Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” Exodus 33:12-15
It’s astounding to me how events which took place thousands of years ago on a tiny strip of land halfway around the globe among a people whose language and culture is immeasurably different than my own, can resonate so powerfully with me today. I cannot possibly begin to understand what it would have been like to have experienced slavery in a foreign land, to have been freed by Yahweh God by plagues of frogs or water turned to blood, and to have fled on foot with millions of my people. What could I possibly have in common with them? Yet, when I read Moses’ words to Yahweh, “If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here,” I cannot help but say, “amen!” This is the very same prayer I have for our church. True, we’re not actually traveling by foot, as a body, across the middle east. But we are “entering” another year. And we are seeking to advance the Kingdom of God. And we are moving ahead toward our ultimate heavenly destination. So, we also pray…unless your presence goes with us, we don’t want to go. Unless God is with our congregation, it doesn’t matter how great our programs are or how many people shuffle through our doors. Why? Because He is both our source and our destination, the means and the goal. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. Apart from Him, we have nothing. As for Israel, there was a very specific reason why Moses had to plead with God to go with them. God’s original plan and promise was that His presence would be with Israel. However, then came that little incident involving a golden calf. Mind you, it happened while Moses was up on the mountain receiving the ten commandments from God. Kind of hard to imagine God’s people so egregiously breaking two of the ten commandments through unfaithfulness to God their Redeemer even as Moses was in the presence of Yahweh receiving divine instruction. Talk about fickle and faithless. As a result, God says to Moses in Exodus 33:3, “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.” Why does God’s presence matter so much to Moses? Well, first of all, we must remember that God’s presence, or the lack thereof, is a central aspect of the earliest human tragedy recorded in Scripture…the Fall. In Genesis 3 we find that Adam and Eve go from having God’s presence with them in the Garden to being evicted from the Garden and removed from God’s presence. The presence of God with the people of God is important. It is for this reason that Moses says, above, “you have not let me know whom you will send with me.” Moses knows very well why God has said he will not go with him. Yet, Moses is offering God some prayerful pushback. Why? Because he knows just how important it is that Yahweh God is with His people as they move forward. He has tasted the sweetness of the God who knows His people by name, the sweetness of the favor of Yahweh God. Moses knows that it’s their own sinfulness that has put them in this position, yet he also knows that it is God’s nature to redeem sinful people! It’s the same for us today. We too make choices that rob us from experiencing God’s favor. Yet the same God we see in Exodus who longs to forgive, longs to heal, longs to bless, is the very one who came as a man to be “God with us.” The incarnation of Christ is the ultimate expression of God’s presence with His people. Not only this, but the Son who came became the Savior who died to purchase our redemption so that His presence might go with us and give us rest! Yet, our experience of that rest in daily life is impacted by our obedience and walk with God. So, we pray with Moses, “teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.” As we begin this new year, may we be quick to repent of sinful ways. May we recognize the inestimable value of the presence of Yahweh God. May we pray, with Moses, that He will teach us His ways so that we may know and enjoy His presence and favor in our lives. And may we intentionally find ways to share this blessing in our homes, our church, our workplaces and our neighborhoods. “Thank you, Lord, that you know us by name!”
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
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