GOD’S PRESENCE WILL GO WITH YOU
The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.“ Exodus 33:14-15 (NIV). Our forefathers were not content to serve God without His presence. We may also be asking for God’s presence but do we know what kind of presence Moses was seeking. Was it omnipresence or manifest presence?
God’s omnipresence is His attribute of being everywhere at once. He is omnipresent even when we do not experience His presence; He is here, even if we do not recognize Him.
God’s manifest presence is, of course, His presence made manifest—the fact that He is with us is made clear and convincing.
Should we trust in God’s omnipresence, even when we don’t feel He is with us? Absolutely. God, who cannot lie, says that He never leaves or forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5).
Should we also seek God’s manifest presence? Absolutely. It’s not that we rely on feelings or seek after a sign, but we expect the Comforter to comfort His own—and we gladly acknowledge that we need His comfort.
Examples of manifest presence:
1. God had been with Moses all along, but then, in “the far side of the wilderness” near Mt. Horeb, God chose to manifest Himself.
Exodus 3:1,2 “Now Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked – and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed!”
2. The Shekinah was first evident when the Israelites set out from Succoth in their escape from Egypt.
“After leaving Succoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people” (Exodus 13:20–22).
The word shekinah does not appear in the Bible, but the concept clearly does. The Jewish rabbis coined this extra-biblical expression, a form of a Hebrew word that literally means “he caused to dwell,” signifying that it was a divine visitation of the presence or dwelling of the Lord God on this earth.
God spoke to Moses out of the pillar of the cloud in Exodus 33, assuring him that His Presence would be with the Israelites (v. 9).
Verse 11 says God spoke to Moses “face to face” out of the cloud, but when Moses asked to see God’s glory, God told Him, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (v. 20). So, apparently, the visible manifestation of God’s glory was somewhat muted.
When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God hid Moses in the cleft of a rock, covered him with His hand, and passed by. Then He removed His hand, and Moses saw only His back. This would indicate that God’s glory is too awesome and powerful to be seen completely by man.
The visible manifestation of God’s presence was seen not only by the Israelites but also by the Egyptians:
“During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, ‘Let's get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt’” (Exodus 14:24-25).
Just the presence of God’s Shekinah glory was enough to convince His enemies that He was not someone to be resisted.
3. Daniel knew what was happening in the heavenly when he was interceding.
Dan 10:12,13 (GNB) “Then he said, “Daniel, don’t be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding. I have come in answer to your prayers. The angel prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief angels, came to help me, because I had been left there alone in Persia.”
4. The presence of God can change the course of worship service.
2 Chr 5:11,14 “Now when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to their divisions)…so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.”
5. God the Son made Himself manifest through the Incarnation. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
John 1:14 “Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.”
6. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was manifest to the believers in the upper room.
“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:2–4).
Historic Christian revivals
Psalm 145:4-6 'One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds.'
What is a Christian revival?
It is increased spiritual interest or renewal in the life of a church, congregation, or society with a local, national, or global effect.
This should be distinguished from the use of the term “revival” to refer to an evangelistic meeting or series of meetings.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, American society experienced several “awakenings” around the years 1727, 1792, 1830, 1857, and 1882.
More recent revivals in the 20th century include of the:
- 1904-1905 Welsh revival (under Evan Roberts) in Wales.
- 1906 Azusa street revival (under William Seymour) in Los Angeles, California.
- 1909 Chile revival which spread in the Americas, Africa, and Asia among protestants and Catholics.
What happened?
- Evangelical party of John Newton, William Wilberforce, and his Clapham sect were inspired to combat social ills at home and slavery abroad and founded Bible and missionary societies.
- The first great awakenings in American colonies resulted from powerful preaching that deeply affected listeners (already church members) with a deep sense of personal guilt and salvation by Christ - pulling away from ritual and ceremony.
- In the 20th century, the Pentecostal revival movement began out of a passion for more power and a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit (had its roots in the holiness movement).
Personal Reflection:
- What is your personal experience with God’s manifest presence?
- What is your last time to experience God in an intimate (personal) way?
God richly bless you as you meditate on this and seek His presence in whatever you do in your life.
Dr Lawi Mshana,
+255712924234; Korogwe, Tanga, Tanzania
