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.
The Tent of Meeting
7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.
8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent.
9 When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord[a] would speak with Moses.
10 And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door.
11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
Moses' Intercession
12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’
13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.”
14 And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.
16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”
17 And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”
18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”
19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock,
22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
We read in Exodus 33 how God is ready to leave the Israelites, but Moses stands in the gap and pleads with God not to leave.
Being in God's presence is in doing anything, but you cannot be in God's presence if you are in sin.
Our relationship can never be broken, but your fellowship can be interrupted.
To illustrate, a child who does something wrong, his father remains his father, but communication is disturbed. The child may hide from his father or be too scared to speak to his father. The fellowship is not reaching its full potential.
Sin breaks Fellowship with God and makes you keep distance from God.
The sin the people committed was idolatry. They picked up something to replace God. They were so stiff-necked people and God was ready to destroy them.
Do not engage in sin as a habit.
At times we don't even feel the need to repent because the blessings are still there.
Never confuse the blessing of God with the presence of God.
The plan was still intact.
The promise was still intact.
The power was still intact.
But the presence was gone.
Sometimes we feel that if we have the blessings of God everything is okay, but God will leave and keep His promises.
Moses insisted that God go with them. It was not enough to conquer the land and benefit from the promises and blessings of God. Moses knew that more importantly God go with them.
Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’
Exodus 33:12 ESV
Like Moses, Jesus stood for us. Moses demanded that God stay with them.
Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.”
Exodus 33:13 ESV
God showed His ways to Moses. Moses wanted to know the heart of God and wanted to know what he was to do. The people saw the acts of God but wanted the blessings. Knowing the heart of God is more important than knowing the power of God.
When you seek the acts of God without knowing the ways of God limits your understanding of God.
He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel.
Psalm 103:7 ESV
And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Exodus 33:14 ESV
Moses wanted more than anything to know the presence of God. God gave him rest because Moses’ heart and intentions were true.
And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
Exodus 33:19 ESV
God made all His goodness, everything that is good about God, pass before Moses. God also wanted to give Moses something different.
And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
Exodus 33:21-22 ESV
The Rock of Ages is Jesus Christ. No one could see God and live. But you could see Jesus. Moses was shown Christ.
God's presence brings rest and favor.
The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.
Genesis 39:2-3 ESV
But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Genesis 39:21 ESV
Joseph understood and practiced of staying in presence of God. We need to know that God is always watching us and sees everything we do. It is fear of God and not of man that needs to be practiced.
wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”
Psalm 105:13-15 ESV
The presence of God will protect us. No matter where we go
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