Exodus 33:7  And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.
8  And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.
9  And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses.
10  And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.
11  And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

In this passage we see that Moses pitched a tabernacle outside the camp. This was not the Tabernacle that God had just given him instructions for. This was a different tent. It was called the Tabernacle of the congregation. It was where Moses would meet with people to deal with their needs.
God makes it very clear throughout the Bible, that we need leadership. There are people who assume they are leaders. We have noted Nimrod as one such man. There are several men mentioned in the New Testament who assumed they were leaders, but they were destroyers. A true leader is one who is truly saved, and submissive to the will and Word of the Lord.
A Biblical leader must have humility. Secular leaders tend to be puffed up. They assume that they are superior to others. Secular leaders cannot see very far. They might make some good decisions in the secular world, but they also are quite capable of making bad decisions. A Godly leader prays and seeks God’s direction in his decisions.
Moses would be in this tabernacle to meet with the LORD and also with the people. In verse 8 we read that the people would watch to see when Moses was in the tabernacle. They were curious, but not committed to serving the LORD. Moses was a true servant of the LORD. As he conducted himself, he showed the people the importance of knowing the true God.
We read in verse 9 that the LORD was with Moses. When he entered the tabernacle the cloudy pillar descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle. There the LORD talked with Moses. God wanted the people to see that Moses was not a self-made man. He did not try to establish his own leadership. Moses was appointed leader by God. He communed with the LORD regularly because he needed God’s wisdom in his duties.
A true leader is one who is a faithful student of God’s Word. He is not one who uses secular arguments and might stick a Bible verse in now and then. He is one who is building his own life on the Word of God. His philosophy of life is being developed from God’s Word, not the opinions of men. This attitude offends the worldly wise people.
The apostle Paul addressed this situation in I Corinthians 1&2. The worldly wise might gain the respect of secular men, but he does not have the blessing of the Lord on his life or his work. Lost people prove themselves to be fools when it comes to what really matters. There will be many people with PhD’s and other degrees in hell. They will not have any interest in exercising those degrees there. They will be in torment because they chose to reject the truth and chose to invest their time and energy in chasing after things that do not matter.
In our text, we read that the LORD spoke with Moses face to face. We know already that no man can see God and live. Thus we know that what this verse is talking about is the fact that Moses could draw nigh to the LORD. Moses was not intimidated by being close to God. Moses had an intimate relationship with God. We know that the people could not do this. They were not willing to submit to the LORD and they harboured sin in their hearts and thus they could not be close to God. They pushed Him away.
Moses would get his counsel from the LORD. Then he would go into the camp and speak to the people. Joshua, the eventual successor to Moses would stay in the Tabernacle. We read that Joshua was a young man at this time. He would have been approximately forty years old. He was eighty when he became the leader of the nation. At forty, he had much to learn yet about being a Godly leader. The biggest thing we need to learn after we are saved, is humility. We need to learn the importance of obedience to God’s law. Even at eighty, Joshua would prove he had things to learn.
Today, the majority of people stay away from God. Jesus declared that He would build His church upon Himself. He is the Head of the church. The New Testament makes it clear that the first church was in Jerusalem. From there, God intended that many churches be established.
Most people stay away from true churches. They do not have a relationship with God and they do not want one either. They are too full of themselves. They believe they are just as capable of knowing God as the pastor. They have an imaginary God who fits their sinful ideas. They will corrupt the Word of God to support their imaginary ideas. Some of those people are good communicators and they gain a following. However, they do not lead anyone to Christ. They lead them to their imaginary God/Christ.
It is important to find good men to teach you. There is a shortage of such men in our time. This is sad. This is harmful to society in general. Our governments are not looking for wise counsel. That is why our country is in the mess that it is in. Most churches are not looking for wise counsel. They want to fit in with the world. They know how to make noise, but they do not know how to help people.
I spoke with a person this week about some family issues they had. These issues go back a couple of years. They chose to involve the courts in those problems. Now, they are grieving because things have gone from bad to worse. I told them they did not seek wise counsel from the start and now they have this mess to deal with.
The Bible is clear. True believers do not resolve problems through the courts. The local church is the avenue God has given to resolve problems. When people are saved, any problem can be fixed by humbly submitting to God’s Word. In fact many problems can be avoided if God’s Word is respected and followed. Humility, confession of sin and forgiveness are necessary and possible for those who are truly saved.
We can make wrong choices. God is willing to forgive and set us on the right path. We need to be willing to humble ourselves and accept His counsel. When we do, it is amazing to see conflicts can be avoided and if we do not listen as we should, He shows us how to resolve conflicts. It is a blessing to be set free from conflict and to know His peace.
Moses was God’s choice as leader of an entire nation. Under him were the priests and the elders. Over him was God. God was well able to keep Moses in line. He was also well able to keep control of everyone else.
Moses was privileged to be able to commune with the LORD. The people missed out because they chose to stand afar off and just observe what Moses did, rather than join him in communing with God. God wants us to draw nigh to Him. He has provided the only means of doing so. It is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that we can fellowship with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t be an outsider in spiritual matters. Find a good church to attend and learn the truth, submit to the truth and know the blessing of the Lord in your life.
Pastor Bartel