He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? 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 upon the face of the earth?”
(Exodus 33:14-16 NASB)
It is our only distinction.
In every other way, every believer is like everyone else on the face of the earth. We have the same physical characteristics; we are fallen creatures spiritually; we are born, and we will die.
Our demarcation is HIM.
Moses knew this. He had discovered it as he tried to deliver his brothers by his own strength.
It was further ingrained through 40 years of wilderness wandering as God did His work of breaking and molding and preparing Moses.
And it had culminated at a burning bush that was filled with the presence of God. It wasn’t the bush, but the presence in the bush that made it distinctive.
Moses knew more than most ever will, and he knew that it was the presence and power of God alone that could deliver him and all those for whom he was responsible.
He understood that there would be no power, no provision, no protection without God.
This is why he sought it so greatly. This is the reason the threat of losing God’s presence because of the people’s idol worship was of such great concern to Moses.
He offered his life as a substitute in his intercession: “If you will not forgive their sins … blot me out from the book You have written,” Moses pled (32:32).
When Moses returned from this extraordinary season with God, his face literally shone. Some distanced themselves from him because of the glow.
Not everyone will understand the uniqueness of God’s presence on the face of His children. But everyone will know that there is a difference.
God’s presence is our distinguishable difference. Nothing more is needed; nothing less is sufficient.