Exodus

Exodus 33:7-11 says:

⁷ Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. … ⁹ Whenever 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. ¹⁰ When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent. ¹¹ Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

Moses was a mighty man of God. He met with God face-to-face. He was used mightily of God. God spoke to Him in the tent of meeting. And when Moses entered the tent, God’s presence filled the tent. Wow!

This is as good of an insight into the “devotional” life of Moses, as we can get. Man and God together, evident in a tangible way.

But as much as Moses did, he could not do it all. His spiritual son, Joshua was the man ordained of God to lead the Israelites into the promised land. What is interesting to note here, is that it is Joshua who lingered in the tent after Moses had left.

Could it be that the breakthrough anointing on Joshua’s life of leadership, victory in the battle, of conquest and overcoming, can be traced back to this heart and hunger for the presence of the Lord?

No doubt Joshua learned a great a great deal from Moses. But the fact that Joshua didn’t leave when Moses did, but hung around, seeking more, says much to me about this great man of God.

It causes me to ask myself the question – and maybe you can ask this of yourself as well. Am I prepared to seek and then stay in the presence of the Lord long enough for Him to prepare me in that place for what He has planned for me?

PRAYER: Father, I stop what I am doing and I seek your face like Joshua of old….

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger from Pexels

Exodus 32:1 says:

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Moses has been on the mountain with God. The people however, are impatient and implore Aaron to fashion for them an idol to worship. Of Moses they say “we do not know what has become of him”.

This is a comment made by carnally-minded people of one who is intent on walking with God.

When someone decides to truly seek God and make the transition from the ways of Egypt and prepare for God’s land of promise, like Moses we tend to leave the crowd behind. When we, like Moses, head up the mountain to seek the Lord we find other pursuits fade away, time with the crowd diminishes, conversation about temporal things dries up, interests change.

At that point people who have never ascended the mountain with the Lord begin to wonder “what happened to that guy?”

“He’s not the same person”. No he or she is not! And that is the beauty of spending time in the presence of the Lord; it changes us.

Except those that live carnally, those that live to gratify the earthly nature never notice. They don’t get it and don’t see it.

PRAYER: Father, I ask you to help me to not choose popularity with people over my time with you. Lord I know your ways are best and pray for my friends, my loved ones and family members that they too may journey up the mountain and together we are transformed by your grace. But even if they don’t, I choose you. In Jesus name, Amen

 

Related articles

• Exodus 5:22-23 – Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people?
• Who Will Ascend? …Moses and Aaron: God’s Intercession Team – Part 2
• I Am – Exodus 3:2 – 22 [Darby] | Bible Resources
• Exodus 2 – When God Has Another Plan

 

Exodus 23:24-25 says:

you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. ²⁵ You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.

God gives Moses and the people a promise concerning the place He has prepared for them. But part of this promise relates to the dealing with false gods and idols already in that land.

God can not and will not abide along with false gods. Therefore the charge for the Israelites was “you need to get rid of them, one by one”. They were commanded:

1. Don’t bow down to them – the enemy loves nothing more than the worship of created things rather than the creator, God. There is only one to whom we should bow and He is alone in being uncreated and without peer.

2. Don’t serve them – don’t ever believe their gods are a means to an end for you. Don’t seek to use what everyone else uses to fulfil their needs in life. Instead, look to me, God says.

3. Do not do as they do – naively, many Christians seek to live just like everyone else without any understanding of the Word. Mimicking the world because we think “the Bible says nothing about that” betrays God’s desire that we give ourselves to Him 100%. Doing that means adopting a way of life that is more allied to God and His values than the world and its.

PRAYER: Father, I ask you to reveal any idolatry in my heart. I choose to place you on the throne of my heart and be the primary focus of my life and worship. In Jesus name, Amen

 

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• The Best Is Yet To Come
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• The “I Will” of God (Exodus 6)

 

Exodus 19 verse 6 says:

 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Under the old covenant the intention of God was to make for Himself a people who were priests, ministering before Him day and night.

God wanted a kingdom (where He was king) of priests (where all people could minister before Him). This was, and still is, the heart of God.

But there are a problem. Exodus 20:18-19 says:

the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off ¹⁹ and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

The people rejected God’s call for a Kingdom of Priests. Instead they wanted priests who would minister on their behalf. They had that in Moses and Aaron and Levitical line. But this was not God’s intent.

In the New Covenant, the priesthood of Aaron has been abolished (Hebrews 7). Through Christ, all believers are a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). But how often do we fall into the same trap as the Israelites?

It is easy to expect others to do for us, what God what for us to do.

“I don’t need to seek God, my pastor will do that.”
“I don’t need to study the Word, others will do that.”
“I don’t need to pray and intercede, someone else will do that.”

God is seeking a you to become a priest in His Kingdom. Let us say YES to Him today.

PRAYER: Father, thank you for your invitation to join you in your Kingdom as a priest. Thank you for Jesus who has made a way for us. I ask for your grace to enable be to walk in that today. In Jesus name, Amen. 

 

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• A Change In The Law
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• A great high priest

 

Exodus 8:15 says:

But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

A small blessing can harden the heart.

When Pharaoh saw he got what He wanted – respite from the plague of frogs – he reverted back to his place of pride and hardened his heart towards God.

How does blessing do this? When our attitude says:

• Why did I receive not more?
• This is not enough!
• I deserve more than this
• God must approve of my sin
• Now I can get on with running my own life

God desires we come to Him with surrendered and broken hearts, so that when we seek Him we seek Him on His terms. When we come to God seeking what we can get, the focus is on us (not God) and the result is a hardened heart.

In receiving blessing from God without a surrendered heart, we might get the answer to our prayer, but we will not get the one who answers it. He is the real and true blessing.

PRAYER: Father, I surrender to you my heart. I lay down every false motive in seeking you. You alone are more than enough. I love you Lord. Amen.

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Exodus 6 verse 7 says:

I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Do you want to know what God’s word is to you? This is it!

This is God’s promise to us. It is His initiative and His promise.

Note, His statement begins with “I will”. Who will? God will. When we don’t or when we can’t, God WILL! It is God, not us that this is all about.

He has chosen us to be His people. Why? Because God desires a people who love Him and desire to know Him more.

“I will be your God”. This speaks of the absoluteness God expects of His people. There will be no playing the field. There will be no weighing up of options. God is decisive in His intent for His people, and He expects the same from us.

To be a people who know who their God requires that we surrender to Him. He IS our God. And when we surrender to Him, then we will know our God as the one who delivered Israel from Egypt and who delivers us from our fears, burdens, oppression, sickness, sin and depravity today.

Knowing God – our God – is the result of responding to His invitation to us, and joining ourselves to Him in surrender.

PRAYER: Father, I recognise and heed your call to be absolutely Lord of all in me. I surrender to you today. Allow me to know you more and more in intimacy and love Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

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