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TL;DR:
Moses’ plea in Exodus 33 shows that God’s presence gives His people their identity, direction, and rest. Without that presence, religious activity becomes spiritually empty. God promised to accompany Moses and Israel, distinguishing them from other nations. Christians today should pursue an awareness of God’s presence with the same urgency and passion, making it central to personal faith and church life.
What relevance might there be for us today in the words of Moses in Exodus 33:12–17 as he pleads for God's presence?
12 Moses said to the Lord, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name, and you have found favor with me.' 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."
14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
17 And the Lord said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked because I am pleased with you, and I know you by name."
Scripture quotation from Exodus 33:12–17, New International Version (NIV), 2011.
When our two children were young, Barbara and I would join the kids every night for a devotional time together.
I found that Bible reading and prayer with a four-year-old and a seven-year-old affected my praying aloud. Of course, I knew from the beginning that for Rachele and Matthew to participate meaningfully in the prayer time, I would have to use relatively simple words uncluttered with "stained-glass language."
One night, however, I thanked the Lord for His "presence" in our lives that day.
Immediately after my "amen," Rachele looked up at Barbara and asked, "What did Daddy say? Presents?"
What was I trying to say? Well, I was trying to thank our Creator for the greatest blessing humanity can receive, a blessing that Adam, for instance, enjoyed to its fullest. It was such an important thing to Moses that he told the Lord at Sinai, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here" (Exodus 33:15, NIV).
That evening, as I tried to answer my little girl's question, I also inwardly asked the Lord never to let me ignore the wonder of my communion with Him. I asked Him never to let "thank you for your presence today" become just a stock phrase I put in every prayer without really thinking.
A statement often attributed to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung says, "The central neurosis of our time is emptiness." We Christians would put it another way: It's the lack of the presence of God.
One day, I stood in the aisle of a train from Rome to Florence, talking with a businessman. A devout Roman Catholic, he was frustrated with what was happening in his "Christian" country: a rising crime rate, political violence, and inescapable government corruption.
Why was there such spiritual emptiness in a country widely regarded at that time as overwhelmingly Christian? What led Cardinal Giovanni Benelli, then archbishop of Florence, to say: "We Christians are in a minority in Italy. This country has returned to being a mission field"?
Well, one reason for the concerns expressed by the businessman and Cardinal Benelli is that Christian principles and values failed to displace in Italy the traditions and customs of ancient Rome. In many cases, Christian beliefs can sometimes form only a thin veneer over pagan ideas handed down for centuries by the inhabitants of that peninsula.
Italian observers have frequently noted that the Roman Catholic Church knows or at least suspects such syncretism exists but allows it to stand as long as it doesn't interfere with fundamental doctrines.
Perhaps the reason for the emptiness in a land considered "Christian" is to be found in the conversation between Moses and the Lord reported in Exodus 33:7–15 after the golden calf episode. The religious landscape I encountered in Italy seemed to reflect a diminished urgency about living in the Lord's presence.
It can happen not only to the Roman Catholic Church but also to any other group of believers. May we ever be like Moses. May we be unwilling to move forward unless God's presence goes with us. May seeking the presence of the Lord be our all-consuming passion.
— Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu
I wrote this devotional blog when Barbara and I were serving as missionaries in Italy. It is one of a series of 52 brief devotionals written for The Standard, a weekly Faith Connections take-home publication for adult Sunday school classes published by the Church of the Nazarene.
Memorable Quotes About Other Bible Verses
The Bible's concept of "God's presence" refers to the belief that God is actively present and engaged with His creation, especially with His people. "God's presence" means that God is not distant or detached from the world. Instead, He is intimately involved in our lives and communities.
We can see various manifestations of God's presence throughout the Bible.
Here's the point: The concept of God's presence in the Bible carries the idea of divine intimacy, guidance, and assurance for the people of God. References to "God's presence" signify the relational aspect of God's love toward us.