Commentary on Harmony of the Law Volume 2 Complete John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
be under God's protection and guardianship; for what was common to the whole people is ascribed to the person of Moses.
15. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not Moses accepts what is accorded to him, whilst at the same time he signifies that it would be better and more desirable for him to perish in the desert than to go any further without the manifest token of God's presence; and this he confirms in the following verse, and therefore I have inserted the expletive particle certe (indeed,) although the copula might also be resolved into the causal particle nam (for.) For he declares that the paternal favor wherewith God had embraced the people could not be known unless He should remain with them. They are mistaken who suppose that something different is here indicated from what was said just before, for exactly in the same sense God is said to go before, and to dwell in the midst of His people; but Moses refers to the promise already given, the symbol of which was the Tabernacle of the Covenant, which just before had been removed from its proper place to punish the people's sin. What he adds at the end of the verse, 369 "and we shall be separated," may also be resolved, "that thus we may be separated," or, "because in this way we shall be separated." Whence it is abundantly clear that the favor which is mentioned refers to their election or gratuitous adoption, and is its fruit or effect. For it was the intention of Moses to restore the Covenant which had been violated by the people to its original force, as if the people were reinstated in that honorable condition from whence they had fallen. And surely this is our real happiness after all, to be separated from heathen nations as God's own property; as it is said in Psalm 106:4, "Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people:
O visit me with thy salvation."
17. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also He adds nothing new, but confirms by repetition what He had just said, in order to remove all doubt. Still He declares that He is induced by no other reason than by the gratuitous favor wherewith He had embraced Moses. This, therefore, is a kind of renewal of the Covenant, when the people is consecrated to God, so as to recover again the sacerdotal kingdom.
18. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory Thus far the desires of Moses had been confined within the limits of moderation and sobriety, but now he is carried beyond due bounds, and longs for more than is lawful or expedient; for it is plain from his repulse that he had inconsiderately proceeded further than He should. He desires that God should be revealed to him more closely, and in a more manifest form than before. Still it is not foolish curiosity that impels him to this, which so often tickles men's
"Le mot que, j'ay translate,. Afin que nous soyons glorifiez, signifie aussi estre separez;" the words which I have translated, To the end that we may be glorified, signifies also to be separated. — Fr.