Our text for tonight's message is taken from Exodus 33:12–23. As we go through life, we will experience different things and moments. Some are tragic, sad, and devastating, while others are happy, joyous, and times of blessings. When our children are well, we are happy. When our jobs and businesses are stable, we are glad. When our families are broken or the church is divided, we are troubled. When our dearest one passes away, our hearts are filled with the deepest of emotions. What is in store for us in the future, no one knows. Only God knows. We will be presumptuous if we assume that everything would go smoothly. We would be foolish, ignorantly, if we assume that there would only be victories and blessings. Perhaps soon, sadness, tragedy, troubles, and even death may knock on our doors.
With such uncertainties, how can we be bold and courageous? How can we face the future? We can—and the only answer is if our hearts are assured that the Lord is always with us. The title of our message is: If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. This title is taken from Exodus 33:15.
The background of this verse is that the children of Israel had sinned against God in building the golden calf, and God would not go together with them into the promised land. God called them a stubborn, stiff-necked people, and He did not want to destroy them along the way. So He refused to go with them. When the people heard that, they were devastated. They cried tears of repentance and tore their ornaments of idolatry. Their leader, Moses, went to meet with God in the tabernacle, which was pitched outside the camp. The people waited anxiously to see what God would do. Would God go with them into the promised land, or would He send them off on their own?
So this passage was a dialogue Moses had with God. And in this dialogue, there were three things Moses asked from God. And hopefully, these would also be the same three things we would ask from God as we move forward into the future.
I. Show Me Thy Way
The first thing Moses asked from God was for God to show him His ways. God had called Moses to lead the children of Israel into the promised land. And if they were a stubborn, stiff-necked people, then that would mean he would require all the resources to carry out his duties. He could not do it on his own. He needed God to guide him.
In verse 2, God promised to send an angel to help Moses. But Moses did not want any angel. He wanted the direct guidance of the Almighty God. So beginning with Exodus 33:12, “And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.”
For God to say, “I know thee by name”—that was an undeniable truth. God knows all His children. He knew us in our mother’s womb. He knew us even before the foundation of the world. No one knows us better than God. He knows us perfectly. But the problem is that we do not know Him the way He knows us. And every child of God would desire to know Him in a most special way.
Dear friend, how much do you think you know God? And how much do you desire to know Him? That was the heart’s desire of Moses. And so he prayed in verse 13, “Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.”
As a leader, he needed to lead the people efficiently and effectively. And the only way he could do that was to know the right way to do things. So he wanted to know the thinking behind God’s plan. He wanted to know the reason behind God’s way, because he knew that God’s way would reveal His divine character.
And ‘Through thy ways,’ Moses said, “that I may know thee.” This was extremely important to his spiritual leadership. A good leader is not just someone who is able to tell others what to do, but he is able to explain the reason why God wanted it to be done this way or that way. Essentially, he is someone who knows God.
Serving God Effectively
To serve God effectively, you and I need to know His ways. And more important than that, we need to understand the reason why we have to do it in a certain way. We want to understand God’s way. We want to know His divine character. We want to know His purposes, His plans. We want to know Him.
If we ourselves are not convinced of the reason why we must do it in a certain way, how can we teach others to do it? We cannot be good leaders, or parents, or Sunday school teachers, unless we ourselves know God and understand His ways. Parents, why do you want your children to actively participate in spiritual activities? Sunday school teachers, why do you want your students to remember the biblical lessons they have learned? Is it not because you want them to understand the ways of God—that through His ways they may know Him?
That was why the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:10, the reason why he was willing to forsake his own righteousness and to follow the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which was God's way. And this was what Paul said, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” That is the ultimate goal of every believer, every child of God—to know God through His ways.
II. Show Me Thy Presence
The second thing Moses asked from God was to ‘show me your presence’, which means he wanted God to go with them.
Example of good spiritual leadership
When Moses said to God at the end of verse 13 to “consider that this nation is thy people,” he was speaking of the whole nation of Israel. But interestingly, when God replied in verse 14, He said, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” God spoke in the singular. The word ‘thee’ does not refer to Israel but only to Moses. In other words, God was willing to help Moses bear the heavy burdens of spiritual leadership, but He had not agreed to go with the Israelites.
That was the reason why Moses responded in verse 15, “If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.” In other words: ‘God, if You are not present with us, then do not send us into the promised land’. It was not good enough for Moses that God had promised to be with him—he wanted God to be with all the Israelites. Notice how he repeated the phrase “I and thy people.” Moses did not separate himself from the people. He felt for them, and he identified himself with them. He was an exemplary example of a good spiritual leader.
Have you ever heard someone say to you, ‘Well, as long as I obey the Lord's way, as long as my family is in Christ, it doesn't matter whether others want to follow Him or not’? People with that kind of mentality can never be a leader, and sometimes they may not even be a believer. Why do I say that? Can you imagine if everyone were to think like that—’as long as I go to Heaven, as long as I am saved, that is all that matters. Who cares about the others?’ What do you think would happen to evangelism? What would happen to the mission fields? Would there still be a church?
It is not good enough if God is with you but not with your children, or God is with the leaders but not with the members. We want to move forward together, not alone. The reason why Moses said, “If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence,” was because Israel was God’s covenant people. And they have a part to play in God’s plan in saving the world. Israel was supposed to be the light and the salt to point the unbelieving world to the one living and true God. And the only way Israel could fulfil that part was by having God at the centre of her life.
Therefore, if God’s presence was not with them, it would be impossible for them to fulfil their mission to the world, and it would be pointless for them to move forward into the promised land. It would be better for them to remain in the wilderness at Sinai rather than enter Canaan without the Lord’s full blessing.
What separates the church from the rest of the world?
That was why Moses said so emphatically in verse 16, “For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us?” - which means ‘how shall the people know that I and the Israelites have found grace in Your sight, unless you go with us?’ - “so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth?”
That was a good question. What was the thing that distinguished the Israelites from all the other nations? It was not their land, because they didn’t have any land yet. It was not their wealth—they had nothing. It was not their culture—they had been living in slavery.
The only thing that separated the Israelites from the rest of the world was their relationship with God. They were the only nation that worshipped the one living and true God. And the only way for all the other nations to know that was that God remained in their midst.
Dear friend, how do we apply this truth into our lives? What is so special about the church of God? What is so unique about Battle BP Church? If it is just because of our building—what if we move to another place? If it is just because of certain individuals—what if those people are no longer with us? The only thing that separates us from the rest of the world and makes us uniquely a church is our relationship with God. And the only way we can fulfil that sovereign purpose is that God must remain in our midst.
How do we know that God is in our midst?
If truly God is in our midst, then you and I must live and behave as a church, so that the world will see Christ in us. If truly God is in our midst, then we must be united as one. Remember Jesus said, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21).
Whenever we see a church in trouble, or she is divided, or the people are leaving the church, and she’s on the verge of being dissolved—perhaps the first question that comes into our minds is this: ‘Is God really with that church? If God is with that church, why are those things happening?’
Have you ever looked at Bethel BP Church and asked this question: ‘Is God really with us?’ It does not mean that when God is with us, there will be no trouble. There may still be troubles. But there will also be the peace of God, and the people will be united despite the troubles.
There will be this desire in our hearts to live godly lives. There will be a love for evangelism and missions, a passion and an enthusiasm for all the ministries and fellowship groups in the church. Sometimes, seriously speaking, I see that in our church. But sometimes I don’t. And this frightening thought always comes into my mind: ‘Is God really with us, strengthening us, working in and through us?’ If His presence is not with us, how can we move forward as a church into the future? Think about this—it involves your life, my life, our children’s lives—everyone.
Whatever God has called you to do, whether it is obeying your parents, or teaching your children, or serving Him in a ministry, or living as a single person, or learning how to live as married couples, or working in a particular company—we need to pray that God will go with us, to strengthen us, to bless us. Otherwise, all our efforts will be in vain. As Jesus said, “For without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5))
Moses proved himself to be an effective human leader and mediator. He had pleaded with God not to destroy the children of Israel. He had pleaded with God to show him His ways. He had pleaded with God to go with the children of Israel into the promised land. God said He would do all these things because He was pleased with Moses. Look at verse 17, “And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.”
So God had agreed to go with the Israelites, now because He was pleased with His prophet Moses. Take a moment and consider this: if God was able to do all these things for the Israelites based on His pleasure of Moses—a human leader, a human mediator—how much more He would do for us based on His pleasure of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the far greater leader and infinite mediator. At the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, there was a voice that came from heaven that said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
Dear friend, surely there are times when we wonder: how could God ever be pleased with us? Look at our sins. Look at our shortcomings. Look at our weaknesses and failures. Look at the things we have done. We do not even measure up to our own standards, let alone the perfect standards of God. How could God ever be pleased with us—as a church, as a family, as an individual?
How do we make sure God is pleased with us?
The answer is that God is pleased with his Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and therefore he is pleased with anyone who trust in Jesus. This is the only basis on which God is pleased with anyone. If you want God to be pleased with you, there's only one way. Ask Jesus to be your Saviour and faithfully follow Him all the days of your life. Because of our Lord Jesus and what He has done for us, God will be pleased with us.
III. Show My Thy Glory
The third thing Moses asked from God was to show him his glory. Verse 18 says, "And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory." He wanted to see the splendour and majesty of God.
In the past, Moses had already caught a glimpse of God's glory, but it seemed that it wasn't enough for him. He caught his first glimpse of God's glory at the burning bush, where the bush was burned with fire but not consumed. In chapter 24, when Moses went up Mount Sinai and entered the cloud of God's presence, he saw a glimpse of God's glory. But here, he wanted to have a full revelation of that glory. And God said to Moses in verse 19, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy."
The power of God’s glory
God was willing to show His goodness to Moses, be gracious, and be merciful to him. But what he was not willing to do was to show the fullness of His glory. If Moses were to see a complete revelation of God in his eternal being, it would be so overwhelming that it would destroy him. Why? Because God is absolute in his perfection. And Moses was finite and a fallen creature, and therefore he could not see God and live. No man can.
In order to protect Moses from being destroyed and yet receive His goodness and see a glimpse of His glory yet again, God made some special arrangements. He said in verses 20 to 23: "Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen."
When God talked about His face, His back parts, and His hand, they were figures of speech. He was speaking of the majesty of His eternal being in terms of human body parts—using physical things to symbolise spiritual realities. To see God's face means to have a direct revelation of His glory. To see His back parts is to have some lesser experience of that glory.
Whenever people talk about God covering us with His hand, they are always talking about God protecting us from trials and temptations, afflictions or tribulations. But here the interesting thing is that Moses was being protected from the radiance of God's glory. In a sense, he was protected by God from God. The glory of God is more than any man can ever bear. This is just how amazing the glory of God really is.
Some of us may be wondering why Moses would want to see the glory of God. Do you realise that this is what human beings have always wanted—to have a direct experience of God? This is why people go on spiritual journeys. Some resort to meditations, thinking that by their constant meditation perhaps they can see God. Others would ask ultimate religious questions. People like the atheists would say, ‘Show me your God, if you can.’ And especially people who go through trials, extreme difficulties—they will cry out, ‘Where are you God? If you are there, show me who you really are.’
This is what human beings have always longed for. They want to see God as He actually is. And this is just how wonderful—that God sent Jesus Christ into this world to be our Saviour. Jesus came so that we can see Him. We can see God in Him.
He is the eternal second person in the triune God. There's an account in the Gospel when one of the disciples said to Jesus, "Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us" (John 14:8). In other words, ‘show us God. We want to see God for ourselves’. But Jesus said, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). The Father and the Son are one. To know Christ is to know God. To love Him is to love God. And to see Him is to see God.
What it means to see God
Today, when we talk about seeing God, we are not talking about in the physical sense or in the visual sense. It is to know Jesus Christ for salvation. It is to understand His divine character, to believe what He has done for us and what He promised to do for us, to have the Spirit of Christ indwelling in our hearts teaching and guiding us, to have the Bible speak to us in a still small voice and convict our hearts, to experience God's hands working in us, helping us through the different situations and circumstances of life. And the more we know the Bible, the more we will be able to see God in that sense.
But one day you and I will literally see our Lord Jesus Christ face to face. In Heaven, when we are totally free from sin, we will be able to see the fullness of God's glory. Only then will we be able to bear the sight of our Lord's glory without being destroyed. For all eternity we will bask in His glory.
If today is your last day on this earth, are you ready to see Christ? Are you excited to see Him? This is not a scare tactic. It is just a genuine question. If you are a true child of God, you will understand what it means to be able to see the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. You will be like Moses, who said, "Shew me thy glory" (Exodus 33:18, ‘Show me. I want to see it.’
Victorious in the midst of trials and tribulations
Dear friend, we do not know what is lurking around the corner in the future. As we inch forward closer and closer to our promised land, which is Heaven, some of us may be closer than others. Unless our Lord Jesus comes for us in the rapture, some of us may only have months, if not weeks, or even days—just like Moses and the children of Israel moving forward into the promised land.
Some of us may have to make serious decisions as we live our days inching forward. Some of us may have to face certain life-changing challenges. Others may need more wisdom and discernment to deal with the issues in the family and marriages. All of us will need the strength to overcome the onslaught of temptations of all sorts. And there will be trials, afflictions, and tribulations.
How can we be victorious? We can, if you and I respond like Moses: ‘Lord, show me thy ways. I want to know your way so that I may know thee more and more. Lord, if thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence. Do not bring us forward if you are not with us. And Lord, show me your glory. Even if it is a glimpse, show me. I want to see it. Our God knows our desires. He is good, gracious, and merciful. And like He said to Moses, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy" (Exodus 33:19). Let us learn from the blessed, beloved servant of God—Moses. Show me thy ways. Show me thy presence. Show me thy glory. Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven, indeed we are just like the children of Israel, inching forward into our promised land as they are moving forward into their promised land. Our promised land is in Heaven. But as we inch forward, we need to face challenges of all sorts. We know that there will be difficulties, trials, and the issues of life—difficult decisions for us to make, life-changing challenges to face. We need much wisdom and discernment.
How can we be victorious as we live our days on this earth? We learn from Thy servant Moses. For he cried out to thee: Lord, show me thy ways, that I may know thee. Show me thy presence. If thou wilt not go with us, then carry us not from here. Be with us to strengthen us, guide and lead us, protect and empower us, and bless us. Show me Thy glory. We know that we cannot see thee in the fullness of Thy glory—only in Heaven, when we are totally free from sin. Then we will be able to see our Lord Jesus face to face.
But in the meantime, as a child of God, we want to see even a glimpse of Thy glory—whether it be through Thy Word, through the wonder-working of Thy Spirit, through Thy hands of protection, through Thee working in our lives as we go through the different challenges, circumstances, and situations. We want to experience thee. Show us and strengthen our faith so that as we inch forward, we will always trust in Thee, no matter what happens. We give Thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.