Exodus 33:12-23
Developing a Personal Walk with God
Today’s conversation between Moses and God is pretty gutsy. Moses seems very comfortable with God, even to challenge God: “You don’t go with us, we don’t go!” Moses is praying real prayers here, nothing held back. And what is even more amazing than Moses’ frankness is God’s gentleness, God’s patience, God’s reassurance.
When you’re trying to understand a scripture, always look at the context: what’s happening around it. The conversation we’re looking at today falls between two separate deliveries of the Ten Commandments on stone tablets. Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai the first set, only to find the nation of Israel worshiping a golden calf. He was so furious he broke the tablets. Later, God would give him a second set. But right now, God is furious, too. God has told Moses he plans to send an angel in his place to accompany Israel into the Promised Land, because he’s afraid he might kill them all if he stays with them any longer, due to their continued rebellion. This is the setting for today’s dialogue, as Moses intercedes for his sinful people before a holy God. As I look at Moses’ boldness before God, I see three or four applications for us. First, like Moses, we need to ...
1. Pray for those who rebel against God.
That’s what Moses is doing at the end of verse 13. He says to God, “Remember that this nation is your people.” And notice how Moses includes himself in verse 16 as he asks, “How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?” Twice he does this. Moses intercedes for people who have rebelled terribly against God.
And we need to do the same. We all know people in rebellion against God. After all, if you are not a believer, the Bible says you are God’s enemy. You are either God’s friend or God’s enemy. There is no middle ground. We all have family members who don’t know God. We have friends who are rebelling against God, even if they are not aware they’re doing it. We have neighbors who are rebelling against God. Maybe you’re thinking, “I know, I know! But what can I do about it?” You can pray for them. That’s what you can do. We need to pray for them regularly. We need to pray often. We need to pray like Moses, “God, these people need you. They don’t stand a chance without you. Please save them. Save them from their sin and their selves, that foolish pride that tells them they don’t need you.” We need to intercede for those rebelling against God. After all, one of Jesus’ last statements from the cross was a prayer for those who did not know what they did.
Maybe some of you are thinking, “I don’t know a single person who is not a Christian.” You need to get out more! Meet some people. Go to something besides church and Bible study. Talk to someone outside the family of faith. How are you going to be salt and light to the world if all you know are Christians? We need to pray for those who don’t know God. And secondly, we need to ...
2. Hunger for the presence of God.
Moses wants God’s presence so badly that he says in verses 15 and 16, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
Indeed, what will? What will make us different from anyone else if we do not have the presence of God. The word for “presence” in the Hebrew actually means “face.” The idea is a very personal relationship with God, face-to-face. Just because you go to church does not make you a believer. The same way that, if you walk into a garage, it doesn’t make you a car. Only the presence of God in your life makes you a believer. And that is what sets us apart from the rest of the world, that God chooses to live in us. His Holy Spirit comes and takes up residence the moment we believe, the moment we yield life control to Jesus Christ, the moment we trade in our sins for Jesus’ lordship.
We need to hunger for God’s presence like we hunger for food. Missed any meals lately? Not me. In fact, if I’m late on one, I might have to grab a snack. I miss food too much. What if we hungered for God like we hunger for food? That’s what fasting does. It’s not just for medical labs, you know. We can also fast to remind ourselves how much we need God. (You might check with your doctor first, before fasting.) Without God’s presence, we are lost. We are no difference from the rest of the world. That’s what Moses says here: “Don’t send us to the Promised Land without you, God. Your presence is that important!”
We need to pray for those who rebel against God, and we need to hunger for the presence of God. And thirdly, we need to ...
3. Long for more of God.
Don’t be content in your Christian walk. Don’t be content with what God did in your life 50 years ago. What about last week? What is God doing in your life today? Long to know more of God.
Consider how far Moses had come. When he first encountered God at the burning bush, he was absolutely terrified of his voice. Now, he can look back on how God used him to deliver 3 million people from slavery, to miraculously cross a dry seabed, to wander the desert for 40 years, to bring water out of a rock and food from heaven, and now to be cusped on the edge of the Promised Land. Moses had come a long way with God, as you can see by his raw prayers. Yet, he’s not satisfied! This man who was afraid of the burning bush says, in verse 18, “Show me your glory.” The word “glory” is hard to define in English. It implies a heaviness, a majesty beyond what we’re used to. Moses wants to see God in all his fullness! He longs for more of God.
Mercifully, God says, “Moses, you can’t handle my full glory; it would kill you!” But, out of great tenderness, he adds, “Stay here in the cleft of this rock, and I’ll let you see a little of my back side.” And as God passes, the scripture says he protects Moses with the palm of his hand. It’s a beautiful picture of the Almighty God reaching out to a mere mortal with tenderness and care. And Moses gets to see the lingering portion of God’s glory after God passes.
We need to long for more of God, not to be content with how close we presently are, but to want to grow closer, ever more knowledgeable of his word, ever more cognizant of his voice, ever more appreciative of his work around us.
We need to pray for those who rebel against God, to hunger for the presence of God, to want more of God, and lastly, we need to ...
4. Shine with the light of God.
God granted Moses’ request, and Moses was changed forever. Exodus 34:29 says he “was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.” There was something changed about Moses. His face glowed! People could tell he had been with God.
When I was an associate pastor of a church in Washington state, I came into the church office one morning and discovered our worship pastor there, in his office early, with an open Bible in front of him. I said, “Hey, got a minute to talk?” He said, “Sure, but could it wait 15 minutes? I’m not a very nice person until I’ve had my time with the Lord.” He was giving me the inverse corollary, that if we’re not spending time with God, our light will not shine.
But like Moses, when we do spend time with God, our light shines. People see Jesus in us. They know our lives are different: they’re saltier and brighter. There is just something different about us. And we can then live out 1 Peter 3:15, which says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” They won’t ask about our hope if our lives aren’t different! But if we’ve been with God and we’re glowing with God’s love, they will see hope in us.
Don’t miss the irony here: we have come full circle. Earlier we were talking about hungering for the presence of God and wanting more of God. Now, in this last point, we discover that God is present in us! Immanuel means “God with us.” God manifests himself through our lives.
Scripture never records Moses describing the glory of God he glimpsed. It’s as if it was too difficult to put into words. Sometimes we feel like that, when we’ve glimpsed a little more of God.
John 1:14, 18 records how we experience God’s glory: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth... No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” Let us pray:
Dear God, thank you for showing us your glory through your son, Jesus Christ. Help us to depend on your presence in our lives, to hunger for more of you, to pray for those who don’t know you, and to allow your glory to shine through us. We ask this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.
