Moses, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, got to see God in a special way, unlike anyone else. The Lord was very gracious to this one who would deliver his people from Egypt, lead them in the wilderness for forty years and deliver the law and the first five books of the Bible to them. Because of the overwhelming tasks God had assigned him, Moses needed extra reassurance. Moses asked for these special privileges in our text. And the Lord gave them to him. Lest we consider ourselves underprivileged in comparison, were going to see how in many ways we’ve been blessed even more than Moses. But more on that in a bit. Let’s look first at what Moses was faced with.

After the exciting escape from Egypt through the Red Sea, with the chariots and horsemen of Egypt in hot pursuit, Moses had led the people as far as Mount Sinai where they stopped to receive God’s law. You probably remember what happened there. God kept Moses up on the mountain for quite sometime, and in the meanwhile, the Israelites demanded that Aaron make them a golden calf. When Moses came down he got so angry he broke the tablets he had gotten from God with the ten commandments. But Moses wasn’t the only one angry. God was infuriated. After 3000 Israelites are cut down by the Levites, God still refused to go with the Israelites to the promised land. He wasn’t ready to completely abandon them, but neither would God go along. He said "I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way." (vv.2-3)

Stop and think about that for a minute. Angels are great, and I’m sure we’re all pretty glad that God sends them to look out for each of us and keep us safe. But it just wouldn’t be the same if God said to you that he would send angels to care for you, but he himself was going to keep a good distance away from you because he’s so angry with you he’s liable to make you drop dead.

It’s no wonder Moses wasn’t satisfied. And so he begins to plead with God in our text. "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. …

In other words Moses said "I want YOU to lead us, God. I don’t want an unknown. You I know. You I’ve talked to. I’ve never spoken to an angel before. That just won’t do. Why, you ask, God? Because I’m supposed to be your personal friend. Don’t you remember? Listen: You have said—[God]—‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ ¹³ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. But don’t just do it for me, God. Do it for your people. I know they have no reason to claim to be your people. They don’t deserve anything from you. But that’s beside the point, God. You are the God of mercy. You made them your people. Now, Lord, Remember that this nation is your people.

And if those aren’t enough reasons, Lord, for you to come personally with us, I’ve got one more for you. "I’m not budging unless you come along. There’s no way that I’m going to lead this people without you in front." Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." (15) But wait. There’s another reason for you to come along Lord. How are we possibly going to let anybody know that you are the One and Only True God, unless you’re with us? ¹⁶ 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?"

Do you hear how Moses wrestled with God in prayer? It’s kind of like the night that Jacob spent with God wrestling where he said, "I’m not going to let you go, except you bless me." (Gen 32:26b) You can tell that Moses is one of Jacob’s descendants.

Well, don’t ever let anyone tell you that prayer, fervent prayer, doesn’t work. God listens, and he even "changes his mind," to put it in terms that we humans can understand. 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." Why? Because Moses prayed and pleaded with him to come, and because God is gracious, and hears the prayers of his people.

It’s not to hard to see some personal applications here. We may take the Lord’s presence at our sides for granted. But think for a minute what it would be like to lose that. Think for a minute what it would be like if God threatened to let you go it alone. But, there are people who willingly give up God’s comfort and help. There are people who drift, or fall, or even run away from the Lord. What are they getting themselves into! They’re asking to face not only the world, but the devil and his hordes all by themselves. They’re asking God to abandon them to hell for all eternity!!

I’m sure none of you here today wants that. But I’m sure you do want to pray like Moses. Don’t ever take the Lord’s presence for granted. He tells us in no unclear terms in his Word, that if we don’t want him with us, if we rebel against him and his Word, if we in effect tell him to get lost, eventually he’ll listen to us, and we will be all alone. I think each of us would have to admit we have taken God’s presence among us a bit for granted. We want to plead with God like Moses to remember his promises of grace to us, and stay.

If we had to go it alone, we’d be as nervous as Moses and ready to balk ourselves. And we’d have good reason to be worried too. But God is ever near those he loves. He is near us who hear his Word and trust in him. He is near those of us who pray to him. And as with Israel, he will go before us and lead the way.

Moses was pretty happy about what he heard. So happy, in fact, that he wanted to hear even more. "Great," he thought, "you’re going to go with us, God. But now I want something even more in the way of reassurance."

Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." Once again we see Moses imitating his ancestor Jacob, wrestling with God in prayer. Was he being greedy? No. It’s not greed when you say you want more faith, when you say, ‘Lord, keep reassuring me.’ That’s like the man who came to Jesus and said, "Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief". It’s not greed because these are things God has said already he eagerly wants to give us.

That the Lord was pleased with his request we can see in his response. So now Moses said, "Now show me your glory." ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." ²¹ Then the Lord said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² 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. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."

No sinful human being can perfectly see God’s unveiled holiness and glory and live, but God let Moses see as much as he could. God proclaimed his name Yahweh, the Lord, which means "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." Even with this view of the back side of God’s glory, it took weeks before the people could look at Moses without a veil over his head, because of the afterglow!

Like Moses, the Lord has proclaimed his name to us. He has proclaimed to us the message of his great undeserved mercy in Christ Jesus our Savior. In fact, think how much more we have seen than Moses! We have seen the fulfillment of all the sacrifices Moses and Aaron and their descendants offered. We have seen the fulfillment in Jesus’ death on the cross. Moses could only look from a distance and hope for what we have seen.

We meet the Lord in our very own homes, when we have home devotions! He comes right into our kitchens and living rooms to speak to us! What an awesome privilege! It defies logic that anyone might neglect this, and yet we do, don’t we? We meet the Lord face to face when we enter into this sanctuary and hear the Lord’s merciful name proclaimed, yet we’re tempted to take this privilege for granted, too; to skip it for things of far less significance. And best of all, we receive the very Lord himself in the Sacrament of the Altar. There we meet him face to face in all his great glory, for the greatest glory of God, is that he willingly stooped down to earth to be made man for our salvation, and that here he suffered and died, the innocent for the guilty—himself for us.

Like Moses, God wants us to ask for this awesome privilege—to long for it and to jump at it eagerly when we’re offered the privilege. Isaiah the prophet was once sent by the Lord to King Ahaz: "Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights," He said by command of the Lord. But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test." Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also?" (Is 7:11-13) God says to us "Ask for a sign. Ask to hear my Word and I will proclaim it to you. Ask to see my glory face to face, and I will give you my very Son himself, sacrificed for your sins, in the Sacrament of the Altar. There you will meet me in the fulfillment only hoped for by Moses."

How privileged we are. We, unholy sinners, have the Lord of hosts at our side, with us all the way, leading and guiding us just like Moses. We, like Moses, have the Lord speak to us in his Word. We see the Lord face to face in the Sacrament. Count your blessings. Don’t try the patience of the Lord by ignoring him when he speaks. And when the Lord shows himself to you in his holy Supper, be there to look and see, to taste and touch, and to be forgiven and saved. Amen.