Exodus 33
ScriptureExodus 33:15-1615 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 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?”Observation - What does it say?Because they were so incredibly stubborn that God might destroy them along the way, God told Moses he wouldn’t go with them as they journeyed to the Promised Land. So Moses once again goes to meet with God and to intercede on behalf of the Israelites, this time going to a tent he pitched outside camp that he called the “tent of meeting” where he an anyone else could go to meet with God. In the tent Moses pleads with God to go with them. He placed such a high value on the presence of God that he would rather dwell in the wilderness with God than in the Promised Land without him. From Moses' perspective, God’s presence with his people was the only thing that showed God was pleased with them and that set them apart from everyone else!Understanding - What does it mean?God’s people should place the highest value on God’s presence being with them!In scripture there seems to be different degrees of God’s presence. Before you write me off as a heretic, consider this:
God’s presence fills all his creation. Ephesians 4:6 …[God] is over all and through all and in all.
Although God is already present with everyone because they are part of his creation, when someone believes in Jesus they are filled with the Holy Spirit in a way that is different than the way God fills the rest of creation.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
Then, Jesus tells these believers who are filled with the Holy Spirit in Matthew 18:20, where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. Again, he must be referring to a greater measure or experience of his presence than if they were alone.
Even beyond this there are instances where believers who already had the Holy Spirit and had already been together in prayer for a considerable amount of time were suddenly “filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Moses’ desire was that God’s presence would go with them in a way that was different from the way God already filled his creation. He desired God’s presence to be with them in a way that it was obvious to the rest of the world, in a way that set them apart from everyone else! This should be the desire of every believer! That we would experience God’s presence in greater ways, that he would fill in such a way that everyone we come into contact with throughout the week encounters him, that his presence would be so thick in the times we gather together on Sunday mornings that everyone recognizes it and is changed!Life ApplicationSeek God, as Moses did, for his presence!
God, I don’t want to go anywhere without you! More important than planning or organization, more important than strength or wisdom or skill, more important than having all the finances or other resources, is having your presence with us! We are desperate for your presence! More of you God! Please fill us in greater measure. Would it please you to increase your presence in our midst as we gather together on Sunday mornings and as we go to school and work and are with our families and friends throughout the week. We love your presence and in every moment and every area we long for more! Amen.
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