Present as a Friend
Opening Prayer
Lord, help me to understand the mystery of humans communicating with God.
Read EXODUS 33:7–11
7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. 11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully” (1 Cor. 133:12).
Think Further
How do we describe the wonder and mystery of God’s presence? What situations build the picture that guides our own journey? God has warned of potential destruction if he went “with you… a stiff-necked people” (3,5). He still meets with Moses, but at a distance “outside the camp” (noted twice in verse 7 for emphasis).
“The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (11). The words are simple, but let’s stretch our imagination. Further, in the following dialogue God says, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (20; cf. 24:9–11). Here is the inherent difficulty in understanding God’s presence. “For it is necessary to affirm both that God can be known as intimately present and that he is beyond human reach and knowledge” (R.W.L. Moberly, At the Mountain of God). Moses enjoys genuine conversation, but God comes in “the pillar of cloud” and the people only see from afar (10). The intimacy of “as one speaks to a friend” prepares readers for the following intercession.
The tensions of human intimacy with a holy God continue with the coming of Christ. God “made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). Yet an experience of that glory leads Peter to the tension between proximity and distance: he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8). Christ, however, does not go away! We look forward to the day when we shall “see face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12; Rev. 22:4), but now friendship involving the free communication of God’s will continues. Thankfully, Christ has said, “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15).
Apply
Meditate on the wonder of God’s presence and how you hold together intimacy and awe. Turn this into prayer.
Closing prayer
Lord, thank You for erasing the enmity between God and me by restoring friendly relations between us.
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