Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 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?”
Exodus 33:15-16 NIV
Ever found yourself uncertain about the path ahead, wondering if your requests and prayers are echoing into the void? It’s a universal sentiment. In the journey of seeking, be it in our daily requests or profound prayers for miracles, how we approach the asking matters deeply as what we ask. Picture Moses standing at the crossroads, making a resolute plea to God. He said: “If Your presence doesn’t go with us, don’t send us.” His plea echoes a profound truth. For him the presence of God is the compass for their journey, distinguishing them from the clamour of the world. Let’s unravel the significance of his request and the undeniable joy found when God’s presence becomes our guiding force.
God is always faithful to His promises and covenants. His faithfulness is not dependent on man’s action. Faithfulness is His nature, hence, since He does not change, His faithfulness also shall never change. It is in the light of this truth that this chapter opens. Despite the Israelites’ unfaithfulness, God remained determined to fulfil His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He did not change His mind from giving the promised land to the Israelites.
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.’ I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 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.”
Exodus 33:1-3 NIV
Many might have chosen to follow the angel of the Lord into the promised land. They might have been content with the angel driving out its inhabitants. Moses, however, refused to accept this condition. Though it is a significant miracle for the angel of the Lord to lead the people into the land. However, Moses believes nothing is as significant and important as the presence of the Lord Himself.
Moses wasn’t willing to exchange the presence of God for that of an angel. Although, with the angel leading, the miracles God promised would happen. However, Moses’ firm request for God’s presence underscores a crucial truth: miracles don’t validate God’s presence in a person’s life. Because a minister performs miracles, no matter how great it may seem, does not mean that he has the presence of the Lord.
Many ministers resemble an iron disconnected from the power source, still capable of pressing cloth briefly with some remaining heat. All they have left is just some residual “heat” which will soon dissipate. So, Moses pleaded with God, and I want us to take note of his prayer. “How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?”. This is the first critical issue we must take note of.
The proof of God’s favour upon our lives is not based on the ‘work of God’ we can do but His presence in our lives. Even if all that the people are looking for is a miracle, Moses was not going to deceive himself, so he said: “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”
“What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”. What are you pursuing as a distinguishing factor from everyone else? Is it not money and fame? Are you not bent on making a name for yourself, even though the presence of God is not with you? What would it profit you if you become a “great minister” and a “miracle worker” but void of the presence of God? How else will you be identified as special among the other people?