“AND GOD SAID: “I WON’T GO”

“AND GOD SAID: “I WON’T GO”

“I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”
Exodus 33:3 - NKJV

Sometimes we find some shocking truths in the pages of the Scriptures. This verse is definitely one of them. The context here shows the People of Israel demonstrating the first signs of what would be their trademark of greatest weakness and sin throughout its history and trajectory: idolatry and lack of gratitude towards God.

After 40 days and nights of wonderful manifestation of the glory of God shown to Moses on Mount Sinai, they come to the camp only to see a celebration of idolatry and rebellion with the people using an idol in the shape of a golden calf, in a direct attack against the very God Who had just delivered them from 430 years of bondage in Egypt, with untold, spectacular and epic miracles. As a response to this horrible behavior, the Lord decides that He wouldn’t no longer continue the journey with them. Otherwise, because God is also “a consuming fire”, they would perish destroyed by His zeal and holiness on the way to Canaan.

That episode shows us a great lesson: even the God Emmanuel can decide to stop the journey with His people, if they so choose the path of disobedience, rebelion and utter and complete separation from His ways, and this lesson is compatible with what we read in 2 Chronicles 15:1-2:

Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.”

Back to our text in Exodus, later, after an amazing conversation with Moses, in one of the most beautiful manifestations in the Scriptures of the mercy and love of God towards us, the Lord Almighty decides to continue the journey with His people, guiding them through 40 years in the desert with colossal signs and wonders, until they reached the Promise Land.

My point is: yes, eventually, at His sovereign will and discretion, the Lord can “withdraw His presence” from those who deliberately choose to dishonor and disobey Him, and frankly, this is the most dangerous situation someone can fall into, because perhaps we would be facing the sad experience our brother Samson lived, when the Bible says in Judges 16:20 that “the Lord had departed from him, and He didn’t know it.”

Dear brothers and sisters, in this festive season, let’s be grateful and enjoy the wonderful and beautiful companionship of our loving God and Lord, living a life of righteousness and intimacy with Him!

Wishing many blessings to you and your family!

Pastor Joshua