WHEN MOSES LEFT THE CAMP
In Exodus 33:7-11 we are told about The Tent of Meeting.
This was a tent that Moses pitched some distance away; outside of the camp.
The general practice up until this time was that anyone seeking an answer from God would go to the tent of meeting with Moses and seek God’s face for an answer.
If the people saw Moses leaving the tent where he lived, and if he continued walking outside of the camp; they would all rise up and stand in the entrances to their own tents. They would watch him until they saw him enter The Tent of Meeting.
They always watched him because something miraculous always happened. The pillar of cloud would come down from above the tent and hover at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
This visible sign assured the people that God was real; and He was still with them and leading and guiding them by talking to their leader; Moses.
Whenever they recognized this act and noticed this reminder they stood in the doorway of their tents and worshiped God.
SPEAKING FACE-TO-FACE WITH GOD
The scriptures explain that there inside The Tent of Meeting the LORD would speak with Moses face to face; just as one would speak to their best friend.
In those days this was a great unheard-of miracle.
God’s Holy Spirit had not yet come to dwell inside of men’s hearts, because Christ had not yet died for the sins of mankind. In those days one ALWAYS approached God in a very formal fashion that showed respect, awe and obedience; or the fear of death was quick to follow.
Moses was different. Moses could talk to God as if God were his best friend, and then return to the camp afterwards unharmed. Moses and Joshua had not sinned the sin of the golden calf.
Moses’ assistant named Joshua witnessed these holy conversations between Moses and God over and over again. Joshua was the ONE person who was allowed to enter the tent with Moses whenever the cloud ascended and God talked to Moses face-to-face.
Joshua (Son of Nun) never left the Tent of Meeting.
I suspect that (besides assisting Moses) Joshua was permanently posted there to guard this sacred place where God was dwelling close by and outside the camp in a temporary manner.
The people had already ruined the dwelling of the camp; they did not want anything unholy to happen in the area of the tent of meeting.
Joshua was a strong, young military commander who was well-trained to guard and keep people and places safe. He never left the tent of meeting. Nothing was going to go wrong with Joshua on guard.
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for joining our once a week Thursday bible study called Come As A Child.
If you didn’t see a lesson yesterday – don’t worry; there wasn’t one. We are a day late with this one. I’m so sorry to keep you waiting; but my reasons were good.
I was away attending our annual family trip to The Feast of Tabernacles. I hope you did the same; and I hope your feast was blessed! God is SO good, and we came home blessed beyond measure.
If you want to review our last lesson; click here: AN AGONIZING TIME OF WAITING – COME AS A CHILD – LESSON 180. Today we are studying a passage from Exodus Chapter 33.
THE TENT OF MEETING
The Tabernacle had not yet been constructed. This was probably a good thing; as God might have permanently left because of His anger with the people.
Moses had received the instructions for putting the tabernacle plans together; but The Wilderness Tabernacle was not yet prepared and ready for God’s dwelling among the people.
Prior to the building of the Wilderness Tabernacle, which is often called The Tabernacle of Moses, the people met with God at The Tent of Meeting, which was a temporary tent that Moses had pitched outside the camp each time they stopped moving. This was God’s “miskan” or His temporary dwelling place among the people.
THRIVING ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE CAMP
Since they had sinned at Sinai; God would no longer come to them inside the camp. He would only meet with Moses outside of the camp.
Moses must have been so thankful for this temporary Mishkan of God!
This was the only way that he never lost touch with God; even when God became angry with the people and removed Himself from their midst.
I find it interesting that this tent was outside the camp. I’ve thought about this a lot because in the past I’ve attended some camp meetings called “Camp Further Out.” The concept for the name of the camp came from the fact that in order for Moses to stay close to God and not lose touch; he sometimes had to go outside the camp and remove himself from the routine elements of life.
This picture becomes even clearer in my thinking when I remember what a joy we experienced at The Feast of Tabernacles this year. The whole concept is to remove your self and separate from the ways of the world. This whole idea is based around the fact that you temporarily are able to come into a place that is in complete harmony with the ways of God.
That which we experience only in concept form now; will be how all of us who know God will actually get to live one day in eternity, and during the time when Christ returns to establish His Kingdom on this earth for 1,000 years of peace and love.
The feasts of God are awesome, and the time that The Feast of Tabernacles represents will be awesome too! Part of the concept is all about coming outside of the camp and leaving the ways of the world to worship and communicate with God in a place where there are no earthly, sensual distractions; only peace and righteousness in a place where God’s Presence rests.
WHERE IS YOUR TENT OF MEETING?
So Moses was in the habit of coming out to this tent of meeting every day as a regular pattern to talk with God.
Do you have such a place?
My place is the inside of my vehicle as I drive to and from to work every day. There I am all alone with God. I can talk out loud to Him and I can feel His Presence with me as I begin and end my daily tasks. I talk to Him and listen to Him and offer up my daily prayers in this same routine every day of the week.
A TEMPORARY DWELLING PLACE
This tent of meeting was a TEMPORARY dwelling.
It was only to be used until the real tabernacle was constructed and inhabited by God.
Even when finally constructed, the Wilderness Tabernacle was also a temporary dwelling place, until the Temple was built in Jerusalem.
Even the Temple in Jerusalem was temporary; awaiting the New Heaven and New Earth that will come down from Heaven at the end of all time as we know it.
Everything is temporary and passing away; but God makes all things new.
Our earthly bodies are also only a TEMPORARY dwelling. They are only to be used until the supernatural bodies that await us in eternity are inhabited by our new born-again spirits.
The scriptures tell us in an instant we all will be changed. What was temporary will become permanent, and we will be walking around in the perfect way that God created, originally intended and designed us to be.
God had a perfect plan from the very beginning and He implemented the things that will bring it about from the foundation of the world. We have stalled that plan with sin; but God has not forgotten His original purpose and intentions for us.
God has allowed us to learn things the way we humans have to learn; but His plan is still intact and flourishing invisibly all around us all the time.
One day all those who have endured hardships and handicaps in their earthly bodies will be changed and set free from the things of the earth that have bound them for so long. It will be a glorious day!
We will no longer age.
There will be no more aches and pains; and we will have supernatural strength, enough physical strength to endure forever.
Isn’t that amazing?
THE PRESENT IS ONLY TEMPORARY
But for now; like the existence of that first tent of meeting; we must endure in a state that is temporary.
Even way back in the days of Moses, God was planning to have a permanent structure to dwell among us; but that time of worshiping of the golden calf halted such a tremendous blessing.
Humans were not yet ready.
There was still much to be done for God to dwell permanently with mankind. It would come in stages. The first stage was to be the tabernacle in the wilderness; but even that simple next step had been halted by sin. Moses could not continue because he now had to be meeting with God in the tent of meeting outside the camp; because the people had sinned so greatly that God could not come among them without destroying them.
And so it was that Moses went outside the camp; to the place where it was said that God had been meeting with him face to face, like an old friend, in order to try to persuade God to give His people another chance to prove their love and obedience.
MEETING FACE-TO-FACE
How was it that Moses could meet “face-to-face” with God when no one could look upon God and live?
I have my own personal theory that it happened something like a wedding. There had to be a covering; a veil of sorts.
Moses would leave his tent and go to the place where God dwelled. God would be hovering over the tent of meeting in the form of a cloud by day and a form of fire by night.
Moses would walk inside the tent and at that moment the cloud that was God’s Spirit would move to the door of the tent of meeting and Moses would be able to face it from the other side of the tent. There was a piece of cloth between them; but they were face-to-face; as close as they could come and allow Moses to live.
I think the tent served like the veil of a bride.
It allowed Moses to face God without harm. They could communicate face-to-face safely this way.
A BIG IMPORTANT DAY FOR MOSES
Moses had the daily habit of bringing matters before God here in this place of the tent of meeting; and this time it was extremely important. He had a HUGE thing to bring before God.
This day Moses had approached the tent of meeting to try to talk God into staying with the people and not leaving them. Moses could not bear for such a thing to happen.
He was determined to do whatever it took to seek the face of God and receive a favorable answer for the people. Moses here is such a shadow of Christ and His awesome love for us.
You can just imagine how Moses felt as he walked outside the camp on this day.
The people saw where Moses was going. They watched the cloud leaving the sky over the tent and ascending to the doorway of the tent of meeting as Moses went inside.
They knew their fate was in the hands of their leader; and they knew their God was about to make one of the most important decisions ever where they were concerned.
Every man, woman and child in the nation of Israel bowed low to the ground facing the tent of meeting and they worshiped God at the doorway of their tents; hoping fervently that God would have mercy on them and stay with them as they continued their travels through the wilderness.
Oh that this would happen in the doorway of every home on earth today.