Moses was clearly a man given to routines.
Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
Exodus 33:7-11
What a privilege Moses enjoyed. A place. An arrangement. A manner of meeting with the awesome, Holy one of Israel.
And on one occasion, that was not enough. That would not suffice for Moses.
Where once Moses had cowered in fear at the knowledge of encountering God at the burning bush, he now pressed the intimacy of his relationship with God to seek not just divine promise or divine protection, but active and ongoing divine presence as the people journeyed to the land of promise. The request is remarkable because it comes not long after the people had defied God in an act of idolatry. An act made all the more crushing when that incident followed God instructing the people clearly that idol worship was strictly forbidden.
In His encounters with Moses, He essentially said that Moses could carry on taking the people to the land of promise without Him. The people rejected Him and He didn’t have to go with people who clearly didn’t want to honour and respect the One who had taken them from the land of slavery. If that was their way of being grateful, then they could keep it and carry on in their own strength.
It says something for how highly Moses treasured the presence of God and how much He depended on God that Moses would not countenance this arrangement. Rebellious and unruly though the people were – and probably because they were this way – Moses needed God and knew that more than that the people needed God.
Yet it was not enough to express that in their ongoing encounters in the tent. Moses wanted more …
Please show me your glory.
Exodus 33:18
This is not a selfish request for Moses. This is a matter of putting the relationship on another level of intimacy. This is Moses sealing the deal of a greater desire to know the one who is leading Him. This is also securing a relationship that will have significant benefits for those he leads … if they have the eyes to see what he’s doing and why.
A closer walk with the Lord would help him and the people he leads. A closer understanding and knowing of the holy one would put him in a better position to show the wisdom and knowledge of God to enhance others.
And how does God respond to that request?
(to be continued)
(Photo by Petra Machaňová on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
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