I don’t mind
saying that, for the most part, I don’t envy Moses. Much of his time leading Israel seems like
suffering and sorrow. He went up on the
mountain, and people acted like he never existed. He stood before the people and they complained
about not having bread or meat or water.
Across his ministry he faced angry crowds, feared being stoned, and
thought he’d be deserted.
Nope. I don’t envy that at all.
But then we read
Exodus 33 where we learn about the Tent of Meeting. This was a tent (not the Tabernacle) that
Moses sat in and God came to Him in a pillar of cloud and spoke with him. How awesome it must have been to hear God’s
voice! Then Moses asked to see God, and
God let him! Not as much as Moses would
like, but He gets to see Him and hear Him proclaim His name, “The LORD!”
That had to have
been awesome. Talk about things you
could never quite communicate later.
That is definitely the kind of experience that one would say of, “You
had to be there!”
Yet as wonderful
as this revelation for Moses was, we have received something even better. John 1:14 says, “The Word (and remember John 1:1,
“the Word was God,”) became flesh dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” And then in John 1:18, “No one has ever seen
God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”
In Jesus we get
to see God. In the Word we hear God’s
voice! In Jesus we get to see God’s
glory! Jesus is, “the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all
things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things
hold together. And he is the head of the
body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so
that in everything he might have the supremacy.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through
him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in
heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Col 1:15-20
NIV)
God revealed His
glory for us in a hidden way. He chose
to take on humanity; for the Second Person of the Trinity to become incarnate
to bear our sins, show us God’s love, and be the sacrifice that atones for our
sins. He has removed the barrier, the
dividing curtain, that keeps us from God’s presence, by bearing our sins to the
cross and leaving them there as a public spectacle.
Do you want to
see the glory of God? Look to the
Cross. Our God gives forgiveness to
sinners like you and me, therefore He is feared; therefore He is worshipped and
glorified! (Psalm 130)
It is
interesting, that Moses did eventually gaze on the face of God. When Jesus was on the Mount of
Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah came to Him to discuss His exodus (as Luke
calls it in Greek), meaning His death, resurrection and ascension. While it doesn’t explicitly say Moses looked
on Jesus’ face in the text, they were there and they spoke to Jesus, and since
the disciples could see, I assume Moses and Elijah could too. One day we will look upon that face,
too. Oh for that day to come!
Amen! Come
quickly, Lord Jesus! Let us see Your
face, for that will mean that our struggles are over and we are home with You
in Glory. But until then, help me to
share the hope You have given me so at least one more may see Your face with
joy when You return. Amen.
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