It is always a great privilege to go to different parts of the global church and experience all that is normal there but new to us. But the greater privilege is to hear what God is doing and how his people are being faithful in the midst of it. It is one of the highlights of my time over the last three years to get to spend time in Abuja with Clergy from the diocese of Kubwa and Zaire, and to hear of their journeys, faith and perseverance – because there is nothing that reminds you about the call of God on your life until you hear about places where that call carries a cost. Why? Because those stories of faithfulness remind me what ministry is all about, and what the call of the church is all about! Something we see so clearly in the Exodus story as it comes to an end, so let me ask you this when you think about your life, our life as Church, and the call that is ahead of us – what is it all for?

Is God simply leading us to a better place, a more glorious destination where we can enjoy life? Is God simply rescuing us from sin to set us free to try our best? Or is it something more, something better, something still to come and yet something that we already have – we see so clearly in the concerns of Moses here – he doesn’t care about reaching the promised Land unless their God goes with them! They are his people, and Moses knows clearly that moving forward in their journey towards the promised land is not the same as being with God and following him.

So today, let me ask you? What is the most important thing for us as Christians and as a Church family? Is it success? Survival? Or something far more beautiful – God’s faithfulness and presence with us? Then I wonder how we understand that? Is it by the style of our worship, or the songs that we sing? Is it by the number of people in our pews for any given service? Do we look around and think God is less present and faithful to this church in this generation because our markers of success are fewer, or are we a people who know he is with us and delight in the mercies he has given us?

It is wonderful to hear what God is doing among his people across the world. Yet, sometimes their faithfulness and Kingdom advancement do not look successful through the lens we often look through- the Bishop of Zaire told us how in the last year they had to close 14 churches, and only opened two new ones. Was it because God’s presence was not among the Christians in Northern Nigeria? No! It was because his presence was among them; fourteen churches were closed because of the violence of militant Islam and the persecution the people of God faced, and two churches were reopened because of the boldness of faith of those God called to go back and reach again ground that had been lost, as those opposed to the Christian faith began to meet Jesus, as those who had been hurt by violence had been ministered to. As the Church worked in many places, the government would not dare to go. What enabled our brothers and sisters to move forward? The Presence of God! Yet if we judged only from afar, we might think God was not with them because their numbers were few and their success not obvious.

Remembering the Story

Exodus is simply the Story of God’s presence with a people who are the least likely to be successful and chosen in the world. God chose them because they were the least, so he could show the most of himself. He promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would make from them a great nation, and as they lived in Egypt from the time of Joseph to their enslavement, God had been with them and blessing them as they increased in numbers, even as they did not realise it. It was always about the presence of God, never about the journey – He was with his people when he heard their cry; he was with his people, and they passed through the Red Sea, as he provided for them in the wilderness, at the giving of the commandments and covenant, then even as they descended into Chaos and evil at the Golden Calf – God was still present among his people even as they turned from him. Now in the aftermath we see both the Goodness of God and the wisdom of Moses.

God is good because he is faithful to his word even as his people have been unfaithful; he tells them they may indeed go on to the promised land, and he will clear it for them, but he will no longer be among them in the same way! (33:1-2) Surely that is fine? Yet the people know, and Moses knows more clearly, that the promised land without the promise-giver is no place to be. Thus, in the verses before our passage, before we see the tent of meeting move to the foot of the mountain so that Moses can intercede and plead on Behalf of a stiff-necked people so the thing they need most continues – the presence of God. So here is the challenge a passage like this poses us: What if we as a church had every outward sign of success, all we could ever ask for and then discovered that the God who called us was no longer with us – would we even notice? After the Golden Calf, Moses does not accept what God has offered the land without the Lord – he does not ask for a route to get there, nor the resources to secure it; he refuses to go forward without the God who goes with them. The journey of faith is not about the destination but about the one we go with.

1. The Presence We Cannot Do Without (33:12–15)

It is interesting how God responds to the prayers of his people throughout their Exodus – never in the way they expect. They cried out for rescue, and God raised their leader through over 40 years in the wilderness before sending him back to the land he left to lead his people. Moses, God’s friend, led a stiff-necked people who frustrated him as much as they annoyed God. Yet even as God says they can go on without him and he will honour the promise he made to Abraham, Moses says it would be better for it all to end now than to go on without the one who has been with them.

1.1 Moses brings uncertainty honestly before God (vv. 12–13)

Thus, Moses asks God: “If you want me to lead, then who are you going to send with me?” This tension arose from Israel’s sins before the Golden Calf, because God threatens to withdraw his Presence. Moses is no fool; he knows that while he has led Israel, he is but a tool in the hands of almighty God, so if God were to withdraw his presence even as he promised to provide and protect this people until they got to the promised land, Moses knows that they have no hope without God their deliverer. Indeed, Moses is so sure of God’s need that he appeals to God with boldness because he knows God intimately: “I know you by name!” Moses prays to God because he remembers the God he has walked with; he knows his heart, and he remembers what he has previously spoken – he does not intercede to act on his own strength; he does it on the foundation of who God is. Moses asks God to “show his ways,” not the way to the promised land but a revelation of the health and character of God that he has known and wants to know more of. Moses knows no destination is worth reaching if it means losing God’s presence. Additionally, and crucially, Moses speaks to God’s mercy as he asks Yahweh to remember, “this nation is your people.” Even though Moses was guiltless, such is his commitment to the call God has given him and his knowledge of the heart of God that he intercedes once on behalf of a stubborn and sinful people, rather than what would be easiest for him.

1.2 The promise and the refusal to go alone (vv. 14–15)

How does God respond to Moses’ intercession for his chosen people? He does what God always does: he shows mercy and grace, as he answered Moses: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (v. 14). More beautifully still, the Hebrew expression translated “my presence” in many English translations is literally “my face,” because God is not sending someone else with the wilderness wanderers; he himself will go, as he has done since the beginning. Yet, the intercessor is not finished because he hears and understands the you of God’s response; he knows it is singular, but he knows it is not enough, as immediately presses for the stiff-necked people to be included because he wants them to enjoy the peace of God that depends on his presence and care, not the absent of the enemies ahead. Thus, Moses knows that unless God goes with them all, none of them can go: “If your presence will not go with us, do not bring us up from here.” There is no promised land for Moses alone or the people without the covenant blessing of the Lord.

What of us and our own walk with the Lord – what is it we actually seek from God? That he might bless our destination or get us to whatever our version of the promised land looks like: a comfortable life, a full church, and enough treasures to see us through this life? Moses is not concerned about the destination only whether God will continue to be with his people along the road and through the challenges ahead. Are we willing to let earthly notions of success replace God’s presence and leading in our lives? Would we rather live lives marked by real faith and fruit or be part of a full church that is comfortable, with enough money to pay the bills but no desire for the Kingdom? Busyness, programs, success, or acclaim are not substitutes for a living faith rooted in the Living God through the Dwelling of the Holy Spirit and faith in what Christ has done. Regardless of how insecure the future might feel, our priority must always be the presence of God and the call to be his people, a presence we sustain through the dwelling of the Spirit, who helps us to know God and increase our dependence on his presence by prayer, the world, and in worship and obedience to our call to take up our Cross daily because he is with us.

2 The Grace That Makes Us His People (33:16–17)

In a culture obsessed with identity and belonging, we do our best to find ways to express ourselves and to find our meaning, our home, our purpose. It can be in sport, politics, organisations that give us that sense of belonging or even in family. One thing that we struggle to place ourselves in, in terms of belonging in the West, is Ethnic or tribal communities/identities. One thing that I find so fascinating about nations like Nigeria is that the word Nigeria means so much to so many. To be Nigerian is not a uniform thing because people come from different tribal backgrounds, they speak different languages, and their communities have different local customs – it is a wonderful thing to witness and experience some of it.

2.1 What makes God’s people distinct? (v. 16)

To be an Israelite at this stage was to be a descendant of the twelve sons of Jacob, yet at this point in the journey and growth of their nation it means very little. Thus, Moses rightly asks the question” How will anyone know that He and all the people who had left Egypt were anything unless the Lord was willing to go with them? At this stage, God’s presence and guidance gave these bland and insignificant people any distinction in the world. Moses answers The world will know they are the people of God ‘in your going with us.”

There is nothing that makes Israel distinct or superior in the world they inhabit; they have no army to call their own, no city that the world marvels at, no ethnic distinctions, nor even any moral superiority to the nations and the people groups around them (the golden calf undid any notion of themselves as better than the nations around them, they may have had). The only thing that makes Israel distinct is the very thing that makes them weak and insignificant in the eyes of the world – their weakness and dependence on God. Yet, what is folly to the world is wisdom in the eyes of the Kingdom. The power of this people group, and their only prestige in it, is their utter dependence on God and the unmerited favour the Lord has shown them by providing for them, protecting them, and dwelling among them. There is no Grace from God without the presence of God to go with it and sustain it, and Moses knows this – this he highlights before God: the pointlessness of his people going without him, because then how will they and all the “other people of the earth know” about the Glory of God. There is no grace, no witness, and no purpose to the life of faith without the presence of God in our lives to sustain it and make it known – we as the church are nothing without God’s dwelling presence in each of us and through our Worship by the Holy Spirit through faith in the Son. Our history means nothing if God is no longer among us, with us, and our main priority. Our impressive traditions, our reputation, our statistics, our Anglicanism or denomination mean nothing if God is not dwelling with us and is not our priority in life. means nothing if God is not with Christ and Christ is not the priority of our life and living; then by his Spirit we make him known in the world because God is a sending God; he dwells with his people to send us into love, holiness and mission so that the world might come to know him.

2.2 God answers by grace (v. 17)

How does God respond? The same way that God always responds when his children are sincere in their requests from him – with Grace. One thing to be clear about here is that Moses did not change God’s mind; the Lord knew how the Israelites would respond and fall into sin, and he knew he would have to bear with his people until the coming of Christ. Yet, he allows Moses to act as a spiritual leader- to intercede for his people, and in a way act as a shadow of what will be done. The Lord says he will do what Moses has asked because Moses has favour in his sight (favour that God has granted). Let us be clear: it is not that Moses has special skills that impress God or that other humans lack; this constant refrain of knowing and favour, and its repetition, makes clear that Grace is central to the covenant relationship God has with his people. Moses only has favour because God has given it to him, and he has given it to him in his role as mediator; God is not disuauded from his course by some technique that Moss has been able to employ – it is all Grace!And it points to a greater Grace to come as in the Story of the Exodus the role of Moses seems to hint at a greater mediator who can storm firmly in the presence of God and make our case, and we know today that we can know and delight in the dwelling of God today because Christ has mediated for us and continues to intercede for us – Jesus is the one through whom believers are brought near to God (Hebrews 7:25; John 14:6). Morse is not Jesus but he points to the one who is to come who will allow all of us to stand and know the friendship of God. Our history does not earn God’s help, our duty or our labour; God is faithful to us even when we are faithless and fearful because of Christ and beautifully, that is not simply where we remain because there is always more of GOd to know and make known – Moses was not content to hear of God’s help or rest on what they had had he longs for more of it because without more of Him the people of God have no future in God.

3 The Glory We Long To See; The Glory We Need To See (33:18–23)

It is a wonderful thing to know God and be known by him. Moses is no fool here, for even as he has mediated for his people and seen how Gracious God is, God first offers to take them to the promised land and clear out their enemies, and then responds to the intercession of Moses and agrees to again go with them because of the relationship that he had given to them. Yet, Moses’ knowledge of God means that he longs for more of God; he longs to see his fullness, and that is his Glory.

3.1 “Show me your glory” (vv. 18–19)

Consider the contrast of the scenes in the chapters before, when the people of God descend into the worship of empty idols in the folly of the Golden Calf. It makes the boldness of Moses’ request all the more startling. His people sought the comfort of idols, and Moses knows from his relationship and walk with Yahweh that only the tangible goodness and presence of God will do – his glory is what his people need. Yet, again, God is gracious to Moses and his people, both in being willing to receive the Request and in how he deals with it. God knows the fullness of his Glory no human could stand in and live, so he graciously offers his goodness to pass before Moses. The Glory of God is the fullness of God, and to look upon it in Sin would be to look no more – it is not something that you can look at and marvel and think that is amazing! The Glory of God is all-consuming because it is the fullness of God. Thus, here God shows his goodness, identity and gracious nature in how he handles Moses’ request. The Lord responds:

“I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (v. 19)

God makes clear, as he responds to the request of Moses, that Grace belongs to him, and Mercy is his to pour out – Yahweh is sovereign over all things, and he is free to be merciful to whomever he wants and for whatever reason. Grace is a gift from God alone; mercy is from the hand of God alone – there is nothing that Moses had done to earn it, and there is no reason for God to be merciful to the Israelites after they broke their vows to follow him and be faithful and descended into carnal rage at the foot of the calf. Yet God chose to be merciful, as he suggested he might respond: he let them go forward and assured them of success, then said he would go with them, and now, evermore, he shows them his goodness. Moses cannot command the Grace of God, nor could he earn it – it is simply a gift from the heart of God that reveals the character of God, which we have witnessed throughout this passage as God is nothing but gracious to his people by choosing to be faithful to the covenant he made with them, even when he knew they could not keep it. Mercy and Grace are the heart of God; indeed, they are the very revelation of God – but free in dispensing mercy; we can never command Grace from God or earn his mercy, because in the coming of Christ – the ultimate revelation of the Grace of God- it is still all up to the will of God. Yet Moses still confronts us with a choice: once we have experienced the fullness of God, our hearts should desire nothing less; the Israelites choose an idol, but Moses wanted nothing less than the fullness of the living God. What idols of tradition and relics of comfort have we settled for in our own lives when the fullness of God in Christ is available to us by the Spirit, as he moves us to know him more and make him known more? Because we need to be clear this day, there is a genuine difference between wanting the Gifts of God that might benefit us and wanting more of God in Christ – religious routine is not the same as deep dwelling and communion with God.

3.2 God’s holy goodness and gracious protection (vv. 20–23)

Sometimes it is said that the God revealed in the person of Christ is somehow different to the Gold we come to see and know in the Old Testament. Yet never let us believe it because all we see in the Exodus is the Grace of God and the Mercy of God again and again, and here is known differently. See how God handles the most audacious of requests from Moses in both granting something of it and protecting Moses from the Fullness of what he asks:

“You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (v. 20).

Sin cannot exist before God, and nothing reminds us more of how dark our sinfulness is before the face of an almighty God. Let’s be clear: the grace God shows again and again in this Exodus does not mean God is indifferent to sin, or that anyone can approach him on his own terms. God is a Holy God, the Lord and sustainer of things, whose Glory the universe cannot contain nor fully comprehend. Thus, it is not that God is unwilling to show his fullness; rather, he graciously knows that showing it to Moses would remove him from existence because of the stain of his Sin; such is the majesty of his holiness. God is so holy that even Moses, whom he calls his friend, must be protected from the fullness and power of God’s Holiness. Friendship does not mean Moses has seen all there is to see of God, or that he can approach the Lord however he wishes, because sin has not yet been dealt with.

What does God do then? He does not reject Moses or condemn him; he makes a way where there seems to be no way because that is what Grace does -The Lord tells him that there is a place near him where he can stand upon a rock, and as his Glory passes by, he will place Moses in the cleft of the rock and cover him with his hand until he has passed (vv. 21–23). Consider the beauty of this grace-moment: the very Glory Moses longs to see is the Glory that would overwhelm him, and somehow the Lord himself provides the protection that allows Moses to experience something of his presence. God does not make himself less Holy so Moses can see Him; he protects those who approach him from his wrath against sin until the work of Redemption is done. There is revelation of God even in the language that is used to describe this unfolding moment: God’s hand, his back and his face help us understand something of what Moses experiences: It is not that God is simply a greater version of ourselves with a physical body, but that what Moses sees is real and yet only a glimpse of the fullness of God. Language cannot even begin to grasp the shadow Moses receives; not everything he asks for, but everything God, in his wisdom and mercy, knows he can bear. Once again we see that Grace is not simply something God gives to his people along the road; it is the very reason they can continue to walk with Him and know his presence.

Yet, what Moses experiences here points us towards something even more wonderful! Think about it – the God who graciously revealed something of his Glory to Moses in the wilderness would one day make himself known in a way that Moses could only have longed for amid the wilderness of our sin. John tells us that “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us: and perhaps even more startling that by this incarnation: “ We have seen his glory” (John 1:14). Not some of his Glory, nor his hand or back, but indeed the fullness of the Glory of God is revealed in the person and presnce of Christ and we can know it by the Presence of his Spirit. Look upon Jesus, and you see something that Moses could only have dreamed of; we experience it fully by Christ and the Holy Spirit. Although no one has ever seen God, the Son has made him known (John 1:18). The God whose Glory Moses could not look upon in its fullness is the God who has come among us fully in the person of Jesus Christ. And he does it not by abandoning his holiness or setting aside his character, but by making known to us the fullness of his Grace and truth through the Son, and most especially at the Cross. Paul adds that the knowledge of the Glory of God is revealed “in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). In Jesus we see what Moses longed for! Yet, we are humbled more than ever because such a privilege is not ours because we are better than Israel, more faithful than Moses, or somehow more worthy of the presence of God. How then? We know such joy because Jesus Christ has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. He is the greater mediator who does not simply plead for sinful people, but bears our sin upon the Cross, reconciles us to the Father, and by his Spirit brings us into the very presence of the living God.

Ponder then what such beauty and trust might mean for you today? And all who follow Jesus in such a time as this? It is profound and simple in equal measure: If you desire to know more of the Glory of God, then we do not need to chase after some extraordinary experience, nor find some secret place where God might reveal himself to us! Why? Because God has already revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ, and he is the good shepherd who calls you by name to know him; he is the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep and rose again so that the curse of death might be no more! Dying, he destroyed our death, and rising, he has restored our life, so let us live and know the fullness of his Glory. How? As we open his Word and delight in what he has spoken, we see his Glory; as we gather in prayer and worship, as we turn from the idols that so easily capture our hearts, and as we walk in obedience to the call that Christ has placed upon our lives – we know his glory and make it known. Today, we ought never to be content with simply knowing about God, or with the comfort of familiar traditions and religious routines, when there is a deeper and more joy-filled possibility that by Christ we have been invited to know the living God and be sustained in enjoying his presence by the Holy Spirit, who is the life of faith. Moses’s challenge is not simply that he wanted more from God; that is too simple and human. Rather, the more he knew of God, the more he wanted God himself. I wonder if we can truly say that is that true of us? Is that the desire of our hearts as individuals and as a Church? No greater gift than the assurance that through Jesus Christ we can know God fully, delight in his Grace, and walk in his presence as we make his Glory known. All until the day when faith becomes sight, and we see his Glory in all its fullness and know the joy of our Salvation.

4. Do Not Go Without Him (Conclusion)

So as we come to the end of our time in Exodus, the question that rang at the beginning rings even louder now: What is this all for? What was the point of the rescue from Egypt, and being brought through the Red Sea, the wilderness, to the edge of the promised land? Was it simply so that Israel might become a great nation and create a history of their own? Maybe to enjoy prosperity and peace over the years, gain security, or become a greater people? No! The whole story of Exodus has been about something far more wonderful for this people, and all the people of the earth: the presence of the living God dwelling among his people by Grace! Perhaps that is the question we need to keep asking ourselves as brothers and sisters in Christ and in the church families we have been called to serve in; whether as a Church family we are 175 years in one place or just starting, in our time and place we must ponder: What is this all for in our time? Is it simply to see our pews filled again, our finances grow, or our influence in the community extend as our reputation improves? None of those are bad things; but they are not thee thing, they are not the reason we exist, nor can they ever be the measure of God’s faithfulness among us! Because the greatest gift God has given us is not success as the world understands it but the privilege of knowing him through faith in Jesus Christ and enjoying his dwelling presence by the Holy Spirit. His presence is his greatest gift and our greatest purpose, and that is what Moses longed for; but neither he nor his people could ever earn it. Yet, beautifully and powerfully, Christ has made it possible for all who receive the gift of faith by the Cross. And what is even more grace-filled- this presence is not something we must search for or earn, because by faith in Christ the living God has made his dwelling among us by his Spirit! We can never leave the presence of God, but in human ways we can lose sight of it. So let’s ponder one more time: What is this all for? Dare I say it, the Westminster Confession of Faith captures it perfectly as it declares: “the Chief purpose of man is to know God and enjoy him forever.” Consider that God desires that each of us know God, delight in his Grace and long for more of his Glory – all while making him known to the world around us. That is what the restored Image of God in each of us looks like. That is how we might walk faithfully with him wherever he calls us, taking the Good News of Jesus Christ into the streets and homes of this city as we live boldly in the normal where God has called us to incarnate his Kingdom. Even as we look towards whatever wilderness or uncertainty might lie ahead, let us remember that the faithfulness of God cannot be measured by the scales of this world: because the greatest blessing of the Christian life is God himself, and that is something the world cannot fathom. So may we never become so concerned with where we are going that we forget who it is we are going with, and may our prayer always be that of Moses:

Lord, if your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here!