Word of Encouragement (09/15/2022)
Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” (Ex. 33:18)
This is Moses’ final petition in this encounter with God. You know what follows this petition. The LORD granted his wish with one condition: “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Ex. 33:20). So, as He passed by Moses in His glory, He put Moses in the cleft of a rock and covered him with His hand, taking away His hand only after He passed by so Moses could see His back only (Ex. 33:21-23).
This is one of the greatest prayers we can make—to see the glory of God—isn’t it? We spend a lot of money and are willing to travel far (or, we wish we can) to catch a glimpse of something breathtaking, something glorious. There is something so ennobling and purifying and fulfilling about such an experience. If the reflected glory of God in His creation can take our breath away, can you imagine what beholding God’s glory will be like? To Moses, God spoke anthropomorphically that he could not see God’s face and live. That means we cannot see the fullness of God’s glory and survive even as glorified saints, I dare say. That is why even the glorified angels hide their faces with their wings in the presence of God. We are told that God dwells in an unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16). Even in heaven, we will only be able to behold the outskirts of God’s glory. Even that will transcend any sight we can capture in this world. If we can behold God’s glory, everything else will lose its power of attraction over us.
God’s glory probably had to be “toned down” considerably to accommodate the fallen condition of Moses and the world. Even so, whatever Moses was allowed to see must have been glorious beyond our imagination. How blessed and privileged Moses was! He was, after all, the mediator of God’s covenant with Israel and the prophet par excellence!
But let us not fail to notice a paradox here. Do you realize that God showed His glory in more than just one way in this instance? He let His glory pass by Moses. But where did God put him to witness His glory? In the cleft of a rock. Many believe that this was the rock that was cleft when Moses struck it according to God’s command to get water for the people of Israel (17:6). This rock was at Horeb (17:6). Horeb, of course, is another name for Sinai.
What else do we know about this rock? Paul says in 1 Cor. 10:4, “...all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” If Moses as a sinner was able to see the glory of God passing by, it was only because he was safely hiding in “the Rock of Ages cleft for me”. What does this have to do with the glory of God?
Remember what Jesus said about His hour of glory? When some Greek men came to see Jesus, He said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). What was He talking about? For Him to be lifted on the cross for our redemption. Oh, to think that He saw His crucifixion as His hour of glory! Would he do that if He did not love us to death (literally!)? And theologically speaking, it was His hour of glory because the glory of God’s grace and the glory of His grace were simultaneously revealed for our redemption! This was what the rock that was cleft for the quenching of the Israelites was pointing to!
Do you want to see God’s glory? One day we will see His glory in heaven in full measure (that is, as much as it is possible for glorified creatures). But God has revealed His glory in the cross of Jesus Christ. For now, that is the glory we cling to, the glory we seek for ourselves. If we share in the glory of His suffering, we will also share in the glory of His resurrection.