God’s Presence: Dangerous, but Essential (vital/needed) (Exodus 33:1-17)

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Most of us rightly think of God as our loving Father. He loves us more than any earthly father ever could. But do you ever think of God as dangerous?

In our quest to know the living and true God, it’s important to know Him as He has revealed Himself in the totality of His Word. If we just pick and choose the parts about God that we like, such as His love and grace, and ignore the rest, we miss something important that we need to know about God for our spiritual growth. For example, when people say, “I don’t believe in the judgmental God of the Old Testament; I believe in the loving God of the New Testament,” they’re revealing that they don’t know much about the Bible. The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. He is both loving and judgmental against all sin. As Paul exclaims (Rom. 11:22), “Behold then the kindness and severity of God!” So people who believe in a God of love, but not a God of judgment, are making a golden calf. They’re not submitting to God’s revelation in the Bible, but setting themselves up as judge over the Bible.

 Exodus 33 is the aftermath of Israel’s terrible sin with the golden calf. In Exodus 33:1, God tells Moses to move on, along with “the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt.” He doesn’t call them “My people whom I brought up,” but “the people whom you have brought up.” He promises to send His angel with them to take them to the Promised Land, but God says that He Himself won’t go up with them so that He doesn’t destroy them on the way because of their stiff necks (Exod. 33:3). Moses, however, prays and says in effect, “God, if You don’t go with us, then let us stay right here in this barren desert.” The desert with God is better than the Promised Land without God! We learn …

 

God’s presence is dangerous, but essential for His people.

 

God is omnipresent, present everywhere at all times. But here I’m talking about His immediate presence, or experiencing His presence. His presence is dangerous, because He is holy and not to be trifled with! Uzzah found that out when he reached out to steady the ark (the symbol of God’s presence) so that it wouldn’t fall off the cart. God struck him dead on the spot (2 Sam. 6:6-7)! In the “non-judgmental” New Testament, Ananias and Sapphira found that out when they lied about a donation to the church and they both died in front of Peter (Acts 5:1-11). Don’t mess with God’s presence! He’s dangerous!

 

But God’s presence is essential because without Him, we’re destitute (poor, deprived of all spiritual gifts). Without Him, we can look like a thriving church with a huge church campus and programs for every age group. We can have a multimillion dollar budget that supports missionaries all over the world. We can be written up in all the church growth magazines. On the personal level, you can be successful in business, live in a mansion, send your kids to the best universities, and serve in the church. But without God’s presence, it’s all hollow and in vain.

 

God’s presence is dangerous, but essential.

1. The peril (danger) of God’s presence is that He is not safe if we are not submissive.

 

God’s refusal to go personally with Israel into the Promised Land stemmed from their persistent grumbling and their quickly turning from Him to worship the golden calf. Even though in response to Moses’ prayer God relented and agreed to go with Israel, He eventually did destroy many because of their sins. The ten spies who brought back a negative report on the land died in a plague (Num. 14:36). Those involved in Korah’s rebellion died when the earth swallowed them alive (Num. 16:31-33). Later, when the people again grumbled, God sent “fiery” serpents among them so that many died (Num. 21:5-6). Still later, when Israel joined themselves to Moab in idolatry and immorality, God killed 24,000 (Num. 25:1-9). Eventually, the entire generation that came out of Egypt died in the wilderness because of their unbelief (Num. 14:22-23).

 

Of course, when God kills people because of their sins, it’s not that He has an anger problem! His wrath is His settled (established) opposition to all sin. His holiness requires that He must judge all sin. Sometimes, for reasons that we cannot always know, He brings temporal judgment on sinners through war, plagues, or natural disasters. When that happens, the godly suffer along with the ungodly. At other times, in mercy He allows sinful people to continue in their ways, withholding judgment until after they die. But all sin will be judged.

 

This means that either you will pay for your own sins at the judgment or you trust in Jesus, who died on the cross to pay the penalty you deserve. If you trust is in Christ and His death for you, then you don’t need to fear God’s judgment. Your sins are paid in full! But, you do need to fear God’s discipline. There’s a difference between punishment and discipline. Punishment means that the sinner pays for his sins. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Sinners will incur the second death, which is eternal separation from God in hell (Rev. 20:11-15). But, discipline comes from God’s fatherly hand to train His children in righteousness (Heb. 12:5-11). It is corrective rather than punitive.

 

When we sin, the Lord calls us to repent. Exodus 33:4-6 records one of the few times that stiff-necked Israel repented (v. 4): “When the people heard this sad word, they went into mourning, and none of them put on his ornaments.” And it was not just a momentary gesture, but ongoing (v. 6). The people’s ornaments had been the occasion for them to sin with the golden calf (Exod. 32:2). But now, in response to God’s command (Exod. 33:5), they took off their remaining ornaments. Later (Exod. 35:22), they will bring those ornaments as an offering to help build the tabernacle. That which had been the cause of their sin later was transformed into a source for their worship. Did you also see how Moses brought the second set of tablets of the law? The first one was made by God himself and the second one God said Moses, you chisel two tablets this time and bring them and I will write on them. That thing you have been using to rebel against God should be used this time for worship to God.

 

That’s a good description of genuine repentance. If money was your idol, turn it into good by giving it to the Lord’s work (Eph. 4:28). Philip Ryken says “When the Holy Spirit convicts us of any sin, we need to take off whatever is leading us into sin and never put it on again.”

 

True repentance also involves mourning over your sins (Exod. 33:4; 2 Cor. 7:10). Jesus said (Matt. 5:4), “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” God is present with us so that we can have a relationship with Him. Sin interrupts that relationship and puts distance between Him and us. That rupture in our fellowship with a loving Father should cause us to mourn over our sins and turn back to God in ongoing, heartfelt repentance. The peril of God’s presence is that He is not safe if we are not submissive.

 Next time we shall look at the privilege of God’s presence. (Check the post and read)

Conclusion:

Experiencing God’s presence will help you to walk more carefully in this corrupt world. Because of the treasure you carry. When you have some bank notes in your pocket, you will be more careful the way you walk on the street. You don’t want any one to snatch what you have; time and again you’ll touch your pocket to be sure the treasure is still there. If you want God’s presence, then you must be careful that you do not loose His presence; that will guide you from sinning because you don’t want to loose that experience.