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Journey Towards the Promise Land - The Book of Exodus · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in
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  Speaker 1: goodness and truth. Exodus 34.6 Dear God, as I rise today,
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  Speaker 1: I will set my heart on the cry of Moses
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  Speaker 1: and ask for you to show me your glory. Give
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  Speaker 1: me divine understanding so that I can know and discern
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  Speaker 1: the directions you want me to take. I confess that
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  Speaker 1: I cannot move unless your presence goes with me, like
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  Speaker 1: Exodus 33-40. I acknowledge today that a promise without your
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  Speaker 1: presence is no promise at all. For my heart desires
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  Speaker 1: to be close to you. Therefore, I will make the
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  Speaker 1: posture of my heart my priority. and not material things.
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  Speaker 1: I will desire the giver more than the gifts, because
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  Speaker 1: I know that the blessings you give me, Lord, are
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  Speaker 1: a byproduct of me seeking your heart. Thank you, Heavenly Father,
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  Speaker 1: that you desire to spend time with me and to
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  Speaker 1: walk with me through life's ups and downs. In this moment,
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  Speaker 1: right now, I will lift my hands and worship you
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  Speaker 1: for your unfailing love and devotion for my life. My
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  Speaker 1: promise is before me. And more importantly, your presence is
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  Speaker 1: surrounding me. With this as my truth, I know I
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  Speaker 1: am unstoppable. Because you will stop at nothing to bless me.
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  Speaker 1: Because even with my mistakes, you still love me. In Jesus' name.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for praying with us today. Continue your time
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  Speaker 1: with God. By listening to today's Bible story. Brought to
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  Speaker 1: you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Journey towards the promised land. In our last story, we
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  Speaker 2: witnessed the heart of Israel falling into slavery to idols
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  Speaker 2: and sin. They erected a golden calf in place of
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  Speaker 2: the God that freed them from slavery. God's anger boiled,
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  Speaker 2: yet he was still filled with steadfast love and patience
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  Speaker 2: and would not forsake them. In this story, we will
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  Speaker 2: learn about God giving Moses new tablets and letting him
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  Speaker 2: see his glory, and also the construction of the tabernacle
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  Speaker 2: as commanded by God, inspired by the book of Exodus.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. In our previous reading, the
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  Speaker 3: Israelites broke the very first commandment of God and built
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  Speaker 3: a golden calf to worship. God determined to destroy them all,
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  Speaker 3: but Moses interceded and prayed, pleading with God, and God
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  Speaker 3: chose to relent. But there was a price to pay,
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  Speaker 3: and 3,000 Israelites died in the camp. Today, We'll find
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  Speaker 3: the people leaving their camp as God leads them on
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  Speaker 3: to the next leg of their journey to the promised land.
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  Speaker 3: God will promise to clear the way, but they must
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  Speaker 3: trust in Him as they walk alone. Listen as the
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  Speaker 3: people's hearts turn back to the Lord and they beg
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  Speaker 3: for His presence to be among them. We'll see how
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  Speaker 3: God responds, how they receive a second set of tablets
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  Speaker 3: with God's commandments, and how God instructs His people to
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  Speaker 3: construct His dwelling place, the tabernacle. Let's listen now to
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  Speaker 3: today's reading.
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  Speaker 2: It was a cool morning, and the sun was just
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  Speaker 2: peeking over the valley. Sun rays splashed against the morning
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  Speaker 2: clouds and lit the sky with a bright orange. God
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  Speaker 2: met again with Moses. This time they met as friends,
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  Speaker 2: walking in the stillness of dawn.' Depart from here with
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  Speaker 2: the people to the land that I promised Abraham, Isaac,
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  Speaker 2: and Jacob,' God said.' I will drive out those who
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  Speaker 2: dwell there to keep you safe.' However, I will not
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  Speaker 2: be going among you, lest I consume you on the
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  Speaker 2: way for your stubborn attitudes and wicked hearts. Upon hearing this,
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  Speaker 2: the people mourned. They could not fathom their protector departing
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  Speaker 2: from them. The one who parted the seas, sent manna
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  Speaker 2: from heaven, and drove out the Amalekites would be gone.
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  Speaker 2: It was too much for them to bear. The people
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  Speaker 2: removed their jewelry and fine ornaments as a symbol of
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  Speaker 2: that they cared for their hearts more than their external selves,
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  Speaker 2: and they begged God to stay. Moses pitched a tent
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  Speaker 2: away from the camp where people could go to meet
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  Speaker 2: with God face to face. He called it the tent
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  Speaker 2: of meeting. Anytime Moses went to the tent, people would
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  Speaker 2: rise up to go stand at the entrance. When the
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  Speaker 2: glory of God descended to meet with Moses, the people
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  Speaker 2: would rise up to worship. Israel struggled in their faith
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  Speaker 2: with God, yet they loved him. YEARS OF SLAVERY UNDER
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  Speaker 2: EGYPT HAD CONFUSED THEIR SPIRITS, YET THE THOUGHT OF GOD
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  Speaker 2: DEPARTING FROM THEM WAS ALMOST UNBEARABLE. WHEN MOSES DREW CLOSE
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  Speaker 2: TO GOD, THE PEOPLE DESIRED TO DRAW CLOSE TO GOD
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  Speaker 2: AS WELL, ESPECIALLY JOSHUA, THE SON OF NONE. MOSES CAME
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  Speaker 2: TO MEET WITH GOD ONCE AGAIN. HE CAME WITH A
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  Speaker 2: BOLDNESS JACOB ONCE DID ON THAT LONELY HILL WRESTLING WITH GOD,
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  Speaker 2: CLINGING TO HIM AND IMPLORING HIM FOR BLESSING. How many
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  Speaker 2: times have you told me that I have found favor
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  Speaker 2: in your sight? Moses asked. If I have truly found
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  Speaker 2: favor in your sight, please show me your ways. Moses
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  Speaker 2: spoke with intensity, for the thought of God not going
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  Speaker 2: with them to the promised land frightened him. Moses continued
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  Speaker 2: his case before God, saying, Please, God, consider your nation,
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  Speaker 2: your people. If your presence does not go with us,
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  Speaker 2: the promised land means nothing. The only thing that makes
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  Speaker 2: us a nation and a people is your presence. God
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  Speaker 2: did not answer with rage or match Moses' intensity. Rather,
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  Speaker 2: he answered gently and said, My presence will go with you,
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  Speaker 2: and I will give you all rest. I will do
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  Speaker 2: this for you, for you have found favor in my sight.
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  Speaker 2: I know you by name, Moses. Moses crumbled before God.
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  Speaker 2: His heart melted at hearing God's words. He looked up
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  Speaker 2: to God with his eyes foggy from tears. Show me
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  Speaker 2: your glory, Moses whispered. God said to Moses, I will
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  Speaker 2: show you my goodness and have it pass before you,
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  Speaker 2: but you cannot see my face, for no man can
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  Speaker 2: see my face and live. So God placed Moses in
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  Speaker 2: a cleft between two rocks, and God, in his glory,
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  Speaker 2: passed by Moses, and he could see his back pass by.
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  Speaker 2: For a brief moment, Moses was able to gaze upon
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  Speaker 2: the beauty of the Lord. A small sliver of eternity
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  Speaker 2: glowed before Moses. The maker of the cosmos, the destroyer
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  Speaker 2: of stars, and the shepherd of humanity revealed a part
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  Speaker 2: of himself to Moses. The true beauty was in God's
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  Speaker 2: restoration of his covenant with Israel. Again he wrote on
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  Speaker 2: the stone tablets his commandments and promises to his children.
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  Speaker 2: He would go before them, walk with them, and be
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  Speaker 2: their strength and shelter. Moses left the presence of God
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  Speaker 2: with the tablets. His face shone brightly because he had
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  Speaker 2: been with God, and the people marveled. They built the
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  Speaker 2: tabernacle for God. They had master craftsmen pay attention to
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  Speaker 2: every detail given to them. As Israel built the tabernacle,
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  Speaker 2: it was almost as if they were mending their fractured
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  Speaker 2: relationship with God. With their hands they had once made
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  Speaker 2: a golden calf to replace God, but now they were
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  Speaker 2: using their hands to make for him a place to dwell.
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  Speaker 2: Since the beginning of humanity, it was always God's purpose
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  Speaker 2: to dwell with men and women and walk with them
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  Speaker 2: in unity, to guide them and provide for them, to
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  Speaker 2: give them purpose, meaning, and fulfillment. He did so in
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  Speaker 2: the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and even
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  Speaker 2: though they sinned, he still protected them. He did so
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  Speaker 2: with Abraham's family and walked with them through life. Even
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  Speaker 2: though they sinned, he still kept his promises and stayed
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  Speaker 2: beside them. And now he would dwell with Israel in
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  Speaker 2: the tabernacle. He would go before them and protect them.
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  Speaker 2: Even though they would sin, he would still keep his promises.
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  Speaker 2: For the Lord of God's people is not a story
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  Speaker 2: of bravery or heroism. It is a story of flawed
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  Speaker 2: people straying away from their God and God stopping at
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  Speaker 2: nothing to bless them.
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  Speaker 3: As we open today's reading, God tells Moses to take
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  Speaker 3: the people and go to the land that he would
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  Speaker 3: give them. God tells Moses that he will clear the
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  Speaker 3: way for them and keep them safe, but his presence
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  Speaker 3: will not go with them. The people are afraid, and
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  Speaker 3: despite their sinful wayward hearts, deep down they know that
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  Speaker 3: only God's presence can protect and satisfy their longing for
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  Speaker 3: connection to him. They remove their jewelry and offer it
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  Speaker 3: to God, a reminder of what they'd done when they
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  Speaker 3: offered their gold to a false god. They wanted to
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  Speaker 3: discover forgiveness and atone for their sins. For now, when
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  Speaker 3: they wish to meet with God, Moses must go with
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  Speaker 3: them outside the camp to a very special tent, the
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  Speaker 3: tent of meeting. God's presence will descend and meet with
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  Speaker 3: Moses and the people worship outside. There was one among
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  Speaker 3: them who desired fellowship more than the other, Joshua. the
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  Speaker 3: son of Nun. He stays by the tent, even as
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  Speaker 3: the others leave. Joshua will become an important figure in history,
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  Speaker 3: and God is working in his life already. Critically, Moses
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  Speaker 3: approached God and asked him to teach him his ways,
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  Speaker 3: a very important request. Here's what Moses said. So I
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  Speaker 3: may know you and continue to find favor with you.
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  Speaker 3: Remember that this nation is your people. Lord, teach me
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  Speaker 3: your ways. Do we desire to know the ways of God?
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  Speaker 3: How often do we boldly and honestly ask God to
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  Speaker 3: teach us the way that we should go? Do we
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  Speaker 3: seek him with all of our hearts? Do we seek
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  Speaker 3: not only his ways, but his will in our lives?
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  Speaker 3: Moses doesn't stop there. He asked God to commit his
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  Speaker 3: presence to his people. as a sign that they are
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  Speaker 3: set apart from other nations. God honors the request and
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  Speaker 3: agrees to be with them as he always has been.
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  Speaker 3: Moses asked for one more thing, the boldest of all requests,
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  Speaker 3: show me your glory. Moses has met with God in
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  Speaker 3: the past, but he wanted more. He wanted to know
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  Speaker 3: the fullness and the greatness of God's glory. God says
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  Speaker 3: to Moses that he can look, but he cannot see
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  Speaker 3: his face or he will die. Moses is a sinner
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  Speaker 3: and cannot look into the face of a holy God.
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  Speaker 3: God protects Moses in a cleft in the rock as
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  Speaker 3: the glory, his glory, the glory of God passes by.
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  Speaker 3: There he gives Moses his commandments once again, and Moses
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  Speaker 3: chisels them into stone and takes them to the people.
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  Speaker 3: His brush with God's glory causes Moses' face to shine
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  Speaker 3: to the amazement of all the Israelites. Then God puts
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  Speaker 3: the people to work, building the tabernacle, his dwelling place
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  Speaker 3: among them. This will for a time satisfy both their
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  Speaker 3: desire to have him near and God's desire to have
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  Speaker 3: communion and fellowship with his people. God desires to have
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  Speaker 3: a relationship with us, to live among us, to live
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  Speaker 3: in us. And that desire is fulfilled by sending his
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  Speaker 3: own son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior, to live
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  Speaker 3: in us. so that a temporary house like a tabernacle
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  Speaker 3: or even a temple would no longer be needed because
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  Speaker 3: now with Christ within, his spirit alive in us, we
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  Speaker 3: are the temple of God. Dear God, thank you that
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  Speaker 3: you live in us, that your very presence goes with
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  Speaker 3: us everywhere that we go. We pray, oh God, that
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  Speaker 3: we would live in your presence and seek not only
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  Speaker 3: to know your hand, but to seek your heart. and
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  Speaker 3: to seek your glory every day of our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 3: I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Pray.com
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  Speaker 3: how to tap into God's Word for power in living
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  Speaker 3: the Christian life, be sure to visit JackGraham.org.
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  Speaker 1: This episode is sponsored by MediShare, an innovative healthcare solution
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