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Exodus 33

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, Go, go·​·up from hence, thou and the people which thou hast made to come·​·up out of the land of Egypt, to the land which I promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To thy seed will I give it;

2 and I will send before thee an angel; and I will drive·​·out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite;

3 to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go·​·up in the midst of thee; for a stiff necked people art thou; lest I should consume· thee ·all in the way.

4 And the people heard this evil word, and they mourned; and they put not any man his decoration upon him.

5 And Jehovah said to Moses, Say to the sons of Israel, You are a stiff necked people; I will come·​·up into the midst of thee in one moment, and will consume· thee ·all; and now bring·​·down thine decorations from on thee, and I shall know what I will do to thee.

6 And the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their decoration, by Mount Horeb*.

7 And Moses took the tent, and stretched it for himself outside the camp, to be·​·far·​·away from the camp; and he called it the tent of the congregation. And it was, that everyone seeking Jehovah went·​·out to the tent of the congregation that was outside the camp.

8 And it was, as Moses went·​·out to the tent, all the people rose·​·up, and each·​·man stood·​·up at the entrance of his tent, and looked behind Moses, until he came·​·into the tent.

9 And it was, as Moses came·​·into the tent, the pillar of cloud went·​·down, and stood at the entrance of the tent, and spoke with Moses.

10 And all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent; and all the people rose·​·up and bowed· themselves ·down, each·​·man at the entrance of his tent.

11 And Jehovah spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his companion. And he returned to the camp; and his minister Joshua the son of Nun, a lad, departed not from the midst of the tent.

12 And Moses said to Jehovah, See, Thou sayest to me, Make this people come up; and Thou hast· not ·made·​·known to me whom Thou wilt send with me. And Thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast· also ·found grace in My eyes.

13 And now, I pray, if I have found grace in Thine eyes, make·​·known to me, I pray, Thy way, that I may know Thee, because I have found grace in Thine eyes; and see that this nation is Thy people.

14 And He said, My faces shall go, and I will give thee rest.

15 And he said to Him, If Thy faces go not, do not make us go up from hence.

16 And in what shall it then become·​·known that I have·​·found grace in Thine eyes, I and Thy people? is it not in Thy going with us? And we shall be set·​·apart, I and Thy people, above all the people that are on the faces of the ground.

17 And Jehovah said to Moses, I will do this word also that thou hast spoken; because thou hast·​·found grace in My eyes, and I know thee by name.

18 And he said, Make me see, I pray, Thy glory.

19 And He said, I will make all My goodness to pass upon thy faces, and will proclaim in the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be·​·gracious to whom I am·​·gracious, and I will have·​·compassion with whom I have·​·compassion.

20 And He said, Thou art· not ·able to see My faces; for man shall not see Me and live.

21 And Jehovah said, Behold, a place with Me, and thou shalt stand·​·up on the rock;

22 and it shall be when My glory passes·​·by, that I will set thee in a cleft of the rock, and will shelter with My palm over thee, until I have passed·​·by.

23 And I will remove the palm of My hand, and thou shalt see My back; and My faces shall not be seen.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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True Christian Religion # 370

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370. (ii) A link is impossible with God the Father, but it is possible with the Lord, and through Him with God the Father.

This is taught by Scripture and is to be seen by the reason. Scripture teaches that God the Father has never been seen or heard, and cannot be seen or heard either; nor likewise can anything from Him, such as He is in His being and His essence, work upon man. For the Lord says:

No one has seen God, except Him who is with the Father; He has seen the Father, John 6:46.

No one knows the Father, except the Son, and any to whom the Son has wished to reveal Him, Matthew 11:27.

You have never heard the Father's voice, nor have you seen His appearance, John 5:37.

The reason is that He is in the first principles and beginnings of everything, and so is far and away above any level attainable by the human mind. For He is in the first principles and beginnings of the whole of wisdom and the whole of love, and with these man can have no link. Therefore if He should approach a person, or a person should approach Him, he would be consumed and dissolved, like a piece of wood in the focus of a large burning glass, or rather like an image thrown into the sun itself. That is why Moses was told, when he desired to see God, that man cannot see Him and live (Exodus 33:20).

[2] It is evident from the passages just quoted that a link is possible with God the Father through the Lord. These state that it is not the Father, but the only-begotten Son, who is in the Father's bosom and has seen the Father, who has expounded and revealed what is of God and from God. Moreover, it is evident from the following:

On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me and I am in you,John 14:20.

I have given them the glory which you gave me, so that they might be one, as we are one; I in them and you in me, John 17:22-23, 26.

Jesus said, I am the way, truth and life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And then Philip wished to see the Father, but the Lord answered him, He who sees me sees the Father also, and he who knows me knows the Father also, John 14:6-7ff.

Elsewhere:

He who sees me sees Him who sent me, John 12:45.

Moreover He says that He is the door, and he who enters by Him is saved, and he who climbs up another way is a thief and a robber (John 10:1, 9). He also says that he who does not remain in Him is cast out of doors, and thrown into the fire like a withered branch (John 15:6).

[3] This is because the Lord our Saviour is Jehovah the Father himself in human form; for Jehovah came down and became man, so that He could approach men and men could approach Him, thus establishing a link, and by the link give men salvation and everlasting life. For when God became man, and so man also became God, then by adapting Himself suitably He could approach men, and be linked with them as God-man and Man-god. There are three stages which follow in sequence: adaptation, application and linking. There must be adaptation before there can be application; and there must be adaptation and application together before linking is possible. Adaptation was achieved by God by becoming man. Application by God is constant, in so far as man in turn applies himself; and as this happens, so linking takes place. These three stages follow and proceed in their proper sequence in all details, which become one and come into existence together.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.