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1 The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ 2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” 4 When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” 6 Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. 7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. 8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. 9 When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses.
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭33:1-9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I. Recapping Golden Calf
A. While Moses is on the mountain Israel commits idolatry & Moses intercedes for Israel.
B. Moses calls for sinners who will not repent be put to death. (Romans 3:19-20)
C. God spares some who deserve death by setting aside their sin through His Son standing in their spot. (Romans 3:23, 6:23)

II. Refusal to Go Forward
A. Sin makes us unlike God and unlikeable to God. (Romans 8:7-8)
B. God offers blessing despite their betrayal but for their sake will not go forward with them. (Genesis 12:1-3)

III. Repentance Born of Godly Conviction
A. Israel repents when they realize they may still have the promises of God but have lost what really mattered in the presence of God.
B. God will meet us where we are, but we must always leave sin behind to come to Him. (Exodus 25:9, Hebrews 13:12-14)

IV. Next Step: Receiving God’s Greatest Gift
A. The greatest gift of the Gospel is God Himself and to think otherwise is to be a spiritual gold digger. (Colossians 3:11, Luke 9:23)