Exodus 33:1-6 – Making God the centre of our life

Sin always makes one pays dearly. The Israelites had already paid huge consequences for the great sin of making and worshipping the golden calf. Three thousand men had already paid for the sin with their lives. Moses had demonstrated himself to be a good shepherd and was prepared to lay down his life for them. But God did not take the offer for Moses was not the right person to be the atoning sacrifice. From this incidence, we can see the structure of salvation taking shape. In Exodus 33:1-6, it came time for them to move on towards the promised land.  So, God said to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants, I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. o up to a land flowing with milk and honey….”

God still remembered His covenant with the patriarchs. He is a covenant keeping God and He remembered His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God intended to make good the promise that He had made. So, He told Moses to lead them into the land that He had already promised to their forefathers to give to them. God was so good that He even swore to take care of their enemies. But He wouldn’t be gong with them to do it. They would only have an angel to go before them to defeat the enemies in the promised land. But that was one big disappointment for them. God wouldn’t be going with them. Why? “Because they were a stiff-necked people.” They had been disobedient and it was something that was hard for them to change. God didn’t want to go with them for their protection. He knew He would have to destroy them if He would go with them. This is not to say that God could not control His anger. It was more a case of Him being a holy God so He would have to respond harshly if they sinned again and He was sure they would. The people had taken God for granted for far too long. If there is one lesson we cannot afford to miss, it is this: we cannot take God for granted. We must never take His kindness to be His willingness to condone our sin. At some point, we will have to pay for the persistent sin we refuse to deal with. Beloved, we must learn to keep a short account with God.  We must constantly ask God to search our heart and try our thoughts. If there be any wicked way in us to lead us back into the way everlasting.

After reminding them of the promise He had made, God revealed the shocking news that He would not be travelling with them. Remember throughout their journey, they had the presence of God guiding them. It was going to be different this time. The instruction Moses received on the construction of the Tabernacle was so that God would dwell in their midst. But now it appeared as if God would not be dwelling among them. We must know that when we prefer to have an idol in the centre of our life, we cannot expect God’s presence to be there. When we make other things the focal point of our life, we will leave no room for God to be there.   

It is hard to conceive a relationship without God at the centre of our life. This passage tells us how important it is to have a personal relationship with God. We can have all the world’s good, but a moment without God would be miserable. The Israelites knew it. The instance that the news got around that God would not be travelling with them, they became downcast. Then they removed all their ornament as expected of the Lord. What is the meaning of this action? Removing the ornament was a way of showing true repentance. They were now ready to get right with God. If we desire the nearness of God, repentance is a critical step we need to take. So, the people showed their repentance for it was said, since that day at Mount Horeb, they no longer had any ornament. They eventually used the gold to build the Tabernacle. What we do with our wealth in our relationship with God matters. For where our treasure is there will our heart be also. Let us keep God at the centre of our heart and life. We must if we want to experience His presence!