Shining

DEVOTION

EXODUS

SHINING

Ex 34:29-35

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

NIV

Moses descends the mountain after spending forty days and forty nights in communion with the LORD. Just a thought about those days and nights, we were told he did not eat or drink. We might also imagine he did not sleep either. How can a man live for forty days without any sustenance? It makes us think of the words of Jesus.

John 4:32-34

32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

KJV

Do we not think that the LORD sustained both the soul and the body of Moses during those forty days and nights? Sometimes it seems we can barely make it through a couple of hours on Sunday morning without thinking about where we are going to eat afterwards. Moses spent forty days and nights communing with God. Is it any wonder that his face was shining so brightly the people were actually afraid to come near him? So that he could stand among the people Moses had to put a veil over his face so as to not frighten the people because of his radiance. But this radiance was not just because he had spent forty days and nights with the LORD. We are also being told that whenever Moses entered the LORDs presence to speak with him, he would remove the veil, but then put it back on when he came out from speaking with the LORD. What does this mean for us? Shouldn’t our face shine so brightly after being with the LORD that we need a veil so people would not be afraid to come near us? Why doesn’t our face shine like Moses did? Are we not admonished to let our light shine?

Matt 5:14-16

14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

NIV

Is that the same kind of light that radiated from Moses? Looking at the Hebrew and Greek words, it appears the intent of the meaning is the same. We should be so radiant from being in the presence of the LORD, the world would be able to our shining face. Perhaps it does not mean our face, but rather our whole continence. When we spent time with the LORD our whole continence should be radiating light. A slumped over continence does not reflect having been in the presence of the LORD. A face that does not contain a smile, including eyes beaming with delight, also does not reflect the presence of the LORD. Because the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we do not have to enter a tent of meeting as Moses did in order to be in the presence of the LORD. Although, there is another lesson about the veil which Moses removed every time he entered the presence of the LORD. When we are in the presence of God we cannot hide our face, our being, our true self. We might, in a certain sense, put a veil on when we are with people. That is be one person when we are with God and be another person when we are with people. But that cannot be as we are always in the presence of God as he dwells within us. So then we should not be hiding our light, hiding our faith, hiding our true self in the presence of others. This also means if they cannot see the light shining from within us, we might need to consider both the time and quality of our communing with the LORD. Although we are believers, and we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and received the Spirit who dwells within us, do we actually commune with him to the point that we are shining? Do we live with love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control? Do we exhibit this shining fruit, so that others may come near to pick it from us and enjoy the fruit of our having been in the presence of the LORD? Do we live happy and joyous among the people of the world? Can they see our shining being? Do we consider reading his word, or spending time in communion with him a routine, or discipline, or even as an obligation? If so, we are not truly ever going to shine as Moses did. We know that Moses’s desire was to find favor in the eyes of the LORD. He wanted more than anything to be pleasing to God, and he found that favor, the pleasing and his face was radiant because of it. That is how we need to approach our relationship with the LORD. We should allow the Spirit full access to our being, wanting nothing else other than to please the LORD. Because the Spirit dwells within, we are the light, but let us take any veil, any façade, that we might try to cover up our true self with and let the Spirit shine through us. Let us be the light that God intends us to be. We can only do that when we commune with him. If we commune with the world, it can only drag us down and it will eventually extinguish any shining we might have. If nothing else communing with the world will diminish our light. That is not to say we should not be in that world, for we are told to go out into the world and tell them about the light. One of the best ways to do that is to let our light shine so brightly they will see Jesus. Let us commune with the LORD.