“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.”
Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way. The withdrawal of divine presence is framed as mercy: I might destroy you on the way. The holiness of God's presence is dangerous to the stiff-necked — contact with the holy God who has just been offended would not be safe for those who committed the golden calf apostasy. The offer of angel-guided success without divine presence is generous in terms of outcomes but devastating in terms of relationship. Isaiah 63:9 says the angel of his presence saved them — the distinction between an angel's guidance and God's personal accompaniment is exactly what Exodus 33 is pressing.
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