It’s Not Where You Go, It’s Who You Know

Monumental Moments

Allen Snapp

Grace Community Church

March 9, 2025

It’s Not Where You Go, It’s Who You Know

33 The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ ² I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ³ Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”Exodus 33:1-3

This message is an addendum to George’s message The Pursuit of God two weeks ago.

Title: It’s Not Where You Go, It’s Who You Know. Let’s pray.

The Lord told Moses where He was sending him. He said I’m going to send you to an abundant land overflowing with everything you could ever need. And I’m going to send some angel to go before you and help you drive out all the Ites that are in the land.

What hit Moses the hardest was who wasn’t going with them. God says, I will not go with you. I’m done with all the complaining, idolatry and stubbornness of your people, Moses. If I go, I’ll probably consume them with fire halfway there.

But Moses isn’t content with where the Lord is sending them. He cares a lot more about who’s going with them.

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “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 show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” ¹⁴ And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶ For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” ¹⁸ Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” ¹⁹ And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” ²¹ And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, ²² and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” Exodus 33:12-23

I don’t care as much about the where as I do about the who. Lord you haven’t let me know who will go with me. But Moses isn’t content to have some nameless angel go with him. He didn’t want to go to Promised Land if the presence of the Lord wasn’t going with them. Moses wanted God with him more than he wanted a great place to live. Who was more important to Moses than where. Three points:

1. Where we go in life is important. Who we go there with is more important

God created us as relational beings. He created us to walk with Him in the cool of the day the way Adam did. Sin broke that intimate relationship but we still long for it. And nothing in the world is big enough to take its place.

But we tend to think that the most important thing is where we go in life. We set goals like where we get our education, where we work, where we live, where we sit on the social status scale. When someone has it all together we say he or she has “arrived”. Or not.

A few weeks after Janice and I got married, I got an invitation to my 10-year high school reunion. Janice and I went, but when we walk in I’m seeing all these people I haven’t seen in ten years and didn’t have much of a relationship with (most of the people I hung out with didn’t attend) so I was feeling a bit out of place until I saw Bob Mineo. I remembered really liking Bob in high school so I was glad to see him. He was always understated – humble, unassuming, and a great sense of humor. So we get to talking and I asked him what he did for a living and Bob casually mentions that he’s a chief anesthetist at a hospital for special surgery. Oh. When he asked me what I did, I felt a little embarrassed to say I sold musical instruments at a music store for a few dollars over minimum. I didn’t tell him that last part. I felt a little embarrassed about my “where” compared to his “where”.

Of course I was blessed have my best “who” next to me as my beautiful new bride. Over the years our “where” has changed many times, but by the grace our “who” hasn’t changed (except the addition of three wonderful kids and three beautiful grandchildren). And my greatest Who is my faithful God who came into my life when I was a teenager.

Where we go in life is important. Who we go there with is more important. And no

“who” is more important than our Creator. Nothing is more precious than the presence of the Lord in our lives. Moses said to God, I don’t care how great that land is, I don’t want to go there if You aren’t with me.

2. Jesus made a way for us to draw near to God

When Moses stood as mediator between God and his stiff-necked people he was a foreshadow of Jesus who is our mediator. On the cross Jesus gave his life in our place so that those who place their faith in Christ are covered by his blood and receive his righteousness. Jesus didn’t come to establish a religion, he came to restore our relationship to God.

When we believe in Jesus, we are adopted as God’s beloved children and welcomed to come into His presence boldly. The Holy Spirit even comes to live within us. The gospel is all about relationship – ours

to God and then ours to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

People often say Jesus came to open heaven to us and that’s true. But the best good news isn’t about where we go, it’s who we spend eternity with. Paul says that when the Lord comes for us we will be with the Lord forever. In his prayer in John 17 Jesus said he came to give us eternal life and then he says Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

The gospel isn’t about religion, it’s about relationship. If you’ve never invited Jesus into your heart, I encourage you to come to him and ask him to be your Lord and Savior. You will never find a better friend than Jesus!

3. When we get the who right, our lives will be blessed no matter where we are

Moses wanted God more than he wanted good and he got both. The Lord rewarded Moses by showing him His goodness. God is the source of everything that is truly good. When God is with us, even the deepest, darkest valleys hold a blessing for us. Without God even the highest mountaintop experiences will feel empty.

When we get the who right, when the Lord is number one in our lives, our lives will be blessed no matter where we are. The Lord is just as good in the valleys as He is on the mountaintops. He’s just as faithful in the deserts of life as He is in the land of milk and honey. When life takes us to new places or new situations where our heart may be tempted to fear, think of Moses’ protégé Joshua as he was about to step into Moses’ shoes. The Lord said to him, “don’t be afraid for I will be with you.”
Just as the Lord hid Moses in the cleft of the rock, Jesus is our cleft in the rock. Hidden in Christ we are able to draw near to our heavenly Father, knowing we are forgiven, accepted, and dearly loved.

Call Becky up (Breathe)

The encouragement for us this morning is to draw near to our Father. He wants us to come to Him boldly and confidently. When we’re tempted to feel like God is angry with us and doesn’t want to deal with us, we need to speak the gospel to our hearts and minds: I’m accepted by God not because of how I’m doing but because of all Jesus did for me on the cross.

• Spend time everyday with the Lord – relationships flourish with time and flounder when neglected.
• Draw near to God in your need.
• Thank God for your blessings. Thank God for the grace in your life.
• Talk to God, share your heart honestly. He doesn’t want you to tell Him what you think He wants to hear, He wants you to be honest.
• Let this book guide your life. The Bible is the inspired word of God and holds all we need for life and godliness in these pages.

If you’ve never received Jesus in your life know that he died on the cross to cleanse you of your sin and restore your relationship with God. All you need to do is believe on him and ask him to be your Lord and Savior.