What's in a Name?

"My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." 
Exodus 33:14

Have you ever experienced a time of darkness in your life?  A time where you knew God was with you, because His Word promises He will "never leave us, nor forsake us," yet, for some reason darkness had seemed to obscure His light, and you could not sense His presence?   Something seemed "wrong," because, after all, God is Light and in Him is no darkness.   I've been there, many times.  It seems that presence of God is an experience we can sense, and sensing His presence tends to give us peace.   He wants us to "taste and see" that He is good.    Tasting and seeing God's goodness is an actuality.  Experiencing God is not just a "belief" in Him, but an actuality.  

For those of us who have tasted and seen His goodness by experiencing God's glorious and reassuring presence, any time He pulls the veil over our eyes and we can no longer sense His presence can be very unsettling, can't it?  

Moses had tasted and seen God's goodness and felt God's reassuring presence, and here, in our text, God had told Moses because of the stubbornness of the children of Israel, He would not go with them.  Oh, He would do all He had promised, except they would not have His presence with them.   

In our early walks with God, we tend to seek God for what He can DO for us.  What are the blessings He will bestow upon us?   We seek after Him for His blessings and the promises He has given.   But, after a while, sometimes a very LONG while (and many storms,) everything about "us" is changed---we're essentially stripped down, like the paint on a ship---battered, chipped and now the vessel is completely exposed.   We begin to find that what we really need~or make that WHO we really need~ is God Himself, and not what He can DO for us.    We begin to value the very presence of our God.  To go anywhere without Him (or not abiding in His presence) is out of the question.  (Even if we've been disobedient to Him, He's still with us, but we will sense a "quietness" from Him because the fellowship has been broken.)

If you're in a place of quiet, darkness, and it seems that He's pulled the veil over your eyes so that His presence is not "sensed," do not despair.   For we see something special here in what God told Moses.    

In verse 15 of Exodus 33, Moses tells the Lord, "If You will not go with us then do not send us."  (i.e., "I would rather have us be void of Your blessings if it means not having Your presence be with us.")  Moses goes on to say "How will any one know that You are pleased with me and your people?"  (How many times have we been "through the ringer" and others "assumed" God was angry with us for some "wrong doing?" ??)  Well, God reassures Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” (verse 17.) 

Did you catch that?  God tells Moses "I know you by name."  If you continue to read the passage, you'll find out that Moses asks God to "show me Your glory."

Are you going through something so terribly distressing, others may be even wondering, like Job's friends, that you've done something wrong to "deserve" God's wrath.  But yet, your heart remained ever true to God and His plan for your life that your main concern was for God to "GET THE GLORY" out of even THIS situation. 

  

God will get the glory!  He knows YOU by name, dear one.  And the first step to Him revealing His glory and allowing you to know Him more intimately is of course to tell you His name.  God tells Moses (in verse 19) “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence..."

The purpose for our times of darkness is for God to reveal His glory to us and bring us into a more intimate relationship with Himself (so that we "may be one" with Him.)   John 17 records Jesus' prayer, and in verse 11  He prays for US: "I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of^[b] your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one."  "Protect them by the power of Your NAME."  God proclaims His name to Moses, and there is POWER in His name.   

How did God introduce Himself, by name, to Moses?  Exodus 34:6 tells us:  "6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
 

Do you want God to reveal His glory in and through your life, even in these trying circumstances?  Is your heart longing for a closer relationship with Him?  Are you sensing a quietness from Him, as if He's pulled the veil over your face?  LISTEN,for He is about to speak.  He is covering your face momentarily, so that your ears can be more attuned to His voice.  Let God bring you into a closer walk with Him by telling you His name.  Read His very own description of Himself in Exodus 34:6-7 slowly.  Allow His Holy Spirit to speak to you~~to "search your heart" and make sure that there is nothing there that has broken your fellowship with Him. If not, allow Him to convey the power of His name to your heart.  And be assured that once He does, He will lift His hand from your eyes and you will see more clearly. God told Moses, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. (*For us, this Rock is Jesus.) 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand (*if He covers us, surely, we'll not see anything at the time.)until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” You too will see His back.  Why His back? Because as your Shepherd, He will be leading you, and you will follow. He's about to lead you into a deeper relationship with Himself.  You will no longer wear a veil over your face when you are in His presence.  Moses' face was so luminous from God's glory, that he had to cover his face when he was with the people.  However, whenever He entered into God's presence, Moses removed the veil. (Ex. 34:35) 

  

He is with you, no matter if you "sense His presence or not."  He has promised His presence will go with you and He WILL give you rest.    "Rest" is not "nap time"---but, like in music, a rest is "a moment to pause."   He will give you a rest--a moment to pause and reflect on His goodness and glory, on His faithfulness and His compassion, on His forgiveness, on the very Power of His Name! 

What a powerful message we find here in this exchange between Moses and God.  You and I can share this very experience, for God never changes.  He is the same, yesterday, today and forever!  If we are lacking in our relationship with Him it is only because we have not asked Him to reveal Himself to us.  "Ye have not, because ye ask not." 



"Father, reveal to us Your glory, so that You will be glorified in and through our lives."



Father, we ask You, in the unfathomable power of Your Name, to reveal Yourself to us in a mighty way.  Show US Your glory, Father.  Not so that others will see us, Father.  No.  We will cover our faces with a veil when we are with others.  Father, we want others to not see OUR faces, but Yours, Father.  That is why Moses shielded his face, Father.  Your radiant glory was just so powerful, that the veil over his face was a reminder to the people that they are to worship You and not Moses, Father.  We THANK YOU that You know us by name, Father.  And yet, apart from You, there's not much to us, Father; but You still love us, and long to reveal Yourself to us in a mighty way.  Why?  So that others will see Your glory (not US), and be drawn to You, Father.  If only we knew You by the power of Your Name!   Thank You for this powerful lesson.  I pray Father that You would be lifted up in everything, including this blog.  By Your Holy Spirit's power lift up Your Name, and draw all men and women unto You.  

We pray this in the mighty power of Your Name, Amen.