Exodus 33:12-23
Main Point: Hunger for God and be satisfied.

Opener:
Illustration: Basic Training. When Ruby came to visit, and we got pizza. The
hunger that I had and the feeling.
We all hunger for something, just like our stomachs growl when we are hungry,
our souls can do some fierce growling!

What are we hungry for? Where is our appetite? Do we hunger for the spiritual things,
or do we hunger for the things of the flesh? Part of the reason we face difficulties in life
(God allowing it), is so that our appetite can be reoriented back to God and the things of
the Spirit. God doesn’t leave us wanting, He truly satisfies our hunger when it’s for Him
Matthew 5:6 “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be filled.”
Psalm 42:1-2 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for
you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and
appear before God?
God has deposited a deep hunger for Him in all of us, He created us with a hunger that
only He can truly satisfy. What we do with that hunger is up to us. How we satisfy that
hunger is our responsibility.

It is through the historical narrative that is found in Exodus chapter 33. A time where the
leader of Israel, Moses reveals his appetite and the result of that deep huger.
Main Point: Hunger for God and be satisfied.

Exodus 33:11-23
12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people, ’but you
have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by
name, and you have also found favor in my sight. ’ 13 Now therefore, if I have
found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order
to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” 14 And
he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And he said to him,
“If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.
16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is
it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other
people on the face of the earth?”
17 And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do,
for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18 Moses said, “Please
show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass
before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord. ’And I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And
the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover
you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you
shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
Main Point: Hunger for God and be satisfied.

Moses had experienced God through the burning bush, the parting of the Red
Sea, water coming from the rock, and bread from heaven, He still wanted more of
God. The Lord knew Moses and laid His favor upon him, but Moses wanted to
know and experience God in a new way. Moses’ hunger for God was revealed in
Exodus 33.
- God spoke plainly with Moses (contrasted), not as he did with the prophets
through dreams and visions, but plainly (Numbers 12:8). Being face to face with God
was figurative, but it did mean being open and in free fellowship (v 11). This was a
type of norm for Moses, he met with God on the daily, but he wanted more.
- This is what we call a “Theophany” an appearance of God in a tangible way. God
revealed His character in a raw and tangible way to Moses. It’s important we
understand that God is real, He is not something that we can’t see, feel, or
experience. He wants us to know Him.
- 1 John 4:12—no one can see the actual face of God.
- Whether Moses actually wanted to see the literal face of God, I don’t know, but what I
do know is that Moses had a yearning to be with and experience God in a new way!
God gave him just that!
Moses wanted God and not just the blessing! Moses interceded again, for God’s
people. God agreed to give the Israelites their promised land, but He wouldn’t go with
them (33:2).
- Previously in verse 2, God promised to send an angel with them. God would give
them their promised land, but His presence would not be with them. A test that would
reveal their hearts; do they want God or His blessings?

- Moses drew near to God (v.12-13). It wasn’t enough to simply make it the Promised
Land. The land was nothing special without the presence of God. Moses was
determined to have God’s presence as close as possible to Israel.
- Moses sought God of the benefit of God’s people, for the nation, and for himself.
- The presence of God means rest and peace. Not only would God be with them, but
He would give the rest and peace.
- Moses knew that nothing that God would give them would make the different
and unique but having God’s immediate presence would. Moses was requesting
that they would (the people) be completely different from every nation in the world, so
that everyone could see that it was God (v 14-17).
- God honored Moses’ bold intercession.
- Moses got a “yes” from God about the promised land, he got confirmation that
God Himself would go with them, yet that wasn’t enough! Moses wanted more in his
personal relationship with God. Moses’ appetite was exposed. After Moses had
interceded for God’s people, he made a request to see God and experience Him in a
new way (v. 17).
- “Let me see your glory.” Moses desired to see God’s face, to see the manifestation
of His full glory (v. 18).
- God honored Moses’ bold request.
- God’s glory is rooted in His goodness. God is good. If we don’t even know that we
really don’t know much about Him—Even God’s justice, power, and wrath must be
understood as good, because He is good! God is not a “yin and yang” a “good and
evil” No! God is only good!
- God would reveal Himself to Moses in a new way.
- A name in Hebrew and ancient culture revealed true character of a person. God
would show Moses His name, reveal His character to Moses.
- God was telling Moses, I will not show you my face, what you really need to see
and know is my character, my heart, WHO I AM (v. 19-20).

- Moses saw a theophany of God. God would hide Moses in the cleft (crevice) of
the rock and cover him with His hand until He passed by. He would then
remove His hand and Moses would see His back (anthropomorphism-human
like attributes and traits). God would allow Moses to see aspects of His
manifestation, but only to a degree, because the full weight would literally kill him.
Hebrew word for glory is kabod, which means weight. As a result of this encounter
with God, Moses’ face was radiant with God’s wonder because of His time with
Him (v. 21-23; 34:29-35).
- This happens to us when we hunger for God. A moment with God in His presence
can transform us and renew us. When we spend more time with Him and in His Word,
He changes us. Our spiritual taste buds develop a hunger and desire for Him!
- Matthew 5:6 “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they
shall be filled.”
- The more we hunger for God, the more we desire God.
- Latin word for desire is De Sire, meaning of the Father. When we have a
desire, it is directly connected to the Father. Psalm 34:7 states that when
you delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart. Meaning,
when you truly desire and want God, He becomes your ultimate desire. When He
becomes your desire, righteousness, holiness, purity, integrity, goodness, mercy,
grace, love, forgiveness, become your desire because it comes from Him. He is our
Shepard, and we lack nothing (Psalm 23:1).
- CROSS EXAMINATION: In the Garden, Adam and Eve exchanged
their appetite for glory for an appetite of destruction. In Genesis, both Adam and
Eve had an appetite, one only God could truly fill. However, that was tested. The
Serpent (Devil) tempted Adam and Eve with the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and
with the pride of life (Genesis 3; 1 John 2:16). They failed, believing the lies of the
devil. They chose to satisfy their appetite with the things of the world. As a result, we
all struggle with the same, but wait! There is hope and His name is Jesus!
- Jesus is the prime example. In the Desert, Jesus demonstrated where
our appetite needs to be. When Jesus Christ was tempted for 40 days by the devil,
we read that on three different occasions, the devil tempted Jesus. Each time Jesus
combated the devil with His Word. Jesus made a way for us through his victory in the
wilderness, on the cross, and at the resurrection! The same is for us today, “man shall
not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God!” (Luke 4:4).

Ending Illustration: After my workouts, I must be sure to eat within an hour of my
work out because if I don’t, I will eat junk food and pay for it later. The same is
when we go to long without God, we start to suppress our hunger with junk.
When I eat within that hour after my workout and eat the right food, I am satisfied.
My workouts are better, my strength through the day is better.

MAIN POINT: Hunger for God and be satisfied.
We all have a God-appetites, but what are you filling it with? Is it a husband, a
wife, a family, a career, money, fame? Everyone’s appetite looks different, but it's all
rooted in God. That hunger that you may have for these things isn’t that you truly want
these things, but we are misplacing that hunger, what we truly desire is God. These
things aren’t bad, but only God can fill and satisfy. It's a God shaped hole that only He
can truly fill.
Do you want to know God? If you know some of Him, do you want more of Him? His
presence is available to us today because of what Jesus did on the cross 2,000 years
ago. It was through the death of Christ on the cross that He bridged the gap back to
God the Father. It is through the accession to the Father that Christ gave us the
guarantee of the Father, the promise of the Holy Spirit. It is through Him that we now
have complete access to the throne room of grace, because of Jesus Christ. When we
come to Him, He truly satisfies our appetite.
Next Steps:
1. Repent (ask for forgiveness)
2. Seek Him and Eat His Word (carve out time to spend with God in prayer and in His
Word, effective worship begins with a hunger for God).
3. Hunger for more! (We approach the Word with a hunger to be satisfied, we will be
satisfied every time).

What would happen if we chose to spend more time with God? What would our lives,
homes, and communities look like if we allowed God to fill our appetites and become
more like Him.