Sermon Tone Analysis

Me

Kids are fun in a lot of ways… But, there are definitely some aspects of having kids that are less than fun than others.

Like the lack of sleep in the early days.

Or the constant worry about them getting hurt.

Or the nights spent with them because they’re sick and projectile vomiting all over the place.

Or when they get to be about our kids’ ages and decide that talking back and running their mouth is always the best option…

But, there are legitimately a lot of lessons I have learned from watching my kids too… One such in particular is how fond they are of their parents, at least when they are young.

You watch a baby who has imprinted to their mom and dad’s voice and see how soothing that voice can be to them.

Or when Elyana and Natanel were little when they’d get fussy I would sing Avinu Malcheinu to them and it would always calm them down.

I don’t know if it was the gripping melody of the prayer or my singing voice or what.

But every time I’d begin singing Avinu Malcheinu it would calm them down and they’d stop crying almost immediately.

Likewise, just the sight of a parent can make a child feel so much more secure and safe.

When our kids were babies we’d regularly place them in their Bumbo, which is this neat little seat for infants who can hold their heads up and it helps them develop the strength to sit up on their own, and we’d also give them plenty of belly time.

When we’d set them in the Bumbo or on a mat for belly time they were the happiest little munchkins ever, as long as we were in the room.

However, if we had to leave the room for any reason, even just to walk into the kitchen to get a drink, they’d lose their minds.

In their limited experience they registered our absence as a danger, or perhaps as potential abandonment.

They’d begin to cry and scream, and those sounds would only get louder the longer we were gone, almost as though they thought we couldn’t hear them initially so maybe if they got louder it would work.

Then as soon as we’d walk back in the room and they could set eyes on us again, as soon as they could know without a doubt our presence was for real within a few steps from them, they’d calm right down and go back to whatever it is babies do when they’re doing their own thing.

Just being able to see us would settle Elyana and Natanel down.

They loved hearing our voices, they knew hearing our voices meant we had to be close.

But if we called out from the kitchen when they started crying and told them we’d be right back, we were only in the next room, we hadn’t really left them it would make absolutely no difference at all.

But the moment we walked back in the room, the moment they could set their eyes on us again, all was right with the world again.

Just the sight of mom and dad, just the knowledge that we were physically in the same room was enough security to make them feel safe and sound again.

We

And I don’t think we ever truly grow out of that in a lot of ways…

When there’s a fire there’s something oddly soothing about the arrival of the fire department, right.

We don’t even need to see the hoses pulled off the truck, or the fire hydrant cracked open… Just hearing the sirens and seeing the lights in front of our house helps to make things feel a little better.

The same is true when something tragic happens in our lives and the cops show up.

Their presence doesn’t necessarily solve the issue right away.

But something about having the police there to hopefully deescalate the issue makes a tremendous difference in our psyche.

What about a crisis with a coworker?

Most of us have the capacity to address it and work through it on our own.

But, there is definitely something encouraging about having the boss in on the discussion.

What about in our faith walk?

When things are rough and we are getting tested left and right, when we feel the winds and waves of the storm crashing all around us… There’s just something about feeling the Lord’s loving embrace, about seeing some sort of clear and evident sign of His Presence with us…

God

This week we read a special reading for Sukkot Shabbat Chol HaMoed, Exodus 33:12-34:26 and Numbers 29:17-34.

The Numbers passage, as is the case with each of the previous fall Moedim, is a synopsis of the observance of Sukkot, particularly the daily procedurals of the Temple service for Sukkot.

The Exodus passage is immediately following the Egel HaZahav, or the Golden Calf which Isreal built at the base of Mount Sinai while Moses was on the Mountain getting the Torah download.

In this section of Scripture we see Moshe beseeching HaShem for His Shechinah to continue with Israel.

Then we see the re-carving of the Tablets, the Thirteen Attributes of God, and the reiteration and reestablishment of the divine covenant with Israel after their sin and repentance.

But today we’re going to specifically focus on Moses’ interceding on behalf of Israel and begging that the Lord not remove His Presence from the midst of Israel.

This is a very important passage to consider as we celebrate Sukkot, especially in that Sukkot is a reminder each and every year of Israel’s wilderness journey with the Presence of God.

And from this we can learn a very powerful reality in our walk in the Lord:

Our discipleship means nothing without the clear and present revelation of the Presence of God in our lives.

(Repeat)

So, with that in mind, let’s spend some time together in the Word today.

Keep in mind, at this point in time Israel has heard the Baht Kol speak forth the Aseret HaDibrot.

The entire nation of Israel heard the audible voice of God speak to them.

They saw the Presence of God upon the mountain.

They encountered the Living God of all Creation right before their very eyes.

And this wasn’t even the first time they had encountered His Presence, was it?

Israel witnessed the Cloud of Glory and Pillar of Fire leading them from Egypt to Sinai.

They witnessed the Cloud of Glory separate Israel from Egypt’s armies.

They witnessed His Presence fight for them and create chaos among the armies of Egypt.

The Presence of God was very real and tangible before Israel.

This is what distinguishes Israel from the rest of the nations, the God of Israel is active in their lives.

Whereas the idols of the nations were all fake and made by human hands and had no power or presence at all.

But, Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the rest of the Word of God because Israel had decided they couldn’t not bear hear His voice again.

Yet, unfortunately, Israel was impatient and couldn’t stand waiting for Moses to come back and when they felt he was gone too long they quickly forgot about the might and power of God.

And what stumps me, what has always perplexed me about this narrative is that the Shechinah had never left Israel.

His Presence was still upon the Mountain right in front of their eyes.

Nothing had changed in the forty days Moses was on the mountain except for the Nation of Israel’s faith...

So they build the Egel HaZahav and begin to worship it and dance around and a lot of other pretty sketchy things… They immediately forgot about the Presence of God right before them and turned to acting like the nations around them.

So HaShem gets angry, and rightly so… Could you imagine…?

He draws Israel out to be His own and almost immediately they forsake Him and turn to idolatry… And what we understand from history is they legitimately turned back to the idolatry of Egypt from whom they had just been saved…

Now, to rightly set this passage in Exodus 33 up, we must first go back to what the Lord said to Moses immediately following the Egel HaZahav…

HaShem tells Israel to get out and get moving to the Promised Land.

He says He will still give Israel the Promised Land as is His covenant with them.

But, He will only send an angel ahead of them.

He Himself will not be going with them and He will not move within their midst anymore…

Israel has officially jacked it all up!

God redeems them from slavery in Egypt by His own mighty and miraculous hand.

He fights for them against Egypt’s armies chasing them.

He leads them to Mount Sinai and reveals Himself to them in a very powerful, awe-inspiring, and intimate way.

And almost immediately afterward they completely forsake Him.

And after Adonai tells Moses His Presence will not go with them, what is Israel’s immediate reaction?

The same as a child when their parents leave the room… They immediately began to cry out… They immediately felt abandoned and lost… And this wasn’t Adonai’s fault, this was Israel’s fault.

We chose to reject God, we saw His Presence before us on the mountain and still choose to not only create an idol, but to worship it and declare it the god that brought us out of Egypt.

We chose to replace Him.

So when Abba said He was going to leave the room and we realized we were going to be all alone we became afraid, just like a child.

It was then that we suddenly woke up to how bad we had messed things up.

And it was then that Moses immediately began to intercede on Israel’s behalf.

And in our passage in Exodus 33:12-17 we see Moses, who honestly has little to no desire at all of being stuck with Israel on his own, cry out to God.

He says, “God, look… We need to have a chat… You told me to take these people and bring them to the Promised Land… And I was game, but if You aren’t going we aren’t going, because if You aren’t going I ain’t going!”

The Lord tells Moses He’d go with Him and will give Him rest.

But, Moses isn’t done… Moses recognizes finally what it truly means for the Presence of God to go with Israel, to dwell among Israel, and really what it would mean if He doesn’t.

Moses cries out, ”Lord, what will the nations think?

What will their thought of You be if You bring Israel out of Egypt but You do not continue all the way with them?

What will the nations think if You abandon them in the wilderness?“

Moses realized what Isaiah proclaimed, that Israel is to be a light to the nations.

The main thing that made Israel important isn’t that we came from Abraham, or even that we found freedom out of Egypt… It was that the Shechinah of the Living God was with us, in our midst, leading our way, and fighting for us.

If we loose that than what do we have to offer to the nations?

If we loose that then what are we really?

See, this is the key… If the world around us doesn’t see His Presence in us, then what are we really doing?

If the world doesn’t see His Presence in us before they hear us open our mouths, then why would they want to hear what we have to say?

The world is lost, the world is a dark and hopeless place… What the world needs most is to see His Presence in us, to see the hope of redemption and restoration in us, to see the power of Salvation in us.

Unfortunately, more often than not, what the world generally sees in most believers is a lot of hypocrisy, faking it, and putting on a good show…

Our discipleship means nothing without the clear and present revelation of the Presence of God in our lives.

This is the beauty of Sukkot, and this is why this passage is read during Sukkot.