Exodus and The Kingdom of God (6) God’s Presence (2)

“Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” (Ex 33:15-18)
 
We’ve been talking about the kingdom of God from the book of Exodus. For the last few weeks, we’ve focused on three things God did at Mount Sinai to train the Israelites.
 
The reason God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt wasn’t only to save them from their slavery. He wanted to bring them into the land He had promised to give to the descendants of their ancestor, Abraham.
 
But the land of Canaan was full of evil at that time. It had been defiled by the evil practices of the people living there. And God didn’t want the Israelites to become corrupt like them. Rather, He wanted them to be holy as He is holy so that they would serve as a kingdom of priests in the land and lead other nations around them to Him.
 
For this purpose, God trained the Israelites in the wilderness before leading them into the promised land. This training took place at Mount Sinai. There, God did three important things to prepare the people of Israel.
 
1) God Gives His People His Law
First, God gave them His law to obey.
 
2) God Makes A Covenant with His People
Second, God made a covenant with them according to all the words written in the book of the covenant, the Israelites’ response to obey them, and the blood of the covenant.
 
The coming of the kingdom of God is given to us not only as a command but also a promise, which is good news. If we were only able to experience the coming of the kingdom of God through our obedience, it would be very difficult for it to be realized on earth. We know how weak, deficient, and sinful we are.
 
So, if the coming of the kingdom of God depended on our obedience to His commandments, we wouldn’t have confidence of its fulfillment.
 
But God promised to bring His kingdom on earth Himself with His power and zeal, which means that it will be fulfilled regardless of our obedience to His command.
 
That’s why we can be confident that Jesus will come back and restore everything, and the kingdom of God will come true in its perfect form on earth despite the problems, weaknesses, and sins we face now.
 
But we should also remember that even though the promise of the kingdom of God will be fulfilled, only those who obey God’s word by seeking His righteousness and kingdom first will take part in the promise when it’s fulfilled.
 
3) God’s Presence in the Tabernacle
Last Sunday, we talked about one more important thing that God did to train the Israelites at Mount Sinai. After making the covenant with them, God called Moses up and gave them laws about building the tabernacle.
 
God commanded the Israelites to make the tabernacle so that He could dwell among them, and they could know and experience His presence.
 
In the room called the Most Holy Place, there was the Ark of the Covenant. It was the most important object in the tabernacle because it was where God was directly present and spoke with the Israelites. God said,
 
“There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.” (Ex 25:10-22)
 
The ark of the covenant in the tabernacle was the most powerful visible evidence of God's presence among the Israelites. We looked at some examples of how God led the Israelites and worked on their behalf through the ark.
 
The pillars of cloud and fire were over the tabernacle, guiding them on their journey and protecting them. The ark went ahead of them to find places for them to rest. It served as a symbol that God Himself would fight against their enemies. It went before the Israelites, showing them the way forward, and protected them.
 
So, the ark of the covenant symbolized God's presence among His people, His guidance and protection, and God Himself fighting against their enemies. That’s the reason we should continue to make an effort to acknowledge and practice the presence of God in our lives.
 
God gave the Israelites three things on Mount Sinai—His law, His covenant or promise, and His presence. All three of these are essential for us to live as people of God's kingdom.
 
Even if we have God's commandments and His promises, if we live without God's presence, we will ultimately fail. In Exodus 32, we read how the Israelites quickly turned away from God by making a golden calf and worshiping it.
 
God was so angry with them that He decided to destroy them and make Moses into a great nation instead. But Moses prayed to God earnestly to remember the covenant He had made with their ancestors and forgive their sins. God relented and didn’t bring disaster on them.
 
But God was so disappointed in them that He said He would not be with them. He said to Moses in Exodus 33:1-3,
 
“Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites… Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” (Ex 33:1-3)
 
Here, we find the three elements again—God’s command, His promise, and His presence.
 
God commanded Moses to go up to the land with the Israelites and promised to send an angel to drive out the people living in the land.
 
Even though God’s command and His promise were given, the most important part was missing: God said that He wouldn’t go with them.
 
These words made Moses and the Israelites mourn because they knew that if God was not with them, they would fail.
 
Although God promised to send an angel to help them conquer the land of Canaan, they couldn't be content because the most important factor was missing: God's presence.
 
So after this, Moses consistently asked God to be with and go with the people of Israel.
 
Moses prayed, “Remember that this nation is your people” (Ex 33:13).
 
This was another way of asking for God's presence. God said He wouldn’t go with the people of Israel because they were a stiff-necked people. But Moses asked God to regard them as His people, so that His presence would be with them.
 
And God answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Ex 33:14)
 
Then Moses said to Him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Ex 33:15-16)
 
Moses said, “If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here”, which implies that what’s more important than God’s command and His promise is His presence.
 
Even though the Israelites were given the command to go up to the land of Canaan, along with the promise that God would drive out the people living there through His angel, Moses believed it was all meaningless if they didn't have God's presence.
 
God’s presence among His people is evidence that He’s pleased with them. His presence is what distinguishes His people from all the other people and makes them holy.
 
We can’t truly keep God’s word without His presence. We can’t truly participate in His promise without His presence. We can’t be sanctified without His presence. Without His presence, we can’t do anything. As Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5)
 
Then, the one thing we should always ask God to give us is His presence. We find everything we need in it—His comfort, His rest, His strength, His love, and more.
 
After God said that He would go with them, Moses asked Him, “Now show me your glory.” (Ex 33:18)
 
This too can be understood as an expression of asking for God's presence. Because God is glorious, everything He does reveals His glory. Wherever His presence is, it is glorified by His glory. So asking God to show His glory is the same as asking Him to allow us to see and feel His presence.
 
In the next chapter, God called Moses up the mountain again. There, God came down in the cloud and talked to Moses. And this is what Moses asked God for.
 
“Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance” (Ex 34:9)
 
From the moment God told him He would not go with the Israelites, Moses consistently asked Him to be with them and go with them over and over again, which shows how much he valued God’s presence.
 
 
This is what we should always seek in order to live as God's people as well. We must continue to pray for God to be with us, to see us as His people, for His presence to be with us, for His glory to be shown to us, and for God Himself to go with us and make us His inheritance.
 
If we go before God and ask Him to fill us with His presence, He will never reject us because He wants us to be with Him far more than we want Him to be with us. We know this from how God sent His one and only Son to be with us and reconcile us with Him even though we were indifferent to Him and acted like His enemies.
 
Another one of Jesus’ names, Immanuel, also points to this truth. It means ‘God is with us.’ In order to be with us and to let us be with Him, the Son of God came into the world as a human, suffered, and died on the cross to give us this amazing blessing of drawing near to Him and having God’s presence in our lives.
 
How to Draw Near to God’s Presence
So, God made an effort to be with us and to allow us to go to Him. But that doesn’t mean that we don't have to make any effort to go into His presence.
 
The Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place shows God’s desire to be with His people and what He does to be with us. But the three objects in the Holy Place reflect what we need to do to be in His presence.
 
There were three things that had to be present in the Holy Place at all times—the bread of the Presence, lamps lit by olive oil, and fragrant incense on the altar of incense. Each object represents something that we must have in our lives at all times in order to draw near to God’s presence.
 
1) The Table and the Bread of the Presence
First, God commanded Moses to make a table of acacia wood and put the bread of the Presence on it.
 
God said, “Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times” (Ex 25:30).
 
This bread refers to God’s word and ultimately Jesus Christ.
 
Jesus said, “It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4).  Jesus also taught us to pray for daily bread, which refers not only to physical food for our body but spiritual food for our souls.
 
He also said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (Jn 6:51)
 
2) A Lampstand of Pure Gold and Clear Oil of Pressed Olives
Second, God commanded Moses to make a lampstand of pure gold along with seven lamps, and to keep the lamps burning with olive oil.
 
God said, “Make a lampstand of pure gold… Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it.” (Ex 25:30, 37)
 
In order to keep the lamps lit, the Israelites had to bring oil. God said, “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning” (Ex 27:20)
 
Here, the light from the lamps refers to Jesus Christ, who came to the world as the light of the world. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12)
 
And the oil used to light the lamps refers to the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which sanctifies us, guides us to the light of Jesus, and empowers us to obey God’s word and follow His will.
 
Exodus 40:9 says, “Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy.” (Ex 40:9)
 
Acts 10:38 also says, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” (Ac 10:38)
 
3) An Altar of Incense and Fragrant Incense
Lastly, God commanded Moses to make an altar for burning incense and to burn fragrant incense on it every morning and evening.
 
God said, “Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense… Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the Lord for the generations to come.” (Ex 30:1, 7-8)
 
Here, the fragrant incense is symbolic of the prayers of God’s people. King David prayed,  “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.” (Ps 141:2)
 
Revelation 8:3-4 also says, “Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand” (Rv 8:3-4)
 
These are the things that should always be present in our lives to draw us near to God’s presence.
 
God’s word must be present in our lives at all times, which means we should read and meditate on it on a regular basis. His word is like life to us. It teaches us who Jesus Christ is and leads us closer to Him. We can’t truly worship Him without knowing Him. So if we neglect to read the Bible, it is like giving up on worshiping Him.
 
Remember, our worship doesn’t only take place one day a week. What's much more important than coming to church on Sunday is how we prepare for worship during the week.
 
We should also ask to be filled with the anointing of the Holy Spirit at all times. The Holy Spirit helps us. He sanctifies us. He empowers us to obey God’s word. And He guides us to the truth of Jesus Christ. We can’t truly have a relationship with God and His Son unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit who “searches… even the deep things of God [and] knows the thoughts of God” (1Co 2:10-11)
 
Lastly, we should always go before God with the incense of our prayers, day and night. Prayer is like breathing in Christian life. Because prayer is basically a conversation with God, we can’t maintain a close relationship with Him without praying. We can't get close to someone we don't talk to often.
 
So let’s not neglect those things in our lives. Instead, let’s ask God to raise us up and restore what we've lost, because they are crucial for us to feel and experience His presence. Without His presence, we can’t do anything.
 
The apostle Paul said that we’re God’s temple, which is the later version of the tabernacle.
 
Paul said, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1Co 3:16)
 
Paul also said, “We are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (2Co 6:16)
 
To make us His temples where He dwells, God sacrificed His precious Son to save us. Through Jesus’ sacrifice and death, we were forgiven, reconciled with God, and given confidence to go before His presence. That’s what God did to be with us.
 
Now, it’s our turn. We also need to make every effort to grow closer to God and be in His presence at all times. A relationship is not a one-way street, which means that even though God has made every effort to be with us, if we refuse to draw near to Him, we will not be able to enjoy the blessings He has for us.
 
So, I want us to choose to draw near to God today. If you really believe that God's presence is important in your life, then do your best to seek it. It’s not hard to do, and the benefits are more than worth it.
 
I hope and pray that we may have the desire to seek God’s presence in our lives by loving His word, asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and praying to God so that we may always be filled with His presence as His holy temples together.
 
Let’s pray.
 
[Prayer]
Dear Lord, thank You for reminding us of the importance of Your presence in our lives.
 
We thank You for all the things You’ve done to be with us and let us come before Your presence. And we profess that we can’t do anything apart from Your presence.
 
We thank You for giving us Your word and Your promise, but above all else, we want Your presence in our lives because without it, everything we know and believe is meaningless.
 
So Lord, please continue to be with us and let us feel Your presence at all times.
 
Oh Lord, we want to be built as Your holy temples in this world. Thank You for giving us means of grace so that we may know You, experience Your presence, and grow closer to You.
 
Let us know You when we set aside time each day to read Your word and meditate on it. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we may be guided to the truth of Jesus Christ, who came to the world as the light of the world and the living bread, and be sanctified by the truth. Let us hear Your voice speaking to each of our hearts when we go before You with the incense of our prayers.
 
We want Your name to be lifted up and glorified through our lives. Continue to guide us through Your word, promise, and presence.
 
We pray in Jesus’ precious name, Amen.
 
[Reflection Questions]
1) Why do you think it is important in Christian life to live in God's presence? What do you do to practice and feel God's presence in your life?
 
2) Reading and meditating on God’s word, being filled with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and praying to God are essential in order for us to be God’s temples where He dwells. How do you incorporate these things into your life these days?