In the wilderness with God is better than going somewhere without him.
Exodus 33:1-4 The LORD said to Moses, "Get going, you and the people you
brought up from the land of Egypt. Go up to the land I swore to give to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I told them, 'I will give this land to your
descendants.' 2 And I will send an
angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites,
Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites."
3 "Go up to this land that flows
with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn
and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way."
4 When the people heard these stern
words, they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine
clothes.
God's people are on the way to the Promised Land after hundreds of years in
Egypt, that's where God sent his people to save them from famine and then after the government turned on them, God took them out of the kingdom of darkness to lead them to their new homeland.
We don't always see God at work, they didn't realize it, but God was probably using all of the events in Egypt to prepare them for this trip. All of the difficulty they endured, all of the miracles they witnessed, should have
produced a people that were strong in faith and ready to bless the nations because of the blessing they has received.
It is amazing that this is the same people that just saw God's mighty power
through the ten plagues in Egypt, they saw proof that their God is the only
one that can control the weather, the animal kingdom and he even has the power
of life and death.
After leaving Egypt they have seen the signs of his presence as he led them to
cross the Red Sea on dry ground in an area of the sea that was deep enough to drown their enemies. God continued to lead them through a cloud by day and a fire at night. (Exodus 13:18, 21)
God's people were sustained by supernatural food and water from Heaven, this too was a test for them that they would fail. (Exodus 15:25, 16:4, Deuteronomy 8:2, 16 Psalm 78:24 ) Later on they would fail the test by storing up more than their daily bread and after that they would grumble about the menu and fail the test.
God took them to Mount Sinai where he would display his glory so they could learn even more about him. While they were at the mountain they received God's
commandments, which they were thrilled to get and they agreed to God's terms wholeheartedly. To ratify the covenant, over seventy of their leaders ate a covenant meal where they could see that
they were up close to God.
It really looks like God's people have learned
enough about trusting him to keep them from looking for a better god, but
right after the meal, God called Moses further up the mountain to continue
receiving instructions on how to be God's people they immediately they act
like they never knew anything about God. (Exodus 24:1-18)
Exodus 32:1 When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. "Come on," they said, "make us some gods who can lead us. We don't know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt."
After all of that! Within the forty days while Moses was up the mountain the people break their
covenant by asking Aaron for a god that can lead them. The only god that Aaron
could possibly create would be a powerless man made god just like the gods
that was proved to be worthless back in Egypt. (Exodus 32:1-35)
We are told that God's people were very upset when God told his people to
continue the journey to the Promised Land without his presence to guide them
there. Out of mercy God wasn't going to be intimate with these "stiff necked" people. Their reaction is a good sign that they are not too far gone but they still need to learn more about God. (Exodus 33:1-4)
God's people need to learn:
1. The peril of God’s presence
This is probably more difficult for God's people today to understand, the
idea that God is not safe isn't a popular concept in a world full of
teaching that God is love. We tend to think of God in the New Testament as
a different God or a new version of God that Jesus was able to pacify but
the book of Revelation proves that the wrath of God still exist.
2. The privilege of God’s presence
Somehow Moses knew more than anyone else that being with God was a
privilege and he knew that he needed a special place reserved to meet with
God. Even before the Tabernacle or the Temple was ever built Moses had a
tent where he could maintain his relationship with God and intercede for
the nation.
3. The priority of God’s presence
If we truly love God and have an awareness of his glory then we will
desire to have his presence more and more. We will prioritize our time and
energy to be in God's presence and we will be hesitant to make a move
without him going along. Having a guardian angel may be good but how much
more incredibly better is it to have God going in fellowship with you?
4. The promise of God’s presence
It is a shame that out of the thousands that left Egypt to go to the
Promised Land, no one else enjoyed God's presence like Moses did. God
didn't grant everybody the same level of access, that was reserved for
those who find favor in His sight. God's people had so much experience
with him in the past that they were without excuse.
The outline above is from "God’s Presence: Dangerous, But Essential" with some of my own thoughts mixed in.
God's Man Wants More
Exodus 33:11 Inside the Tent of Meeting, the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.Exodus 33:15-16 Then Moses said, "If you don't personally go with us, don't make us leave this place. 16 How will anyone know that you look favorably on me-on me and on your people-if you don't go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth."
With all of the experiences that God's people had with him you would think
that more of them would desire to know, at a deeper level, the only God
that has done so much for them. Why would you not want to maintain your
relationship with someone who has treated you so well?
The only person that developed a chose relationship
with him as a result of these supernatural experiences was Moses. Everyone
else was upset that God wasn't going to personally lead them to the
Promised Land, but they only wanted to know God the way they already knew
him, but Moses desired to know more.
(Exodus 13:18, 21, Exodus 33:18-20)
The same man that began to know God deeper at the burning bush kept on
pushing their relationship to the next level. Moses knowledge and his
faith in God continued to grow so that he would become the bold, mighty
and faithful leader for God's people.
This is both the longing of the redeemed and the goal of their redemption—to behold the glory of God!-A. W. Pink, Gleanings in Exodus
It is amazing that God treats his people so abundantly gracious and kind and very few of his people really get it.
1 Corinthians 10:3-6 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did,
We are just like the pilgrims in the wilderness, this is not our home, we need to travel with God and nurture the desire to know him more before we reach the Promised Land.
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