IsolationSample

Yesterday we looked at how God will isolate us to refresh our spirits and sometimes He may need to put us in certain situations to get our attention. Today we are going to look at the life of Moses and see how he used to intentionally take out time alone for God. This is one of the most beautiful images all throughout biblical history where we see one of God’s greatest acts of intimacy with man.

We see that God revealed himself to the people in the camp when the Shekinah Glory of the Lord would come down on the temple and that was a sign for the people that God was in the camp. In this story we see that Moses takes a tent and pitches it outside the camp. He would deliberately isolate himself from the camp, from where everyone was, to go to pitch this tent which he referred to as the tent of meeting. Whenever he did this, all the people seeking God would follow him. The people knew that Moses was going to spend time alone with God and God was going to commune with him.

As we continue in the story, we see that as Moses goes into the tent, the people would rise in anticipation because they knew what was going to happen, they knew God was going to commune with Moses. As Moses enters the tent, the pillar of cloud comes down like a curtain to guard the entrance, this was God’s time alone with Moses. What a beautiful picture. The Lord will speak with Moses. There’s speaking to and speaking with. Speaking to is one way communication. Speaking with is a conversation, back and forth. God spoke with Moses face to face, as a friend, in the tent of meeting.

We get a sneak peek into their conversation, from verse 12 onwards we see just how intimate Moses is with God. He said to the Lord “See, you say to me…”. The way he speaks to God is as if he’s speaking to his friend. One of the reasons Moses is one of the greatest leaders of all time is because his primary goal was to be known by God and be alone with God. In verse 13 he asks God if he has found favor in his sight to show him his ways so that he may know him. Isn’t that just amazing? He wants to find God’s favor, then he wants God to show him his ways so that he may know him so that he finds favor in God’s sight. Just read that again. It’s a perfect circle. The more you know God, the deeper you get in your relationship with him and love for him. God’s reply in verse 14 sums up perfectly what he gives us in isolation, he says his presence will go with Moses and that he will give him rest. When we have been in private with God, he will be in public with us. The back and forth between in God and Moses over the next few verses just highlights just how close they were. In times of Isolation God reveals His Glory to us.