WEDNESDAY
Remember at the burning bush when Moses first encountered the presence of God, he hid his face. I argued that he hid his face in shame as the rest of the conversation is full of Moses arguing with God about his inadequacies. But now Moses is a changed man from his time in the presence of God. Moses has come to fully trust in the power, timing, and means of God. He has heard God declare “I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” (Ex. 33:17) Now in the presence of God, instead of hiding his face, let’s see what Moses does.
Exodus 33:18-23 18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, Yahweh, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 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. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
Let’s make a couple of quick notes on the text before we dive into the application. First, verse 18 feels a little rude and irreverent as it is translated. In Hebrew the word translated “Now” is just a particle of emphasis. “Surely” or “even” are good translations. But you see the trouble here. How do you communicate the emphasis on the verb “show” without sounding rude? Some other translations translate it as “please”. I think that’s a better translation as it implies the emphasis and desperation without sounding rude and demanding. However, the downside of please is that the grammar of this phrase it is not technically a request.
Secondly, in verse 19 God says that his “goodness” will pass before Moses, but in verse 22 he says his “glory” will pass in front of him. “Glory” implies heaviness, significance, riches, reputation, importance. It is used to describe God’s essence and power. The two terms, goodness and glory, are used synonymously here. This could indicate that God’s glory is primarily seen in the goodness of his creation (cf. Gen. 1; Rom. 1:20) and his intrinsic goodness in character. There is nothing theoretically that mandates God must be good. He could be a menace as other ancient gods often were. But Yahweh is by nature good and he brings goodness into his fallen creation that often seeks to define goodness apart from him. In this display of his goodness we see God’s glory.
Thirdly, this text is full of what is called “anthropomorphic language” and “phenomenological language”. Anthropomorphic language is to use human parts that we understand to describe God. God is spirit (Jn. 4:24). So he doesn’t literally have a hand or a back or a face. In this usage the face of God simply refers to the fullness of God’s glory. Hebrew doesn’t have a great word for the idea of presence so even in vv. 14-15 the word for “presence” is the Hebrew word for “face”. To see God’s back then is to see some of God’s glory but not the fullness of his glory. It’s with this background that John writes in Revelation of the the new creation, “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. (Rev. 22:4) In the new creation we will see the fullness of God’s glory.
Similarly, phenomenological language is when we describe something by what we perceive even if it isn’t what is literally happening. We do this when we say, “The sun is rising.” We know it isn’t literally rising, but it appears like that to us. So here, God hiding Moses in the cleft of a rock with his hand and seeing his back as he passes over is just Moses’ way of describing the event from his perception and for our understanding, not necessarily the literal happening.
Finally, in v. 19 God declares, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” This is reinforcing the same idea that we talked about yesterday. God, as the author and sustainer of life, is sovereign to choose who will receive his mercy and his compassion. Remember, this is after the golden calf incident. If God were solely acting in justice they all would perish. But he chooses to show mercy and compassion to those on whom his favor rests. This is simply God’s free choice. This is likely why Aaron wasn’t killed along with the other 3,000. God simply chose to show him mercy. The Apostle Paul picks up and expounds on this idea in Romans 9.
Now on to the application:
Whereas Moses’ eyes were on himself at the burning bush, they are now fully on God and he can’t get enough. Moses had already “seen God” with the 70 elders at the ratification of the covenant (Ex. 24:9-10). That had to be an amazing experience, whatever they actually saw. He saw the burning bush. He saw the 10 plagues. He saw the provision and protection of God in the wilderness. He saw the glory of God on Mt. Sinai. Moses had already seen the glory of the Lord. These experiences served to whet his appetite for glory of the Lord. He had tasted the glory of God and now he wants more of God.
The glory and presence of God is one thing in this life that we should always chase after for more. It has been said that we have infinite capacity to desire. Our desires are limitless. Isn’t it fitting that God is the only limitless one. Therefore, everything else we desire will eventually disappoint us as we come to the end of that thing’s capacity to satisfy (think food, sex, money, relationships, etc). We are made for God. The more we know God the more we desire him. The more of him we experience the more that desire is kindled in us for more of him. And he is always willing to give us more of himself, in his timing and in his way, so we can be deeply satisfied.
Additional Content
Psalm 34:8 8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 42:1–2 1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Reflection
Examine what you are truly chasing after. Are you pursuing God or are you distracted by lesser pleasures and pursuits? Are you seeking to satisfy your deepest longings in finite things? Or are you pursing God’s glory to satisfy your deepest longing? Are you self-focused or God-focused? Are you hiding your face in shame or are are you boldly asking God to show you his glory?
My prayer for you is that you would taste and see that the Lord is good. My prayer is that you pant after God like a deer pants for streams of water. My prayer is that you would desire God above all and be deeply satisfied in him.