Presence Over Promise | Vik Fomenko

[00:00:08] One of the things as well that ties into my message is that God wanted to help reset me and redefine what success was for me, actually, because I had the wrong definition of success in my mind as an achiever. I woke up every day with a zero, and I had to achieve stuff. So, like, spending time with God or being with him in the morning was like. That didn't really count towards that because I hadn't done anything. I was just kind of like, with. [00:00:33] With the Lord, you know? And then, like, if I. If a friend met up with me or wanted to hang out, I was like, I guess. I mean, it's gonna prevent me from, like, getting stuff done. But, yeah, I'll make that sacrifice. My wife's like, babe, like, can we hang out? Yeah, sure. Hey, can you be there with the kids? Yeah. And then all of it was like, at the end of the day, I was feeling like I didn't get anything done. I was just with people, man, what's wrong with me? You know? And so I realized internally, I wasn't aware of this before, but the driver within me was production, my gift, my calling, performance instead of actually relationships. And actually, I saw relationships as almost like they took away my time to do what, like, I'm on this earth to do, you know? [00:01:16] And so that really was something the Lord wanted to reset. And. And so, you know, initially, I started out trying to, like, get a bunch of stuff done. And then he's like, are you done yet? You know, six weeks in, I'm like, man, kind of exhausted of this sabbatical. He's like, okay, well, let's rest. So I finally learned how to turn off the achiever in me a bit and just rest with God. And I know God is always working and we're joining him in his work, but, oh, man, it was good to just to disconnect and just be with the Lord. So. But as we are beginning this year and as we ended 2025, I spent December really reflecting and wrote down a lot of things that. That God said that God did. We were just so overwhelmed, my wife and I, as we. As we looked back on 2025, all the things that God did, we were just like, just to tears. All the miracles, all the breakthroughs, all the ways that he showed up. And I think it's so important to stop and reflect. And I really feel like in 2026, as we enter this, this is also a day and a time for us to stop and reflect and reset and realign a little bit. I needed that Five months to kind of reset some stuff in me and to realign and to redefine what success is. That maybe success isn't that I crushed my whole entire day, every moment was productive. Maybe successes actually come home and I still have energy in the bank to be with my wife, to be intentional with my kids, to actually reach out with my friends and be intentional with them. That maybe life is more than just about doing, but it's about who you're with in relationships. Right? And so God's been rewiring that in me, and I'm so thankful for that. And so as we take a moment just to reflect on. On 2025 and then. And now as we look forward to 2026, I feel like God wants to make some tweaks and adjustments. And so my message today actually comes from something that I kind of studied throughout my sabbatical for a while. I went in pretty, pretty far in depth. But I want to give you a quick overview of the book of Exodus, because I feel like there's a word for us in there today. [00:03:08] I'm going to give you guys an overview, but we're going to zero in on chapters 33 and 34 and part actually 32 and 33 in particular. There's a story there that we'll read. So get your Bibles, we'll read through. We'll get a ton of scriptures going, either on your electronic device, we'll have maybe have it on the screen as well, but we'll follow along. And I just really believe that there's something special that God wants to impart to our house, something that is going to define me and my year this year. It's the cry of my heart. And I just feel like this is a message for our house. So real quick, I'll kind of give you, you know, chapter 33 is when the. The Israelites make a golden calf and rebel against God. And then that's chapter 32. And then chapter 33, Moses is trying to fix it all, restore it all. And. And there's this whole thing. But before we go into that, I just wanted to kind of like walk you through Exodus. So up until that chapter, up until a chapter about 32 or so, it had been three months that Israel had been set free from captivity in Egypt. And. And now they've been wandering in the wilderness for about three months. But they. For over 400 years, they were enslaved under Pharaoh. And Pharaoh in Egypt was considered like a God. I mean, essentially the Egyptian pharaoh. I mean, the Egyptian God was Ra. [00:04:24] The son, the God of the sun, sorry, Ra. And then Pharaoh was considered the son of Ra. So he was like the son of God. That essentially was the mediator between gods and humanity. So this is the environment that the Israelites, the people of God had been enslaved in captivity. And they experienced the bad side of that because as they grew and became like two plus million people, the Egyptians feared the Hebrews. And so what did they do? They enslaved them. They started to. Pharaoh gave them like orders, they had to obey. They started. He wanted. He was killing, he was trying to kill off all their kids so that they wouldn't multiply. So he. Here you have the people of God under this suppression, under this kind of God type figure called Pharaoh that literally is controlling their bodies, what they eat, what they're gonna do when they go to sleep, kind of everything. And he's these harsh, intense, totalitarian ruler that's over them. And then God steps in, he sees their oppression and he's like, that's not what I'm like, I'm gonna deliver my people from under this suppression. And so God, God, you know, raises up Moses, he sends him back to Egypt and he's releasing his people from this captivity. And he's showing like, this is not my desire and plan for you. I actually want you. You're my people. I want you back to myself. And so the kind of, the narrative of Exodus is God is saying, I am going to restore what's been lost. Like my people, they're my inheritance. And I want to have covenant, I want to have communion, I want to have fellowship with them, and I'm going to get them out from under this slavery mindset and restore them to myself. Now when God speaks to the Israelites, he says, hey, I'm gonna set you free. I'm gonna bring you to a land that I promised your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And so there's this promise that goes back, you know, years and years, I mean, hundreds of years. And it's, it's a promise to the forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And within that promise is a land promise that there's gonna be this land flowing with milk and honey that God's gonna give as an inheritance to the people. And so the people are like, yes, this is finally happening. You know, here's the sons of Jacob, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. They're sons of Jacob and they're in captivity. Now God's going to fulfill his promise. And they think that their destination is the promised land. But can I tell you, in Today's message, it's actually the destination is not the promised land. It never was the promised land. The destination is actually the presence of God. It's the presence over the promise. [00:06:49] But the people got so caught up in the, in the, in the promise and their captivity and what God would do for them that they missed the whole thing. They missed the forest for the trees, as, as the saying goes, right. They missed the whole point. And so I believe God wants to reset even us, for us to reflect. Lord, have we missed you in the midst of all the sin that you've called us to or promised for us? Have we been maybe pursuing a breakthrough that healing, that business, that success, that relationship. Have we been pursuing something as a promise of God, as an inheritance of God? He's told you it's gonna happen in your life, but have we been making that our destination and have we lost him as our destination? That's what I wanna talk about today. Cause I wanna, I wanna contrast how the people of Israel viewed God, saw God, how, how they treated God, and how in turn, God basically responded to them. And then how Moses perceived, viewed God and how God responded to him. Super, super powerful. So we're going to think through this. So in the first few chapters of Exodus, God reveals himself as powerful. [00:08:01] He rescues them from Egypt. There's the 10 plagues, miraculous. There's the Passover. [00:08:07] There's all these things that God does. Then he splits the Red Sea open and. And they cross on dry ground. And then, not only that, but then Pharaoh's army chases them. And then he collapses the waters of Red Sea on the Egyptians. Their armies destroyed. So the Israelites are seeing the mighty hand of God. He's rescues them from captivity. He's a good God. He's protecting them, he's providing for them. Then they get to the wilderness, they're like, hey, we have no food, we want meat. And they're complaining against God. So they're seeing these miracles, but they haven't seen the heart of God yet. And they don't fully trust him. Cause over and over again, they complain against Moses, they complain against God, they complain against Aaron. They just complain, right? And so God's like, okay, no problem. I got you. He rains down manna from heaven, gives them bread every single day. Then there's quail in the evening, gives them meat, you know, to their fill, and then they don't have water. Instead of trusting God, who's a good God, totally different than their pharaoh. Cause in their mind, that's the only version of God that they had really interacted with and seen. They this suppressing, totalitarian leader, right? And so now they're like, I don't know if we can trust him. I know he's good. I know he's rescued us, but he's probably led us in here to die. We're gonna thirst. And then. So he leads them to this rock, and then water comes out of the rock, and they have water. It's like miracle after miracle after miracle. And then God gives them victory over Amalek. They beat Amalek. Moses is up there raising his hands. They destroy this enemy. So now, all of a sudden, all this stuff is happening. There's provision, there's protection, there's restoration, there's the defeat of the enemies, right? And throughout all this, Israel's like, this is great. We like this. And when something doesn't go their way, they're frustrated. So leading up to this moment here, God's whole promise to Israel was like, hey, listen, God even tells through Moses. He goes into. He says, moses, go tell Pharaoh, let my people go, that they may worship me, that they may celebrate, that they may serve. So God's destination that he says all along was like, I want my people. Let them worship me on my holy mountain, Mount Sinai, where God would come upon this mountain. That's actually the mountain that God visited. Visited. And Moses was there. And the burning bush experience happened. And then God sends Moses to Israel, and he says, hey, let me tell you a sign that I'm God, that I'm like, I got you. He's like, you're gonna be back on this Mount Sinai with all of the people. Now go to Egypt and rescue them. And a sign to you is, you will worship me on this mountain with all my people. So God's whole heart and intention in Exodus is not just to rescue them, it's to restore them to himself. It's so powerful. And actually, I'll just read a couple of verses here in Exodus, chapter 19 and 20. [00:10:51] It says this because you'll kind of catch the heart of this before we jump into 33. This is Exodus 19, verse 3. And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called him from the mountain, saying, this is what you are to say to the house of Jacob. Tell the sons of Israel. So God's talking to Moses. He said, tell them this. You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, How I carried you on eagle's wings, and I brought you to myself. [00:11:17] I scooped you up, I carried you. I wanted you. You're mine. Right, Verse five. Now. Now then, if you indeed obey my voice, keep my commandments, then you shall be my own possession among all the people of all the earth. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. You're my possession. You're my inheritance. You're holy to me. God's whole cry in all of Exodus is, I want my people. I want covenant with them. I want intimacy with them. I want closeness with them. That's what God's heart cry is here, right? And so we see that. And then later, it says, like, consecrate them today and tomorrow. And then on the third day, I'm gonna come, right? And so God is like, yes. So excited. He's been for months rescuing the Israelites. They finally are free. They're. They're coming to Mount Sinai. And look what God's intent is on Mount Sinai. Verse 13. This is Exodus 19:13. [00:12:09] It. It says, you know, he's prepping the land during their two days of preparation. He says, no hand is gonna touch the mountain. Like, stay away from it. Like, God's presence is gonna be there. The end of this verse says, when the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain. [00:12:28] So God's like, here's the preparations. Here's what's gonna happen. Two days, consecrate them. No one approach the mountain. And then you're gonna hear a long, loud blast. When you hear that, Moses, I want all of the people to come to me. This is like the pinnacle of God's heart. He's like, I want to interact with them. I want to make a covenant with them. I'm going to give them words in this covenant. I'm going to exchange vows in one sense, right? So this is the pinnacle of it. And God's inviting all of them to the mountain. So important, not just Moses to be a mediator, all of them to approach him. [00:13:03] So, you know, so they consecrated themselves. They washed their garments, and all of a sudden, when God does show up, in chapter 20, it says this, that the mountain is shaking violently. Look at this verse. This is chapter 20. Now, verse 18. All the people were watching and hearing the thunder, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. [00:13:28] They heard the sound of the trumpet. What did the sound of the trumpet mean? [00:13:32] Approach and come to the mountain. Your two days of waiting is up. Now. God's going to show up, come meet him. [00:13:41] Instead. They heard it all, and they Trembled. And they stood at a distance. [00:13:47] Verse 19. Then Moses spoke. [00:13:49] Then they said to Moses, speak to us yourselves, and we're going to listen. Do not have God speak to us, or we will die. God's like, come, I want to speak to you. Come and ascend the mountain of God. [00:14:04] And they're like, no, we don't want to be near him. [00:14:09] You go talk to him. Ask him what he wants us to do, and we will do what he says. Where did they get that idea? From the only God that they knew for 400 years. [00:14:21] Did they want to be close to Pharaoh? No shot. But did they want to know, fulfill everything that he said? Yes. Yes. That meant they were either gonna live or die. So now God shows up. He's mightier than Pharaoh, right? He destroys Pharaoh's army. He wipes out Egypt with the 10 plagues. He's clearly mightier than Pharaoh. And they're like, oh, no, a stronger God. And he's gonna kill us. If he talks to us. We're gonna die. [00:14:44] And God is like, no. [00:14:48] For these. How many. I don't know, how many months in Egypt, plus these three months in the wilderness? God's like, I have been rescuing you out, showing you my kindness, carried you on eagle's wings. You're my inheritance. You're my nation. You're my people. I want you. And you don't wanna even approach me. You're scared of me. Like I told you, consecrate two days, then come approach. [00:15:09] And they don't, right? And so then what happens? [00:15:15] There's a whole pivot in the entire narrative. And instead of all the people being with God, and God's saying, you're my people, you're my inheritance. I'm gonna walk with you. I'm gonna be with you. I got you. Instead of that type of relationship, they instead now get the law of Moses, all the instructions of Mount Sinai. Cause now God's like, okay, Moses, let me come and talk to you. And later on, Paul says, like, God gave them the law only as a tutor, to take them by the hand, literally, and bring them to Christ. Because they wouldn't have it any other way. God was willing to be like, you know what? Later on, as we'll read in chapter 33, God was like, yo, you guys have broke my covenant. I'm done with you, Moses. Step aside. I'm going to annihilate these people. I want to destroy them. They're out of here. And, you know, Moses stands up. But basically, God's like, I want you you don't want me, I'll give you, I'll give you that, if that's what you want. [00:16:07] And then so he gives them this law, which is very unique. It's so interesting that in the Bible we have five major covenants. You have the covenant with Abraham, you have the covenant with Noah, you have the covenant here with Moses, you have the covenant with David. And then you have the new covenant. Five major covenants. What's interesting about the other four, other than the Mosaic one, is all of them are basically in one sense, kind of one sided. God's like, I love you, I want to bless you. You're my people, I got you. And he says all these incredible words and inheritance and promises to them and. And they simply just have to kind of agree. I mean, Abraham just simply has to be like, you know, the sign that Abraham wears is like, hey, circumcision. You know, for in the new covenant, the sign is. And the seal is the Holy Spirit in us. And so each of the covenants have like the words and promises of God. A sign, a seal, you know, a witness, all that stuff. But what's interesting about the Mosaic covenant is very, very different. Cause it's not God just saying, I got you, I love you, I got all this stuff for you. You don't have to really do much. Cause God gave him a sign of the covenant. It was the Sabbath. And so that was very light, like, hey, keep the Sabbath honor, this is holy. But instead now they get this incredibly long list of ways that they have to act for God to basically tabernacle among them. God then leads them to establishing a tabernacle and then a temple. But that was never his heart. He wanted to be in them, right? In the new covenant, what does Jesus do? God doesn't make a covenant with me. You and I. God makes a covenant with Jesus. And we're in it because we're in Christ. So anyone who's in Christ is in that new eternal covenant. And guess what? It's not about your works, your obedience, you following it. It's actually you get all of that transferred to you by faith in Jesus. [00:17:52] His works, his obedience, his obeying of the law, gets translated to you simply by faith. [00:18:00] God never intended any of the covenants to be burdensome. But then all of a sudden, here's Israel. [00:18:08] God wants them, they don't want him. [00:18:13] And then, and then they really break the covenant with idolatry in Exodus 32. And God's like, great, now you've cheated on me. I'm Starting over. I just want someone that wants me. And it's Moses. Moses, I'm going to make a great nation out of you. And Moses is like, no, right? So, so fascinating here, the lead up to this. But let's jump here now to this story. [00:18:37] It's so interesting, you know, at the very, very. The very last verse of chapter 31 is verse 18. It says when God had finished speaking with him, Moses on Mount Sinai, God gave Moses the two tablets of testimony, the tablets of stone written by the finger of God. So now God calls Moses up to the mountain. The people didn't want to approach. He. He gives them this whole law, writes it with his own fingers, you know, carves out these two tablets, gives them to Moses, and then watch what happens next. [00:19:03] Chapter 32, verse 1. Now, when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down. Now where was Moses? He wasn't wasting time. He wasn't an absent leader. He was meeting with God. They weren't there when he got invited. [00:19:16] They got invited for this meeting. They didn't want to come to the meeting. [00:19:22] Moses is delayed in coming down from the mountain. The people assembled around Aaron and they said to him, come make us a God who will go before us for this? Moses, the man who brought up out of the land of Egypt. Who knows what happened to him? So Aaron's like, okay, well, just take off all your gold rings which are in your ears and your wives, your sons, your daughters, bring them to me. The people tore off their gold rings and the ears, brought them to Aaron. [00:19:43] He took the gold in their hand and he fashioned it with an engraving tool and made it into a cast metal calf. [00:19:52] So Aaron clearly takes the gold and makes this calf. We'll see why that's important later. And then Aaron says, this is your God, Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Now, when Aaron saw this, he then built an altar in front of the calf. And Aaron made proclamation and said, tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord, meaning to. To this calf. [00:20:15] So the next day, they got up early, offered burnt offerings, brought peace offerings. They sat down to eat and drink, and got up and engaged in lewd behavior. [00:20:25] Wow. [00:20:27] Now they're doing offerings to something they just built yesterday. [00:20:33] Offering sacrifices, worshiping a festival, and notice lewd behavior. So now they're partying people. It's an. It's. I mean, it's bad. It's like multiple people. I mean, lewd, nasty behavior. We won't describe all of what's happening for the sake of children. [00:20:53] And we think that like, oh, I can't believe they did this. But it's interesting. Later, I think we need to check our heart to see if some of this idolatry is the very thing that God wants to get rid of our. In our hearts. [00:21:07] Verse 7, chapter 32, verse 7. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, go down at once for your people whom you brought out from the land of Egypt have behaved corruptly. [00:21:20] Wow. [00:21:22] God is saying, moses, your people that you brought out. Well, that's actually not the narrative, because all the way up until this point of idolatry with the calf, God, I think, affirms, like, maybe seven to ten times in Exodus that, you're my people, you're my inheritance. Moses, go tell Pharaoh to let my people go to worship me on the mountain. So God's like, I love my people. They're amazing. I want them. I want to marry them. Come to the mountain. Let's do the ceremony. Approach me. No, we don't want you. Just tell us what to do like Pharaoh did, and we'll do it. [00:21:57] Oh, they missed God's heart. And God's like, man. I guess I'll have Moses. Moses, come up. Let me just talk to you. And then now he's not even done. [00:22:08] He just finishes with his own finger writing this covenant with them so that he could be gracious to them instead of getting rid of them. And now what are they doing? They're cheating. And they're saying this idol led them out of the wilderness. So God is so heartbroken here, and. And now he's using language to distance himself. You can see the sentiment of God, Moses, your people that you let out. Go take care of them. Essentially, like, I'm done with this idolatry, Like, I'm divorcing you. [00:22:41] It's kind of his heart cry a little bit, right? [00:22:44] They've been behaving corruptly. Verse 8. God continues. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They've made for themselves a cast metal calf, worshiped it, sacrifice to it, and said, this is your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt. [00:23:00] Wow. [00:23:01] And then the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people again. There's no. There's no intimate language every other time he refers to them. Mine, no. I've seen this people of yours, Moses. [00:23:14] Behold, they're obstinate. They're an obstinate people. [00:23:18] Now, now, God appeals to Moses because he knows this might be a battle. [00:23:22] Now leave me alone, Moses. That my anger might burn against them, that I might destroy Them. [00:23:30] And I will make you a great nation. Like, you want me. You came up the whole point was the mountain with God, who will ascend the mount of God? I want my people to ascend the mount of God. Moses, you want me? I want you. Let's make a nation together. These people, obviously you've watched, they don't want me now. But Moses, please step aside from your people. I know you've kind of got intertwined with them. [00:23:52] Step aside. Let me kill him. [00:23:56] This is intense. [00:23:59] Verse 11. Then Moses pleaded with the Lord, his God. [00:24:04] And he said, lord, why does your anger burn against your people? [00:24:11] Flips it back on him. [00:24:13] God, I'm gonna appeal to you. Remember the last 10 times you kind of addressed them before this God, why is your anger burning towards your people, whom you brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? [00:24:27] And then he appeals even more, God, what are the Egyptians gonna say? With evil motives, you brought them out to kill them on the mountains and destroy them in the face of the earth. No, God, turn from your burning anger. Relent of the harm you're gonna do to your people. [00:24:43] Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, your servants whom you swore by yourself and said to them, I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens. And all this land which I have spoken, I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever. Remember, God, you talked to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and then you told them about a land you're going to bring them into. Come on, Lord, don't destroy them. So Moses becomes an intercessor to stand between, like, the anger of God and these people who have completely don't want him. Now, you might think, like, God, that's a little intense, like, you're really ready to kill him. And actually, I don't think God's joking. I don't think the Bible's lying. I think Moses was like, okay, Lord, I think that's a good idea. Absolutely. They would have been wiped out. [00:25:34] Instead, God's going to respond to Moses plea. [00:25:43] And then look what it says there, verse 14. So the Lord relented of the harm that he said he was going to do to his people. He said he was going to destroy them. And now Moses is like, God, don't destroy them. Now Moses is still on the mountain. [00:25:58] God had finished writing the tablets, gave it to him. He's like, go down and go talk to them. Like, this is what they're doing. He's like, wait, wait, God, like, just chill a bit. Like, let me go see you know, Moses is still on the mountain, but God already relents. So like Moses stops God number one from destroying the people. Now instead of annihilation, they have salvation. Praise God. Right? [00:26:21] And so verse 15, Moses turned and went down from the mountain. And with the two tablets of testimony in his hands, the tablets were written on both sides. They were written on one side and the other. The tablets were God's work. They were the writing. [00:26:35] God's writing engraved on tablets. [00:26:38] Now, when Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, look, there's a sound of war in the camp. But Moses is like, no, that's not the sound of victory or defeat. That's a sound of singing. And it came about as Moses approached the camp. He saw the calf. [00:26:52] So God had already seen the calf. And he's like, moses, step aside, man, let me kill him. And now Moses sees the calf and the people dancing. And Moses anger burns and he throws the tablets from his hands, shatters them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. Then he takes the calf, which they made, completely burned it with fire, ground it into powder, scattered it over the surface of the water and made Israel drink it. Then, then Moses said to Aaron, aaron, are you serious? [00:27:22] That's not. That part in there ad libbing a little bit. What did you do? [00:27:27] And Aaron's like, I mean, read it in the passage. Like, I didn't actually do this. Like, they gave, they gave me their gold. The people approached me, gave me their gold. I just threw the gold in the fire. Like, dude, we don't need this gold. Let's throw this away. And out comes this calf. [00:27:42] When it says, like, he's engraving it and making it, you know, so he's blatantly lying here. [00:27:46] And Moses saw the people are out of control. [00:27:50] And so Moses stood at the gate and says, look at this. Verse 26. Whoever is for the Lord, come to me. [00:27:58] And it says, the sons of Levi gathered together. The Levites were like, we're for the Lord. Like, this is an abomination, Lord. Like, we're sorry, but we're for you. [00:28:09] And then the what he said to them, this is what the Lord says. Every man put on your sword and his thigh, go back and forth to the gate of the camp, kill every man his brother, every man his friend, and every man his neighbor. The sons of Levi did as Moses instructed. And 3,000 men of the people fell that day. [00:28:29] Wow. They're in the middle of their dancing, shouting, and party to their new God that they created because Pharaoh, they couldn't control. He was way out of control. They were afraid of him. He was a tyrant God. They approached the mountain and starts shaking. They're like, I think he's bad, too. [00:28:45] Let's make our own God that we can control. [00:28:49] Let's make a narrative we can control. [00:28:54] And the Levites here are destroying them. And it's interesting. And then it says on. On the next day, Moses said to the people, you have committed a great sin. Now I'm going up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. Because he'd already stopped God's destruction, now he wants to make atonement for their sin. So their death is dealt with, but their sin is not. Verse 31. Moses returned to the Lord and said, oh, this people have committed a grace, and they've made a God of gold for themselves. But now, if you'll forgive their sin, very well. But if not, please wipe me out from the book you have written. But the Lord said, whoever sinned against me, I'll wipe him out of the book. [00:29:37] And then look at this pivot here. But now go, Moses. [00:29:42] Lead the people where I told you. [00:29:44] And behold, my angel will go before you. [00:29:50] Whoa, major plot twist. [00:29:55] God's like, hey, you. You don't want me to kill the people? Okay, fine, I won't. We'll use this law to try to get them to Christ. [00:30:04] Okay, you want me to forgive them, fine. But they don't want me, Moses. So guess what? I'm not going with you. [00:30:12] I'll send my angel in my place. [00:30:16] And he says, moses, I did make a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. [00:30:20] Now I promised them the land. Now they want the land. They want protection. They want this. They want. They made a. A God for themselves. Like, give them what they want. So God is like saying, moses, I'm not letting up here on this part. [00:30:33] Go right. [00:30:38] Look at chapter 33. Now, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, depart, go up from here, you and the people that you have brought up from the land of Egypt. Again, God's on the same tone. There's this distance, the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, saying to your descendants, I will give it verse 2. I will send an angel before you. [00:30:59] I'll drive out the Canaanite, Amorite, Hittite, parasite, Hivite, Jebusite. Go to the land flowing with milk and honey. But for I will not go up in your midst, because you're an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way. [00:31:14] So God's not letting Off. He's saying, listen, I will still honor the people. They don't actually want me. They didn't want me on Mount Sinai. And now when we were on Mount Sinai for 40 days, look what they did. They created an idol. They don't want me, Moses, but I'm gonna be faithful to my promise. [00:31:28] Go lead them up. I'm just not going. And look. Look at what it said. Verse 4. When the people heard this sad word, they went into mourning. [00:31:37] And none of them put on his jewelry. [00:31:41] They're like, wow, God is no longer going to be with us. Because up until this point, God's personal presence was with them. The cloud by day, the fire by night. These were manifestations. These were theophanies. These were actual, literal manifestations of God himself being with them, walking with them. He says, you're my people. I'll go with you. I'll lead you out. That's the language God uses. And now he's like, my angel is going to do it. [00:32:10] Verse 12. [00:32:13] I'm going to skip a few things there. There's some cool stuff, but we'll Skip to verse 12. Moses said to the Lord, see, you say to me, bring this people up, but you yourself have not let me know who you will send with me. [00:32:27] God, you told me to take them, but you're not telling me who's going to go with us. Actually, God did. Twice he said the angel Moses was like, you didn't tell us who's coming with us. God. Hint, hint, God, you're not telling me who's coming with us. You told me to take them. [00:32:48] Moreover, you. Moreover, you said, I have known you by name and. And you have found favor in my sight. Now, if. If I found favor in your sight in any way, please. [00:32:59] I love that Hebrew word. There's so much depth there. Please let me know your ways that I may know you. [00:33:07] Lord, let me know your ways that I may know you. [00:33:12] God, thank you that you're not going to destroy the people because I asked you. God, thank you that you're going to forgive them. God, thank you that you're still going to take us into the land. God, thank you that you're going to destroy all the enemies with this angel of the Lord. God, God, thank you that you're going to protect us and provide all along the way. That's really great, God, but I want to know you. [00:33:34] I want to know your ways. God, I want you in your ways. God, let me into your heart here. [00:33:42] That's cool. That, like. But I see that you're still not okay. God, let me know your heart. Let me know your ways. [00:33:54] And so God knows what Moses is asking. He's like, God, you have to go with us, or we're not going. So what did God say? Okay, you want this third thing? You want me to go with you? Not the angel. All right, I'll give you that third thing, too, Moses. [00:34:07] So God says in verse 14, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest. [00:34:14] You know that word presence is? It's the word panim, and it literally means face, and it represents the closeness of God. Like face to face. Moses was panim to panim with God, face to face. The word presence and paneem are interchangeable. There's no other word in Hebrew for for it, God would speak to Moses face to face or presence to presence. And he says, moses, okay, you've asked this third thing of me. [00:34:38] Man, you really touched my heart, Moses. You wanted to know my ways. In my heart, you see me. [00:34:44] You see my heart for this people. And you love this people. I love that, Moses. Okay, fine. I will continue to go with you. My presence will go with you. And it's like, man, Moses won every single battle. It's like, man, what a win. I mean, he should have taken his first dub and just, like, been like God. Thank you. They're not gonna die. Then he's like, no, I want more. [00:35:06] Forgive them. All right, but you better go with us. No, angel. [00:35:12] All right, but he's not done. [00:35:21] How can it be known that I found favor in your sight and your people? [00:35:26] Verse 16. [00:35:28] Is it not by your going with us, so that we, I and your people may be distinguished from all the other people who are on the face of the earth? Notice how Moses puts himself with the people. [00:35:41] I and your people, God, not my people, I and your people. [00:35:44] The Lord said to Moses, I will also do this thing for you that you have spoken. You have found favor in my sight. I have known you by name, so I will go with you. Verse 18. Then Moses said, please, Lord, show me your glory. [00:36:04] To invite the worship team to come up. [00:36:09] It culminates here, where Moses is saying, God, thank you for salvation. Thank you for forgiveness. [00:36:17] Thank you that we get the closeness of you back, that you're going to travel with us. But, God, that's not enough. [00:36:23] Please, Lord, I don't want just your panim, your closeness, but I want your kavod, your weight, your glory. God, please show me your substance, all of who you are. [00:36:37] God, show me your glory, please. [00:36:40] If I found favor in your sight. You can see the humility, the respect, the reverence that Moses has the people. No reverence. Moses has this reverence. God shows up on this mountain, is violently shaking. They're afraid, but he approaches. So he has a fear of the Lord, but it's in the right way, right? [00:36:58] The Israelites have a fear of the Lord, but it's causing them to distance themselves. [00:37:03] Moses is seeing the same intensity and glory of God, and he's approaching God, show me your glory. [00:37:10] It's cool that you're going to go with us, but I want even more than that. Before all this happened, God, I saw the glory on the mountain. I was with you for 40 days as you gave me the law. [00:37:21] I want your glory. I'm not going back. [00:37:24] And then you can see throughout the rest of the narrative, like Moses is interacting with God face to face. He has to veil his face because God is showing him more of his substance. Now, it's very fascinating here that God says this. I will make my goodness Tov. Different word. Like God, I don't just. I don't want just your panim face. [00:37:46] I want your kavod glory. [00:37:50] Okay? Allah, my Tov. My goodness pass before you. Because what's that? The goodness of God. It's actually the heart of who God is. [00:38:00] God's like, okay, you want my glory? [00:38:03] This is what I got for you. I'm gonna let my heart pass before you, and I will proclaim my own name to you. [00:38:18] And I will be gracious to the One I'll be gracious. I'll be compassionate to the one I have compassion on. And then, look at this. I'm going to fast forward just to the last verses here. This is chapter 34, verses 5, 6, and 7. [00:38:31] So now God invites Moses back up the mountain. He says, cut for yourself your own tablets now, which I'm going to write because you smashed him. Oops. You know, that's 34, verse one. [00:38:40] So Moses cuts new tablets. He goes up to the mountain for verse five. Then the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. [00:38:52] Then the Lord passed by in front of him, in front of Moses, the Lord, and he said this. So now this is the Lord saying, like, hey, you want to see my glory? I'm gonna let my goodness, my heart pass before you. And God starts to explain. And he literally, God is proclaiming the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in faithfulness and truth. He keeps faithfulness to thousands. He forgives wrongdoing, violation of his law and sin. He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children and on the grandchildren of third and fourth generations. [00:39:28] And Moses hurried to bow low before toward the ground and worship God. [00:39:34] And then, you know, he goes on and asks more things. But you see this, that God allows who he is, his, his goodness, his heart to come before Moses. And Moses was asking God, actually give me the unfiltered, un veiled, complete glory. And God's like, I wish and you wish, but your body, your cells, your psychology, your mind can't handle. It's gonna blow you up, son. [00:40:00] But I'll give you my heart, I'll give you my relationship. We can talk face to face, right? But he says, no one can see my face and live. So God's like, hey, we'll talk face to face, but you can't see my face and live. I was like, wait, that's very curious to me. That seems like a contradiction. When I looked into it, there's three expressions of, like, the manifestation of God's face or glory in the Hebrew, and there's three examples of it. But real quickly, like, there's the presence of God that goes with the people. That's the lowest level. Like, God's presence is like, my presence will go with you. Don't worry, we'll cancel the angel. [00:40:36] I'll go in your place. So God's like, I will be with you, my people. That's. There's a sense of the presence of God, the face of God that's tangible, that's real, that's available corporately. And then there's a next level where God is speaking to Moses in a unique way that no one else has. There's this face to face. He's like, I don't speak to other prophets. They get, they get words, they get dreams, they get vision. Not Moses. He's not like other prophets. I talk to him face to face. I tell him plainly. I just dictate it right to him. Whoa. There was an encounter face to face that Moses had with him that was like a measure too, of the glory that you could experience with God. And then Moses like, give me more God, God, I want more. And God's like, I can't give you that. It will actually kill you. [00:41:25] I like you and I need your leadership with these people because without you, I won't kill them, you know, But God gives everything to Moses that Moses is asking for, everything except for the thing that's going to actually kill him. [00:41:43] So you have the people that don't want God, and then you have Moses who's like, God, thank you for salvation, but I'm not stopping there. Thank you for forgiveness. I'm not stopping there. Thank you that you're with me. I don't just want that God. I want all of you. I want your weight. [00:42:01] Can we stand in this room in 2026? I really believe that this is a year that God is inviting us to ascend the hill of the Lord, because that's where his glory dwells. I believe that this is going to be a house of God's glory. Glory in 2026. We have been, you know, we've been on a journey these past five, six years as Kingdom Movement, as a community, as a church. We haven't had our own building. We've been from place to place to place to place. I think it's a little prophetic. It sounds a little bit like the Israelites wandering from place to place, never had a home for themselves, right? [00:42:35] And then all of a sudden, God says, hey, actually, I want as you're moving, because you're a movement, my people, you're a kingdom movement. As you're moving, I want a place that I'm gonna fill with my glory. So he has them build this tabernacle, this tent. He's like, my glory's gonna go there. Right? Before it was the tent of Meeting, then it was the tabernacle, then it was the temple, and then in the New Covenant, it's us, it's our body. [00:42:59] But still there's this. There's this imagery. And I believe that in this year, it's a holy year. [00:43:04] This is the year where we are going to give God what he's been wanting. Guys, we didn't pursue this building. The Lord gave it to us. And when we tried to do it not the Lord's way, he stopped us and he's like, no. I said, I'm gonna do it with cash. [00:43:19] So what's 10 million? I got you. We're like, that's scary. [00:43:24] Let's do loan. [00:43:26] No, that's not what I said. This is holy to me. [00:43:31] And when they built what God wanted, his glory filled, and they couldn't even stand anymore to minister to God. God. Guys, I believe that 2026, that this isn't just a building project, but we're stepping in to from place to place, to wandering to a place where we're going to host what God's been Wanting in this region. This is like a shadow of like that I think, in a way, kind of correlation a little bit. But just like God said, saying, I want my glory to fill this house, that we would be a people of his glory. [00:44:10] God wanted me in my sabbatical to redefine what success was to me. [00:44:14] Was it achieving? Was it doing stuff every day? Was it feeling like I'm being productive? Was it teaching more classes, writing those books that I said I was going to write but haven't? Like, is that. Is that what God wants? Because I still feel. I felt so much shame over it. [00:44:29] And God's like, vic, just sit down, shut up. [00:44:36] Let me sit on you with my kavod, my glory. And so this year I believe the word for our church, and it's definitely my word for the year is please, God, show me your glory. [00:44:52] Please, God. [00:44:55] Thank you for salvation. Thank you for my calling. Thank you for the promised land. Thank you for the inheritance, the overcoming of the enemies. Thank you for your promises are yesterday, men. But I don't even care. I mean, Moses, so much so that he said, God, I don't even care about my salvation. If you want to kill the people, block my name out. He's like, God, I don't care about salvation as long as I have you. Like, salvation. Block me out, God, but like, it's. It's you that I want. We just see these, the material thematically there in this, in this narrative. [00:45:22] So I believe God's inviting us back to the main thing, to the mature thing, which what Moses wanted. God, I don't care if I get to the promised land or not. Moses never did. [00:45:33] I don't care about the promised land. I don't care about the overcoming the enemies. God, I want you. [00:45:39] Lord, we're hungry for you. As a church, I want us to just respond with hunger towards God. [00:45:47] God, we're hungry for you. As a church, I saw just the hunger that this church has on our New Year's Eve night. Just a whole entire room filled with worship for five plus hours, people wanting God. This is a year for God's glory to come. I think it's time for us to realign our priorities. Have we been seeking the hand of God? Have we been seeking the provision, the protection, the promise? Have we been seeking the land, the inheritance? Or do we just want him? Have we moved away from him being enough, from him being our reward, even if we lose everything else? [00:46:21] Have we moved away from that? Does God want to realign that? Have we made business our priority, making money, doing the ministry that God's called us to do. Building the church, building the ministry. Is that really what you're called to? Because when God spoke to the people, their calling was to ascend the mountain and be with him. [00:46:38] Everything else was just an overflow and a bonus. [00:46:42] Have we put our definition of success as something different than just the glory and the weight of God? [00:46:51] So, Lord, we repent. [00:47:00] We repent for every idol that we've made. Anything that we have put before you, any destination, any reward, any promise, thank you that you're a rewarder. But we don't do it for the reward. [00:47:14] You're our Reward. God in 2026. Let us, God, individually and corporately host your glory. God, God, we want your glory. [00:47:40] More than anything else. [00:47:42] More than a movement, more than a church, more than equipping, more than all this stuff, God, More than our calling, more than our destiny, more than our destination, more than our gifting. We want your glory, God. [00:48:03] If you're hungry for more, I just want you to just respond. [00:48:08] Let's respond to God. [00:48:11] Let's not distance ourselves when he comes. [00:48:14] Let's not be offended when he comes. [00:48:34] Show us your face, God. [00:48:36] Not just your presence that's with us, God, but more. [00:48:42] Thank you for joining King Movement online. I pray and hope that that sermon impacted you deeply. I would love if you shared this with a few friends and family. And before you go, don't forget to subscribe. See you next week.