Is it a daily practice for you to spend time in God’s presence? Is it a joy or a burden for you to spend time in God’s presence? We, as God’s children, have the privilege of being adopted by Him; we can approach Him at any time, from anywhere, and speak to Him as a father or a friend. We have a loving Father who adores us, but can we love Him and revere His presence? Let us examine our lives and our relationship with God.
In today’s portion, we can see that Moses used to set the Tent of Meeting outside the camp so that Moses can spend time in God’s presence and seek His will. Moses had a face-to-face interaction with God and he used to make it a practice. The Israelites were not allowed to enter the Tent of Meeting but they stood outside with their requests and Moses was acting as a medium by presenting their requests to God.
When Moses used to enter the Tent of Meeting, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance. The pillar of cloud signifies the presence of God. When the Israelites saw the pillar of cloud, they revered it by standing and bowing down in front of their tents. When the presence of the Lord came down, the Israelites did not take a chance to insult it, but rather revered it.
Reflection and Application
In the Old Testament, the prophets/priests were a medium to present the requests of the people to God whereas in the New Testament we can boldly approach God. The Israelites could not directly approach God but they revered God’s presence and they could understand the seriousness of being in God’s presence. As New Testament believers, we must be serious about our relationship with Christ and not make any compromises. When we start compromising our relationship with God and disobeying him, we will face serious consequences in our lives because our God is a consuming fire. The Israelites could see the presence of God but we can experience the presence of God daily in our lives.
We are so privileged to be able to experience God’s presence and need not go any other place to spend time but prepare our body, soul, and spirit to be in sync with the Holy Spirit so that we can feel God’s presence and hear His voice. There was only Moses and God in the tent of meeting; it was an intimate relationship with no one else around and no distractions. Similarly, your relationship with God should be an intimate one, characterized by fellowship/communion between you and God only. As Hebrews 4:16 NLT says “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” So, as God’s children, let us seize every opportunity to draw closer to God and continue to feel His presence in our lives on a daily basis.