LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?
THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
(A) There is a bit of a crisis happening at the start of this reading. Even though God is still, at this point, willing to take Israel straight into the Promised Land (Exodus 33:1-6), there is enmity between them and God, and God will not go with them. Their idol worship has separated them from God. The Tent of Meeting that Moses has set up (which was what Moses used before the Tabernacle was constructed) is now place outside the camp, instead of in the midst of the people. But Moses prefigures Jesus here: he offers himself up for his people (Exodus 32:30-32, though God rejects this); he continues to mediate for them (Exodus 33:7-11), he intercedes for them as Jesus continually intercedes for us (Exodus 33:12-23; cf. Hebrews 7:25), he alone beholds God in his glory [though in Moses' case he can only see the 'back' of God] and bears the law of God (34:1-9), and having successfully interceded for a sinful and wayward people, he wins the right to presents the people with the covenant and promises of God (Exodus 34:10-35), and descends the mount with a face that shines with glory, as Christ's face shone with glory on the mount of Transfiguration (Exodus 34:29-35; cf. Matthew 17:1-9).
(B) If your presence will not go out before us, do not bring us up from here. This passage (Exodus 33:14-16) struck me during a previous time reading through the Bible. How often are we content to do things in our own strength, and not in cooperation with the Holy Spirit? And yet, God is the one who gets results. I have learned to pray more often -though not yet often enough- that God would go out first, do what only He can do, send us in as servants equipped with His wisdom and strength, and then invite us to come into the situation after He has already done His work. If we only go in our own strength, without the presence of God, we may as well not go at all. That's a hard word for someone like me; I tend to get focused on the task that needs to get done. This passage is a reminder to me that my relationship with God, and my dependence upon Him, is more important.
RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?
Today's reading is, really, all about the presence of the Lord. It's not worth it to make it to the Promised Land and to not have God with us when we get there--to gain the whole world, yet lose our soul somewhere along the way. The wilderness is not the place that we rush through; it's the place where we enroll in the school of faith. Even in the midst of the wilderness, when life is full of hardship and struggle, it is more important to find our way back to right relationship with God than it is to move on to a better living situation. I think that calls for an attitude of dependence upon the Lord. It shows the centrality of the need for worship (not God's need for worship; our need to worship Him, lest something else take the place of God in our hearts that breaks down under the weight of that role, and us along with it). And for an action step, it might be to schedule an appointment to spend time with God to start off the day, the week, or the month (start with the last and work to the first), in an intentionally extended time of listening, reflection, and response. Get into the presence of God first, and then go out.
PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?
Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, I need to enter into your presence. I want to move where your Spirit is moving. Don't let me get distracted by busyness; by the news; or by the urgency of those around me. Help me to realize how deeply I need you above everything. Give me extended moments of stillness to seek your face and hear your voice. Fill me with your Spirit, so that I may be renewed, refreshed, and transformed by the awesome power of your presence, or by the gentle whisper of your still, small voice. I do not want to go out from here unless you go with me and ahead of me. Amen."
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