Glimpses of Glory: A 7-Day DevotionalExemplo

Giver > Gift

Another day, another offer.

God moved on from His offer to destroy Israel, but He remained extremely offended by their sin, so He made them a second offer: They could have the Promised Land, but not His presence. In this way, He’d get the glory and fulfill His promises—the reasons Moses declined the first offer—and furthermore, He would spare the people. Still more, they’d get the Promised Land, the very thing they wanted all along. It seemed like a win-win.

But how did Moses respond? “If you aren’t going with us, then we aren’t going at all.”

This should shock us. We have a situation where God (1) receives glory, (2) fulfills His promises, (3) blesses His people, and (4) spares them from destruction, yet Moses rejected that offer! Had he gone crazy? What could possibly cause him to make such a silly choice?

Let me ask you a question: What was the goal of the Exodus? “Easy,” you might respond. “To get the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land.” Sure enough, I used to think the same thing.

Scripture proved me wrong.

As Moses denied God’s offer, I imagine that God’s words before Pharaoh rang in his ears: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness” (Ex 7:16; cf. 8:1,20; 9:1,13; 10:3). The goal of the Exodus wasn’t to get the people to the Promised Land; it was to get the people to God. As tempting as God’s offer might have been, as soon as Moses learned that God had removed himself from the deal, Moses had to deny it. He’d rather live in a dusty desert with God than in a luxurious land without Him.

Once again, Moses understood the heart of God.

This leads us to another key principle: We must learn to value the Giver over the gift. It isn’t enough to value God’s glory; we must learn to value Him. Answer this question for me: Why do you believe in Christ? Perhaps you want to go to Heaven. Perhaps you seek exemption from Hell. Perhaps you appreciate the morals He espouses. Perhaps you find yourself enticed by the joy and peace and comfort that comes in receiving love from such a great big God.

None of these exist as inherently bad things. They exist as beautiful gifts given by an amazing Giver. But they aren’t Him. Our souls were made to delight in the promise of Heaven while recognizing that Christ didn’t sacrifice Himself merely for us to enter those pearly gates. The God of the Bible deserves our desire infinitely more than any gift He has to offer, and if we want to respond to Him how we ought, we must make it our goal to desire nearness to Him above all else. We must learn to “serve Him in the wilderness”—here and now, each and every day of our lives.