And he said unto Him,
If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be
known here that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight? is it not in
that Thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and Thy people, from all
the people that are upon the face of the earth. (Exodus 33: 15, 16)
There is a chorus people love to sing. However, its context
is so off that I cringe when it starts being sung. Yet it is sung as if from this
verse (15).
People sing something similar to this.
Lord, I pray that you bless me and I am not leaving here
until you bless me; and many other demands of that nature.
I am tempted to ask people after service how far their
prayer has gone and why everybody is leaving the church without verifying
whether God has responded to their threat. Yet you will hear some complaining
of this or the other, even sharing prayer requests even after that threat.
A lot of the singing that we call gospel nowadays is meaningless.
It is just an arrangement of words and music to make people feel good instead
of being instructed and challenged toward godliness.
Yet why did Moses make that famous prayer?
Moses had been almost seven weeks on the mountain receiving
God’s instructions for Israel as well as the Ten Commandments.
Israel had forgotten about God who had delivered them from
Egypt and created alternative worship.
God had been angered that the Israelites had forgotten Him
so quickly so that He decided to clear them off and restart Abraham’s promise
with Moses.
But Moses pleads with God to pardon them and thus averts the
judgment due them.
That is when God said that due to Israel’s propensity to
depart from God He will just send and angel lest He is angered enough to destroy
them at no notice (v3)
That is when Moses prayed that prayer.
Go with us. There is no need of leaving without Your
presence.
In other words he was saying that he would rather be
destroyed by the wrath of God than moving on without that presence. An angel
was good, but for Moses God’s presence was the only thing he required. The
protection and miracles an angel would be doing were not satisfactory for this
man of God.
What were the implications of that prayer?
The first one is that God would be close to them. That meant
that His power and revelation will be close at hand all the time. They would be
walking in revelation because that is one reality of God’s presence.
But it also meant that his judgment would be close at hand.
They would have no excuse for their disobedience, as He was threatening, He
could clear them in a moment. Like He had warned His judgment would be arriving
in an instant.
Get you up from among
this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon
their faces. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein
from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation,
and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the
plague is begun. And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of
the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he
put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. (Numbers 16: 45 – 47)
Moses chose the hard part. I am sure most of Israel would
have been content with an angel showing them the way and clearing it for them.
That is the kind of prayer they made when God chose to speak to them one on one
(Exodus 20: 19)
But not for Moses!
God had to walk with Him.
You realize that the answer to that prayer was the reason
Moses was disqualified from crossing over to the Promised Land. You see, with
God close at hand, no small infringement is excusable.
That was the same reason only two of the original army and
population were able to cross the Jordan. God will not overlook sin when He
walks amongst us.
How desirous are we of God’s presence? `
On the positive side, that presence Moses could stay without
eating or drinking for forty days. God’s presence gives more and better
satisfaction than physical food.
Neither have I gone
back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth
more than my necessary food. (Job 23:12)
And that was the reason his face glowed after dwelling in
that presence. You see, God’s presence results in the manifestation of His
glory.
God’s presence is what gives us peace amidst the storms. It
is what gives us sleep when all around us is shaking. And it is that presence
that sharpens our discretion and discernment.
It is that presence that converts all shades of grey into glaringly
distinct blacks and whites.
God’s presence is ‘allergic’ to sin of any type, whether
open or in the inward parts. That is why God’s presence is dreadful for someone
not ready to take the plunge into the inner court.
Sadly, even many ministers are content to be accompanied by an
angel. You see, the angel provides and fights for us without being stringent on
our personal holiness. The ministry thrives even without any effort at personal
pursuit of growth or holiness. They excel without needing to get directions
from heaven. They appear insanely successful even as they exploit and oppress
others. And of course they preach from a Bible they only open when they are
looking for whatever they need to preach.
They are content with the guidance of an angel.
Sadly, an angel, though not responsible for judging or even
rebuking, is answerable to God, the judge of all flesh. God also does not relinquish
His deity to the angel. He will therefore hold us accountable for our lives.
And here comes my favorite rain on the parade passage.
Not every one that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that
day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast
out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew
7: 21 - 23)
Judgment will still come. Holiness is still a requirement
for effective ministry. And success here does not necessarily count in heaven.
There is therefore a clear choice; choosing to take the
straight and narrow in God’s presence or the popular route without much restriction.
I dare say that the difference will be the same for most
observers. It is only with the most discriminating that the difference can be
seen, and then as broad as daylight. It will even be visible when someone
leaves the straight and narrow and discards the presence.
A sermon can give away the preacher’s prayer.
By the way I am not even touching on visible sin. There is
something God’s presence does to a person so that the same joke brings out
different responses depending on the presence or absence of that Presence.
Both David and Saul had armies. Why was it that people
always comforted David with the fact that he was fighting God’s battles? Why
was it that Joseph and the four Hebrew boys were said to be having the spirit
of the holy gods?
They pursued that presence at great cost.
And it would be wise for us to pursue Him the same way. Then
He will manifest Himself to us in a way that will draw the attention of our
generation to the same Holy God.
You see, allowing His presence to run our affairs does not,
like the shallow believers say, kill our fun. It transposes us to another level
that makes the fun base and hollow. He then offers us the real fun of getting
to know Him and walking with Him.
The best thing is that that presence does not leave us even
in death. Remember God hiding Moses’ grave? Remember Elisha’s bones
resurrecting a dead man?
And even beyond that, our memory becomes precious.
The memory of the just
is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot. (Proverbs 10:7)
Whoever is remembered for partying hard beyond his
generation? Yet the one who sought God deeply will be on people’s memories for
many generations.
A simple recollection would be useful here.
Remember those irresistible books that people hid under the
desk to read when the lesson was in progress? Remember those books that were a
must read, almost as proof that one had gone to school? Remember those books
that made a Christian youth be recognized as a believer if he carried them.
Where are they now? Who even remembers them?
Yet I will get a sixteenth and seventeenth century book that
is still current because it came from a person who walked with God.
Remember those movies and TV programs that made people leave
work early to watch? Can you remember them now?
Yet we are talking about ten, twenty, thirty years.
Think of popular music just five years ago. How much of it
rocks today? And I am not talking about secular music.
Yet we have songs that are as uplifting as they were when
they were composed five hundred years ago. Many times you will realize the
depth of the commitment of the composer to Christ. Many times the sacrifice
required before the song came out meant that there could not have been any half
measures in their faith.
We must immerse ourselves in God’s word to understand how we
can walk with that presence.
God’s presence is the difference between the normal and the
exceptional. And it appears exceptional to the one who decided that the angel
was a better deal, a more accommodating proposition.
God’s presence demands radical obedience. It most time needs
one to stand alone against the whole world.
I will choose like Moses to live a shorter life and have God
take care of my remains (heritage) than enjoy a long life apart from His
manifest presence though God’s presence is many times the best insurance for a
long and full life.
Do you choose God to walk with you or would you rather He
sends His angel to understand and sympathize with your weaknesses?
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