Where
Can I Go Without Your Presence
1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Depart, go
up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of
Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your descendants I will give
it.'
2"I
will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the
Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite.
3"Go
up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your
midst, because you are an obstinate people, and (I)I might destroy you on the way….12Then Moses
said to the LORD, "See, You say to me, '(R)Bring up this people!' But You Yourself have not let me know (S) whom You will send with me (T) Moreover, You have said, 'I have known you by name, and you have
also found favor in My sight.'
13"Now
therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, (U)let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find
favor in Your sight (V)Consider too, that this nation is Your people."
15Then
he said to Him, "(Y) If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from
here.
16"For
how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your
people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that (Z) we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other
people who are upon the face of the earth?" (Ex. 33:1-3, 13-16 NASB)
Here we find a very
powerful message hidden within the self-induced turmoil of the Nation of
Israel; The necessity and significance of the presence of God. The Apostle
Paul, in painting images of the Holy-Spirit as God’s presence in the post
resurrection era, points to Old Testament shadows and types in which the temple
was the dwelling place of God. In several separate instances, Paul points to
the believer as the temple of God. First, the believers collectively (the
church as a whole is referred to in (1 Cor. 316; 2 Cor. 6:16), and then the
individual believer as being the temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19). What Paul is
pointing to is the eternal presence of God in the dealings of His creation.
In one particular
instance, we see God giving Moses explicit directions for the building of the tabernacle
in which He would dwell amongst His people (Exodus 25-31). Then there was the
debacle in the desert where the Israelites decided they would worship a calf
instead of God (Exodus 32). Because of their contrary and obstinate ways, God
tells Moses that he will not go with them, but send an angel instead, because
if He went their disobedient ways would cause Him to destroy them on the way
(Exodus 33).
What I would like to
focus on here is Moses’ response to the proclamation of God. Moses detects the
inadequacy in God’s absence. You would think Moses would be satisfied with
having a guardian angel, but Moses has an immense and acute perspicacity of
what is at stake and immediately addresses the issue. Moses basically says to
God, “You have declared us your people; you have proclaimed that you are
pleased with me, but how will anyone know that you are pleased with me or that
we are your people, unless you go with us. How will your people and myself be
distinguished from all other people unless you go with us (Ex. 33:15-16
paraphrased). In other words, Moses was saying that the very identity marker of
God’s people is God’s presence. Unless God be present in the midst of His
people there can be no indication that they are His people. We all know that
God honored Moses’ supplication, the Tabernacle was built, and the glory of the
Lord filled the tabernacle (which later became the temple in Jerusalem).
It is of great relevance to understand that God’s
presence in our circumstances and daily dealings carries an immeasurable impact
in us fulfilling our destiny. His presence is the only way we can combat the
enemy with success. Today we are the temple and the Glory that fills the temple
is God the Holy Spirit. Though he eternally indwells the believer, we flee from
his presence by quenching (1Thess. 5:19) and grieving (Eph. 4:30) Him. We
ignore His promptings and disregard His revelations. As Moses did in the book
of Exodus, we must come to the knowledge that we cannot successfully navigate
the dark labyrinthine corridors of this perverse world without the presence of
God to guide us. We cannot master the maze of mediocrity and move into the
greatness of our designed destiny without His presence. We cannot sustain our
gait without His presence to strengthen us. We cannot move past the monuments
of malevolence laid at our feet daily by the enemy.
So many of us have set out on this journey with
little or no regard to the proximity of God in relation to our walk; we have
deemed it within our rights to walk alone. However, the design does not make an
allowance for deviation from the plan. So much of our pain and frustration can
be retraced to our unwillingness to walk with God and to submit to his will.
For some of us, the presence of God interferes with our plans and desires, so
we consistently tuck Him away until that convenient moment at which we decide
we need Him.
Let us come to a place of understanding. Let us see
with spiritual eyes that without the presence of God, we are dead in the water.
Join me in inviting God in to establish our path and luminously reveal us as
His Chosen.
May you be richly blessed,
Bishop
Rick Wallace
Founder
& President
Rick
Wallace Ministries
100
Men of Purpose
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