A well-known question asks us to consider: If you could have heaven without God, would you take it? What about your own version of “heaven” on earth—a perfect marriage, financial success, health, comfort, a flourishing ministry? Exodus 33 presents us with that question and encourages us to see that without God there is no true Promised Land. Blessing without communion isn’t really blessing.
In Exodus 33 we find Israel just on the heels of their golden calf idolatry. They have sought spiritual blessing on their own terms and experienced God’s judgment for it. Yet, in the aftermath of their sin, we also see the mercy of God. He intends to keep his promise and give Israel the Promised Land. He commands them to continue their journey and promises to provide for them along the way. The passage describes genuine, tangible blessings: the Promised Land itself, an angel sent ahead of them to drive out their enemies, and a land flowing with milk and honey. These are real gifts of God, blessings to be received and enjoyed. But then comes a devastating qualification: “I will not go up among you.”
It is possible to experience the blessings of God without communion with Him. I worry that many of us prefer that. We often pray for God to give us things so that we would have to depend less on Him. We ask for financial security so we don’t have to trust him for provision; health so we don’t have to depend upon him in weakness; relational stability so we don’t have to seek comfort in him; ministry success so we don’t have to trust him with outcomes. We can seek God’s blessings partly because we want insulation from the conditions that reveal our need for communion with Him. In fact, we often view Him merely as the giver of the good things we actually want. Our functional theology can even end up suggesting that if God doesn’t give us what we want, then He must not be good. We want His gifts more than we want Him. We love the gifts more than the Giver.
That’s not how Israel feels in Exodus 33. They sought blessing without Yahweh (making a substitute god for themselves) and received severe consequences for it. They know that God is what matters most. God promises them the land, the blessings, the Angel, but when He denies His presence they feel the weight of that loss. For them, this is bad news. In fact, it’s so bad that later on in verse 15 Moses says essentially, “If you won’t go with us then don’t send us!” Communion matters more than blessing.
C.S. Lewis hinted at this very idea when he wrote about the possibility of attaining heaven without submission to God. In The Great Divorce, we find people unable to enjoy the blessings of heaven apart from communion with God. All good gifts eventually disappoint us when we ask them to do what only God can do. They cannot satisfy our hearts or sustain our lives. We were made for God, and we need Him more than anything else. Moses realizes this. For him, the wilderness is better with God than the Promised Land is without Him. Is that true for you and me?
Do we sense the importance of communion with God? Would you settle for ministry success without a growing relationship with God? Would you be happy with a healthy and relationally strong family without the presence of God in that family? Would you take comfort in a big bank account, a comfortable lifestyle, and good health? Suffering and trials are awful; there’s no point in pretending otherwise. And yet, they are often the very means by which God strengthens our relationship with Him. C.H. Spurgeon famously said, “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.” Blessing without communion isn’t really blessing. In fact, even good blessings can become spiritually dangerous when they keep us from turning toward the Lord. The true blessing is the Lord Himself. To experience communion with Him is what we most need.
The temptation in a reflection like this is to overcorrect, to become suspicious of blessings. But God’s blessings are meant to be enjoyed. The land flowing with milk and honey was meant for Israel’s enjoyment. But, like Moses, we must all guard our hearts from loving the gifts more than the giver. We must guard our minds from thinking that if we have blessings then we don’t really need communion. Moses’ prayer should become ours: If your presence does not go then don’t make us go up from here (v. 15). Communion is better than blessing.
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