What Was Limited for Moses Is Unlimited for Us

If David was a man after God's own heart, could it be said that Moses was a man who wanted to see all of God in order to know him fully?

A short list of miraculous, unheard of things that Moses saw up until Exodus 33 as he led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the desert include...

1. A burning bush that could not be consumed.

2. A conversation with God from that bush that was burning.

3. His staff turning into a snake and then back into a staff.

4. Plagues that struck the nation he was in yet did not harm him.

5. The Red Sea parting and making a way of escape.

6. Fire, smoke, thunder, and lightning as a byproduct of God descending on a mountain.

7. Manna and quail provided as food.

8. Water produced from a rock.

It even says in verse 11 of the chapter, that when Moses went out to meet with God at the tent of meeting, that he talked with him face to face as a man talks to his friend.

Give Moses credit for his desire to know God because if I talked with God like a friend and saw all that Moses had already seen, I may have believed I had seen it all, yet Moses wanted to see one more thing.

God's glory.

Moses had just finished telling the Lord that he didn't want to go anywhere without His presence. God honors that request and then Moses says one more thing.

"Now, show me your glory."

God's response gives us a hint of what that is but I am still not sure if I can come close to comprehending what Moses was asking.

God tells him that he will cause "all of of his goodness" to pass before Moses and will declare his name, but Moses is not allowed see his face or he will die.

Is God's most Glorious attribute his face? Is that his Glory?

See, your face is what clearly distinguishes you from everyone else in the world. It's your image.

Your name is very helpful in identifying who you are, but associating that name with a face solidifies the deal.

When I know your name and your face I can trust easier in whom I am dealing with. I don't believe this was a matter of trust for Moses. It may have been a desire to know all of God.

Glory is not an easy word to describe. In the Old Testament it is a heaviness that comes from awe and wonder. In the New testament it is what evokes good opinion, majesty, greatness, even thoughts of "it can't get any better than this."

Both definitions are similar in nature but glory is hard to define because of its depth.

Moses, like any other human back then, was unable to see the Glory of God completely because of his fallen nature.

But 2nd Corinthians 3:18 says that now, because of Jesus, we are able to see his face and allow His glory to shine on us. He renews us from the inside out so we can reflect his image, allowing us to become image bearers of God.

What would have killed Moses and was too great for him to see, is now what transforms us little by little into God's image and expresses God's image to those around us.

What was limited for Moses is now unlimited for us.

The Glory of God is now available for us to see. A veil has been removed and it has purpose. It allows us to become more Christ like and for us to represent him more accurately to others.

A missionary I knew from Morocco said that he never asked the local muslims in his bible study if they wanted to follow Jesus. They would just continue to meet, read, and discuss and eventually the look on their faces showed him that they had started believing.

The Glory of God revealed to man shows up in our faces.

It is a witness in itself that what is expressed on the outside is carried within. As we grow closer in relationship with the Father, the glory increases to more glory.

Knowing God and seeing his Glory go hand in hand.