A People for His Presence
Do You Want God, or Just What He Can Give You?
There is a question that has the power to reveal what we truly value most. It cuts through the surface of our faith and exposes the real condition of our hearts. And it is a question that the people of Israel had to wrestle with in the wilderness, just as we wrestle with it today.
What Do You Want Most in Life?
Before answering that, consider this question posed by a pastor and author that still challenges hearts today:
"If you could have heaven with no sickness, with all the friends you ever had on earth, all the food you ever liked, all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, with no human conflict or natural disasters. Could you be satisfied with heaven if Jesus were not there?"
It is a revealing question. Do you want God, or do you just want His heaven? Do you want the Giver, or only the gifts?
The Real Problem Was Never Egypt
After God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt through Moses, parting the Red Sea and delivering them with great power, millions of people stood on the other side of that sea looking forward to what was ahead. They had been introduced to a God who cared about them and had the power to free them.
But Egypt was not the biggest obstacle they faced. Their own hearts were.
You can be free from Egypt and still be enslaved to your own desires. The deepest question was never about Pharaoh. It was about what their hearts truly longed for.
What Happened at Mount Sinai
In Exodus chapter 19, Moses leaves the people at the base of Mount Sinai and goes up to meet with God. At the top of that mountain, God is about to tell Moses two critical things: how the people can have access to Him, and how they can reflect His character to the world.
God begins by reminding Moses of what He had already done:
"You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself." - Exodus 19:4
God wanted the foundation of the law to be rooted in who He is. He is a good God who delivers His people from sin and slavery. That truth had to come first.
Understanding the Law: Three Categories That Help It Make Sense
God then begins to give Moses the law. Most people know about the Ten Commandments, but there are over 600 laws in total. This is often where Bible reading plans fall apart. The narrative stops, the instruction begins, and it feels like sitting in a classroom with no clear takeaway.
Here is a framework that helps make sense of it all. The laws fall into three broad categories:
Moral Laws: These reflect the character of God Himself. Commands like do not murder, do not steal, do not commit adultery. These are transcultural, meaning they apply across all generations and all cultures because they are rooted in who God is.
National Laws: God was not just freeing a people. He was forming a nation. These laws governed how ancient Israel would administer justice and live together as a community.
Religious Laws: These governed how Israel was to worship God, including the priesthood, the sacrificial system, and purity practices. They replaced the pagan worship practices the Israelites had learned in Egypt.
Not all of these laws apply directly to Christians today, because we are not the nation of ancient Israel and Christians do not practice Judaism. But that does not mean we ignore them. We read them and ask: what does this law teach me about who God is?
What Every Law Reveals About God
When you read through the laws of the Old Testament, two truths consistently emerge:
God is holy and just.
Sin is dangerous and distancing.
God cares deeply about injustice. He asks His people to stay away from sin because of what it does to them personally and because it creates distance between them and Him. His justice is real, and it matters.
This is the same test that began in the Garden of Eden. There was one law in the garden. One. And the serpent came and whispered, "Did God really say?" He convinced Adam and Eve that God's laws did not matter and that disobedience would not bring real consequences.
The serpent was not the problem. Egypt was not the problem. The heart of the people was the problem. And now God was asking Israel the same question He asked in the garden: whose voice will you listen to?
The Tabernacle: God Moving Back Into the Neighborhood
Alongside the law, God gave Moses something else at Mount Sinai. He gave him the pattern for the Tabernacle, a portable tent that would serve as God's dwelling place among the people.
On the surface, it does not seem like much. It looked like a large tent held together with ropes. But what it represented changed everything.
The Tabernacle meant that God was moving back to town.
From the time of the fall in Eden, God had been working through individuals, raising up Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. But now He was saying something new: I am coming to dwell with My people again, just as I did in the garden.
God told Moses to set up the Tabernacle at the center of the camp so that every person, when they stepped out of their tent each morning, would see it. And as they traveled toward the promised land, they would pack it up and carry it with them, setting it up again at the center of each new camp.
The message was clear: I am not a God who lives on mountaintops. I am not a God who stays in heaven. I am a with-you God. Where you go, I will be.
God's Heart Has Always Been to Dwell With His People
In Exodus 25, God tells Moses:
"Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst." - Exodus 25:8
That phrase, "that I may dwell in their midst," is the heartbeat of the entire Bible.
God created Eden so that He might dwell in their midst.
God asked for the Tabernacle and later the Temple so that He might dwell in their midst.
God sent Himself in the flesh as Jesus of Nazareth so that He might dwell in their midst.
God has promised at the end of all things to create a new heaven and a new earth so that He might dwell in their midst forever.
This is not a God who is distant or indifferent. This is a God who desires proximity. He wants a relationship, and He wants it close.
The Offering Was Voluntary, But the Pattern Was Not
God told Moses to take up a voluntary offering from the people to build the Tabernacle. He specifically said to collect only from those whose hearts moved them to give. He did not want forced participation. He wanted willing hearts.
But while the offering was voluntary, the pattern for building the Tabernacle was not. God gave Moses the exact design and said to follow it precisely.
This reveals something important about the with-God life. Participation is voluntary, but the pattern is not. God will not force Himself on anyone. But if you choose to walk with Him, you do not get to set the terms.
Wanting the Relationship Without the Guidelines
There is a phrase that gets used often in Christian circles: "I'm not about religion, I'm about relationship." And while that is technically true, it can become a way of saying something else entirely. It can become a way of saying: I want God's presence, but not His guidance. I want His gifts, but not His pattern.
This shows up in real and specific ways:
Wanting God's blessing on a relationship while ignoring His design for it.
Asking God to provide financially while dismissing His guidance on generosity.
Inviting God into a career or a decision while refusing to let His values shape it.
The Israelites were about to face this same temptation in the wilderness. Moses was coming down the mountain with the law and the pattern for the Tabernacle, ready to tell the people that God was moving back in. And at the bottom of that mountain, the people had already turned to another God.
What Actually Made the Garden Good?
Everyone wants the garden. Christians, non-Christians, and everyone in between. But not everyone wants its God.
It is worth asking: what actually made the garden good in the first place? Was it the land, the rivers, the trees, the fruit? Was it Adam and Eve themselves? Was it the law about which fruit to eat?
None of those things made the garden what it was. What made the garden good was the God who dwelt there.
And here is the promise that follows from that truth: if you have the God who dwells, then wherever He dwells, in whatever land, in whatever relationship, in whatever season of life, that is where the garden is. Even in a desert, if God is there, there is garden.
Israel was about to walk through a literal desert. The question that would follow them every step of the way was the same question that follows us: do you want the Promised Land, or do you want the God who promised it?
Life Application
This week, take an honest look at what you are actually pursuing. It is easy to come to church, read the Bible, and go through the motions of faith while quietly hoping that God will deliver the life you have already designed for yourself. The challenge is to shift from seeking God's gifts to seeking God Himself.
Pick one area of your life where you have been asking God to show up but have been resistant to His guidance. Maybe it is a relationship, a financial decision, or a habit you have been holding onto. This week, open that area up to His pattern, not just His presence.
Ask yourself these questions:
If I could have everything I want in life but God was not part of it, would I still be satisfied?
Are there areas where I am asking for God's blessing while resisting His guidance?
What does my daily life reveal about whether I am pursuing God Himself or just what He can provide?
Am I willing to follow His pattern, even when I do not fully understand it?
The story of the Bible is the story of a God who keeps moving toward His people. The question is whether we are moving toward Him, or just toward what He can give us.
