Exodus 33:1-101And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: 2And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: 3Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. 4And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. 5For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. 6And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb. 7And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. 8And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. 9And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. 10And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. (Exodus 33:1‑10)
MOSES persisted in his plea to the Lord on behalf of the people, and the Lord did not fail to try him to the utmost by using the very words they had used. They had denied God and attributed their deliverance merely to Moses. So He says, “Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou Nast brought up out of the land of Egypt.”
Nevertheless He promises them the land in spite of their failure for when Moses interceded for them at the first he appealed to the unconditional promises the Lord had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when He sware unto them, “Unto thy seed will I give it.”
He reproaches them once more with being “a stiff-necked people"; He will not go up in the midst of them, lest He should consume them in the way. He commands them to put off their ornaments, that He might know what to do unto them.
The people did strip off their ornaments and they mourned for what they had done. It is well for the sinner to take his true place before God and to mourn, if he is to expect any mercy or blessing from Him. Anything that might adorn him must be laid aside, for man is guilty, ruined and undone. Even we who are saved need to remember how far we were from God when He saved us. We ought to set aside anything and everything which exalts the flesh or would attempt to make it fair and beautiful. Even God-given gifts should never be used for the exaltation of self.
The Lord paused before dealing the blow of judgment on the people and Moses does a remarkable thing, which the Lord takes advantage of to provide a way of escape for His poor people.
“And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation.” This was not the tabernacle we have been learning about, the pattern of which God gave Moses in the mount, but a tent, pitched outside the camp to meet the present need—a meeting place between God and those who sought Him.
It does not seem that Moses had any express command from the Lord for this act, but he had the spiritual discernment to see that the Lord could no longer dwell in the midst of a camp defiled by idolatry. Moses made a place afar off from the camp, and as he went out and entered into it, in sight of all the people, the pillar of cloud, symbol of the glory of the Lord’s presence, descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle. God showed His approval of Moses’ act of faith and He talked with him face to face as a man would speak to his friend.
The Lord was outside, and “every one who sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.” Israel were still His people, but owing to their defiled state He could not dwell in their midst any longer.
And here we have a very important principle for our day, dear young believer. There is much that answers to the camp in Christendom. When the Lord’s name is dishonored, and His authority set aside by some other authority, then one who would be faithful to the Lord must go outside of the camp, to be free to worship God in spirit and in truth. “Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.” Heb. 13:1313Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. (Hebrews 13:13). But as with Moses, this requires spiritual discernment. We need the light of God’s Word for every step we take.
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