Walking with God in the Tent of Meeting: A Journey of Overcoming Obstacles

God wants to speak to you. You don't need a special training or calling. Built within you is the ability to hear God, and the world is dying to know what God is speaking to you.

Nov 08, 2024

Most of the year, I’ve written in blocks of themes that carry through several weeks. This month will be more of a hodgepodge of topics, but I will end the year with an Advent series. I look forward to sharing that with you!

The story of the exodus of God’s people from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land is full of ups and downs, mountains, and valleys. It’s no different from any great epic. Every time the hero seems through a tunnel of darkness and on to brighter days, disaster strikes. Their hope came from an unusual place…the Tent of Meeting.

I think of The Hobbit and Sam and Frodo trudging to the other side of the Dead Marshes with the reluctant help of Gollum. Just when it seems they have snuck unnoticed into Mordor through the pass of Cirith Ungol, Frodo is taken by the nasty spider Shelob. Sam saves Frodo from sure death, but they still struggle up the mountain to destroy the ring. Each time Frodo appears in the clear, a new obstacle appears.

We hate to admit it, but we are no different than the people of Israel. As the hero in your story, you come up against obstacles — the ones you’ve created and those created by others. In their story, Israel demanded that Aaron design an idol (the golden calf), and they wasted no time worshipping it in pagan revelry. Have you chosen someone or something to put above God?

Exodus 33 is the chapter following this story of Israel stumbling along the road to their Promised Land. It is the reckoning. It’s the hero overcoming the obstacle in front of them.

The key symbol in this chapter is a tent.

The Tent of Meeting

The Tent of Meeting was where God would come and reside on earth and speak his commands. This was vital to Israel's success in overcoming the next obstacle and entering the Promised Land.

If you research the “Tent of Meeting,” you’ll find that most passages reference the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was the ‘permanent’ tent God outlined for the Israelites to build in much of the book of Exodus. This was the precursor to the Temple built by Solomon.

The Tent of Meeting in Exodus 33 was not the Tabernacle. This tent seemed to be a stopgap while the Tabernacle was being constructed. It was set up outside the camp because, for the moment, God removed himself from the people of Israel because of their transgression.

The Tent of Meeting was unique compared to the Tabernacle (and later the Temple) in one significant area — access. When the Tabernacle was completed, entrance into it was limited to the priests consecrated by God to enter. Anyone without the proper access to the Tabernacle was struck dead.

God is available.

Here is how Exodus 33 introduces us to this initial Tent of Meeting:

“It was Moses’ practice to take the Tent of Meeting and set it up some distance from the camp. Everyone who wanted to make a request of the Lord would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.” -Exodus 33:7

Notice the second sentence—the Tent of Meeting was available to EVERYONE.

The Tent of Meeting was available to anyone and everyone, but only Moses and Joshua entered. In fact, the people were afraid to enter, so they watched Moses enter the tent from a distance. They would wait at the doors of their tents to see what would come of the meeting with God.

The people waited.

Why did they wait at the doorways of their tents? They waited to hear what God said to Moses.

“Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.” -Exodus 33:11

Moses returned to the camp and informed the people of God's words. He communicated with them if they were to move on, if they were to construct something, or if there was a new command from God. Anyone could have gone in to receive from God, but only Moses and Joshua were bold enough to enter.

This brings me to one final note about this special tent of meeting in Exodus 33.

Joshua lingered.

Joshua was Moses’ younger assistant. He eventually took the baton from Moses to lead the people into the Promised Land, but at this point, he was just Moses’ errand boy. However, Joshua boldly walked into the Tent of Meeting with Moses, and even more boldly, he didn’t come out with Moses.

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Exodus 33, and you

So what does this all have to do with you? Exodus 33 is important to understand how we overcome the obstacles in front of us as we live our own stories. You’re the hero, and this chapter helps you with ways to win. Here are three notes:

1. God is available to you.

Moses heard from God and communicated with the people. Although this wasn’t God's preferred method, the people of Israel weren’t willing to risk coming face-to-face with a holy God.

Because of Jesus, we have direct access to God and peace with God. The Book of 1 Peter tells us we are now part of a ‘royal priesthood.’1 In the Tabernacle and the Temple, only the priests could enter the holy places, and only the appointed priest could be prepared and cleansed.

If you follow Jesus, you are prepared and cleansed!

You don’t need to wait on anyone else. You don’t need your pastor, mentor, teacher, or friend to connect to God. God is available to you.

2. Approach God and your position like Joshua.

Joshua was in a great place. His responsibilities were first to Moses, not directly to the people. This afforded him a great opportunity. He could learn from a great leader and had the freedom to stay with God.

Joshua didn’t waste this time. He used it to develop the faith God could use when it was his time to lead. He saw how Moses approached God, and then he practiced it on his own.

Most of us aren’t THE leader. We are in some form of assistant role. It’s humbling to be at the whim of another person, but there is freedom in this place, too. Joshua used this to his advantage. Are you using your position and freedom to develop into the person God will use to lead when the time comes?

3. Someone is waiting for you to share God’s Word.

When God showed up in the Tent of Meeting, it wasn’t just for Moses or to grow and develop Joshua, but for the people of Israel, who were eagerly waiting to hear what God had for them.

Some people need to hear God’s Word from you. You may know some of them - family, church, and neighborhood friends. Faces could be flashing in front of your eyes right now. But there are others you don’t even know about. Moses knew a handful of the millions of people in his community. God’s Word was for each of them.

There are people you don’t know who need God’s Word. Are you being faithful to share it?

Enter into the Promised Land

You are on a journey to the Promised Land. Hebrews 11 speaks of Abraham dreaming of a ‘heavenly’ place…something beyond the land promised by God. It is the place we are moving toward. Jesus called this the Kingdom of God.

There are two aspects to this Kingdom—the now and the future. Jesus established this Kingdom during his lifetime. We know it as the Church. But there is also a heavenly, yet-to-come aspect of the Kingdom of God. We strive to see both. The current Kingdom of God will thrive and grow. The future Kingdom of God is our ultimate destination.

The struggles and obstacles you face now are worth overcoming! You are overwhelmed by ‘entering’ into your Tent of Meeting. God is available to you, so will you sit with Him? This will give you the strength to overcome. Will you share what you are offering to others who are waiting? It will bring about the Kingdom of God.