January 15, 2005

Reading through the Bible in one Year:    Genesis 29:1-30:24; Matthew 10:1-15

Weekly Memory Verse: 1 Peter 3:18

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

Still catching up!

Exodus 33 (NASB95)
¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ ² “I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. ³ “Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.” ⁴ When the people heard this sad word, they went into mourning, and none of them put on his ornaments. ⁵ For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘You are an obstinate people; should I go up in your midst for one moment, I would destroy you. Now therefore, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I shall do with you.’ ” ⁶ So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. ⁷ Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance 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 And it came about, whenever Moses went out to the tent, that all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent. ⁹ Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses. ¹⁰ When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent. ¹¹ Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. ¹² Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ ¹³ “Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.” ¹⁴ And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. ¹⁶ “For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?” ¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.” ¹⁸ Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” ¹⁹ And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” ²⁰ But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” ²¹ Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; ²² and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. ²³ “Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”^[1]

We don't know how long it had been since the golden calf.  It seems to be taking place just after that incident since God is considering what He is going to do with the people of Israel.  The original promise to the people was that God was going to send the hornets before the people and drive out the inhabitants of the land before them.  God was going to fight for the people, all they had to do was to go forward and take the vacant land as God opened it up for them.  God changed His mind here.  Israel understood that the rules had changed, and that they stood a real chance of dying during the conquest.  When they turned against God, He allowed a natural consequence to take place.  He allowed them to walk according to their own wisdom, and in their own protection.  God was considering allowing them to be on their own.  This is the scene, Israel is scared to death, God was considering removing His protection from them.  They took off their jewelry and waited anxiously for the Lord's decision.

Moses had developed quite an intimate relationship with God during the time that he had spoken with God over the years.  Imagine speaking with God face to face, as a friend.  The good news is that now through the blood of Jesus, we can approach God in this same manner.  We stand holy and righteous before God, and therefore are able to enter His presence to speak to Him with boldness.

His request was really very simple.  Moses reminded God of what he had already discerned by being the mediator.  Moses knew that God considered Israel His people, ad that He had called them out of the land of Egypt.  Moses simply requested that if God was not going to go with them, that they would not move from the location.  He knew that the one thing that separated them from the other nations of the earth was that God was with them.

Everything looked hopeless for Moses at this point.  Moses was an old man, around 100 years old at this time, and the tremendous relationship that he had with God was challenged by troubles in his life.  Everything that  he had worked to achieve over the previous years, during the exodus seemed to be all for nothing.  God was considering changing the plan and abandoning Israel again to their own devices.  Things looked really bad, and God spoke with him in a special way.  Sometimes when things look totally hopeless, God chooses those times to reveal Himself to us in our lives. 

Moses wasn't just disappointed by his people, he had also blown it himself.  Moses had broken the sacred tablets that God had written on with His own hands out of extreme furious anger.  This angry fit lasted for a long time as he had burned up the golden calf and fed it to the people.  The angry fit lasted even longer as he organized the Levites to slaughter three thousand people.  Moses demonstrated a killing rage that had been hidden for over fifty years.  The first time he had killed a man, it was in anger over a slave being mistreated.  Now many years later, he had personally ordered the execution of three thousand of God's chosen people, the very people he had worked so hard to minister to. He originally killed in the name of justice, now he killed the very people he had bargained with God to protect.  Moses was at an all time low in his life. 

With all of that in mind, consider how Moses must have felt as he spoke with God.  Moses needed re-assurance that he was still God's man.  He needed assurance that God was still behind him.  God understood and worked with him where he was at.  Another thought on this, Moses had just came off the mountain top.  He walked down from a mountain, fully expecting that the very next step was to walk into the promised land and take possession.  Everything that God had shown him up to that point indicated that the battle was over, God had established a covenant with the people, and they were in the right place with God.  Moses needed to know that he was still in the right place with God. 

Considering that, I am going to close here, all comments are welcomed.

Father, as we consider Your word today, open our eyes so that we can understand and apply Your word to our lives, even when things go all wrong.

In Him,

Joe Turner.