Glory

DEVOTION

EXODUS

GLORY

Ex 33:12-23

12 Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.' 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people." 14 The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." 15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" 17 And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name." 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, the LORD, 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."

NIV

It is possible that we should have left the second part of this narrative for another day. The part about Moses seeing the glory of the LORD might be just more than enough for a whole days thought, but we will include it as it does finish off this conversation between Moses and God. But let us first spend some time with this request of Moses regarding being taught his ways. The LORD had just told Moses to leave this place and go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. That he would not be going with them, but rather he would send an angel to lead them on the way and drive out the people of that land before them. Now Moses is asking who will go with them. He reminds God that he told Moses that he found favor in the eyes of the LORD. So Moses pushes the issue. He asks God to teach him his ways so that he may know him and continue to find favor with him. This too was the cry of David many times. He continued to seek the teaching of the LORD.

Ps 86:11-13

11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.

Should this not be our cry as well? Should we not be seeking the LORD to teach us his ways that we might know him and continue to find favor with him? What are his ways? It is interesting that throughout the Old Testament we can find so many of the ways of the LORD. But it is just as interesting that in the New Testament Jesus says he is the way. Throughout the Old Testament we find ourselves under the old covenant as well, but once the New Testament begins with the birth of Jesus we are entering into the new covenant as well. Moses needed to know the ways of the LORD within the confines of the Law. We need to know the ways of the LORD within the freedom of Christ. Sure we study of the Old Testament and we surely get a tremendous view of God with wisdom and understanding of his character along with his ways, which would be how he interacts with his people. This would include his wrath and his grace. His hatred of sin and his love of his people. His justice and his forgiveness. So much of his character can be found in the Old Testament but that too is who he is for all of time, yet all of this interaction was constrained under the Law, the old covenant. This is the way Moses was to learn about him, and know him and continue to find favor with him. But we know him in a different way. We know him as satisfying his own need for justice and demonstrating his great love for us on the Cross of Calvary. Jesus said that if we have seen him we have seen the Father. We see God through the life of Christ. Then to make it even better, Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to teach us the way. Moses continues to press the LORD about him going with them instead of this angel. He asks how the world would know that you are pleased with me and your people unless your presence go with us. Here again we see it is not about Moses and the people, but rather about God. Moses is telling the LORD it is all about his reputation with the rest of the people of the world. How could the LORD refuse that offer? He doesn’t, he tells Moses that he will go with them. He tells him he will do the very thing he asks because he is pleased with him and he knows him by name. When it comes to us, the best way we can please the LORD is to accept his provision for our salvation. We please God when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. God does not want anyone to perish, this is not pleasing to him.

2 Peter 3:8-9

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

NIV

The Lord God wants everyone to know his way to salvation, Jesus. He has not just a select few to save, but desires that all men know him, and know his way to be saved from his wrath that will be poured out upon the earth someday.

2 Peter 3:10-18

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.   11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

NIV

There it is. What kind of people ought we to be? We should live holy and godly lives. This we can only do in Christ. The world will see the difference in us as we live in the manner of Christ Jesus. Being in Christ, having the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, having the favor of God shine down upon us, his presence going with us, is what distinguishes us from the rest of the world. This was the request of Moses and it should be ours as well. Now Moses asks to see the Glory of the LORD. God shows him, but not his face. Just imagine how large the hand of God was to hide Moses from seeing his face until he passed by and then removed his hand and allowed Moses to see his glory. What exactly that looked like, we were not told, but it must have been extremely monumental in the life of Moses. We find throughout the Old Testament many times when the Glory of the LORD was present. However in the New Testament it is mentioned but once. This is the time the shepherds were in their fields and the angel of the LORD appeared to them to tell them about Jesus. When the glory of the LORD shone upon them, they were terrified. But the point is all that glory is now in Christ. We can see the glory of the LORD in Jesus. We can have that vision of his glory. We can experience that same event as Moses did because we know Jesus and he has sent us his Spirit, his glory resides within us. Yes, the Father still sits upon his throne in heaven and his holiness and majesty is completely awesome and almost beyond our imagination. But his presence is with us, he leads us to that land flowing with milk and honey, he leads us in the paths of righteousness for his name sake, not ours. After Moses was shown the Glory of the LORD, as we will see, he needed to cover his face with a veil because it shown so brightly reflecting the glory of the LORD. But we have no such veil.

2 Cor 3:12-18

12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

NIV

We reflect the Glory of the LORD to the world and as the Spirit continues to transform us into his likeness we will exhibit an ever-increasing glory, which comes from the LORD, who is the Spirit. Let our light shine! Let the world see the glory of the LORD in us!