"Leave this place." Revelation had been given, sin had been dealt with. The next step is to move on. When God took them out of Egypt it was with a promise. This was the same promise He had given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Many things had happened, some of them seeming to mitigate directly against the promise ever being fulfilled, but God's plan and purpose never changes. His purpose for our lives has not changed. It may seem that we have been on some tortuous routes, but the purpose has not changed.
If you look at your life right now some of you may feel confused, having no idea what God is doing. Be assured that His purpose has not changed. His purpose is that we become more and more like Christ. We may be tempted to settle down along the way, or to give up. We must do neither, but always press on towards the goal to which Christ has called us (Philippians 3:12-14).
Then we get some very surprising words. God tells them that He will send an angel ahead of them, but God Himself will not go. The reason is that they are a stiff-necked people. This raises two questions. First, some people would be delighted if God said He was going to send an angel with them. Now God may and does use angels, but we have a much greater promise, the presence of Christ Himself with us. In fact a common feature among many false teachers and false teaching is an over emphasis on angels. If someone starts boasting about their experiences of angels be on your guard. Secondly, we cannot hope to travel with Christ if we are stubborn or hard-hearted. Sometimes we work ourselves into a state over whether or not we have made the right decision in a particular situation. Actually it is much more important to ensure that we do not have a hard or proud heart. If we are open to God, then even if we have made a mistake He can guide us back to the right path. If we are hard -hearted we are in big trouble.
The Lord was then going to deal with the people.
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