All the children of Israel who wanted to seek the Lord went out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.
Moses, an experienced person, knew that God according to His holiness would no longer stay among the people, for the camp had become idolatrous. Therefore, Moses took his tent, which formerly had been in the camp, and pitched it outside the camp. This action was according to God’s heart.
Knowing the heart of God, Moses realized that he could not stay in an idolatrous situation. This was the reason he moved his tent outside the camp. This tent then became the tent of God. The tabernacle had not yet been constructed. Hence, Moses’ tent became the tent of meeting for the meeting between God and His people. “And it came about, when Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the door of the tent, and He would speak with Moses” (v. 9). If the people wanted to seek God, they had to go to the tent of Moses.
Moses’ tent outside the camp is a type. In Hebrews 13:12 and 13 we have the fulfillment of this type: “Wherefore also Jesus, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Let us therefore go forth unto Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.” The Lord Jesus was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem. The people of God rejected Him, the sent One of God. Even though He is the Son of God, the children of Israel had Him crucified outside the city. In Hebrews 13:13 we are urged to go forth unto Christ outside the camp, which signifies human organization.
In the last century certain teachers wrote strongly on this matter. They pointed out that today’s Christianity is a “camp,” and this camp has become idolatrous. The Lord would not remain in such an idolatrous camp. Because He has come out of that camp, whoever seeks the Lord must go forth unto Him outside the camp. We need to go unto this rejected One, the One rejected by idolatrous religion. We need to leave the idolatrous camp and go to the rejected One. This is the narrow way we must follow.
We need to ask ourselves if we are still in the “camp,” or if we have gone forth unto the Lord outside the camp. We may be able to testify that we are outside the camp. Nevertheless, we need to be careful lest we again become a camp. As soon as there is idolatry among God’s people, they become a camp.
Whatever Moses did in these chapters was according to God’s heart. He made propitiation in behalf of the children of Israel according to God’s heart, and he moved his tent outside the camp also according to God’s heart. Moses, therefore, had the ground to bargain with God for His presence and glory (33:12-23).