Exodus 33:1-23
Angels Could Drive Out the Enemies of the Israelites
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”
4 When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’” 6 So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.
7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.”Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. 11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
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.”
18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
Of the two people that I think about that knew God the best were Moses, of the Old Testament, and Jesus, of the New Testament...They very much had personal relationships with Him...The largest group God led were the Israel people...He was with Moses and the Hebrews, when they left Egypt and traveled across the desert...For forty years God would be with His people...This large group would get to know Him and be with their LORD...
When we think about Jesus and how often He teaches us about God, and LOVE, forgiveness, and mercy -we think about a caring Father and God...Many when they read the Old Testament think of God as a little bit different in the way the history of the nation of Israel started and how He handled the situation, as part of His Plan...There was much bloodshed in the Israeli's trip wandering across the desert and reaching the Promised Land, as Moses lead the way...The land that God had promised Abraham in a covenant with him many years before this...Almost all of the bloodshed and wars were with the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, as they fought for the land they lived on...And we can make no mistake about this, God LOVED Jesus and Moses...
God works in mysterious ways and He offered to leave His people and not take them to the Promised Land...Instead He offers Moses a proposal of sorts..He tells him that He will not go with him (Moses), because the Hebrew people are a stiff-necked group and He might destroy them on the way to the Promised Land...And if God Himself does not go, He will instead send one angel before His people and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites...Now, let us imagine this -no wars with these groups...An angel would take care of getting the Israelites enemies off and out of the Promised Land...Now that seems like a good deal, but is it?...The catch is, the people would lose their Presence with their Father...God would not go with them...So Moses and the people have a choice...To take the less killing of people way, with less bloodshed on their hands, or have God go with them and they would be fighting for their Promised Land... Moses goes into the Tabernacle and asks God to go with them...Without a doubt Moses wants God with him and God's people...Moses conversation with God shows he knows the uniqueness of God, being the God of Israel and His being with them...Moses even says how would he and the people of Israel be distinguished from other people, if God does not take them personally to land He promised Abraham...With God always being with the people of Israel, other people and other nations would take note...God is the God of Israel, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob...
The people were distressed about God not going, as was Moses...They had been with God, they were close to Him...And yet, they could get their Promised Land with an angel doing the struggling and ridding of the enemies for them...How odd and tough a decision to come up...An angel to be their soldier or the people to battle their own battles...Moses and the people choose for God to go with them and they would suffer through many wars with the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites...This is what they choose...They wanted their LORD with them...
God would be with the Israelites the rest of their journey to the Promised Land, and through those times they would face many wars and hardships...Life is hard to predict and often difficult...Sometimes we want the best way out to be the easy way out...We would like to avoid grief, struggling, and have less suffering, even though God is near us...God was as near Moses (and His people) and to His Son...The LOVE for His Son, did not save Him from an earthly death, but it gave Him and us something better...His resurrection and His eternal life -if we believe in Him and His Father gives us eternal life...As we look back in life and we can learn something from our toughest, most challenging times -maybe those times we grew somehow in our faith and in ways we did not think we could...Sometimes good comes out in struggles and sufferings...