Unto A Land

‬‬“Unto 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. And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. For 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. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭33:3-6‬ ‭KJV‬‬

In previous verses, the children of Israel had forsaken The LORD, played the harlot by having an adulterous relationship with an golden idol, and God's anger had been unleashed! 

Notice the response of the Israelites. “And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.”

God was ready to kill them all; but for Moses interceding on their behalf! Instead Moses moves his tent and The LORD tabernacles with him outside the camp!

‬‬

“And 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. And 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. And 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. And 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. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.”  Exodus‬ ‭33:7-11‬ ‭KJV‬‬

The people were isolated from the presence of God because of their sin! They, in mourning, worshiped Him from the door of their tents. They were not allowed to enter in. God removed Himself from them because they had removed themselves from Him, when they willfully played the harlot! Except for Joshua!  He had not sinned. He had waited on The LORD. Because he was faithful, he moved with and never left the tabernacle! 

“And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭33:12-17‬ ‭KJV‬‬

We, just like the children of Israel are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart! We are supposed to be separate from the world, however, we too have played the harlot and made gods in our own image! And today we are reaping the fruit of our sins! We shake our head and point the finger, however, do we mourn? Do we remove our ornaments? Do we even worship Him from the door? No, we don't repent, for we don't recognize our sin! Our whole nation should be in mourning, yet we go on like nothing has happened!

A friend reposted on Facebook yesterday, a powerful message, that I had to share! 

"Shut. Up. And. Mourn!"

What will it take? How much more, before we turn back to The LORD?

For our country to return, each of us has to turn!

We should all be on our face in repentance of our sins and the sins of our nation! Revival starts in my heart and in yours! 

Examine yourself! 

Repent while there is still time!

“If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”

Even so - MARANATHA! 

From 7/9/16