Then the Lord said to Moses, “Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.
And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you.’ ” So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.
Moses Meets with the Lord
Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.
The Promise of God’s Presence
Then 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 grace in My sight.’ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.
And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”
So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”
And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.
The servant of God called Moses whom God used to deliver His children out of the land of captivity, was very close to God and knew God. Moses saw a lot of miracles in his day and also saw the power of God in His life at all times. Moses was always seeking God and talked to God as a friend. God manifested Himself to the children of Israelites on several occasions.
Moses set up a meeting place, to meet with God and called it tabernacle of meeting, and there the glory of God came down. The people saw the pillar of cloud and this simply means that the glory of God was visible for all to see. Whenever Moses went into the tabernacle the cloud would cover the area up and the people would worship God in His presence.
With the pillar of cloud been present around the tabernacle and with Moses talking to God as a friend, Moses still desired to know more about God and asked Him to show him his glory. I believe that we need to always seek God at all times and get to know Him better each day. Moses wanted more of God and God showed his servant more of Himself because Moses had found grace in the sight of God.
The glory of God is the presence of God Almighty Himself and that is what God wants for us all as well, to know Him and to be a friend of God. The glory is also God's goodness and He proclaims His name before us wherever we go. The word of God says no one can see God and live - Exodus 33:20.
In Exodus 13: 17 - 22
The Wilderness Way
Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.
And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.
So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
Throughout the journey in the wilderness God presence was with the children of Israel and God did not depart from them even with their stubbornness, He was still present with them giving them protection in the day and at night with His cloud of glory. God did a lot of miracles during their wilderness experience to prove to them that He was God and loved them.
Until the end of their journey God was with them but they still continued to disobey God and His Spirit was grieved and they did not make it to the promised land, as recorded in the book of Numbers only twelve spies who were a group of chieftains, one from each tribe were sent by Moses to check out the land of Canaan for forty days as a future home for the Israelite people and after they checked the land only two came back with a good report and this two made it into the promised land flowing with milk and honey.
The cloud of God's glory.
What is the glory?
It is described as the perfection of God, the praise, splendour or honour of God, it is also the goodness and the beauty of God.
Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Psalm 106:20
Thus they changed their glory
Into the image of an ox that eats grass.
Isaiah 60:1
Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
The cloud of His glory was witnessed by lots of people in different circumstances of their life and God is still the same God of glory today.
1 Kings 8:10 - 12
And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
Then Solomon spoke:
The Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud.
Solomon the king was ministering to God and as they were doing this the cloud of God's glory was revealed and the cloud filled the house of the Lord. Remember that the cloud is the presence of God. we pray that anywhere we gather the presence of His cloud of glory will fill our place of worship up in such a way that there will be changes in our lives.
Joshua 10:12
Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel:
Sun, stand still over Gibeon;
And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.
Judges 2: 10
That entire generation passed away; a new generation grew up that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel.
Judges 2:18
And when Jehovah raised up to them judges -- then was Jehovah with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it repenteth Jehovah, because of their groaning from the presence of their oppressors, and of those thrusting them away.
The cloud of God's glory.
The presence of God is the power of God and we need to witness His power in our lives often, the presence of God will save us from the hands of the enemy and help us to be overcomers in our everyday life. God's glory comes when we are in one accord in His presence, and yokes are destroyed as well. The cloud of His glory brings protection over us and our loved ones.
1 Samuel 1: 12 - 15
As she continued to pray in the Lord’s presence, Eli was watching her mouth. Hannah was praying inwardly.[ Her lips were quivering, and her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. Eli told her, “How long will you stay drunk? Put away your wine!”
“No, sir!” Hannah replied. “I’m a deeply troubled woman. I’ve drunk neither wine nor beer. I’ve been pouring out my soul in the Lord’s presence.
Hannah was pouring her heart to the God of glory and was not even praying out loud, only her lips were moving and in His presence ,she got her answer immediately. This is what the cloud of God's glory does. We really need to start pouring out our heart to the only God whose presence His is cloud of glory.
Acts 7: 54 - 60
When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
This man of God was been been stoned when He saw Jesus in His glory. And as he was been stoned the impact of the stones did not affect him, this is what the cloud of God's glory can do in our lives. He was able to say to his enemies what he was seeing in the spirit. Stephen was a man of God who saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. In the midst of all this, he prayed for forgiveness for the people who were stoning him, this is powerful and heaven was opened before the man of God.
It is written In the book of Philippians 2: 9 -11 that God has highly exalted him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The God of glory loves His Son so much and as soon as Jesus finished His work here on earth, He appeared before His Father and the Father gave Him all power in heaven and on earth and under the earth - Matthew 28: 18 - 20; Ephesians 1:21 ;Colossians 2:10 ;1 Peter 3:22.
The cloud of God's glory.
The presence of His cloud of glory will always be with us for He said in His word that He will never leave us nor forsake us - 1 Chronicles 28:20 ; 1 Kings 8:57. God does nor fail and He can never lie to us because of who He is. The cloud of His glory will bring us into the truth of His word, that will set us free. There is power in the word of God that will help us to know the fullness of God in our lives.
Lives were transformed when God's cloud of glory appeared to people and this brought them deliverance from the hands of the enemies. The cloud of His glory is not ordinary and we need to tap into the power of His glory in our lives.
Remain blessed in the presence of God's glory and believe that as you are in His presence the situation will change to His glory alone. Amen
