Study Number 42 Proclaim the Name of Jehovah to Moses

 Exo_33:4-6. The tabernacle or tent is pitched without the camp, Exo_33:7. Moses goes to it to consult the Lord, and the cloudy pillar descends on it, Exo_33:8, Exo_33:9. The people, standing at their tent doors, witness this, Exo_33:10. The Lord speaks familiarly with Moses; he returns to the camp, and leaves Joshua in the tabernacle, Exo_33:11. Moses pleads with God, and desires to know whom he will send to be their guide, and to be informed of the way of the Lord, Exo_33:12, Exo_33:13. The Lord promises that his presence shall go with them, Exo_33:14. Moses pleads that the people may be taken under the Divine protection, Exo_33:15, Exo_33:16. The Lord promises to do so, Exo_33:17. Moses requests to see the Divine glory, Exo_33:18. Exo 33:18  And he said, I beseech You, let me see Your glory.

Barnes Notes :But his request could not be granted in accordance with the conditions of human existence. The glory of the Almighty in its fullness is not to be revealed to the eye of man. Compare Jdg_6:22; Isa_6:5. A further revelation of the divine goodness was however possible (see Exo_33:6-7).
It was vouchsafed to Paul, as it had been to Moses, to have special “visions and revelations of the Lord” 2Co_12:1-4. But he had, also like Moses, to find the narrow reach of the intellect of man in the region of Godhead 1Ti_6:16. 
However intimate may be our communion with the Holy One, we are still, as long as we are in the flesh, “to see through a glass darkly,” waiting for the time when we shall see, with no figure of speech, “face to face” 1Co_13:12. Then we know “that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” 1Jo_3:2.

Exo 33:19  And the LORD said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the Name of Jehovah before you. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. 

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee,.... Which is his glory; the glory of the Lord lies in his goodness, and that appears in the works of his hands, in the methods of his providence, especially in the distribution of his sovereign grace and mercy, and particularly in his pardoning grace and mercy, through the blood of Christ; for as it is "the glory" of a man "to pass over a transgression", Pro_19:11 much more it is the glory of God, of which this goodness is afterwards interpreted; and may be understood of Christ himself, who is the goodness of God itself, is not only good, but the Lord's good One, emphatically good; as he is called his holy One, so his good One; because all his goodness is laid up in him, is prevented and filled as Mediator, with the blessings of his goodness

and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee: his name and his nature, his perfections, and the glory of them, as displayed in Christ; or when he is about to pass, or while he is passing by, lest he should pass by unobserved, I will proclaim aloud and give thee notice that he is now passing by thee, whose name is Jehovah, and whose nature, glory, and goodness, are as follow:

and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy: signifying that notwithstanding the children of Israel had sinned against him in such a manner as they had, yet he should show favour, grace, and mercy to them, in pardoning their sins; and it should be distributed, not according to any merits of theirs, but according to his sovereign will and pleasure, and not to all, but to whomsoever he thought fit; and in this would be seen his glory: and so it is with respect to grace and mercy, as displayed in Christ to sinful men;


Exo 33:20  And He said, You cannot see My face. For there no man can see Me and live.
Exo 33:21  And Jehovah said, Behold! There is a place by Me, and you shall stand upon a rock.
Exo 33:22  And it will be, while My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.
Exo 33:23  And I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back parts. But My face shall not be seen.

Applications
1. What Pardoning Grace the LORD shows to the Children of Israel. The Revelation of His power and Glory has never been shown to any other people in like manner.
2. When the Lord reveals himself to you He will show you his Glory in His mighty acts and his protective providence but the real face to face encounter is for the future.