A PLACE BY ME ROSS SMITH
ALL REFERENCES FROM AMPLIFIED VERSION UNLESS NOTED
Ever since doing our exploration of “PERTAINING TO POLES” there has been a continued ambition to know and be IN MY PLACE. And so I have to ask, “Do you know where or what your place is? I would be interested in your response.
The added awareness and ensuing consciousness that results from early morning encounters with the Lord is of great consequence, but seems to have complicated matters a little, for this is certainly a place where each of us needs to be so that we can begin to really “KNOW GOD” but it is not the only place. My interest was sparked as I read of Moses experiences and in particular:-
Exodus 33:21 And the Lord said, Behold, THERE IS A PLACE BESIDE ME, and you shall STAND UPON THE ROCK,
Notice the statement says, “BESIDE ME”, not just “WITH ME”, a much more personal space, reserved and prepared. Do we know what our place is? Have you thought about what your place is? Have you come to any conclusions as to what your place is?
What are we expecting, or what are we looking for when we set out to be obedient to Psalm 46:10, that condition of “BE STILL AND KNOW”? The psalmist provided the expected result of “BEING STILL”, and that was “KNOWING GOD”. Now in reflection I needed to know what I could expect if I knew God, not just about God, but that personal, intimate, affectionate, close relationship.
There are so many components that we could explore as a consequence of “THERE IS A PLACE”. Let me just identify some of the characteristics of the “PLACE”, before I diverge to a different line of thought.
It can be:-
A place reserved “INDIVIDUALLY”
- A place “IDENTIFIED”
- A place “NOT RELOCATABLE”
- A place as important as “THE POLES IN THEIR RINGS OF THE ARK”
- A place appointed, like “STEPHEN AS VINNIES DIRECTOR TO THE WIDOWS”
But scripturally there are also a number of “PLACES”, as follows:-
- Psalm 116:7 A resting place
- Luke 11:33 A hiding place
- Matthew 6:6 A hidden place (ALL REFS AMPLIFIED BIBLE)
- Matthew 6:31 A desert place
- Acts 7:33 A holy place
- Jeremiah 7:3 A dwelling place
- Genesis 19:27 An early place
- Genesis 28:16 A place where the Lord is
- Acts 1:25 A place of his own (Judas)
- Psalm 31:20 A secret place
Jesus encouragement is for us to invest in heavenly property, He says in:-
John 14:2 In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places (homes). If it were not so, I would have told you; for I am going away to prepare a place for you.
Acts 13:41 Look, you scoffers and scorners, and marvel and perish and vanish away; for I am doing a deed in your days, a deed which you will never have confidence in or believe, [even] if someone [clearly describing it in detail] declares it to you
This place is unimaginable, it is a place beyond what we can conceive as described in the Book of Acts, and if we can imagine “THE PLACE BY ME”, then arrangements are being made beyond belief. “THERE” is like the vestibule compared with the place in preparation, but “THERE” is for present and current occupation.
Sometimes I think we have such a paucity of understanding of what awaits us if we will step up, and even as we explore today, we will find in retrospect that we are only reaching Father’s vestibule, we cannot believe what preparation He is making for us in the heavenly arena, even if He told us we would not believe it. (Habakkuk 1:5)
How comforting to ponder the extent of accommodation, how many places are available that Father has for us, but how superficial is our understanding of what that place is like. As we have already seen in EXODUS 33:21, the Lord has invited Moses to a “SPECIAL PLACE”, a “Place by Me”, called “THERE”. (when we conclude today we should at least have the co-ordinates of “THERE” to navigate by … comments mine)
You will no doubt notice that I have used poetic licence to change the word “THERE” to a noun, but some exploration of this term will open up a expansive vista of beauty and challenge that must, no, it cannot help but incite us to take up the opportunity that Father has been proposing to us for such a long time, and I fear that a malaise or complacency or malignancy has blinded us to the enormity of His favour, and we risk Father passing us by as disinterested. The scourge of “complacency” infects the Church across the board.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. (or conversely are you being complacent and neglectful and defiant … comments mine) Test and prove yourselves [not Christ]. Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you–unless you are [counterfeits] disapproved on trial and rejected?
Zephaniah 1:6 And those who have drawn back from following the Lord and those who have not sought the Lord nor inquired for, inquired of, and required the Lord [as their first necessity]
Let me first recap on the story that leads to this magnificent lesson.
Moses has been reminded of the task God has given him in EXODUS 33:1, that is, to lead the people to a Land flowing with milk and honey, not a dissimilar excursion to that which He is offering those of us who will adequately respond. But Moses is of two minds because just a few days ago he has returned from being up the mountain with God for 40 days, and so absorbed and no doubt mesmerized by God’s presence, that he didn’t even get to eat or drink.
He has descended to find the place in an uproar, standing centre stage is a golden calf and the people worshipping this idol. So Moses has a “melt down”, both figuratively and literally. He is so angry that he smashed the tablets of stone that have been written by the finger of God, and personally autographed by God, and then secondly, he melts down the golden calf, grinds it up and says to the people “drink that”. There are some commentaries that suggest the mixture looked like blood, due to the refraction of light on the gold particles which made the water glow red. This would be highly symbolic, but even more important is the fact that the golden calf, now just dust, and imbibed by the Israelites, is now voided as excrement….. that’s what happens to idols!!!!!
This all came about because “the people didn’t know”, didn’t know what was happening to Moses, IT IS THE NOT KNOWING THAT LEADS TO SIN.
To add to his anger and frustration, his trusted lieutenant, Aaron, has blown it and has let the people get out of control; (Exodus 32:25 And when Moses saw that the people were unruly and unrestrained (for Aaron had let them get out of control, so that they were a derision and object of shame among their enemies), Moses says “what the heck is going on here”? See in the following verse how quickly sin invades even the most significant person when they are not “THERE”.
Exodus 32:24 I (Aaron) said to them, Those who have any gold, let them take it off. So they gave it to me; then I CAST IT INTO THE FIRE, AND THERE CAME OUT THIS CALF. !!!!!!!!!!!!!
As a result of this aberrant behavior 3000 men died that day, because Aaron “had let them get out of control” (verse 25).
Moses had such a compassion for the people, probably because of the amount of time he had spent with the SOURCE OF COMPASSION that he says to the Lord, “If you won’t forgive the people their sins, just blot me out of your book” (verse 32)
Sometimes there is a need for us to establish a place where we can be preserved from the cacophony of voices that bombards our every moment, and Moses had come to this conclusion also, so he repairs to a place 2 kilometres away from the camp and there he sets up a “prayer tent.” (Exodus 34:7) Do you ever feel like you need to get away, well “THERE IS A PLACE BY ME.”
I wonder how often Moses went to this tent because it says in Exodus 33: 9 “When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the door of the tent, and the Lord would talk with Moses.”
Now that is what the Lord is offering us right now, He has told us to come aside to that “tent” we have established in the early morning and still our body, our mind and our spirit so that we can hear Him speak to us in that “Still Small Voice”, and if we “KNOW” we are less likely to sin.
The story continues with mounting excitement, remember Moses had just spent 40 days up the mountain with the Lord and now God tells him,
Exodus 33:17 “And the Lord said to Moses, I will do this thing also that you have asked, for you have found favor, loving-kindness, and mercy in My sight and I know you personally and by name.”
So what was it that Moses had nominated to God that he wanted Him to do if he was to continue leading this people to the Promised Land? Just 5 little words “if I have found favor in Your sight, SHOW ME NOW YOUR WAY”. He goes on to expand upon this request, he wants to “progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You”, but looking back he has just spent 40 days and nights cocooned in God’s presence on top of the mountain and been handed an personally autographed copy of the Ten Commandments, and yet he wants more.
Oh that we would have that unquenchable ambition that would propel us into that state of wanting more and more of the Lord, and to be so “IN THE KNOW” as Moses was that he could be presumptuous enough to negotiate with God.
So let us see what God offered Moses in “THAT PLACE BY ME”.
Exodus 33:18-23 And Moses said, I beseech You, SHOW ME YOUR GLORY. (And God said, “Can’t do that, it would kill you” .. comments mine) “I WILL MAKE ALL MY GOODNESS PASS BEFORE YOU, and I will proclaim My name, THE LORD, before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy and loving-kindness on whom I will show mercy and loving-kindness. But, He said, You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me and live. And the Lord said, BEHOLD, THERE IS A PLACE BESIDE ME, AND YOU SHALL STAND UPON THE ROCK, And while MY GLORY passes by, I WILL PUT YOU IN A CLEFT OF THE ROCK AND COVER YOU WITH MY HAND UNTIL I HAVE PASSED BY. Then I will take away My hand and you shall see My back; (His back constitutes His “goodness”, so what is “HIS GOODNESS”? God’s goodness made Him relent in destroying the people…. just another evidence that His “GOODNESS” is His nature, GOD IS LOVE … comments mine) but My face shall not be seen.
Moses is intrigued, to the extent that he says “Show me thy glory”. The glory of God had been seen by Moses to a certain extent, when God “descended in fire” upon Mount Sinai. It had been seen with more clarity and distinctiveness when he was called up and “went into the midst of the cloud” But he felt, nevertheless, that he had not as yet really beheld it. He longed for that ineffable blessing of the full “glorious shekina glory,” because the “cloud” was representative of God’s favour and presence, but was not “HIS GLORY”.
Moses seems to mean he wants some visible glorious representation of God, such as he had never seen, though he had been with him so long on the mount in the cloud, and heard his voice, and saw some appearances of brightness and glory, yet not in any form that a mortal mind could frame any idea of. What use would it be I ask, he could only boast at some function “I have seen God’s glory”, but it wouldn’t impress the masses or change their behaviour, can’t you hear them say, “Well bully for you”. But Moses wanted more!!!!
This is the same hunger we should now be exhibiting because the Lord has been inciting us to find that place called “THERE’. We must become dissatisfied with the condition we are in, incorporating every aspect of our lives, and realise we are only getting part of the picture whilst we avoid being “THERE.”
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! NOW I KNOW IN PART.
John 1:18 No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, or the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him (Exodus 33:18-23 I will proclaim My name.) [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known]
God said, “I will show you My GOODNESS, because that is what will make the change in us, when we begin to recognise His “INCONCEIVABLE GREATNESS”.
Psalm 23:6 Surely or only GOODNESS, MERCY, AND UNFAILING LOVE shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.
Also how interesting is it that in this verse (19) God says “I will proclaim My name, THE LORD, before you”. Why did God find it necessary to say that to Moses, surely he knew who God was, God had told him ages ago “Tell them my name is I AM”. It may help to refer to the study “Holy is His Name”.
The same prayer content for New Testament Christians is found in:-
Philippians 3:10-11 [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively (Recall 2 Peter 3:11 Since all these things are thus IN THE PROCESS … comments mine) become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person (further appreciation of His “GOODNESS” … comments mine) more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed (PROCESS LEADING TO PROGRESS … comments mine) [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body].
Do we think this position is beyond us, is the cost and effort too great, or are we still so blind to the opportunity that we continue to drift along? It is not our background or our fame, our achievements or our failures that qualify us.
To be in that place called “THERE”
Requires decision
Requires action
Requires separation
You cannot skate along trusting that you have some attribute that absolves you from being “THERE”, either some remarkable talent, or some horrible deficiency, or your upbringing, or your education or lack thereof.
Moses was a foster child
He was a quasi-Philistine
He was a murderer
He was a lonely shepherd
Now he is a “goat herder”, and despite his background God knew Moses name and had found favour with God. But the Lord’s recognition of us is even of great consequence: –
Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each of My hands; [O Zion] your walls are continually before Me.
If we are able to see and recognise, and value God’s providence for us, we will be more suitably adapted to receive his providence; “A place by Me” has to be a cherished, value, honoured, respected, continuously occupied place of privilege – it is a place of responsibility, and if we are not unswervingly responsible, then we will never be able to be in authority.
1 Chronicles 28:9 And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father [have personal knowledge of Him, be acquainted with, and understand Him; appreciate, heed, and cherish Him] and serve Him with a blameless heart and a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts and minds and understands all the wanderings of the thoughts. (I find that of great comfort, because I have a very “nomadic mind” at times, my minds goes on walkabout regularly … comments mine) IF YOU SEEK HIM [INQUIRING FOR AND OF HIM AND REQUIRING HIM AS YOUR FIRST AND VITAL NECESSITY] YOU WILL FIND HIM; BUT IF YOU FORSAKE HIM, HE WILL CAST YOU OFF FOREVER!
“A place” The “A” suggests quality, God did not say “I have a few locations round here for you to choose from”. Like the grain of sand on the beach, (Jeremiah 5:22) ordained of God, to be in that location is “A PLACE”, an ordained place, but the place that God was inviting Moses to be was still in the wilderness.
It was also a “rocky place”, God said,
Exodus 33:21 And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place beside Me, and you shall stand upon the rock”. Don’t despise the terrain over which you are called to traverse to get “THERE”.
The world continues to say “I want a bigger, or better, or different place”, they are dissatisfied because:-
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages (there’s that ordination again … comments mine) which NOTHING UNDER THE SUN BUT GOD ALONE CAN SATISFY], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
We will never be happy, satisfied, successful, fulfilled, secure, steadfast, etc. etc. etc. till we go “THERE”.
Exodus 33:13 Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, SHOW ME NOW YOUR WAY, that I may know You ……
And so, we come to a place called “THERE”.
“THERE” requires SEPARATION, to leave or part from something,
“THERE” requires DEVIATION, a different way of thought and action,
“THERE “requires CONSUMATION or a closing of the deal.
Exodus 25:22 (ISV) I’ll meet with you “THERE”, and I’ll tell you all my commandments for the Israelis from above the Mercy Seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the Ark of the Testimony.
The same sentiment is repeated in Exodus 29:42, 30:6, 30:36,
Of great consequence is the remark God made to Moses:-
Exodus 33:21 The LORD said, “Look, there is a place near me where you can stand on the rock;”
But that location, standing on the rock, leaves Moses exposed, so it cannot be any old rock, because that rock has been specially prepared and strategically placed, it is “BY ME” but also has a cleft in it so that God can place His hand over Moses, just like He wants to put His hand over us. “Cover thee with my hand”— that is to conceal and protect. Without these precautions, it is implied, the nearness of the Divine Presence might have had injurious effects, and the critical nature of finding “THERE”.
Just as a matter of interest or conjecture, it is suggested that this cleft in the rock was exactly where Moses had struck to rock to obtain water for the people, and must have brought back memories of that incident and made that place so much more pertinent to Moses.
Let us address our own present situation, we can be either “HERE OR THERE”, the only difference in these words is the “T”, but the locations are poles apart. We have the choice. I am not sure this morning, how to relate this study with enough conviction, to have everyone see and accept the offer Father makes to us of “A PLACE BY ME CALLED THERE”.
I can describe “THE PLACE”, but only superficially, but I cannot take you to “THAT PLACE”, but hopefully I can “encourage, exhort, and incite” with sufficient conviction to have you relocate to “THAT PLACE”.
The “Place called THERE” is not as we have been led to believe, our “Ministry”, but will Unlock our Ministry, for ministry can be obvious and people oriented, “Our Place” is intimate and God oriented that “inward adorning” of 1 Peter 3:4, (that inner disposition). “Our Place” is not an outward display as such, but that inward disposition that prompts God to say in Isaiah: –
Isaiah 43:4 Since you’re precious in my sight and honoured, and because I love you, I’m giving up people in your place, and nations in exchange for your life.”
“The Place” where we reach in to touch God can often be a “rocky place”, not just plain sailing. It can be a place of contrast. Moses has been with the Lord for 40 days, comes down to an idolatrous and deceitful mob, a “golden calf” has miraculously come out of the fire, a nation out of control. So, when we are “THERE”, expect to be different but expect to be influential, by our “aroma, our “saltiness, our shine”, but expect to have to take responsibility.
Psalm 91:1 HE WHO DWELLS in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty (like the hand placed over Moses in the cleft of the rock … comments mine) [Whose power no foe can withstand].
Psalm 91:8 Only a spectator shall you be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked.
THAT IS A PLACE CALLED “THERE”
Ross Smith 