Exodus 33:1-3, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.”
We read in our Old Testament text passage that God was fed up with the Hebrew people. They murmured (complained) about everything. The Lord is longsuffering and patient the Bible teaches. Romans 2:4, “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” Albeit, even God's patience has a limit. The Hebrews were a stiff-necked people. That means they were extremely prideful and arrogant, refusing to bow their heads in humility before the Lord. They challenged Moses (God's man) on nearly everything.
In so doing they indirectly challenged God. They complained when they came to bitter waters and didn't have any water to quench their thirst. They complained when their food ran out. Then when God fed them manna from Heaven, they complained that they had it better back in slavery in Egypt, where at least they had leeks, onions and meat. So God fed them quail until their bellies were full and they couldn't eat another bite. Yet, they still complained and complained about everything. So, God told Moses in our text passage in Exodus 33:3b, “I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.” Literally, God didn't want to go with them because His patience had worn thin toward the Hebrews, and He was ready to annihilate them!
But take a look at what Moses said to the Lord in Exodus 33:15-17, “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. And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.” Moses told God that if He does go, neither will he go.
Boy, I love that! Moses knew that he desperately needed God's presence in his life. And so do you and I dear friend. Whether you realize it or not, you need God every ever-living moment of your life. I sure do!!! Without God I'm just an idiot. Receiving Jesus as my personal Savior at age 13 in 1980 was the greatest decision of my life. The blessed indwelling Holy Spirit has been with me ever since, convicting, chastising, teaching, guiding, comforting and inspiring me to work hard each day for Christ. God is so good.
Moses said, “God, if you aren't going, neither am I.” The Lord changed His mind and decided to go after all. We learn from this Scripture passage that God's mind can be changed. We learn from this passage that we all need grace from God. We got saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus, and that is the same way we live the Christian life. You cannot live the Christian life dear reader, and neither can I. It is utterly impossible in our own human strength to live the Christian life. What saith the Scripture?
Galatians 2:20-21, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
Trust and obey,for there's no other way;to be happy in Jesus,but to trust and obey
Moses realized that he needed God's presence in his life. I sure do too! And so do you friend. Only a fool think he or she can make it in life without God. When we don't pray and abide in the Scriptures, we are saying to God that we don't need Him, that we can go it alone. Moses refused to go on the journey without God's presence, and I refuse to live life without God's presence. I NEED GOD!!! I need His inspired Words. I need to know that I prayed about everything, putting the ball into God's court, so to speak (Philippians 4:6-8).
ReplyDeleteI was reading about Lutheranism on your website and found it helpful. I almost joined a wels Lutheran church until I found out about the vows. These seem to almost be a secret because it’s not online anywhere and wasn’t included in confirmation Bible class. I found out about it online but then the pastor sent them to me when I asked. I would love to share this with you so you can warn others about the vows in Lutheranism in wels. I am also curious what you would say or think. I can email the pages to you. Thank you tianagray@gmail.com