Face to Face (Exodus 33)

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​My Grandmother who raised me did not drive so as a child we had to walk and take the bus or someone would pick us up for a ride. It was often frustrating because when you rely on others you can’t just get up and go, you have to wait! Since I was eighteen I have been driving and I just love being able to go where I want when I want. 

My wife is from the island of St. Lucia and when we travel there we rely on others to get us where we need to go. It is one of the most difficult places to drive because of steep hills and narrow roads and we want to save money by not renting a vehicle. We traveled there this past April and we said, “enough is enough,” we are renting a car, and we are just going to learn to drive on the difficult roads. It was so nice to arrive on the island and just get going and go wherever we wanted when we wanted.

Here in Exodus 33, the Lord says to Moses, “Get going, you and the people you brought from Egypt.” It is nice when the waiting season is over and it is time to get going, it is exciting! The children of Israel had been going around in circles, but the time was over. We get stuck in circles but if we ever learn from our mistakes and develop our faith and trust in God, we will get going. God saved us and has called us to greater things! He wants us to get past ourselves and be used to drive out the enemies in our land. All we have to do is put off our stubborn and rebellious ways and start dressing in His likeness.

The key to moving forward in life with God is found in Exodus 33:11; “”Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses' face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” You can’t walk with someone whom you don’t know or understand. God working in and through our lives can only transpire to the degree of our friendship with Him. All the great men and women in the Bible had one main thing in common, they were friends of God.

In the latter part of verse 11, it says Joshua would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting. He was the one to take Moses place and lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land because He was like Moses spent quality time with God face to face, which is the main qualification of becoming a legend of faith

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I remember when I went to my second college, it was far away from home where I didn’t know anyone. Initially, it was exciting, but it soon got frightening, I always had my grandmother who raised me to rely on and now I had to take care of things on my own. It was good for my personal growth but I made bad choices that could easily have been life-altering regarding my future. Thank God that He saved me within a year of when I moved out, for I had hit rock bottom, and if it wasn’t for Him I would likely not be around.

Moses in Exodus 33:12-23 is having a conversation with the Lord, humbly admitting that he cannot move forward without the presence of God going before Him. This is the key to moving with God, humility! The fear of the Lord where one is afraid to move without God. 

We too often move ahead and only cry out to God when we think we need Him. Is He is just our lifeline when we are drowning? God should not be like a life insurance plan when we only really turn to Him when we are close to dying. Many believers attend church, give tithes and offerings, pray sometimes, even read scripture occasionally, but regarding the Lord directing their lives, they are far from it.

Moses is telling the Lord, you are telling me where you want me to go but you are not telling me whom will be with me. The Lord assures him that it is He himself that will be with him. Moses in verse 13, asks the Lord to continue to look favorably upon him and help him know His ways and understand Him fully and remember that the nation is His very own people.

This conversation is amazing between Moses and the Lord, it is how friends communicate not acquaintances. The Lord had referred occasionally to the children of Israel as Moses’ people, not His, it came from being so disappointed in their behavior. So it is funny how Moses reminded the Lord that they are truly His people. 

Moses humbly acknowledged that without the presence of the Lord, he is no different than anyone else, it is His presence alone that sets them apart. The Lord responds saying “I indeed will do what you have asked, looking favorably on you, for I know you by name.” “Moses responded, then show me your glory.” The Lord’s goodness passes before him, and Moses covered by the crevice of the rock and the hand of God witnesses the Lord pass by him from behind.

Without the shed blood of Jesus, no man could see God face to face. Now that we are in Christ we can experience the fullness of His Glory face to face, communing with Him as His beloved sons and daughters, His personal friends. Let us like Moses each day ask our Heavenly Father to go before us, and that His presence and favor be upon us, as we manifest His glory throughout the earth.