Exodus 33:1-6 "And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb."
When the covenant people of God fall into idolatry, it is difficult to find anything comforting in the outcome. The LORD is always faithful to His promise, and He demonstrates that in verse one. In spite of the idolatry they had committed, God told Moses to take the people which he (Moses) had brought up out of Egypt and lead them to the land of promise. God had sworn an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give this land to their seed.
Notice that at this time the LORD did not say to lead the children of Israel nor did He allude to His hand in their deliverance. He was still faithful to His word that He would drive out their enemies before them a little at a time (Exodus 23:27-30). He would send an angel before them to bring them to a land of plenty. However, the LORD said He would not go up in the midst of them.
The lesson is simple. We cannot give glory to any idol and expect the LORD to walk with us. Even though they were still His people, the LORD was withholding His name from them. In First John, chapter three, and verse one, we are told to behold the manner of love that God bestows upon us that we should be recognized as His sons. Idolatry robs us of that recognition just as it causes us to rob God of His due honor and worship.
Even though it was difficult to see it at the time, God was showing them mercy. He told the people that if He went up in their midst at that time, He would destroy them. He would not bless them in their stiffnecked rebellion. Yet, He granted them a space for repentance.
They were to put off their usual adornment and dress themselves in mourning. The LORD was in no way indecisive here (verse 5). He was simply letting the people know that His judgement would stand. But in His mercy, true repentance would be recognized.
Beloved, the only honest answer to idolatry of any sort is a heartbroken mourning for our transgression against our great God of mercy. We cannot simply walk away from it to save our skin, so to speak. We cannot go on as if nothing really happened. If we would have the LORD in our midst to bless, then we must, with all humility, bring our stiffnecked nature under subjection to the Spirt and bow ourselves before the righteous judgement of God.