Show me Your Glory

                 

Scientists tell us that the slant of the earth, tilted at an angle of 23 degrees, produces our seasons. If the earth had not been tilted exactly as it is, vapors from the oceans would move both north and south, piling up continents of ice. If the Moon were only 50,000 miles away from earth, instead of 200,000 miles away, the tides might be so enormous that all continents would be submerged.

The stars are God's fingerprints. The sun is a mere smidgen of His radiance. The moon is to remind us that He doesn't sleep at night. The vastness of space proclaims the infinity of His wisdom, while the sand pebble indicates His thoroughness with the puniest details. And yet, those possess only a tidbit of God's omnipotence and omnipresence (Brent D. Earles).

For many years a desire had been growing in the heart of Moses to see the face of God and in Exodus 33 he prayed to God “now show me your glory.” The Lord said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live...there is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen”( Exod.33:18-23). 

God would grant Moses’ petition to see his glory, but with a limitation for Moses’ own good. He would only see part of God’s glory. God spoke of the “form” in which He would manifest Himself to Moses in man-like terms so that he could understand. He would see God’s back, but not His face. Even Moses, who spoke to God "face to face," could only catch a glimpse of the glory. God would grant Moses the privilege of seeing more of Him than he, or any other man to this point, has ever seen.

God said “present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. Moses went up Mount Sinai.  Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him. And he passed in front of Moses (Exod.34:1-6). When Moses came down from Mount Sinai he was not aware that his face was radiant. When the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant (Exod. 34:29-35).

Moses dipped deeper into the bottomless well of God’s infinite glory than man had ever dipped before, and yet he still had but skimmed the surface of His splendor. To see a little of the infinite God is to see much more than the mind can fathom. A few other people were privileged to see a glimpse of the glory of God. Isaiah had a glimpse of the glory of God and it moved him to mourn his own sin and unworthiness (Isa.6).

Paul experienced the glory of God and the intense light blinded him temporarily (Acts 9). Moses and the elders saw God; under his feet was something like a pavement as bright blue as the sky. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain (Ex. 24:10,17). Daniel saw the Ancient of Days. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool (Dan.7:9).

John saw the son of man dressed in a robe. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow. He fell at his feet as though dead” (Rev.1:13-17). Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. They fell facedown to the ground, terrified (Matt.17:1-6). This incident stuck in Peter’s memory and he wrote about it about 30 years later (2 Peter 1:16-18).

Job’s description of the power of God in Job 26:5-13 is amazing and impressive; yet Job knew that this description did not fully describe God. Job 26:14 says “Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways; and how small a whisper do we hear of him!  But the thunder of his power who can understand?” Job knew there was far more that he did not understand. When God finally speaks to him later (Job 38-39), He will speak to Job more about His ways, upon which Job has only touched the edges.

God granted the desire of Moses to see His glory as much as was humanly possible. The Bible consistently teaches us that no man is able to see God and live. John says “no one has seen God at any time” (John 1:18, 4:12).  Paul wrote “God dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see " (1Tim.6:16). For a full revelation of what God is like, we must wait.

We cannot know or comprehend God as he is, in all his mystery. While this holds for the present life, in our glorified state we will behold His face. When Christ appears we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2). It is only in heaven, when we are rid of all sin, that we shall behold God face to face (Rev 22:4). However, Paul did not say that in this life we see nothing of the glory of God. He only said that we can’t fully see it or comprehend it (1Cor.13:12).

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai his face was radiant. And, remember that Moses had been fasting for 40 days! This was totally supernatural!  This glow was left behind by God when he passed.The fact that Moses did not know that his face was radiant indicates the glory of God could not be felt or sensed but only seen. Moses radiant face was designed to be an attestation to the Israelites that he had been with God.

A person who spends time with God reflects his glory. The glory of the LORD is reflected differently today, but nonetheless reflected. Paul picked up on this concept of radiating glory in 2 Corinthians 3  where he wrote that saints who behold the glory of the Lord are being transformed by a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit from one degree of glory to another degree of glory into the image of Christ.

Paul told the Corinthians “we are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away... the same veil remains... only in Christ is it taken away... But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away... And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory (2 Cor.3:13-18).

What many people speak of today as the presence and the glory of God seems very trivial compared to what Moses and the Bible time believers experienced.  However, we too can know this God. He won’t come down in a cloud and he won’t open the heavens to show us his majesty. But he will reveal himself to us in small supernatural acts. We can ask him to make himself real to us in life’s details.

We can also ask him to make is word alive and real to us. It is impossible to spend much time with God and not become Christ-like increasingly. Spending time in His presence will bring the sunshine of heaven to your face and others will observe this in you. The long fixed gaze on God in his word and his ways passes the lineament of his divine beauty into a person’s life and light it up with a heavenly glow.

The reflection of the glory of God was proof of the closeness between Moses and God; it revealed to those who saw him that he had truly been in the presence of God's glory. Moses was not glorious in his own eyes, but he was in the eyes of others. True Christian excellence is as unconscious of its beauty as Moses was; whenever it becomes self conscious it loses its charm.

Moses would put a veil over his face not only to conceal the brightness of the glory but to also conceal the fading away of the glory. The Glory on Moses’ face faded because God never meant for it last. It symbolized the Old Covenant which was to give way to the New Covenant. The contrast is that the unveiled ministry of the Spirit is permanent and eternal. Moses glory was veiled and temporary but a Christian’s radiance is unveiled and permanent.

The only other human, apart from Moses, whose face was described in a similar way was Stephen. Stephen was a man full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:3,5,8). One time he was called before the Sanhedrin to answer charges. Fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel ( Acts 6:13-15).  Stephen had surely spent time in the presence of the Lord, which accounts for his radiant countenance.

Moses was given the title “the servant of God’. Even in heaven; “they sang the song of Moses the servant of God” (Rev. 15:3). Moses was faithful as a servant of God's (Heb 3:5, Num.12:7). The phrase “as the Lord commanded Moses, so did he” is repeated many times in the Bible. Moses demonstrated humility and a deep love for God. It’s not a surprise that God showed Moses his glory. Jesus said “whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me... I too will love them and show myself to them (John 14:21).

The path of humility and obedience albeit that it is rough and steep is the only path to the mountain-summit, the vantage –ground from which to see the glory of God. Never turn aside from unswerving loyalty to the voice of God, speaking in his word and in your heart and circumstance. Dare to do right though you stand alone amongst the recreant hosts and God will show you his glory.

God told Moses “No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain” (Exod. 34:1-5). Moses was shut out of the spectacles of the earth and shut in with God. Jacob was alone when he saw a stairway to heaven (Gen 28: 10-17). John was alone when he saw the vision of heaven (Rev. 1:9-20). Jesus took with him Peter, James  and John up a high mountain by themselves to see his transfiguration (Matt.17:1-3). Once in a while go to a lonely place and spend time alone with God; Jesus often did it (Luke 5:16). Up there you will get an unusual view of God.

What comes into your mind when you think about God? Often our God is much smaller than the God of the Bible. The psalmist says “O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment”( Ps. 104:1). Some Christians say you should be invisible in ministry. Paul says people should see you and see Jesus’ reflection in you!  Maybe the reason why no portrait of the real Jesus exists is because He desires to be seen in each of our lives!