I want to show you something that is hidden and hard to see in this Scripture.

Exodus 33:3-God tell the Israelites they are a stiff-necked people.

v5-He repeats this and threatens to come up in a moment and consume them.

v7-Moses removes the tabernacle far off from the camp (here God is removing himself from them).

From then on, only Moses and Joshua and the High Priest ever entered into the Glory of God.

V11-God speaks face to face, as friend to Moses.

v12-Moses says to God, you have said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.

This ties God 'knowing thee by name' with finding Grace in His sight together.

v13-Moses says to God, If I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

Moses is NOT making a statement that the nation is His people; he is pleading for this to be the case!

v14-And he said , My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. (speaking only to Moses).

v15-And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.

v16-For wherein shall it be known here that I AND THY PEOPLE HAVE FOUND GRACE IN THY SIGHT? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.

v17-And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for THOU hast found grace in my sight, and I know THEE by name.

v18-And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory.

v19-..I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

v21-God placed Moses on a rock =Christ. while my glory passeth by, I will put thee in a cleft of the ROCK, and will cover thee with my hand, while I pass by: and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Moses interceded several times here, for God to say the Israelites were His people, and that they had found Grace; but God never did say this. He kept repeating that Moses had found grace; Moses was the only one of them God knew by name.

Moses was the only one of them God showed His glory to . God showed Moses grace; but the others only had and saw LAW.

Go back to chapter 32.

Read 5-14- God was angry at the people for their worship of the golden calf; He told Moses to get out of His way and let Him destroy that nation of stiff-necked, hard-hearted people.

But, Moses pleaded with God not to do this. It was only for His name sake and the fact that Moses had found grace, that God did not destroy them all right there.

The Law makes people hard-hearted- and stiff-necked. It is darkness; it is death; it blinds them.

That nation, to whom God only gave darkness, blindness, law, death was NOT and IS NOT and NEVER WILL BE GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE.

The glory Moses saw, the NT Church, the Grace people, the life, the light, the soft-hearted, the obedient Christians, blood washed by Jesus-- this is what God showed Moses in that clift of the Rock. Moses was NOT under LAW; BUT THAT NATION OF ISRAEL WAS.

That nation in darkness, hard-heartedness, stiff-necked people IS NOT THE CHOSEN OF GOD.

God only used them to show the world what LAW, darkness, blindness, hard-heartedness, stiff-necked, disobedient, without faith, people are ,and what is their eternal destination.

God's chosen nation and people are described in Peter's books as the Royal nation, the peculiar, chosen nation; HE SAID THOSE WHO HAD NOT BEEN A PEOPLE = THE GENTILES-were this royal priesthood.

v7&8 show that the builders (that nation of Israel) had rejected the true corner stone (Jesus); they were disobedient--WHEREUNTO ALSO THEY WERE APPOINTED.

(I will be merciful unto whom I will; and whom I will, I harden).

v9-But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

v10-(this is important-people, GET THIS!).

Which in time past WERE NOT A PEOPLE, but are NOW the PEOPLE OF GOD: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained Mercy.

Now, WHO is that speaking of?

Notice, back in Ex. 32- when Moses was interceding to God not to destroy Israel, he reminded God of his promise to Abraham-God had told Abraham he would make his seed as the sand of the sea and the stars: most people think this means those natural children; but no, Abraham was the Father of the faithful.

That is what God wanted Moses and all the earth to see. Those natural children were NOT that promised seed; the Christians were the children of Jesus.

It was the Gentiles who had been told, You are not my people, It was them who had not been a people; then it is them who are now the people of God. It is the Christians who are the seed of Abraham that God wanted to save. They are the ones who received Grace. We are the ones God knows by name.

We are the ones on the Rock; we are the ones who fulfilled the promise of God to Abraham; those who are Christ's; those are the children of Abraham. We are the true Jews.

Gal 3:29.

The children of the flesh are NOT counted for the seed; they are NOT the children of God or of Abraham.

Get those natural, fleshly, hard-hearted, stiff-necked people out of your minds; they are not the children of God. We, the Christian are.

By: Jo Smith