Post 34 / The Next Language
January 18, 2021
I Will Go With Thee
1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, [and] go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: 2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: 3 Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou [art] a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. 4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye [are] a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. 6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb. 7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, [that] every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which [was] without the camp. 8 And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, [that] all the people rose up, and stood every man [at] his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood [at] the door of the tabernacle, and [the LORD] talked with Moses. 10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand [at] the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man [in] his tent door. 11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. 12 And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation [is] thy people. 14 And he said, My presence shall go [with thee], and I will give thee rest. 15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not [with me], carry us not up hence. 16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? [is it] not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that [are] upon the face of the earth. (Ex. 33:1-16 KJV)
This amazing chapter got my attention as we launch into this new year of 2021. After the debacle at Mt Sinai with the golden calf God asked Israel to move out to the promised land with a significant deficiency – He was going to send an angel before them rather than accompany them with His own presence.
Before us is the challenge of Telling the Story of Jesus in Every Language. Behind us is a year of relative inactivity at least as far as new recordings. Behind us is the division over selling and moving to another state. Behind us are meeting in groups and days of working exclusively in an office context.
As we move forward toward every language I think we are very much like the children of Israel with Moses. We need more than a commission. We need more than a goal and a final victory. We need more than a hope. Even the stiff-necked children of Israel knew enough to mourn the prospect of going ahead without God. Moses said, “If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”
After the Israelites mourned and Moses interceded, God “changed His mind” and moved from His initial position of referring to them as “the people which thou has brought up out of the land of Egypt” to a place where He could agree, “My presence shall go with thee.”
He even added a bonus, “…and I will give thee rest.”
I have taken this promise for GRN. I truly believe God is with us and will go with us. Jesus’ own words promised that He would be with us to the end of the world. Is it a stretch to believe that He will be with us until the last language? Is it not equally possible that we can move with Him into that eternal rest that comes by faith, rest in the finished work of Christ? (Heb. 4″9-11).
God Bless,
Larry DeVilbiss | Executive Director
Global Recordings Network USA
P. S. As a “thank you” for your continued support of the ministry of Global Recordings Network USA, and in celebration of over 80 years of God’s faithfulness, we have compiled a collection of 80 daily devotions written by GRN founder, Joy Ridderhof. You may read or download your copy of Rejoice Always – 80 Devotions with Joy Ridderhof here.