Exodus 33:14-16
God's Presence Makes the Difference
God's presence is what distinguishes his people and makes life meaningful. Without it, we lack the comfort, strength, and hope that sustain us through difficulty.
Picture the Scene
Moses has gone to the top of Mount Sinai to meet God. He has been gone for a month. The people in the camp are starting to wonder if he will ever come down. With such a huge group, it isn’t long before someone suggests that Moses is already dead and that they need a new leader. And from the need for a new leader it can’t be far until they begin to look for a new god. Aaron helps out and a golden calf is built. When Moses returns from the top of the mountain, he is greeted by the sound of a huge party. When he sees the decadence and the golden calf, he throws the tablets containing the law of God to the ground. Judgment and punishment are swift. Hundreds die. And worst of all, God tells them to go on to Canaan but he will not go with them.
Separation from God
What a terrible thought. The text is Moses pleading with God to stay close to them. “If your presence will not go with us, then don’t send us out of this place.” What made Israel significant had nothing to do with them. What made them different from the other nations had nothing to do with their might or power. God’s presence made the difference.
If God had followed through with his intention to separate from Israel they would have perished. Moses learned this lesson when he stood before Pharaoh. Israel learned this lesson when they saw the mighty acts in Egypt. They learned the lesson at the crossing of the Red Sea. They learned it as God provided in their initial travel through the desert. They should have learned the lesson standing at the base of Sinai hearing the thunder, seeing the lightning, and feeling the ground shake. But how quickly they have forgotten the lesson as they build the golden calf. It is when God talks about his absence that the people realize the significance of their sin and the certain end to their freedom.
The Lesson for Us
The lesson for us cannot be missed. It is the presence of God which makes the difference. How are we different from other people in this world? The presence of God. Perhaps we presume upon the presence of God. Perhaps we don’t realize what life would be like if he withdrew from us.
Who would you turn to in times of distress and anxiety? What kind of comfort could you find from friends if God was not a part of life? Who would supply the strength to say “no” to sin? Where would you find hope in this life? It isn’t until God is gone that we fully realize how much we have to lose.
God’s Promise
It is the promise of verse 17 that I find most intriguing. God promises to go with Moses because he is pleased with Moses. His repentance and genuine desire to honor God pleased God. “I know you by name.” In other words, God says he knows Moses very well. He knows his heart, his desires, and his motives. There is nothing about Moses that wants to be without God. “If you are not around, then I don’t want to leave.” Sinai was the one place where Moses met God. If God were not present in the rest of life, then he didn’t want to go any further.
May God know us as well as he knew Moses. May we have the same motivation and determination not to go anywhere without God.
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