Exodus 33:7-10 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door.
By making the place of worship outside the camp, Moses clearly drew a line to see who really wanted to draw close to the LORD. When Moses put the temporary tabernacle of meeting… outside the camp, it meant that everyone who wanted to seek the Lord had to separate in some sense. “When the Holy Spirit of God begins to deal with any one of us, there will be this separation. It will not be paraded.
The people watched and noticed when Moses worshipped. When Moses worshipped, they also worshipped. Moses prompted the people to draw close to God by his own example. This was their natural response. Something about Moses and his relationship with God made others want to also worship God. Everyone saw this pillar of cloud come to the tent of Moses, and they knew Moses worshipped and met with God there. This was a great comfort to the people, to know that their leader really did meet with God and hear from Him. (Guzik)
The tabernacle of the congregation; it was so before, but he called it so now, to show that God had not wholly forsaken them; and that if they truly repented, he still permitted them to come into his presence, and to seek the Lord. (Poole)
The opportunity of conversing with God, and bringing about a thorough reconciliation between him and the people, who declared he would not go up in the midst of them; and partly that this might be a symbol to the people of the Lord’s departure from the midst of them; that so they might be brought to a thorough humiliation for their sin, who might fear that he would not only stand at a distance, but entirely remove from them: it might be considered as a token of his displeasure with them, and yet be a door of hope unto them; since he was not wholly gone from them, but might be sought unto by them. (Gill)
Moses communed with God about the people’s interests; hence called “the tabernacle of the congregation,” and the withdrawal of which, in abhorrence from a polluted camp, was regarded as the first step in the total abandonment with which God had threatened them. Its removal produced deep and universal consternation; and it is easy to conceive how anxiously all eyes would be directed towards it; how rapidly the happy intelligence would spread, when a phenomenon was witnessed from which an encouraging hope could be founded. (Brown)
God had spoken and said that He would have an angel lead them. What must that have been like, to have God say, “I do not want to be in your presence”? Many surely humbled themselves and repented of their act of disobedience, but God had removed Himself from their presence. Now to see that a “Tent of Meeting” had been set up outside of their camp and God once again came present in the cloud as before when Moses entered. The people, being thankful and hopeful, would stand at the door of their tent and worship God. A form of reconciliation was taking place, hope was being restored, and joy budding in their hearts.
There is nothing better for the soul of man than to come to the knowledge of sin in their lives, confess, and repent. In this knowledge and awareness of sin, there is an understanding of who is sinned against, God. What can a person do to make the shame and guilt leave their hearts and minds? Nothing in of themselves. They must wholly rely on the grace and mercy of God as they confess and repent and turn away from that which has been revealed to their hearts and minds as SIN.
I fear far too often that the sinfulness of “Sin” is not proclaimed, as well, as the “Holiness” of God. How is a person to confess and repent when they are not searching their hearts and minds for that which is Sin in the eyes of God? Do we actually want to know? Do we want just to live with a shallow knowledge of God and live in ignorance of His Holiness and the magnitude of sin in our lives? Is this how a person is to honor and glorify the Almighty God of all creation and redeemer of sinners? We will do well to live each day with a desire to grow in our understanding of the sinfulness of sin and the Holiness of God so that we will mature in our knowing of how to honor and glorify Him each moment of our lives.
