Thursday

Related Verses
John 4:24
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.

Exo. 33:11, 7-15
11 And Jehovah would speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his companion. And Moses would return to the camp, but his attendant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart out of the tent.
7 Now Moses would take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, some distance from the camp; and he called it the Tent of Meeting. And everyone who sought Jehovah went out to the Tent of Meeting, which was outside the camp.
8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up and stand, every man at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses, until he entered the tent.
9 And whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stay at the entrance of the tent, and Jehovah would speak with Moses.
10 When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, every man at the entrance of his tent.
11 And Jehovah would speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his companion. And Moses would return to the camp, but his attendant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart out of the tent.
12 And Moses said to Jehovah, See, You say to me, Bring up this people; but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.
13 Now therefore if I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know now Your ways, that I may know You, so that I may continue to find favor in Your sight. Consider also that this nation is Your people.
14 And He said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.
15 And he said to Him, If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

Related Reading
Yet another principle is that idolatry is pretension. Every idolater pretends to be worshipping the true God.

Many Christians worship a calf, but they think that they are worshipping the Lord Jesus or the true God. Actually what they are worshipping is their enjoyment. Much of today’s Christian worship is a matter of sitting down to eat and drink and rising up to sport, sing, and dance around a certain kind of enjoyment, around a golden calf. Some of the Brethren teachers pointed this out…They said that the worship of the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai was a mixture, for a calf was worshipped as if it were God with the proper offerings and in the proper way. The offerings were right and the way was right, but the object of worship was wrong. This is what we mean by mixture. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1840-1841)

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Exodus 33:7 says, “Now Moses would take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, some distance from the camp; and he called it the tent of meeting…” The glory of the Lord was at the door of the tent [vv. 9-10]. In verse 11 we are told that “Jehovah would speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his companion.” All the children of Israel who wanted to seek the Lord went out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

Moses, an experienced person, knew that God according to His holiness would no longer stay among the people, for the camp had become idolatrous. Therefore, Moses took his tent, which formerly had been in the camp, and pitched it outside the camp. This action was according to God’s heart.

This tent then became the tent of God. The tabernacle had not yet been constructed. Hence, Moses’ tent became the tent of meeting for the meeting between God and His people. “And whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stay at the entrance of the tent, and Jehovah would speak with Moses” (v. 9). If the people wanted to seek God, they had to go to the tent of Moses.

The Bible recognizes that Moses was a companion of God [33:11]…The word companion includes the elements of friendship, but it goes much further to include the thought of intimate association…If you and someone else are associates, you have a common interest, a common enterprise, in a common career…To the uttermost God and Moses were partners in a great enterprise…Moses and the Lord were not only intimate friends; they were associates, partners, companions.

Because Moses knew what was on God’s heart, everything he did concerning the worship of the golden calf was pleasing to God. For example, it was a very serious matter to cast away the tablets on which were engraved the commandments carved by God’s hand. But not even that act offended God, for it was done according to God’s heart. Moses realized that it was according to God’s heart to break those tablets. As a companion of God, Moses had an intimate relationship with Him and knew what was on His heart. Therefore, everything Moses did was according to the heart of God.

From 32:30—33:23 we learn the serious lesson that we need to know God’s heart and also be a person according to God’s heart. Then we shall have God’s presence as Moses did…The children of Israel had God’s presence in a very limited way, for they were far from God’s heart. Moses, however, was a person very near to God’s heart, a person according to His heart. This was the reason he could have God’s presence to the full extent. We all need to learn that only a person like Moses can be a companion of God. Only this kind of person can share a common interest with God and be used by God to carry out His enterprise on earth. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1878-1879, 1869-1871, 1883)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, “Spiritual Applications of the Tabernacle,” ch. 2