Reflecting on Exodus 33

REFLECTING ON EXODUS 33 

and Seeking God's Will

So the last few months have been a serious time of wrestling, seeking and searching with both my present and my future in mind.

And, knowing I’m in God’s will in the midst of my search, to whatever degree He allows, is my ultimate desire. 

I am determined to be aligned with the will of my Father, without doubt and, even better, with perfect certainty. 

THAT ISN’T TOO MUCH TO ASK, IS IT?

My prayers have been many and sustained and, at times, desperate. 

My most earnest cry has been…

“Your will. Your whole will. And nothing but your will, so help me, God!”

I have wrestled with the paradox of heart knowledge and head knowledge.

And I have determined NOT to let what I feel in my heart and 

what I know in my head to be at odds with one another.

At times, what I have heard God clearly say to me is, “You don’t need to know, you just need to trust me.” 
                        And, most of the time, I am satisfied with that.

At other times, in moments of uncertainty and pain, I have cried out with heartfelt questions like….

• What are You thinking, LORD?
• Is this really Your idea??
• How can I do what it seems that You are calling me to do?
• God, You are in this, right?
• This is Your plan, isn’t it?
• The voice I’m listening to is Yours and NOT mine, right?
• GOD, Hello? 
• 911…Daddy?

I know, beyond any shadow of doubt, that I can do whatever He calls me to do as long as I know it is… 

• from Him, 
• for Him, 
• approved by Him, 
• sustained by Him 
• and driven by Him. 

I can, I have no doubt of that…because my faith is not in me, but in HIM!

He has yet to fail me. 

And surely I have done crazy in my life!

What was I thinking when…

• I packed up my five kids and moved to Canada for several years
• And then packed them up, once again, and moved them to Pennsylvania to start a new life in an unknown place
• And then, again, when I moved to Hanover to pastor the BIC church there…
• And yet again…moving to Mechanicsburg to serve at Messiah Village

What was I thinking? Well, that God was with me, of course!

In these months…

• I have experienced a joy I never anticipated.
• I have happily adjusted to more than I ever dreamed possible.
• I have willingly embraced what seems to be of Him and it is the polar opposite of my “norm” whatever that is…I don’t even know anymore.
• I have been obedient to the very best of my ability, and most of the time without question.

Because I trust Him. He has yet to fail me.

And I have…

• Learned so much
• I have been challenged in more ways than I can count
• I have grown 
• I have been stretched
• I have….well, I just have.

Yet, to the contrary, I still want more…I need more.

Because of my desperation to KNOW I’m in His will…unable to deny it…

AT LEAST GIVE ME THAT, FATHER!

When I read David Livingston’s prayer I cry, “YES!”

“God, send me anywhere, only go with me.

Lay any burden on me, only sustain me.

And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours.”

YES!

• Without question!
• Without doubts!
• With utter and complete faith…as long as YOU, LORD, are in it!
• Nothing more. Nothing less. 

And so I resonate with…

• Dear Moses
• Desperate Moses
• Doubting Moses
• Deplorably inadequate Moses (at least in his own eyes!)

So, I resonate with the Exodus 33 account…

With my own…

• Plight
• And questions 
• And challenges in mind.

Maybe God will speak to me afresh as I listen and search…

Exodus 33 

33 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 

² I will send an angel before you (I like that!) and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 

³ Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. 

But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”  (I don’t like that!)

OH GOD! DELIVER ME FROM THE CURSE OF BEING “STIFF-NECKED!”

⁴ When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments. 

⁵ For the Lord had said to Moses, 

“Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people.

If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you.

Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’”

YIKES! LORD, HAVE MERCY!

LORD, IN YOUR ANGER REMEMBER MERCY!

⁶ So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.

(AND I BET THERE WAS NO ARGUMENT FROM ANY OF THEM!)

LORD, deliver me from a stiff-necked argumentative spirit!

The Tent of Meeting

⁷ Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” 

Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.

⁸ And whenever Moses went out to the tent, 

• all the people rose 
• and stood at the entrances to their tents, 
• watching Moses until he entered the tent. 

⁹ As Moses went into the tent,

• the pillar of cloud would come down 
• and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. 

OKAY…A PILLAR OF CLOUD MIGHT BE COMFORTING.

¹⁰ Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, 

• they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. 

¹¹ The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.

AHA! A PILAR OF CLOUD EQUALS GOD HIMSELF!

Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

Moses and the Glory of the Lord

¹² Moses said to the Lord, 

“You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. 

You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 

¹³ If you are pleased with me, 

• teach me your ways 
• so I may know you 
• and continue to find favor with you. 
• Remember that this nation is your people.”

I LOVE HOW REAL MOSES’ QUESTIONS ARE!

AND THEN HE HEARS EXACTLY WHAT HIS HEART DESIRES!

¹⁴ The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

I AM HANGING ONTO THAT ONE!

I AM CLAIMING THAT PROMISE AS MY OWN!

¹⁵ Then Moses said to him, 

“If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

EXACTLY!

• THAT is my declaration!
• THAT is my Ebenezer 
• THAT is my divine stand

“If your Presence does not go with me, do not send me up from here."

But, like me, Moses needs a little bit more, so he asks…

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?”

Moses is saying…Come on, God, I need more…

• More than Your face-to-face word…
• More than a mere angel leading the way
• More than a cloud
• More than Your presence….
• More than the assurances You have already given…

Really? What was Moses thinking asking God for MORE?

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, 

“I will do the very thing you have asked, 

because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” 

(SOMETIMES MOSES MAKES ME LAUGH OUT LOUD!)

¹⁹ 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.”

And there you have it, 

Moses…

• Introverted
• Backward
• Unsure of himself
• A man full of doubts about himself

A man who recognizes…

• His desperate need to hear from God
• Know God 
• Learn of God
• Follow God 
• Recognize Him in the midst of all he will face in the days to come…
• He had needs and God would meet them…

So, when all is said and done, in my heart and in my mind, I am standing on The Rock that is higher than I. 

In my mind’s eye He has put me in the cleft of the Rock and covered me with His hand. 

• And there I am safe.
• I will continue to listen.
• I will continue to seek Him.
• I choose NOT to move outside of His will.

And, if His Presence does not go before me…I WILL NOT MOVE!

I stake my ground! 

And I am thankful that I have the HOLY SPIRIT.

I’m leaning heavily on Him these days! 

I can Trust and Obey and I will Be Strong and Be Brave.