Exodus 33:1-5: a reflection

1The LORD spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people that you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ 2I will send an angel before you; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 3Go to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way.” 4When the people heard this evil news, they mourned; and no one put on his jewelry. 5The LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up among you for one moment, I would consume you. Therefore now take off your jewelry from you, that I may know what to do to you.’”

After the golden calf, God gives Moses a word that sounds, at first, like generosity but proves to be devastating. Go up to the land I promised, God says; I will send an angel before you and drive out your enemies; it is a land flowing with milk and honey. But then comes the crushing qualification: I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way. They would have the land, the blessing, the promise, but not God's own presence.

Notice the people's response. When they hear this hard word, they mourn, and no one puts on his jewelry. They understand what they would be losing. The gift without the Giver, the promised land without the presence of God in their midst, is not enough. To their credit, they grieve the absence of God more than they would have grieved the absence of the land. The blessing without God had become hollow to them.

This scene asks a searching question: would you be content with God's gifts if you could not have God himself? It is possible to want the blessings, the good land, the answered prayers, the comfortable life, while being indifferent to the presence of God at the center of it all. The people's grief here is instructive. Do not settle for the gift without the Giver. Let your deepest desire be not merely what God can give but God himself, and grieve, as they did, any distance from his presence.

Lord, your people mourned when they were offered the land without your presence, for the gift without the Giver is hollow. Guard me from wanting only your blessings while being indifferent to you. Let my deepest desire be not merely what you can give but you yourself. I would rather have your presence than any gift; do not let me settle for less than you. Amen.