Sermon: Moses Face to Face

Moses Face to Face

Have you ever found yourself in a position where God seems so far away…?

The people of Israel found themselves in such a position while in the desert. While Moses was receiving the Commandments from God…who had written them with his own hand…

When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God…Exodus 31:18

But when the people saw Moses was delayed they built for themselves a Golden Calf to worship…

God gets so mad…he tells Moses

Ex 32:10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

It is only after Moses intercedes for the people does God show grace…

So the people of Israel where afraid of going forward without God…

This is where we pick up this morning…

Tent outside of the camp…

Ex 33:7 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.
Ex 33:8 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.
Ex 33:9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses.
Ex 33:10 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 his tent.

The first thing we notice Moses doing is setting up a tent outside the camp.

Moses had to get away from all the distractions that were inside the camp…he move it outside to separate himself from the business and to give his full attention to God….

Here is something I have become painfully aware of over the last few years…we are far too busy…pursuing the American dream…as a result we have sinned greatly against God…

We have erected our Golden Calves in our living rooms, only now the golden calf is seen on a high definition 52” plasma screen.

Listen to this stat the average American home now has more televisions sets than people…

--there a 2.73 TV sets in a typical home and 2.55 people…

The average home in America the set is on for 8 hours and 14 minutes…the average person watches 4 hours and 35 minutes…a day

Here another interesting stat along the same lines…

57% of teens have cell phones, while 80% of adults have cell phones…younger Americans are crazy for mobile technology…it’s in there ears, eyes and touch…they love it….

What’s the point….is all this bad have we greatly sinned against God? My point to all of this is distractions…we have so many distractions in our lives...it seems impossible to find God.

We are in bondage to credit cards to pay for all of our distractions…

Aug. 9, 2006 - For the first time ever recorded, Americans owe more money than they make. Household debt levels have now surpassed household income…according to a May 2006 study by the Center for American Progress. Consumer debt is now at a record $2.17 trillion, reports the Federal Reserve Board and consumers cashed out a whopping $431 billion in home equity last year.

Add the internet and busy teenagers…there are so many “things” working against having a relationship with God. The bottom line is you have to set up a tent outside the camp…you have to make it a daily event to get away and encounter God…daily.

Face to face…

Ex 33:11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.

What a picture for us of Moses and the Lord. And the question becomes can I have a relationship like this with God…I believe you can...

We can have such a relationship. Moses relationship was built through time spent together…it was built on trust…Moses trusted God…Moses had faith…

It was by faith Moses led the people of Israel…Moses knew God because he had spent time with God.

Face to face….meant the friendly relationship with Moses….Moses was "at home" in this tent speaking with God. Moses would derive courage from this when he interceded for the people

Listen…when I met Sharon and we started dating…I couldn’t think of anything else…I spent as much time as I could with her. I wanted to learn everything about her.

When I became a Christian I wanted to know God…I read my Bible, I couldn’t get enough…it consumed me…

The Bible says if we draw near to God he will draw near to us…

Through Christ we can approach the throne of God with confidence…As Children of God we access to the father in a special way.

What a privilege we have…we have Christ interceding for us…we have the Holy Spirit in us…guiding and directing us….

God wants a relationship with you…Do you know to what length he went to have this relationship? He sent his one and only Son to die for you and I, God so loved the world he sent his son, that whoever shall believe in Him has eternal life…that is being in relationship with God for eternity…

Through Bible study and prayer…we draw closer to God…through fellowship and obedience we draw closer to God….through Christ we draw closer to God…the more we know about Jesus…the closer we are to God

The last point I want to make is the most important point and is easily missed…

Protected Time

When I read the last line in this message I was somewhat confused. At first thought maybe the writer got it wrong…

Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

When Moses returned to camp Moses put his best man on the tent…Joshua was there to protect the tent of meeting. It wasn’t just someone on the tent…this place was important…

We have to protect our time with God. We need to guard it with everything we have…with our very best.

See this time we spend with God has to be important to us…we need to keep it from being taken from us. We need to protect it as if our lives depended upon it.

Because if we don’t we will lose…we will lose the battle against sin…

we will lose the battle to keep God in our lives…

God is holy and cannot be a part of sin…he can have no part of it.

The Challenge

So this morning I want to challenge you to set aside a time you will spend with God…I started something recently…No Bible…No Breakfast

Do what ever it takes to set a time aside for God….maybe at first it’s ten minutes…and you get longer and longer…but you have to set time aside….

Prayer…spend time in prayer…seek God daily…draw near to him. Turn off the radio when commuting…find creative ways to talk to God. Build the relationship…it is life changing!

…it is the most important thing you will ever do.