Oh Lord, Your presence is with us

The Awesome Present One

If your Presence does not go with us, what will distinguish your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?

Millions believe He exists, and some are very good at proving it, but not all have a relationship with Him. He is somewhere else, remote, and not present in their experience. That is not a mere incidental. Without His presence, life is empty and pointless.

One of the prime Bible examples is Israel. They had gotten away from Egypt by the mighty hand of God. They were making for the Promised Land when the going became tough. Like frightened children, they hankered to go back to where they were safe, though slaves. They made a god, a golden calf, to lead their return. It was madness. The Lord showed them that if that was what they wanted, He would not push Himself upon them. He said, "I will not go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people."

However, whatever they did, God wouldn’t renege. He had vowed to give them the Promised Land and no matter what they got up to, He would do it. ‘What if some did not believe? Can their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?"

So, to make sure they got there He said that He would send an angel with them. That scared them! (Ex. 33:2-2). "When the people heard these evil tidings they mourned." The possibility of being in the land without the Lord scared them. The biggest angel in glory could never fill the land with His presence. Only the Lord could do that. And that’s what they knew was vital.

They may have been an uneducated rabble coming straight out of slavery but they were more sensible than a lot of folk today. Mere angels wouldn’t do for them. It had to be nobody less than God. Nowadays people hope in angels, or beings from Venus or outer space. Some want contact with the spirits of dead relatives, or cosmic forces, or trust in stellar influences and the horoscope, or even lucky charms. What about God? He is what Israel wanted and nothing less; just the presence of the Lord their God.

What happened next is certainly a premier occasion for the record books. Moses, prepared to perish, stood for the people to intervene and intercede. He was a religious pioneer. His words to God preserved in Exodus 32 and 33 seem even now to us frighteningly bold. “You have been telling me ‘Lead these people.’ Remember that this nation is your people...If your Presence does not go with us, what will distinguish your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

Moses’ faith and action won the day. The Lord said, "My presence shall go with thee and I will give thee rest."

Here was a vital spiritual lesson before history began: God is all sufficient in Himself, not just His good and useful laws, so He said. In His presence there is peace and rest. "I will give you rest." The same Lord repeated exactly the same words more than 1000 years later. The awesome One present at Mount Sinai became the Man Christ Jesus and said, "Come unto me and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28.


PRAISE GOD
BLESSED BE THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD