Exodus 33 comes right after the golden calf incident. Moses goes into the tent of meeting outside the camp to speak with God. As they are communicating, God tells Moses to head towards the promised land, but an angel will guide Moses. It will not be God. Moses goes on to ask God, “how will anyone know that we(the Israelites) belong to you unless you are with us?” God responds to this by telling Moses that he will do as Moses asks and go with Moses and the Israelites to the promised land. It also says that as Moses was in the tent of meeting the people would worship at a distance and they also took off all of their jewelry symbolizing their repentance for creating the golden calf. This is a direct revelation of what Jesus does for us today. DO NOT MISS THIS! As sin has entered the world, God has had to communicate to us through a mediator that has been cleansed by a proper sacrifice. At this time in Exodus, Moses was that temporary mediator that pleaded and communicated with God for the sins of his people. Jesus is now our permanent mediator for the sins of God’s people, which are the Christians today. Jesus is right now sitting at the right hand of the father pleading our case for us through his perfect sacrifice just as Moses is temporarily doing for the Israelites. We are the Israelites in this chapter sitting outside the Tent of Meeting repenting and worshipping God from a distance while Jesus intercedes for us. Moses only desires to go to the promised land if God goes with them. This shows God that Moses understands and desires a relationship with him over the gift of the Promised Land. It shows that Moses understands the Promised Land is worthless unless the Israelites have a relationship with God. This is a perfect picture of salvation through Jesus today. God came to this earth through his son Jesus Christ to give us the promise that if we accept and believe that when Jesus died on the cross that it was for the payment of our sins. When we repent and cast our sins to the foot of the cross we are forgiven, we are made righteous in the eyes of the father, and will be able to enter heaven(the Promised Land) because our sins have been paid for by the blood of Jesus. We have to realize, just like Moses, that heaven is worthless if God isn’t there. Heaven without God isn’t heaven at all. The relationship that we have with God is what makes heaven what it is. It’s not where we are going, it’s the relationship we receive with God as we are making our way to the destination. When we receive salvation with God he promises to walk with us all the way to heaven. On this earth we are like the Israelites in the wilderness. We are headed to the promised land which is heaven and God has given us the gift of his Holy Spirit to guide us until we get there. He is molding us and guiding us all the way to the end of this life. This road isn’t easy, but it is worth it. A relationship with God is worth anything we have to go through in this life. Without that relationship the destination is worthless. Love y’all! Have a great day!
Exodus 33:1-23
Read scripture…
“The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go up from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your offspring. I will send an angel ahead of you and will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hethites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.” When the people heard this bad news, they mourned and didn’t put on their jewelry. For the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.” So the Israelites remained stripped of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward. Now Moses took a tent and pitched it outside the camp, at a distance from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone who wanted to consult the Lord would go to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand up, each one at the door of his tent, and they would watch Moses until he entered the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance to the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. As all the people saw the pillar of cloud remaining at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up, then bow in worship, each one at the door of his tent. The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend, then Moses would return to the camp. His assistant, the young man Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the inside of the tent. Moses said to the Lord, “Look, you have told me, ‘Lead this people up,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor with me.’ Now if I have indeed found favor with you, please teach me your ways, and I will know you, so that I may find favor with you. Now consider that this nation is your people.” And he replied, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” “If your presence does not go,” Moses responded to him, “don’t make us go up from here. How will it be known that I and your people have found favor with you unless you go with us? I and your people will be distinguished by this from all the other people on the face of the earth.” The Lord answered Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and I know you by name.” Then Moses said, “Please, let me see your glory.” He said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But he added, “You cannot see my face, for humans cannot see me and live.” The Lord said, “Here is a place near me. You are to stand on the rock, and when my glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back, but my face will not be seen.”
Leave a Reply