Moses and the Glory
Illustration from Wikimedia Commons
If Exodus 32 is the low point of the Old Testament, then Exodus 33-34 are its height. The tenderness of God is demonstrated in the face of betrayal. His mercy and justice are put on display. In these chapters the LORD bares His heart to a friend. He hurts like a rejected Husband, but He takes comfort in the love of His prophet - one whose heart is gripped with awe and wonder - one who will not let go - one who intercedes on behalf of the people God has chosen to love.
The passage is so beautiful that I must quote it.
Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ Now then, if I have found favor in Your sight in any way, please let me know Your ways so that I may know You, in order that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are on the face of the earth?”
The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.” Then Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.”
I have always been captivated by the boldness of Moses’ plea. “Let me see Your glory!” The wildness of this request lies in the fact that Moses has already been on Mt. Sinai with the LORD for 40 days without food or drink. He has lived in the presence of God, in the midst of the fire. He ate with God on a sapphire sea. He saw the LORD part the Red Sea. He stood beneath the pillar of fire and heard the voice of God. All this only whetted his appetite. Moses knew there was more. He knew He had not yet seen the full glory of God. And this hunger, this desire to know YHWH moved the LORD’s heart deeply.
The LORD responds to Moses saying “I know your name, therefore, I will tell you Mine.” The Name of God expresses His goodness, and His goodness is part of His glory. But the LORD makes clear that the is more to His glory than Moses can bear to see. The LORD cannot not allow Moses to see His face; however, He says “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
I find this language fascinating! There is a place “by” the LORD. What does this mean? Moses is allowed to stand on the rock - the rock - not just any rock. The specific rock is important because the LORD will hide Him there, and as He passes by, He will put His hand over Moses. Of course, the Rock which is by the LORD is an image of Christ, the Son. Perhaps that rock was much more than an image. Paul tells the Corinthians that the Rock which followed Israel through giving water to the people was, in fact, Christ. I Cor. 10:14
And here is another mystery connecting Moses to Jesus. When Moses intercedes on behalf of Israel, the LORD relents He spares the nation and promises to go with them to the Promised Land. But His glory remains veiled to the people.. Only Moses can speak with God directly, and Moses is only allowed to see the LORD’s “backside.” But with Jesus’ coming, we were able to look upon the face of God. We were able to see His glory, “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
And yet, our eyes remain veiled to the full glory of Christ and the Father. Jesus Himself tells us this is true. On the night of His passion He prays, “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24) There is more for us to see, brothers and sisters! There is so much glory we have yet to know! It touches the heart of God when we long to see this glory. He writes the names of those who set their hearts on Him in the Book of Life. And when we see Jesus in glory, He will write “the name of His God” upon us. (Rev. 3:12) Can you imagine bearing the weight of that glory in your own being?