1)After the Golden Calf, god is furious. OK an angel will go with you, but not my presence. God almost seems to be giving some breathing space to cool off.
2) Moses seizes on this, as at the bush he was promised that god would be with him. I guess an angle was insufficient for Moses. This bold intercession harkens back to Abraham.
3) the emphasis on grace and mercy are a prelude ot the great summation of divine character in the next chapter.
4) I honestly cannot decide, at least today, if God’s holiness/grandeur/glory, in general, would kill Moses, or if this is contingent on the betrayal of the golden calf episode. At any rate, I love how God gives as much to Moses as possible. I will not speculate on the backside of God point, but I will say that perhaps it means god hides the divine face from the wrong we do. After all, it is the goodness of God that passes by Moses. It is God shielding Moses. (Is this perhaps the spot for elijah and te still small voice?
5) Moses has called on God to remember the divine purpose of Ex. 19 to make a special holy people, a kingdom of priests. this is an excellent counter to God having called Israel your people to Moses, and Moses is buttressing the contention that they are still the people of god, even though the betrayal was explicit and deep.
6) Moses is a mediator for the people par excellence. In a desperate move, he relies soley on his relationship from the bush episode to call on the gracious side of God.
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