01-21-07-Seeking God's Presence-Walking in God's Ways
Our theme for the beginning of 2007 has been Seeking God’s Presence. So we have been Seeking His Presence to hear His voice so that we can be moved by His heart to do His will for this community. We have looked at how important it is that God’s Presence go with us, we have seen that spending time in prayer and fasting prepares us to hear God’s voice, and we have learned the importance of a DAILY dependence on God’s Presence in our lives to live victoriously. We began this theme by looking at a verse in Ex 33:15-16 and I told you that I felt this would be a primary verse for the year. Today I would like to return to that passage only this time I’d like to look at the verses prior where Moses asked God to teach him His ways.
¨ Ex 33:12-14 (NIV) 12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with Me.’ 13 If You are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know You and continue to find favor with You. Remember that this nation is Your people.” 14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Now think about it, isn’t God’s answer to Moses’ request a little strange? Moses did not ask for God’s Presence to go with him, he asked God to teach him His ways. Did God not hear what Moses asked or did He misunderstand Moses’ question? No, God heard Moses request and He understood what Moses wanted. But He answered it in the only way He could. (Sometimes when God answers our prayers, it is not in the same way we asked it nor is it in the way we expected Him to answer us—but it is the right answer.) To know God’s ways, Moses would have to become closer to God—therefore He would have to be in His Presence. So God’s answer is “I will be with you and as you spend time with Me, you will learn My ways.” Today we would call this a mentoring relationship.
I am sure we would all agree that the wisest person on the earth, Solomon, could surely teach all of us a thing or two. Now you can get part of Solomon’s wisdom from his writings in the Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes. Not to demean the importance of the Word of God, but imagine if you had the opportunity to sit down face to face with Solomon and learn what he knew. What an experience that would be. That is what I believe God was saying to Moses, “stick close to Me and I will not only teach you, but I will show you My ways and you will receive rest for your soul” (i.e. let Me be your mentor).
Go back to vs. 12 and you will see that Moses is not in the best frame of mind when he asked this question. In fact, he is complaining to God! He is complaining about the people—Your people, God, not mine. Let’s look at what has happened in Moses’ life thus far to see why Moses is making this request in the first place, and then I think we will better understand the request and God’s answer.
God called Moses to deliver the children of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh. Through incredible miracles, God delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt. So Moses led the children of Israel on a journey to the Promised Land. When they got to Mt Sinai, Moses met with God for 40 days to receive the Law or what we might call the “the rules for holy living.”
While Moses is up on the mountain, the Israelites decided to forget about the God who had delivered them so they worshipped a golden calf instead. When Moses came down from the mountain he saw this and in a fit of righteous rage, he threw down the stone tablets that contained God’s Law. Then he ground up the golden calf and made them drink the ashes (Ex 32:19-20). Then he demanded to know who was on the Lord’s side and the Levites came to him. So he told the Levites to kill the rebels and 3000 men died that day. Then the next day Moses went back up the mountain and interceded for the people, even asking God to blot his name out His book if He did not forgive the people for their sin (Ex 32:32). God responded that He would judge those who had sinned, but Moses needed to get on with the task of leading the people to the Promised Land. In ch. 33:1-5 God told Moses that He would not go with them because if He did He would destroy them on the way because of their being a “stiff-necked” or rebellious people. Instead God said He would send an angel to guide them.
So we come back to vs. 12 and Moses’ complaint to God. Can you see how discouraged Moses was that God Himself would not go with them, but would send an angel instead? This is not how he had imagined things would go when they left Egypt. (Isn’t that a fact that all of us must learn in our journey with God, that sometimes things don’t go the way we imagine them.) So Moses simply poured out his frustrations to God in all honesty—he told God exactly how he was feeling. By the way, it is OK to let God know how we feel because honesty is good for relationships, especially our relationship with God. Thank God He understands when we are honest with Him even when we are angry. AMEN!
In this moment of honesty Moses reminds God of what He had been saying—(vs. 12) “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom You will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with Me.’ Oh friends, I hear the frustration in Moses’ words, but I also hear the faith in his words—(vs. 13) “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know You and continue to find favor with You.” Here is the real heart of what Moses wants—to know God and walk in His favor! All the rest of it meant nothing to him if he could not have that relationship with God. Church, can we settle for anything less than to know our God and walk in His favor? If we do we are missing out on the greatest relationship we could ever know on this earth and for all eternity.
So how is Moses going to know God? He must learn God’s ways. For our ways tell who we are. If we are a gentle, quiet, peaceable person those around us will know it by our ways. If we are a rough, loud, violent person, it will also be apparent by our ways. The Hebrew word for ways is “derek” (1870) and it means “manners, habits, path, road, conduct, or way of life.” Our habits and manners tell a lot about us as they do as well about God
“To walk in God’s ways is to imitate how God Himself relates to life. It is to love what He loves, and hate what He hates. It is to find pleasure in the things that He finds pleasure in and with disgust those things that sicken Him.”[i]
How can we know what are some of the “manners or habits” of God? What does God love and what does He hate? What brings pleasure to Him and what disgusts Him? God has revealed His ways to us in His Word so let’s get a brief idea of what the Word reveals about God’s ways:
1. Right—Hosea 14:9 (NIV) Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them. (right (3477) straight, pleasing, correct, fitting, proper)
2. Just (just judgment or justice)—Daniel 4:37 (NIV) Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to humble.
3. True—Revelation 15:3 (NIV) and (those who overcame the beast v. 1) sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.
--(NASB) Righteous (1342) and true are Your ways,
4. Higher than human ways—Isaiah 55:8-11 (NIV) 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Thank God this is true, because if I knew as much as He did, then I would be God!)
5. Unsearchable—Romans 11:33 (NASB) Oh, the depth of athe riches 1both of the bwisdom and knowledge of God! cHow unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
--(NIV) Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! [ii] (unsearchable means they can’t be searched out)
God’s ways are right, just, true, higher than ours and unsearchable. They reveal to us His character. So they are not without value for us to learn. God must teach us His ways and when we learn and do them, we will be greatly blessed.
¨ Prov 3:5-10 (NIV) 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
For God to teach us His ways we must be willing to submit our lives to Him as our mentor. We must be willing to seek His presence and sit at His feet so we can learn how God thinks and how He acts. But it is more than just gaining the knowledge about God’s ways it is also acting on that knowledge.
For example: If you wanted to play basketball and had the chance to learn from Michael Jordan, you would spend all the time with him that you could. You would read every word he wrote and listen to every word that he had to say, but if you just read and listened you still would not know how to play basketball like Michael does. As your mentor, he would take you out on the court and teach you moves and plays, but you still would not know how to play like Michael does. You would have to practice what he taught you and submit to his watchful eye correcting things you do wrong in your stance, how you hold the ball, etc. After hundreds of hours of practice, you might have mastered just a little of what Michael Jordan knew. Yet because you wanted to play like Michael Jordan you would be willing to submit yourself to his tutelage. In fact you would want to think and act like he does—or in other words you would want to be like him.
So it is with God—for us to learn His ways is a process that begins when we give our heart to Jesus and are born-again and will continue for the rest of our lives. We must listen to His Word and His Holy Spirit, practice daily what they say, submit to God’s correction, and continually stay in His presence. Our goal is to be like Him! But reading and hearing God’s Word is not enough, we must be doers of it—we must practice it.
¨ James 1:22-25 (NIV) 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
Hearing God’s Word, memorizing God’s Word, being able to quote God’s Word and even teaching God’s Word will not help us unless we walk in God’s ways that are consistent with God’s Word.
Like Moses we need to learn God’s ways. Then we will know our God and continue to find favor with Him. Do you need God’s favor in your life? Then you must learn to know Him by spending time daily in His Presence. You must not only read His Word but you must do what it tells you to do. In obeying God’s Word you will learn to walk in God’s ways and continually have His favor upon your life. You will begin to imitate Him in your thoughts, habits and manners and you will have rest for your soul.
1870 דֶּרֶךְ [derek /deh·rek/] n m. From 1869; TWOT 453a; GK 2006; 705 occurrences; AV translates as “way” 590 times, “toward” 31 times, “journey” 23 times, “manner” eight times, and translated miscellaneously 53 times. 1 way, road, distance, journey, manner. 1a road, way, path. 1b journey. 1c direction. 1d manner, habit, way. 1e of course of life (fig.). 1f of moral character (fig.).
2006 דֶּרֶךְ (dě∙rěḵ): n.masc.; ≡ Str 1870; TWOT 453a—1. LN 1.99-1.105 way, path, route, road, highway, i.e., a thoroughfare to physically get from one place to another (Ge 16:7), note: context will provide the size of the pathway, ranging from a narrow path to a major thoroughfare; 2. LN 15.18-15.26 journey, i.e., the act. of moving from one place to another, with a destination, and usually planned route (Ge 24:27); 3. LN 41.1-41.24 conduct, way of life, what is done, i.e., behave in a particular way, in the manner one conducts one’s life, including habits, as a figurative extension of a thoroughfare (Pr 6:6; 25:4); 4. LN 76 strength, vigor, might, i.e., power or force relatively greater than other entities (Pr 31:3; Hos 10:13), see also LN 74; 5. LN 77 unit: פָּנָה דֶּרֶךְ (pā∙nā(h) dě∙rěḵ) make ready, formally, turn the way, i.e., cause circumstances to be prepared for some event (Isa 40:3), note: for Isa 45:2 cj, see 2065; note: for niv text in Ps 119:37, see 1821
3477 יָשָׁר, יָשָׁר [yashar /yaw·shawr/] adj. From 3474; TWOT 930a; GK 3838 and 3839; 119 occurrences; AV translates as “right” 53 times, “upright” 42 times, “righteous” nine times, “straight” three times, “convenient” twice, “Jasher” twice, “equity” once, “just” once, “meet” once, “meetest” once, “upright ones” once, “uprightly” once, “uprightness” once, and “well” once. 1 straight, upright, correct, right. 1a straight, level. 1b right, pleasing, correct. 1c straightforward, just, upright, fitting, proper. 1d uprightness, righteous, upright. 1e that which is upright (subst).
1342 δίκαιος [dikaios /dik·ah·yos/] adj. From 1349; TDNT 2:182; TDNTA 168; GK 1465; 81 occurrences; AV translates as “righteous” 41 times, “just” 33 times, “right” five times, and “meet” twice. 1 righteous, observing divine laws. 1a in a wide sense, upright, righteous, virtuous, keeping the commands of God. 1a1 of those who seem to themselves to be righteous, who pride themselves to be righteous, who pride themselves in their virtues, whether real or imagined. 1a2 innocent, faultless, guiltless. 1a3 used of him whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God, and who therefore needs no rectification in the heart or life. 1a3a only Christ truly. 1a4 approved of or acceptable of God. 1b in a narrower sense, rendering to each his due and that in a judicial sense, passing just judgment on others, whether expressed in words or shown by the manner of dealing with them.
419 ἀνεξεραύνητος [anexereunetos /an·ex·er·yoo·nay·tos/] adj. From 1 (as a negative particle) and a presumed derivative of 1830; TDNT 1:357; TDNTA 58; GK 451; AV translates as “unsearchable” once. 1 that cannot be searched out.
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[i] www.torahbytes.org/61-50.htm
a Rom 2:4; Eph 3:8
1 Or and the wisdom
b Eph 3:10; Col 2:3
c Job 5:9; 11:7; 15:8
[ii]The Open Bible : New King James Version. 1998, c1997. Includes indexes. (electronic ed.) (Ge 1:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
n n: noun
m m: masculine
TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger
AV Authorized Version
n. noun, or nouns
masc. masculine
Str Strong’s Lexicon
TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
LN Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon
act. active voice
cj conjecture
niv New International Version
adj adj: adjective
TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger
AV Authorized Version
adj adj: adjective
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
TDNTA Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume
GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger
AV Authorized Version
adj adj: adjective
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
TDNTA Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume
GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger
AV Authorized Version