Have you ever prayed for an encounter of God’s presence? I know we do this corporately in church, and I have prayed it many times in my personal life. We have many worship songs crying out for God to show us His glory or to bring us into His presence. In no way am I going to argue that this is wrong. In fact, I believe we should earnestly seek for more of His presence in our day to day increasingly and desperately. There is something about being touched by the presence of God that not only gives you goosebumps, but humbles you and motivates you.
My question, though, is what are you going to do once you have that encounter? What are you going to do with it? Is it going to change you, or will you be left searching for another tangible experience?
In Exodus 24, I read something that I’ve read many times before, but it struck me as if I’ve never seen it before. After Moses received the first set of the Ten Commandments and some instruction for the covenant between God and Israel, God invited 73 other people along with Moses to see the Lord and worship.
9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. 10 There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. 11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!
Exodus 24:9-11
Imagine being invited to a dinner party with God! The same God who rescued them from Egyptian slavery and took care of them during their journey through the desert. The same God who displayed his power over nations and nature. This God prepared a table and feast in His presence. Only Moses was allowed to the summit and be nearer to God, but these elders were close enough to describe the appearance of the ground on which the Lord stood. How amazing! How would this experience change you? What would your life look like after that?
Do you know how it changed these elders? They left the table of His presence, and within a month, they forged a golden calf for the nation to worship. “Here is the god who freed you from Egypt!” they proudly exclaimed as they bowed to the pressure of a rebellious people.
How could they foolishly disown such a marvelous and generous God with such mockery as this? If you continue to be a student of the Word, you’ll find that this kind of action is a common one. Adam and Eve walked with God daily, and chose to be their own god. Cain murdered his brother after literal conversations with God. This same story continues throughout the book.
It seems like we need to make some conclusion out of this. While experiencing the presence of the Lord is wonderful and welcome, that should not be what our walk with God is totally based on.
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Hebrews 11:1,6
Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.
Ephesians 3:12
Many have experienced the lavish presence of God, some even seeing Him with their eyes, and they still walked away without remaining faithful and submitted. Maybe our challenge as Christians today is to remain faithful by walking in obedience even when we don’t see or feel the same God who is as present as He ever has been. As we do so, our faith and submission will eventually be rewarded by a feast in His presence, and a presence of God that will be eternally manifest.
