The Journey
Exodus 33:14
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtPCqEgRAZo
As Michaela and I were away the other week, I began to meditate upon this Scripture and the journey we are upon as God’s people. It’s a journey that leads us away from the bondage of the world and towards the promises of God, especially the land of promise we are to inherit and inhabit.
Now I have been in prayer concerning what this looks like for Michaela and myself as we will be on a new journey, one that sees us back in Las Vegas, but still pastoring Living Waters Fellowship, and what this will look like and what God will be doing.
But at the same time, this is a message for everyone, as we are all on a journey with the Lord’s promises ahead of us, and then what this journey looks like.
But why do we need such a study as this? It’s because the conditions they faced, is what we, both individually and as the church are facing in this present day and age, as we look forward to Jesus’s promised return.
The Apostle Paul reveals why this is so important to study and know.
“Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.” (Romans 15:4 NLT)
So, take a look at this remarkable passage.
The Lord said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14 NKJV)
A couple of months earlier, God had delivered Israel from 400 years of slavery to the Egyptians and put them on the road leading to the land promised by God to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the journey wasn’t going to be easy. The Sinai desert was a desolate area, an area of depravation, and a land of many trials, difficulties, and enemies.
They had now reached their first step of that journey, Mount Sinai, where they would meet with God who would give them their marching orders and where He would reveal Himself as their God, and they would be His people. This would be accomplished through the giving of His law by which they would live the rest of their lives by.
And if I could, this is where we find ourselves today. We are on a similar journey as believers in Jesus Christ, journeying through the wilderness of this world, a world filled with desolation, depravation, trials, difficulties, and a spiritual enemy, Satan, who wants to stop, or at least hinder our forward progress, not only towards the promises of God, but towards our ultimate goal of heaven.
In the same way that God didn’t abandon Israel in this journey, God doesn’t abandon us, which is seen in His wonderful promise of His presence and rest to see us through.
But before we get to the journey that would require both the presence of God and His rest, let’s see what prompted God to give this promise in the first place.
Israel was now camped out at the base of Mount Sinai, where God called Moses to come up and receive the instructions and commandments of God. But the people became restless seeing how long Moses remained upon the mountain. So, they decided to make for themselves a golden calf and said that this was the god that delivered them. And they sacrificed to the golden image and celebrated by feasting, getting drunk, and dancing before it as the other nations celebrated their gods.
And so, after giving to Moses the Ten Commandments, the Lord told him to quickly get down and confront this sin of idolatry, as they literally broke the first of the Ten Commandments given by God.
The Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.” (Exodus 32:9-10 NKJV)
But Moses interceded on behalf of Israel asking God to turn away from His anger, saying, “Forgive their sin, but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!” (Exodus 32:32 NKJV)
And God heard Moses’s prayer and told him to lead the people into their heritage, and while He said that He would not accompany them on the journey because they were a rebellious people, He did tell Moses that His presence and rest would be there for him and for the people, which is the signature verse for our study today.
But notice something about the text and then this verse that is often missed, but it is significant in Moses’s leadership.
Verses 12-13 says, “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.” (Exodus 33:12-13 NKJV)
You see, God told Moses to lead them, but He said that His presence wouldn’t go with them, because they were so stiff-necked that He would end up consuming them. But Moses, while acknowledging God’s call, and how God knew his name and how he found grace in God’s sight, he still pleaded for the Lord to remember and consider that these were His people.
And so, God said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14 NKJV)
But again, Moses interceded saying, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place.” (Exodus 33:15 NKJV)
And the Lord said, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.” (Exodus 33:17 NKJV)
And so, on this journey to the Promised Land, God presence would be with them, and He would give them rest.
God’s Presence
God gave to Israel His first-string players, that is, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb. Mighty men of Valor! But there is something more desirable, that is, a presence that is greater than these, and that is God’s divine presence.
Now, take a moment and think about God’s presence that was going along with them. He is almighty in power, infinite in wisdom, always present, and sufficient for everything they needed along the way.
· Paul said, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31 NKJV)
· Through the prophet Isaiah the Lord said, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10 NKJV)
· Moses, right before they entered into the Promised Land at the end of their journey, and the beginning of another said, “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6 NKJV)
God’s Presence is Visible
“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.” (Exodus 13:21-22 NKJV)
God is with us, and His presence is readily available for all to see. All we have to do is to look around us.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” (Psalms 19:1 NKJV)
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20 NKJV)
And we see how God made His Presence known to Moses. Moses asked the Lord, “Please show me Your glory.” And the Lord placed Moses in the cleft of a rock and revealed Himself.
And then, Moses went up on Mount Sinai again, and the Lord again passed before Him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7 NKJV)
And it says that Moses made haste and bowed down to worshiped (Exodus 34:8).
Now, the visible presence of God in the pillar of cloud and fire, day and night, reveals something else about God’s presence.
God’s Presence is Continuous
God’s presence was continuous throughout this journey to the Promised Land. And so will God be present with us on our journey through this wilderness until we reach the Promised Land of heaven.
“My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26 NKJV)
Life reminds us that these bodies will fail. Good health is not guaranteed. Cancer, illnesses, disabilities, and other ailments remind us that life on this earth is not perfect, and that we all will face our own morality. But, as believers in Jesus Christ we have our hope in Him and an eternity in heaven He has waiting for us.
Jesus said, “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b NKJV)
Jesus also said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3 NKJV)
Therefore, we need to get serious about pursuing the presence of God. Further, coming into the presence of God isn’t a one-time event, rather it is to be a continuous process every day.
“Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore!” (Psalm 105:4 NKJV)
But there is more about God’s presence that we need to understand.
God’s Presence is Everywhere
The Lord speaks about His presence filling every part of space. In other words, there is no place where God isn’t.
Through the prophet Jeremiah the Lord said, “Am I a God near at hand … and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him? … Do I not fill heaven and earth?” (Jeremiah 23:23-24 NKJV)
And so, God reveals that there is no place that we can hide that He is not present. Now, in theological circles it’s called God’s omnipresence, that is, God is everywhere present.
There is never a time that God is not present. And God’s presence doesn’t need to be refreshed or replenished, and that’s because God never gets tired.
This is seen in what the prophet Isaiah declares, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.” (Isaiah 40:8 NKJV)
King David understood this as well, that there was no place where God isn’t, but he brings it to a more personal level.
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.” (Psalm 139:7-10 NKJV)
This then brings me to the last point about God’s presence.
God’s Presence is Personal
Nothing could be more wonderful than knowing and sensing the presence of God, and that it’s God’s greatest desire that we come into His presence.
“Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing.” (Psalm 100:2 NKJV)
This is probably one of the most beautiful pictures. That God want us to come into His presence, that is, to have a close and intimate relationship with Him.
What is interesting about this word “presence,” is that it literally means, “in the face of.”
This is the type of relationship that Moses had with God. After Moses dealt with the sin of idolatry it says that He went outside the encampment to the tabernacle of meeting, and the pillar of cloud of God’s presence descended and the Lord talked with Moses (Exodus 33:9).
“So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” (Exodus 33:11a NKJV)
Moses had a real and personal relationship with the Lord, where He talked with Him as one man speaks to another, that is, face to face.
And it is such a desire that God has for us, that is, He desires that we experience His presence in a real and personal way, so much so that He came to personally be with us as Matthew quotes the Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 7:14.
“‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’” (Matthew 1:23 NKJV)
What a promise this is, that the Almighty, ever-present God came to earth. That the Lord, the 2nd person of the Godhead, the Messiah, Jesus, came and became flesh, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
And it’s in Jesus coming that we can now see the second aspect of God’s promise to Moses and to Israel upon this journey, and that is His rest.
God’s Rest
Now, on this journey where God promised them His presence and rest, their destination was the land of Canaan. Now, many a commentator has talked about this as the rest that will come once this journey of ours is completed. In other words, God’s rest will come when we arrive in heaven once this life is over. In fact, some of the old spirituals called it Canaan Land.
But this falls short of God’s promise, because God’s promise was that His presence would accompany them and, in His presence, there would be rest.
Now, in the Hebrew language, this word for rest is the word, “Sabbath,” which means to cease, desist, or rest. It is found in God’s law, the 4th commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy.
But the rest God promises is more than a day, or a physical rest. It is a spiritual rest. The writer of Hebrews says that on the seventh day God rested from all of His labors, and because of that there remains a rest for God’s people.
“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.” (Hebrews 4:9-10 NKJV)
And so, it’s through God’s grace that there’s a rest for His people, it’s a rest where we cease from striving and let God take over. And that is truly the type of rest we all need.
I read a newspaper article that said, “The world is too big for us. There’s too much going on, too many crimes, too much violence, and excitement. Try as you will, you get behind in the race, in spite of yourself. It’s an incessant strain, to keep pace … and still you lose ground. Science empties its discoveries on you so fast that you stagger beneath them in hopeless bewilderment. In the political world news is seen so rapidly that you’re out of breath trying to keep pace with who’s in and who’s out. Everything is high pressure. Human nature can’t endure much more.”
What is sad about this article is that it appeared in the Atlantic Journal on June 16, 1833.
Pastor Vance Havner said, “We all need to come apart to rest before we come apart, period.”
And so, while we may be bone tired, weary beyond reckoning, we’re to continue forward in the work and calling of God. This is what the Lord shared with the Apostle Paul, that God’s grace and strength was manifested in his, that is, Paul’s weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9).
But there’s one more thing that helps us to continue when we feel like quitting, and that’s the rest God gives. This is not a physical rest, although God knows our need for such, but rather it’s a rest that’s available for our souls.
Through the prophet Jeremiah the Lord alluded to such a rest.
“Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16 NKJV)
When we’re moving in the will and way of the Lord, there’s a rest for our souls that God graciously gives.
Jesus tells us that this rest is found in Him.
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29 NKJV)
Therefore, it is only when we’re in the presence of Jesus through faith, that God’s rest will be ours.
Conclusion
Let me conclude our time together by saying that the unfortunate reality is that many of us have grown accustomed to living without God’s personal touch. And so, what we need is for God to bring us back to that place where we desire His presence and seek His face.
To accomplish this, we need to develop a passion for God’s presence, which is brought out by King David when he had a hard time seeing God in his situation and was crying out to Him.
“When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ My heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek.’” (Psalm 127:8 NKJV)
There was a passion, a longing for, and need for God’s presence, which is brought out beautifully in another one of David’s Psalms.
“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.” (Psalm 42:1 NKJV)
And so, we need to thirst for God’s presence in the same way our bodies thirst for water.
God desires our presence, so much so that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, so that whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life. But here’s the question, “Do we desire the presence of God?” God has done His part in this equation, now it’s on us to seek His presence, and when we do, He will give us rest, not only in this life, but for all eternity in heaven. That is, for all eternity we will rest in His presence.
