Have God’s Presence and His Rest

Exo 33:15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

This is what you and me have to tell God today that "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here."

When did Moses tell this to God?

In Exo 33:1 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.'

Exo 33:2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

Exo 33:3 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."

Why did God told this to him that He will not come with them?

• you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way

1. (Exo 32:9 NIV) ""I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people." Do you know why God told them this because in Exo 32:8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'

In Exo 32:7 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.

In Exo 32:24 So I told them, 'Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.' Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!"

In Exo 32:31 So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold.

Great Man Moses: "Exo 32:32 "But now, please forgive their sin--but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written."

Exo 32:33 "The LORD replied to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book."

2. (Exo 33:3 NIV) "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."

In Exo. 33:4 When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments.

3. (Exo 33:5 NIV) "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.'"

When Moses submits himself before God to do His will, and willing to learn the ways of God, God says this Promise as it is said in Exo. 33:13 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."

In Exo 33:14 The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

4. (Exo.34:9 NIV) ""O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes," he said, "then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.""

Accepting our weakness brings new blessings. In Exo 34:10 Then the LORD said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you.

Also in Exo 34:11 Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

5. (Deu 9:6 NIV) "Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people."
   In Deu 9:7 to 9, "Remember this and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God to anger in the desert. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the LORD. At Horeb you aroused the Lord's wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you. When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water.
6. (Deu 9:13 NIV) "And the LORD said to me, "I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed!"

In Deu 9:12 "Then the LORD told me, "Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made a cast idol for themselves."

Deu 9:24 "You have been rebellious against the LORD ever since I have known you."

7. (Acts 7:51 NIV) "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!"

In Acts 7:52 "Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him."

A stiffnecked means (KJV): Ex 33:3,5; 34:9; De 9:6,13; 10:16; 31:27; 2Ch 30:8; Neh.9:17; Ps.78:8; Pr 29:1; Isa. 48:4; Zec.7:11, 12; Acts.7:51.

But since there was a great leader like Moses to Intercede so finally they got the Promise "In Exo 33:14 "The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

Why do we need the presence of God?

1. Exo 33:16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?
2. Exo 33:16 What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
3. 1 Sam 2:28 I chose your father out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your father's house all the offerings made with fire by the Israelites.
4. 2 Ki 22:19 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people, that they would become accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the LORD.
5. 2 Chr 34:27 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the LORD.
6. Dan 4:8 Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)
7. Jer 15:1 Then the LORD said to me: "Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! Jer 14:22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.

Who can be in the presence of God?

1. Psa 15:2 He whose walk is blameless and
2. who does what is righteous,
3. who speaks the truth from his heart
4. Psa 15:3 and has no slander on his tongue,
5. who does his neighbor no wrong and
6. casts no slur on his fellowman,
7. Psa 15:4 who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD,
8. who keeps his oath even when it hurts,
9. Psa 15:5 who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
10. He who does these things will never be shaken.

How to get the rest of God?

1. Psa 95:10 & 11 "For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways. So I declared on oath in my anger, "They shall never enter my rest."
2. Heb 3:10 & 11, "That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways. So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'
3. Heb 4:2 & 3, "For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world".
4. Heb 4:5 & 6, "And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest. It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience"

We can go and enjoy the rest of God by obedience and knowing the word of God only. That is why Apostle Paul said knowing you is eternal life.

What will the blessings the people who stand in the presence of God do get?

• Exo 28:30 Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.
• Lev 9:24 Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown. Also in Lev 10:2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
• Deu 12:7 There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the LORD your God has blessed you. Also in Deu 12:18 Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose--you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns--and you are to rejoice before the LORD your God in everything you put your hand to.
• 1 Sam 6:19 But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them,1 Sam 6:20 and the men of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?"
• 1 Sam 11:15 So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.
• 1 Ki 19:11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
• 2 Ki 23:3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD--to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant. Also in 2 Chr 34:31 The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD--to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book.
• Job 1:12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. Also in Job 2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
• Luke 1:19 The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.
• Luke 15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
• Acts 10:33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us."
• 1 Th 3:13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
• 2 Tim 4:1 & 2, In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction."

Dear Brothers and sisters if we can make a decision like Moses not to do any thing or not to go anywhere without the presence of the Lord we will be victorious in every thing we do in this New Year like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as in Dan 3:25 He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods. Dan 3:26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, The king himself has to say finally as in Dan 3:28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

May the Lord help each one of us to get in to the Presence of God and the rest of God in this New Year 2001. Have a nice Victorious Year 2001 with the presence of God.

Your Loving Web-site Pastor,
Rev. T. Marcus Devasahayam.
Baroda Bible Club