Heaven without God?
There are lots of reasons why people want to go to heaven. To see loved ones who’ve died, to do fun stuff all the time, to escape pain and sickness and sadness and evil and sin, to experience all the pleasures they can imagine. Why do you want to go to heaven?
In the fourth century, the African pastor-theologian Augustine proposed this thought experiment in a sermon he preached on Psalm 128. He says imagine that God appeared to you and said, “Do you want to sin? All right, go ahead, then: sin. Do anything that gives you pleasure. Anything that you love on earth shall be yours…Whatever you want for yourself, you shall possess it. No one is to oppose you, no one is to say to you, ‘What are you doing?’ No one will say to you, ‘Don’t do that,’ No one will say, ‘Why did you do it?’ All the earthly things you crave shall be yours in abundance. You shall live to enjoy them not just for a time but always. But there is just one reservation: you will never see my face.”[1]
Would you take that deal? Augustine says that those who truly know the Lord groan when they hear those words, “You will never see my face.” He says that those who know the Lord would rather see the Lord’s face than have “overflowing wealth and be awash in all kinds of temporal goods.” Those who really fear the Lord would say, “Away with all of it, if only I may see your face.”[2]
The deepest part of us knows that what we want more than anything else is God, that our heart is restless until it rests in him. Philosopher Peter Kreeft says, “You may not consciously realize it because this is the truth the human race keeps very, very busy hiding twenty-four hours a day by a million diversions…we fill our cities, minds, bellies, wallets, and wombs, (but) we remain unfulfilled in our hearts.”[3]
Would you be content with the Lord’s blessings without the Lord? If Jesus wasn’t in heaven, would you still want to go there? These questions expose what our hearts really believe.
We were made to live with God, which is why our hearts long for something so much more than this world offers us. We try to satiate our thirst with a hundred good things but the thirst is still there, so we keep drinking from broken wells while ignoring the spring of living water.
Moses Isn’t Content
In Exodus 33, Moses isn’t content with the Lord being around but not among the people. After the people made the golden calf, the Lord said he’d send an angel to lead them to the Promised Land and that he wouldn’t go up among them (33:3). The Lord wasn’t abandoning them, but he was saying that he’d be at a distance. He’d be around but not among.
Moses can’t live with the prospect of the Lord being around but not among. He’d rather be in a desert with the Lord than in a land flowing with milk and honey without him. So he boldly approaches the throne of grace with more intercession in 33:12-23.
In verses 12-16, Moses asks and in verses 17-23, the Lord answers. The main point of these verses is that the Lord’s presence is better than the Lord’s blessings.
Moses Asks
In verses 12-16, Moses asks the Lord to be with him and the people. The context of this prayer is verse 11. Moses is at the tent of meeting outside the camp meeting with the Lord in a deeply intimate and personal way, “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
This isn’t just friends hanging out, however. Moses is pleading with the Lord for the Lord’s people. In principle, Moses wants what the people wanted – assurance that he wouldn’t be traveling into the future alone. But instead of giving into fear and taking matters into his own hands and trusting in false gods, he turns to the true God in honest prayer.
Because of Israel’s idolatry, there’s a big question mark over their future and Moses wants assurance about whether a holy God could live with an unholy people.
Moses does most of the talking in this section, while the Lord patiently listens and gently responds. He says the Lord hasn’t made known the identity of the angel that will lead them to the promised land (v. 2). Moses is confused by this because, as he says in verse 12, the Lord knows him by name – a phrase God never uses of anyone else in the Bible, and because he’s found favor, or grace, in his sight, something that is only said of Noah (Gen. 6:8). Moses wants the Lord to “show him his ways” (v. 13a) or let him know what he’s up to so that he may know the Lord.
But he’s not just concerned about himself. He also reminds the Lord that Israel is his people, “Consider too that this nation is your people” (v. 13). Even though they’ve sinned, Moses wants the Lord to have mercy on them because they’re his people.
In verse 14, the Lord briefly responds to Moses, saying literally, “My face will go.” Moses wondered who was going with him, so what relief he must’ve felt when the Lord said, “I am going with you.”
The Lord says that his personal and intimate presence will go to the Promised Land with Moses, but he doesn’t mention the people. He ignores the last plea of verse 13. The “you” in verse 14 is singular. The Lord is saying that he’ll go with Moses.
But in verses 15-16, Moses is persistent in pleading the cause of Israel. In verse 15, he associates his future with theirs, using the pronoun “us.” And in verse 16, he repeats the phrase “I and your people” twice.” He tells the Lord that his future is bound up in theirs. It’s like he’s saying, as one commentator says, “If it is just I you plan to go up with, forget it, but if your delivering grace includes your people, then count me in.” Moses is saying, “They need you much more than they need me.”[4]
Moses even says in verse 16 that the only way Israel can be a holy, or set apart and distinct, nation is if the Lord is with them. The Lord’s presence is what distinguishes the Lord’s people from every other people on the earth.
What’s Most Important
What makes Israel distinct isn’t the property they’ll have, but the presence of their God. This means that the people of God don’t put their hope for the good life in building kingdoms on the earth. What truly matters is whether we’re with the Lord, not whether we’re living in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Earlier this year, Jonathan Leeman did a talk at the Texas Pastors Conference where he argued that the church’s biggest threat politically is being co-opted, or recruited, by the world to fight their battles, that our biggest temptation is having the wrong priorities. He said we shouldn’t be like Jonah and run away from the culture or like Judas and compromise with the culture, or like Peter who picked up the sword in the Garden of Gethsemane and tried to fight the culture.
As Peter matured in his faith, he realized that we’re sojourners and exiles in the earth (1 Pet. 1:1, 2:11), that our home is heaven, not earth, so we prioritize the church not the state. Satan tempted Jesus by offering him all the kingdoms of the earth. Jesus could’ve made a perfect world instantly, but there wouldn’t have been any redemption. There would’ve been victory but we all would perish. Jesus understood his priorities.
Our greatest temptation is forgetting our priorities. I’m not saying that elections and politics aren’t important. I am saying that the Lord’s presence is more important than everything else.
The Lord Answers
In verses 17-23, the Lord answers Moses’ pleas for his people. The Lord’s answer is a resounding, “Yes, I’ll do what you’ve asked” (v. 17). This is confirmation that Israel will get to build the tabernacle and the Lord will live among them.
Moses has had all his questions answered but one. In verse 13, he asked, “Show me now your ways.” Moses has been on the mountain and in the pillar of cloud, but he wants to go deeper with God. So in verse 18, he asks, “Please show me your glory.” He yearns to know God more fully. He wants to see the glory of God.
In light of verse 20, it’s likely that Moses wants to see more of God’s “face,” or his essential being. Moses is seeking the face of the One whom he already knows “face to face.” This is figurative language expressing the longing he has for intimacy with the Lord. He doesn’t just want stuff from the Lord’s hand, he wants his face, or who he is himself.
The Glory of God’s Goodness
The Lord’s answer to him in verse 19 is one of the most important verses in the Bible. We know it’s important because Paul quotes it in Romans 9:15 when he’s defending God’s freedom to chose whoever he wants for salvation.
Moses wants to see the Lord’s glory but what he’ll get is the Lord’s goodness. Here the Lord’s glory isn’t his majesty and power, but his goodness. Why does the Lord emphasize the glory of his goodness?
Think about it. The people he rescued out of slavery, provided for and protected in the wilderness, entered into a covenant relationship with, and gave his wise word to tried to replace him after a few weeks of waiting on Moses. The Lord’s bride had cheated on him and he’d done nothing to deserve it. In fact, he’d done nothing but be good to them. His goodness is why they’re alive.
Moses is in the middle of a “stiff-necked” people, many of whom are spectators rather than participants in seeking the Lord (v. 7). God wants to reveal the glory of his goodness against the backdrop of Israel’s badness.
This is why he emphasizes his grace and mercy in the last part of verse 19, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” The Lord is highlighting his willingness to forgive a sinful people and stay with them on their journey home.
But this verse also says something about the very nature of God. It says that part of his essential nature is to dispense mercy on whoever he wants and that there’s nothing outside of himself constraining him to do so. The Lord is absolutely free to give his grace to anyone he wants.
Among other things, this means that we don’t get to define who’s deserving of God’s mercy. God is free to save anyone, anytime, anywhere.
A Hard Truth
This is what Paul is arguing for in Romans 9. Some accuse God of injustice because he chooses some rather than others (v. 14), but Paul says that God is free to show mercy on whoever he wants (v. 15). Election, therefore, “depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (v. 16).
This is a hard truth, but it is truth. God is absolutely free to do what pleases him (Ps. 115:3). As Thomas Aquinas said, “God is a law unto himself.”[5] He’s not constrained by anyone or anything. This is what it means to be God. It’s his name: “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex. 3:14).
It’s therefore perfectly within his rights to condemn the entire human race because of our sin. Professor Joel Beeke says it this way: “Goodness does not require God to give the same grace to everyone, for grace is not a matter of debt but a free gift (Rom. 3:24; 4:4; 5:15). God’s goodness to his creation does not necessitate that he do all within his omnipotent power to save every wicked rebel. His goodness, eternal mercy, and faithful love are displayed not only in salvation but also in destroying his enemies (Ps. 136:1, 10-22).”[6]
You might say, “If God were really good, he wouldn’t send anyone to hell.” But what if people go to hell because God is good?
Because God is good, he can’t let evil go, justice must be done. The reason God is so angry at the sin and evil that’s destroying the human race and the world that he made and loves, is because he’s so full of love and goodness. If he weren’t, he wouldn’t care. The more you love, the more angry you get at sin and injustice.
You can’t pit justice against goodness. Why? Because it’s love that makes us angry at injustice. People say they hate a wrathful God, but if there’s no wrath then there’s no love.
The glory of God’s goodness is seen in his free choice to give grace to his rebellious people. The Lord’s grace is freely given which means it can’t be earned or deserved. This is good news for anyone who’s sinned against the Lord.
Hiding in the Rock
You might wonder whether you’re one of the ones the Lord has chosen to give his grace? You may ask, “How can I know if the Lord has been gracious to me?”
The last several verses of this passage help us here (vv. 20-23). The Lord tells Moses that he can’t see his fullness or he’ll die. But there’s a place he can go to see him and yet live. So he puts him in the “cleft of the rock” and covers him with his hand while his fullness passes by. This allows Moses to see the glory of the Lord without being consumed.
So how can you know if the Lord has been gracious to you? You can ask yourself whether you’re hiding in the Rock of Jesus Christ. You know your sin deserves the Lord’s judgement so you run to the Rock of Christ for salvation. He covers your badness with his goodness, so that when the glory of the Lord passes by, you aren’t consumed.
As the old hymn “He Hideth My Soul” by Fanny Crosby says:
“A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, a wonderful Savior to me;
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, where rivers of pleasure I see.
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of his love, and covers me there with his hand, and covers me there with his hand.”
The way to know if God has given you grace is to see if you’re hiding in the Rock of Jesus Christ. Are you hidden in the Rock of Jesus? Or are you hiding behind your achievements, your goodness compared to other people, your religion and rule-keeping?
A Rock with “Rivers of Pleasure”
Crosby helps us know whether we’re in the Rock of Christ or not. She says that in the cleft of the rock, “rivers of pleasure I see.” In Jesus, we find that God’s presence is a pleasure. We understand that it’s better to be with him in the desert than without him in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Would you be content with the Lord’s blessings without the Lord? If Jesus wasn’t in heaven, would you still want to go there? Is the Lord’s presence your highest priority?
Those hiding in the Rock understand that out of that Rock flow streams of living water. They drink deeply from the Lord’s goodness because they know they don’t deserve it, and they know that he’s the best thing they have and the only thing they need.
[1]Augustine, Expositions of the Psalms: 121-150, The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century, III/20, trans. Maria Boulding, ed. Boniface Ramsey (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2004), 106.
[2]Ibid.
[3]Peter Kreeft, Heaven: The Heart’s Deepest Longing, rev. ed. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989), 49-50.
[4]Victor P. Hamilton, Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011), 566.
[5]Quoted in Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology, Volume 1: Revelation and God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019), 815.
[6]Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology, Volume 3: Spirit and Salvation (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 393-4.