Do you have too many irons in the fire? The expression too many irons in the fire originated from the blacksmithing trade. If a blacksmith had multiple irons in the fire at once, it cooled the fire and none of the pieces of iron would get hot enough.
If the blacksmith had one iron in the fire it was glowing from being in the burning coals. The iron becomes so hot that if you even put it near a piece of paper it will ignite. That paper will burst into flames without even actually touching the hot iron.
Something like that happens for people who live in the presence of God. That hot iron just out of the burning coals is an illustration of someone who is fully immersed in the presence of God. They are spiritually red hot and ignite spiritual fire in others. Moses had one iron in the fire. He was fully in the presence of God.
There is something like the iron in the fire for anyone who lives in the presence of God. Their lives ignite others. There is power in the presence of God. Anyone can become the iron in the fire. Moody was preaching in many places and his critic asked him, does Moody have a monopoly on God? He replied, no, it is not like that. God has a monopoly on Moody.
This passage seems like a wonderful time of fellowship between Moses and God. But the context puts in perspective that this was not all good. The Israelites just made the golden calf and worshipped the image. They just thanked the golden calf for delivering them from slavery in Egypt. There was lewd activity during this time of idol worship. (Exodus 32:1-6)
The worst part for Moses was God was now going to withdraw His presence from His people. God was going to send an angel instead of His presence. This is a wonderful and blessed scene of scripture. Where sin abounds, grace abounds.
Moses makes three inquiries of God:
• Show me your way (Exodus 33:12-13)
• Give us your presence (Exodus 33:14-17)
• Show me your glory (Exodus 33:18-23)
Show me your way (Exodus 33:12-13). Moses is not asking for guidance in this request. He wants to know about the Lord himself. Moses presses for this based on the favor he has in God’s sight (Exodus 33:12).
You have recognized me as your servant Moses says. You have called me to be the leader of this people. Don’t leave me in uncertainty regarding your intensions. Moses is expressing faith. To know God’s way is to seek a deeper and more blessed knowledge of God himself.
It is not selfish for Moses to ask God for his favor in this sense. It seems to be the hardest thing for followers of Christ to seek God and truly know the way of God. Know the ways of God will mean spending time in prayer and in God’s Word. This does not come about by rigorous activity, but by quiet fellowship with God.
Setting aside time with God is not easy. We forget the most important thing. Who do you know who is making a genuine impact for God? It is the ones who have a quiet time and seek a relationship with God.
Moses relies on God’s promise with his oath to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his burning bush call. All who have put their faith in Christ have direct access to God. Not only may we seek God himself, but He also desires us to seek him. Don’t let anything get in your way of spending time with God to know His ways. God’s answer to Moses’ request came in verse 14. My presence with go with you.
Next request of Moses is; Give us your presence. After the great sin worshipping the golden calf God has withdrawn his presence. An angel will be with them now, not God. Without the presence of God, Israel and Moses are not only certain to fail in their mission set before them, but they also cannot even begin it.
What Israel had seen, what they had been given, what they had a chance of becoming, all were a direct result of the presence of God in their midst. The need to reverse the prospect of the absence of God was urgent. Moses focused his question, verse 16, on the very existence of a people.
Only God’s presence separates them from all other people. No people no matter how religious, can be a people of God, without the presence of God. What makes a believer separate from the worldly? Only God’s presence. What makes a believer in Christ separate? Only God’s presence.
There are moral societies with no alcohol, not drugs, no prostitution and they are faithful in ritual prayer. Without the presence of God, they are not a separate community. Only with the presence of God will we be a community of people with something special. It is not because of moral ethics, as good as those are, it is because of the presence of God.
Moses felt that without the presence of God all is in vain. He must have the promise of God’s presence. Jesus said, I am with you until the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20). That is the presence of God. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil, for you are with me. (Psalm 23:4) Moses’ request is about the presence of God for his people. He knows that having the presence of God is the only way to walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5) which is quoting Deuteronomy 31:6. We as believers have these promises of God’s presence. But we do not enjoy the fulness of God’s presence with unconfessed sin. Israel lost the presence of God because of their sin.
God is Omnipresent, but there is a manifested presence of God and Israel lost this presence of God. There have been powerful examples of those who turned the world upside down because they lived in the presence of God.
There are biblical, historical, and contemporary examples of those who God used in extraordinary ways because they had the presence of God in their lives. God uses ordinary people who seek and live in his presence. Our quiet time with God is the foundation of living in the presence of God.
Moses made a third enquiry of God. Show me your glory (Exodus 33:18-23). Because the Lord knows Moses by name, and he has the Lord’s acceptance Moses asks this.
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” The Lords response.
And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” 21 Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18-23).
The outcome of the fellowship Moses had with God was for him to see the Glory of God. We must seek after God as the deer pants for the water. For those who know the presence of God, they seek more of God. Seeing the glory of God, the revealed greatness of God is the longing of the redeemed.
There are other passages where it is said that Moses talked with God face to face. Something different is happening here. Moses apparently desired to apprehend the full nature of God. God reserves Moses from seeing His face.
To behold God face to face is to know him absolutely, to exhaust the depth of his being, to remove the mystery of his being God. Ultimately as believers we will know God in His fullness (1 John 3:2). When He appears we will see him as he is.
Isaiah gives the imagery that the sun will be ashamed at the glory of god. (Isaiah 24:23). God will use his hand to protect the face of Moses from seeing his full glory. This imagery of God’s hand is used, but the point is that Moses is not to see God face to face. God is spirit (John 4:24). As Spirit God is unseeable.
His Goodness passes. There is a connection between God’s goodness and God’s glory. Moses sees only the afterglow which God leaves behind him, but still, this suggests faintly what the full brilliance of His presence is. When Moses came down from the mountain Aaron and the Israelites saw him and were afraid. His face was radiant. Moses put a veil over his face (Exodus 34:29-33).
There is the statement of God. And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. (Exodus 33:19)
Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. God’s goodness found in the context of the sin of Israel. Where do you find yourself today? Is your life a mess? The Israelites were in more of a mess. The mercy of God rings out in what happens in Exodus 32-33. How much more for believers on this side of the cross.
The sin of the golden calf was the valley. This is followed by the mountain top where God gave his presence to Moses in a unique way. It is time to seek the ways of God. We need the presence of God. We need to experience the glory of God.
Do not grow cold. You need to have your iron in the fire of the presence of God. You need to experience the power of the presence of God. Superficial faith needs to be replaced by the presence of God. We need a fresh vision of the glory of God.
