The Importance of Quietness for a Servant of God

The Importance of Quietness for a Servant of God

“Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp.” Ex. 33:7.

When Moses went outside the camp, the Lord came and spoke to him face to face. V. 11.

In the course of time, Moses had learned that you have to be separate and become quiet if you want to talk with the Lord. Moses was taken away from Pharaoh and was given the task of caring for sheep. There he entered into quietness. He was not used to this, but after he had been there for forty years, he came to rest. He became acquainted with quietness; he even loved it. Then God could reveal Himself to him, and he was chosen to do a great work.

When the time came for God to give him the Law, He had to take him aside again. Moses had to go up on the mountain, which it was covered by a cloud. He stayed there for six days, and God called to him on the seventh day. The six days on the mountain in the cloud caused him to enter into a more profound quietness, and God could give him greater revelations. Ex. 24:16.

Aaron had not learned this. He was not sufficiently separate. The voice of the people drowned out God’s voice. He pleased the people, and they threw off all restraint. Everything was thrown into disorder. Only someone like Moses could create order again.

After these events, Moses took his tent and set it up far away from the camp. Out there, separate from everything, God spoke to him face to face. After God had spoken to him, he would turn back to the camp. However, Joshua, his servant, did not leave the tent. The intention was that Joshua should now receive the same schooling as Moses. He could have been someone in the camp who received honor, but he chose to remain in quietness and hear God’s voice, and so he received wisdom. When God’s time came Joshua was presented to the people as their leader.

When Moses went out to the tent, all the people bowed their heads, and everyone who sought the Lord had to go out to him.

Folly can be compared to a clamorous woman. Prov. 9:13. Wisdom is received through humility and quietness. Folly, pride, and clamor all belong together.

If anyone wants to seek the Lord, he has to forsake himself and this world. Then he can hear God’s voice. We meet God outside the camp—away from all noise and the bustle and striving of unbelief. By forsaking ourselves, we receive revelation in the rest and quietness of faith. This is how we can be a true help to our fellow man. There—before God’s face—we partake of the proper worthiness. Ex. 34:29; 1 Tim. 3:8.