I am constantly amazed when I reflect on Exodus 33. God landed some striking words to Moses and the Israelite people. God said, "Depart from here.to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob., to the land flowing with milk and honey.BUT I WILL NOT GO UP AMONG YOU." (emphasis mine). God was not happy with Israelite people. God has just made a covenant and in just a short time the Israelites had already broken it. God, in His grace, was still going to allow the Israelites to live in Canaan because of His faithfulness to keep the covenant despite the fact He had every right to not carry on. The Israelites understood rightly that Canaan was nothing without God's presence. It describes their reaction that as "the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments." I think I tend to get eternal life confused in this way. A lot of us get eternal life wrong. I am not sure if that is the twenty-first century application of this text, but I think I can take this as an implication. Eternal life means nothing without God's presence. Heaven is nothing without God's presence. We can sing of the streets of gold and the pearly gates, but they are nothing but trash without the presence of God. So many times I forget how sweet eternal life will be, not because of the gloriousness and beauty of Heaven, but because of the gloriousness and beauty of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.