“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. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. 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 their tent. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. 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.’ 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.” The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” Exodus 33:8-23.

Moses stands as the preeminent prophet of the old testament. He is indeed a friend of God, Moses is a man that has accumulated such relational equity with God that their relationship stands head and shoulders above any other relationship that God had with any other prophet in the old testament. Moses starts out this relationship in Exodus chapter number 3 where he sees this bush that is burning up but it is not being consumed, he has this miraculous encounter with God that is literally life changing, he is a fugitive at the time, one that has run away from the Egyptian culture that he would raised up in because he murders an Egyptian man who was fighting with an Hebrew man, it was for Moses a sign externally of what he was warring with internally growing up in Egyptian culture while knowing that he was an Hebrew by blood. Moses goes on the run, he is out there for forty years and then God encounters him in such a miraculous way that when he speaks to Moses tells him I want you to go back to the scene of the crime. I want you to go back to the place where you messed up, but you are not going back as fugitive, but you are going back as my leader.

God is the only type of person who can take something that was bad and turn around and make it good, he is the only type of person who can make you go back into your problem with passion for to be somebody else’s breakthrough. So, God tells him to go back in and Moses does and over a million-people come out of Egypt, and they get to the Red sea, he raises his hand, Red sea splits, they walk out on dry ground. When they come through on other side, then they began this journey with God through the wilderness by which they are provided for supernaturally, when they get hungry- they wake up in the morning bread is on the ground in the form of Manna, when they get thirsty- God tells Moses to strike a rock and water gushes out enough to quench the thirst of a million people. This is the man who has had experience after experience after experience that God is with Him. This is the man who talked with God face to face daily, he had a relationship with God which other people would envy, every time he walks into tent, Glory cloud comes in and he literally gets to speak to God face to face.

But when we read Exodus chapter 33, we find out Moses doesn’t seem satisfy with his relationship, he turns to God in a conversation and he says, ‘you been telling me that we are going to go to the Promise Land, but you haven’t told me who is going with us.’ God says, ‘I am going to go with you.’

We need to know why we are blessed, we are not blessed because we are great leaders, we are not blessed because we are great worriers, the only thing that separate us from any other people in the world is that God’s presence is with us. It’s not because you are great leader, it’s not because you have great education, it’s not because you came from a good family, but only because God’s presence is with you. This is the reason why you are going to make it, this is the reason why you can’t die, this is the reason why you cannot give up because God’s presence is with you. Whatever you are going through right now is temporary, and it is setting up the next breakthrough in your life. God’s presence is with you.

His presence is with us and literally Moses is saying, ‘I know why we are making it because your presence is with us. So, if you are not going, I am not going either, I am not taking a step if you are not taking a step, I am not going forward unless you are going with us. So, God tells him again, ‘I already told you I am going with you.’ Moses presses even further and asks God to show him His Glory. Moses pursues God in a way that we should also, every single day. A man who had these many experiences with God, doesn’t come familiar with the God of his experiences and says I just want to know you a little bit more. I just want to know you more intimately, show me your Glory. I am hungry for you, I know your cloud comes in the tent, I know there is bread on the floor, I know that there is water that comes out of the rock but I am not satisfy with the relationship, show me more, that is the heart’s cry that we need to have as believers, no matter how much we experience God, no matter how many miracles He has done in our life, we cannot become complacent in our relationship, we must ask for more, show me more of your Glory. God said to Moses, if I show you my Glory you will die, because no one can see my face and live. Then God said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” God showed Moses His Partial Glory.

God’s presence was with Moses. He saw God performing miracles many times but still he wanted to know God more. We should also seek God as Moses did, we should also be hungry for God as Moses was. Moses had testimony to tell about his experience with God. Are we seeking God as Moses did or are we just following God because someone told us to? Do we have real life experiences and testimonies like Moses had or we just have our own edited testimonies?

1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” Although we cannot see God face to face now, everyone who calls themselves a believer of Jesus Christ will have perpetual miracles and experiences that gives us the opportunities to share our testimonies. We don’t care how hard it gets on this side, as with Moses, if we are patient, one day we shall see Him face to face.