Exodus 33:1-6

33 The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ 2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” 4 When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” 6 Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

There is a consequence for sin. Yes, the Lord is slow to anger and quick to forgive, but nevertheless there is a consequence for our rebellion.

Here, the consequence is that the Lord sends the people forward without His presence. Remember that the purpose of the tabernacle is to provide a way for the Lord to be in the midst of the people; their idolatry has made the Lord’s presence unsafe for the people. Because it is the Lord who has won their victories, the people mourn—how can they possibly move into the Promised Land on their own strength?