PASTOR’S NOTES
“Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
If you were with us last week, it seemed like the wheels fell off in chapter 32. The people fell, Aaron caved, and God’s wrath was coming. What we saw though was that through God’s mercy and the mediator intervening, God relented.
So now that this crisis is over, all is believed to be well and its back towards the promised land. However, the chapter 32 crisis leads right into a more dire problem in this week’s text. God allows the people to go to where He promised them, but that He would not be going with them. God informs the people that because of their sin, God would not be making the trip.
For today’s time that we live in, this would be like if God allowed us to go to Heaven, but told us that He would not be present with us there. So the question for all of us to answer is, is that good or bad news? Is the blessings of a heavenly promise land even a blessing without the blessing giver in it? Do we desire Heaven, or do we desire God to be present more?
How would you respond to such an offer?
Maybe we should not be so quick to answer, remember what God is telling the people. He was offering the people all the blessings, without the authority. Isn’t that what we all want!
Today many people flood the altar and cry out to Jesus only because they desire God’s Heaven. People profess their belief, are baptized, and spend a life within the church only because of their desire for only the promised land. Very few desire God to be present.
Very few desire a closeness with God more than His wealth of riches. This week’s text is a hard mirror to stand in front of. Not only is chapter 33 a wonderful continuation to an amazing story, but it also makes the reader answer so many challenging questions of our own walk.
What’s most important, the Giver or the gift?
SCRIPTURE TO GO ALONG WITH THE MESSAGE
Read John 15 this week as Jesus teaches on the importance of a closeness with our creator.
HIGHLIGHT IN YOUR BIBLES
Highlight verses 3-4, 15-16 in Exodus 33 this week.
