“And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.”
My Notes
What Does Exodus 33:11 Mean?
Moses' relationship with God is described with the most intimate language available: "the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." The conversation is personal, direct, and characterized by the ease of friendship. Not the formality of a king addressing a subject. The intimacy of a friend addressing a friend. Face to face. Unmediated. Conversational.
The second detail—Joshua "departed not out of the tabernacle"—reveals a young man who stayed in God's presence when Moses left. Moses entered and exited. Joshua stayed. The older leader had a portable encounter. The younger leader had a residential one. Joshua's refusal to leave the tabernacle shows a hunger for God's presence that exceeded even his mentor's example.
The contrast between Moses (coming and going) and Joshua (remaining) may explain why Joshua was chosen to succeed Moses: the person who stayed in the presence when the leader left was being prepared for a leadership that required even deeper reliance on God. Moses could return to the camp and function. Joshua needed to stay in the tabernacle. The successor's formation was happening in the presence Moses visited but Joshua inhabited.
Reflection Questions
- 1.If God spoke to Moses as a friend, what kind of conversational intimacy is available to you?
- 2.Joshua stayed in the tabernacle when Moses left. Do you 'stay' in God's presence, or do you come and go?
- 3.The successor was formed by remaining in the presence. What is being formed in you through sustained time with God?
- 4.Face-to-face friendship with God—is that your aspiration? What would need to change for that kind of intimacy to become your reality?
Devotional
Face to face. As a man speaks to his friend. That's how God talked to Moses. Not through clouds or visions or burning bushes—face to face. Like friends at a table. Like equals in a conversation. The most powerful being in existence communicated with a human being the way you'd talk to your closest companion.
And Joshua stayed. When Moses left the tabernacle and returned to the camp, the young man didn't follow. He stayed in the tent. In the presence. After the conversation was over, after the leader had left, the successor remained. The tabernacle that Moses visited, Joshua inhabited.
The face-to-face friendship between God and Moses is the gold standard of divine-human relationship. It's what every subsequent saint aspires to: the unmediated, conversational, personal intimacy of friends speaking freely. No curtains between them. No formality. No fear. Just: a man and his God, speaking as friends.
Joshua's staying reveals a different but equally important dimension: the person who remains in the presence after the leader leaves is being formed for a leadership of their own. Joshua's preparation for leadership wasn't military (though he was a warrior). It was residential: he lived in the tabernacle. His training ground was the presence itself. While Moses learned to go back and forth between God and the people, Joshua learned to stay. And the staying formed the leader who would take Israel where Moses couldn't.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face,.... Not by an angel, but he himself in person; not by a dream or vision, but…
The Lord spake unto Moses face to face - That there was no personal appearance here we may readily conceive; and that…
Here is, I. One mark of displeasure put upon them for their further humiliation: Moses took the tabernacle, not his own…
would speak unto Moses face to face not from the distant heaven, or with the comparative indistinctness of a vision or a…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture