We learned in yesterday's study that the Lord spoke with Moses like a man speaks to a friend. But even though the Bible said it was like the two of them spoke "face to face" Moses has not ever literally seen the Lord's face. Today he will ask for the biggest thing he can imagine: to see the face of God.
We begin with the second half of verse 11 where we left off yesterday which tells us that Moses would go out regularly to the tent of meeting to speak to the Lord. "Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent." (Exodus 33:11b) We know Joshua is going to be Moses' successor. Whether or not Moses knows it yet we cannot say, but we can already tell how much of a godly influence Moses has been on this younger man. Joshua loves the Lord so much he feels like King David who said if he had his way he'd live in the Lord's house around the clock: "One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple." (Psalm 27:4)
Joshua is Moses' right hand man and is the Lord's chosen successor for Moses. Whether or not Moses knows this, he's concerned with who will help him lead the people right now. "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.'" (Exodus 33:12a) Moses says, "This job is too big for me! Who is going to help me?" Moses phrases his question in a way that indicates he wants to be told which men are going to have his back in every circumstance while he leads the people, but I think what he really wants to know is whether God is going to go with him as he leads the people. I believe this is truly what's at the heart of Moses' question. The Lord's presence is not as fully in the people's midst right now as it once was because they fell so suddenly and horribly into deplorable idolatry. Moses is concerned that when they break camp and move out, the Lord won't go with them. If the Lord doesn't go with them, Moses can't do this job. So what I really think he's saying is, "This job is too big for any man! I know You can bring other godly men alongside me to help me shoulder this enormous burden, but unless You go with us I don't want to go." It's good to have help from our fellow human beings, but if the Lord isn't with us then any victory we achieve feels hollow. We can work our fingers to the bone, and our helpers can work their fingers to the bone, but if the Lord hasn't given His blessing to our work then the work is going to be tedious and unrewarding.
King David felt the same way Moses feels. David had good friends---some who would have died defending him---but still he knew that without the Lord on his side everything was meaningless. "Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless." (Psalm 60:11, Psalm 108:12) David didn't mean he didn't appreciate his godly friends who loved him. He meant that he needed the supernatural help of the Lord and the comforting presence of the Lord. That's what Moses needs too.
We've already learned that Moses has such a close relationship with the Lord that the Lord considers him a friend, but Moses wants to grow closer to the Lord every day of his life. He's not content to stay where he is spiritually; he wants to continually learn more about the Lord. On top of that, he wants the world to know that the Lord is with him and with Israel so that the Lord may be honored and so that the people may be protected from their enemies. He continues his conversation with the Lord, "You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with Me.' 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.' The Lord replied, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.' Then Moses said to Him, 'If Your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 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?' 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.'" (Exodus 33:12b-17)
I don't know that anything pleases the Lord more than having us ask for more of Him. Moses is drawing as near to the Lord as he knows how and he's asking the Lord to draw as close to him as He can. He also wants the Lord to draw as close to Israel as He can. The Lord is pleased with Moses' request and intends to grant it. Upon hearing this welcome news, Moses becomes even bolder. He makes the biggest request his mind can think of. "Then Moses said, 'Now show me Your glory.'" (Exodus 33:18) The Lord has already manifested His glory in the form of a pillar of cloud that stands at the tent entrance. He's led the people through the desert as a pillar of cloud by day and as a pillar of fire by night. But Moses wants to see something more than a pillar that symbolizes the presence of God. He wants to see God Himself. He wants to see the very face of his Creator. He wants to see something no man has ever seen.
God is pleased with this request too. He can't grant it in its entirety, for the intense glory of His holiness would consume Moses in his frail human body, but the Lord intends to honor Moses' bold and beautiful request by giving him a glimpse of Himself that no man has ever seen. Moses can't look Him in the eye and survive the encounter, but he's going to see enough of the Lord to sustain him through all the difficulties and trials he'll have to face while leading the people for the next forty years. "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. But,' He said, 'you cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live.' Then the Lord said, 'There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock. 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. Then I will remove My hand and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.'" (Exodus 33:19-23)
In tomorrow's chapter we'll find the Lord fulfilling this promise. But today I can't help thinking about how easily Moses could have missed this awesome experience. What if he hadn't had a heart that cried out to know more of the living God? What if he hadn't had the boldness to dare to ask God for something no man had ever asked? This ought to encourage us to think bigger when we think about God! This ought to prompt us to ask great things of an omnipotent God! He may not grant every request we make of Him; He has plans for our lives that some of our requests may not fit into, but what a shame it would be to someday stand before Him and actually see Him face to face and realize we could have had so much more. We should never be satisfied with a mediocre relationship with God, with mediocre Christian living, or with mediocre victories. We have access to a power source so great that we can't even begin to comprehend it with our frail human minds. I don't want to see God as He is someday and think to myself, "I didn't have to live on the mediocre level where I lived my life. I could have stepped up so much higher to be closer to the Lord. If only I'd thought bigger when I thought of God I would have dared to ask for more healings for myself or for others. I'd have dared to ask for bigger victories. I'd have spent more time in confident intercessory prayer for the lost and the backslidden. If only I'd had the intense desire for the Lord's presence that Moses had and said, 'Show me Your glory!'"
No comments:
Post a Comment