29 When Moses came down from
Mount Sinai with the two tablets
of the covenant law 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.
Exodus 34
Yesterday we talked about the presence of the Lord.
God, in frustration, had said, “Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you.” Horrified at the consequences of trying to life without God, Moses replied, “If your presence will not go [with us, then] do not carry us up from here.” As we said yesterday, God’s spiritual presence is a greater blessing than any physical gift.
Today, we get to see the fruit of God’s presence. But … first a story …
When Jesus came to this earth, he took off his robes of life and came in fragile human form. I was infinitely more than a change of costume! Nevertheless, use that image for a moment: Jesus was at the very least God-in-a-human-costume (as it says in Philippians 2, he was here “in human form”). But at the transfiguration, for one quick moment, it was like Peter, James, and John got to see beneath the human costume. They got to see Jesus for who he really was. And he was literally transfigured – his figure changed – for a moment earth got to see his true identity: “his face shone like the sun, and his clothes become dazzling white” (17:2).
That is apparently what Moses encountered when he went up on the mountain of God. Why? Because when Moses came down the mountain, his face was transfigured! No, Moses didn’t have a glory within himself as Jesus did. Rather, simply encountering the unveiled presence of God made Moses’ face shine!
1 John 1:5 tells us that “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all”; thus, we are seeing in this story that when we truly encounter God’s true presence, we shine. Indeed, we can’t help it!
Now, this makes me think about two quick things …
1. If we’re not glowing, we need to try something deeper and richer in our lives! We need to seek a more personal encounter with God’s true presence.
2. We are so broken and sinful (every one of us), that God’s holiness absolutely overwhelms sinful human beings. How do I know this? Because they made Moses put on a veil (to shield themselves from the second hand light of Moses who encounter God) … and they flat-out killed Jesus!
And that puts us in a dilemma! We want our face to shine, but most of us, deep down, are afraid to truly encounter God. We occasionally stick our toe into the light, but mostly we’re content to live in shadows and shades of gray.
What do we do to see, experience, and reflect more and more light? Look at Jesus’ first words in Scripture in red. In Mark 1:15 he says “repent.” Why? Because “the kingdom of God has come near.” We have spiritual access to every blessing, but we can’t truly shine until we “turn away” from the things of this world (which is what “repent” means), and “turn toward” the presence of God. Because when we turn (and return) in humble repentance, “a broken and contrite [He] will not despise.”
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who’s fluorescent …
I glow a little after I’ve been
exposed to the light
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