Exodus 33 Devotional

Nothing Without His Presence

“And the LORD answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.””Exodus 33:14 (BSB)

The golden calf leaves a hard question hanging: will God still go with them? They may go on to the land of milk and honey with an angel, but God himself will not go, or he might destroy them on the way (33:1-3). Outside the camp, at the tent of meeting, the LORD speaks with Moses directly, as one friend talks with another (33:11).

Moses refuses the land without the Lord. If God's presence does not go with them, he asks not to be sent at all, because that presence is what marks them as God's people (33:15-16). God agrees, and Moses asks for more: to see God's glory. God will pass by and proclaim his name and his goodness, but seeing his face would mean death, so he shelters Moses in a cleft of the rock (33:18-23). John says the God no one has seen has been made known by his one and only Son, who is himself God (John 1:18). The best gift God gives his people is himself.

To think about: What are you asking God for right now, and would you still want it if his presence did not come with it?