Exodus 33

There follows a period of suspense, during which the people mourned, and Moses set up a tent outside the camp. Here God came in the pillar of cloud to speak with him

  1. What was God’s attitude at this time:
    (a) towards the people, and
    (b) towards Moses?
    What were Moses’ three petitions?
    What answers did God give?
  2. How do the prayers and answers of this chapter show:
    (a) the growth of Moses’ desire and faith, and
    (b) the richness of God’s grace?


  1. Verses 1-3. The cause of mourning seems to be that God threatens to revoke the promise of 25:8; 29:45, 46 and to return to the earlier method of guidance by is angels (cf. 14:19; 18:20-23).
  2. Verse 7. This tent of meeting cannot be the tabernacle (although it was sometimes called by that name: 29:42-44; 35:21), because it was not yet built. It was apparently an ordinary tent pitched outside the camp during the period of suspense