Holly Bible - KJV with Concise Commentaries by Z Selam - HTML preview
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5 For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel,
Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in
a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.
He tells them what they deserved, that he should come into the midst of them in a moment, and consume them, Ex 33:5. Had he dealt with them according to their sins, he had taken them away with a swift destruction.
Note, Those whom God pardons must be made to know what their sin deserved, and how miserable they would have been if they had been unpardoned, that God's mercy may be the more magnified.
He speaks as one that was at a loss what course to take with them. Justice said, "Cut them off, and consume them." Mercy said, "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?" Ho 11:8. Well, says God, put off thy ornaments, that I may know what to do with thee; that is, "Put thyself into the posture of a penitent, that the dispute may be determined in thy favour, and mercy may rejoice against judgment," Ex 33:5. Note, Calls to repentance are plain indications of mercy designed. If the Lord were pleased to kill us, justice knows what to do with a stiff-necked people: but God has no pleasure in the death of those that die; let them return and repent, and then mercy, which otherwise is at a loss, knows what to do.
6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments
by the mount Horeb.
7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp,
afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.
One mark of displeasure put upon them for their further humiliation: Moses took the tabernacle, not his own tent for his family, but the tent wherein he gave audience, heard