Moses has had it! It’s been too hard. He had suffered through accusations of trying to kill the Israelites. “Did you bring us into the wilderness to kill us? Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt?” He has suffered through their complaing about no food. “Why didn’t you leave us in Egypt where we sat around pots filled with meat.” He suffered through their complaints about no water. “Why didn’t you leave us in Egypt, like we said?”
Now he comes down from the mountain and sees that they had grown tired of waiting for him and had built a golden calf and were worshipping it. At the very time he was receiving the tablets of the covenant the Israelites were breaking several of them. He smashed the tablets in anger.
God then decides to destroy the whole nation. I believe as a test of Moses. He had to have had it with them as well. But God was testing him to see if had the people’s best interest foremost in his mind or not. He did! I can hear him sigh… “No Lord, don’t destroy your people. Go ahead and destroy me.” But God is pleased with Moses’ response and shows mercy, kindness and forgiveness. He sees Moses weariness and he knows exceedingly great burdon than Moses carries and he speaks graciously to Moses.
He says to Moses in 33:14, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest – everything will be fine with you.”
Jesus sees us as well. I wonder if he had Exodus 33:14 in mind when He says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all of you who are weary and burdoned and I will give you rest.”