Moses’
intercession finds its force, therefore, in the implied biblical premise that
“the most fundamental characteristic of God’s righteousness is his allegiance
to his own name, that is, to his honor and glory.” It is not just that God’s
reputation will be ruined if he does not keep his promise, but that it would be
evil for God not to keep his promise precisely because it would call his
own trustworthiness and honor into question. Knowing this, Moses reminds YHWH
that these people are his people, whom he (not Moses, cf. 32:7!)
delivered from the land of Egypt (32:11 f.), and that God’s original commitment
to this people was motivated only by his own sovereign will (32:13).
Nothing outside of YHWH’s own character and gracious desire compelled hm to
call Abraham and deliver Israel. But now that God has made this promise
and identified himself with this people, the glory of his own “name” (cf. Exod.
3:13-15!) is at stake. YHWH ought to turn from his anger not because the people
deserved to be spared or because his covenant with the Patriarchs is of a
different nature than that with Moses, but because to destroy them now would
defame his own glory, something which God cannot do.
Based on
this premise, Moses’ intercession is effective. God grants Moses’ request not
to destroy the people. Indeed, the narrator intimates in verse 14 that YHW Hence
again even regards them as “his people,” in spite of their having broken the
covenant. But the same righteous commitment to his own glory that motivates God
not to destroy Israel also demands that he judge the nation for her sin. Israel
has broken the covenant and God’s own covenant commitments necessitate that he
punish her for it. (Scott J. Hafemann, Paul, Moses, and the History of
Israel: The Letter/Spirit Contrast and the Argument from Scripture in 2
Corinthians 3 [Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995], 200-1)