Sunday, December 15, 2019
Exodus 33;1 says, And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: God told Moses that it was time for the people of israel to go on to the land that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God will never forget His promises to us, no matter how many years it takes for them to come to pass. Verse two states, And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: God also told Moses that He was going to send an angel before them to drive out the people in the land. All the people of Israel had to do was go. When God calls us to a particular task today, all we have to do is go. God will go before us and prepare the way, and the Holy Spirit will be with us to equip us, which is even better than an angel going before us. Verse three adds, Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. God told Moses that He was sending an angel, but that He Himself would not be in their midst, since they were a stiff necked people who He might destroy along the way because of their rebellion and lack of faith. Though the Holy Spirit is always with Christians, we may not always receive the benefit of this because we are a stiff necked people. When we doubt or defy God, the Holy Spirit can only bring us regret and call us back to the Father. We cannot expect to claim God's victory over the obstacles of the world at such times. Verse four declares, And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. The people of Israel mourned when they heard this, and we today as followers of Christ should mourn when we know that we are out of the will of God. This is never a time to adorn, or wrap, ourselves in the things of his world. Verse five adds, For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. God had given the people a warning through Moses. They were to put off their ornaments, so that God would know that they were listening to Him. We today need to put off the things of the world so that God will know that we are listening to Him. The warning was that God could come in a moment and destroy them if they were not obedient. We today, as followers of Christ, must never allow the things of this world to come between God and us. Verse six proclaims, And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb. The people of Israel obeyed Moses, at least in the physical demand. This did not mean that they were spiritually faithful to God. People today may go through the motions of being obedient to God, but this does not men that they are saved. It is only when someone accepts Christ by faith that that person is truly saved. Verse seven says, And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. Moses placed the tabernacle outside the camp, since it represented God's presence and God had said He would not be in their midst. Until we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, God will always be outside of our life. When we accept Christ, we will never be out of the presence of God, even if we are disobedient to Him. The people had to go outside the camp to worship God, just as we today must go outside influence of the material things of the world if we are to follow God. Verse eight states, And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. When Moses went out to the tabernacle and went inside, all the people of Israel stood at their tent door and watched him. When we as followers of Christ go to worship God today, the world will be watching. Even more importantly, when we are out in the world and are followers of Christ, the world will be watching to see if we put God above the things of this world. Verse nine adds, And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. When Moses entered the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar, representing God's presence with the people, descended, and God talked with Moses. We have no visible sign today that God is with us, but if we are truly following God by faith, the world should be able to see His presence in our lives. Verse ten concludes, And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. The people of Israel all rose up and worshipped God where they were. We today should always rise up and worship God where we are, We do not have to go to a particular place to worship God, but we are to worship Him wherever we are. We are not just saved on a particular day or in a particular place, but we are saved every second of the every day wherever we are, and because of this we should continually worship God.
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