Message Notes

“My Presence will go with you”

Text: Exodus 33:12-23

OPENING QUESTIONS FOR US TO CONSIDER

1. Whose presence matters most to you?

2. What if that presence is gone?

INTRODUCTION: THE PRESENCE OF GOD

1. The omnipresence of God

a. God is Spirit

b. God is present everywhere Psalm 139:7-10

2. The personal presence of God
God can specially manifest His presence

a. To individuals

i. Abraham

ii. Isaac

iii. Jacob

iv. Joseph

v. Moses

b. To the children of Israel
The LORD promised to dwell among them Exodus 25:8

THE POSSIBLE WITHDRAWAL OF GOD’S PRESENCE

1. Because of the problem of sin

a. The people had committed a “great sin” in worshipping the golden calf

b. The deeper problem Psalm 78:8b

i. They were a stubborn and rebellious generation

ii. A generation who did not set its heart aright

iii. Whose spirit was not faithful to God

2. The LORD’s description of the people

“A stiff-necked people” Exodus 32:9, 33:3, 33:5

a. A reference to their stubbornness

b. They would not change from their ways easily

3. The LORD would not dwell in their midst Exodus 33:1-3

a. Moses was to depart and go up to the Promised Land

b. The LORD would send His Angel before them to drive out the inhabitants of the Land

c. But the LORD would not go up in their midst

4. A sense of sadness felt at the possible loss of God’s Presence Exodus 33:4-6

a. The people mourned upon hearing this news

b. They stripped themselves of their ornaments as a sign of mourning

MOSES PLEADS WITH THE LORD

1. He pleaded with the LORD to grant greater knowledge

Then Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’”

Exodus 33:12

a. The LORD had tasked Moses to bring up the people to the Land

b. But there were still many things that God had not made known to Moses

c. He did not know whom the LORD will send with him

2. He pleaded with the LORD to show His way clearly

“Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight.”

Exodus 33:13a

a. It was God who had shown Moses His way earlier

b. Moses would not know His way further down the road unless God showed it to him

3. He pleaded with the LORD to not dissociate Himself with His people

“And consider that this nation is Your people.”

Exodus 33:13b

a. The LORD once called them “My people”

b. He now addressed them only as “the people” Exodus 33:1

c. Moses pleaded that God would consider them His people once more

4. The basis of his pleas

a. The LORD’s grace was shown to him earlier

b. The LORD knew him by name

THE LORD GRANTS HIS PRESENCE

1. Moses did not directly mention the word, “Presence”

2. But the LORD’s presence was his heart’s request beneath it all

3. The LORD’s gracious answer

And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Exodus 33:14

a. The LORD granted His presence

b. He would give Moses rest

A FURTHER ELABORATION ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GOD’S PRESENCE

15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”

17 So the LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”

Exodus 33:15-17

1. What if the LORD’s presence did not go with them?

a. The Land by itself would not be sufficient

b. Nor the “blessings” that would come with the Land

2. Without the LORD

a. They would not be known as God’s people

b. They would be no different from any other nation on the earth

c. Moses’ answer, “Do not bring us up from here”

3. A further gracious response from the LORD

a. The LORD will also do what Moses had said

b. Reasons

i. “For you have found grace in My sight”

ii. “And I know you by name”

A SPECIAL REVELATION OF THE PERSON OF GOD

18 And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”

19 Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 20 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
21 And the LORD said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. 23 Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”

Exodus 33:18-23

1. A request from Moses

And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”

Exodus 33:18

2. The LORD will reveal Himself to Moses specially

Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

Exodus 33:19

3. But Moses’ specific request to see the fulness of God’s glory was denied

But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”

Exodus 33:20

4. Nonetheless a special revelation will be given

a. The LORD’s glory will pass by

b. The LORD will cover him with His hand while He passes by

c. Moses shall see His back, but not His face

RELEVANT LESSONS FOR US

1. The presence of God

a. Of great significance

b. Of great importance personally

2. Problems that need to be overcome

a. Taking the presence of God for granted

b. Sin problems that hurt our relationship with God

3. A withdrawal of God’s presence

a. To teach us the consequences of sin

b. To teach us not to take God’s presence for granted

4. Our challenge

a. To know God

b. To cultivate our relationship with God

c. To come to appreciate the presence of God personally