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15. Shielded From Glory


Exodus 33:12-23
Key Verse:  “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.’"
Exodus 33:19-20

How Holy the Lord God is!  How unholy we sinners are!  Even someone, who walked as closely as Moses did with God Himself, could not look upon his dear friend's face and live.  So often, we do not realize just how much our sin separates us from God.  Adam and Eve in the garden used to be able to look at God’s face.

Through this encounter, we begin to understand why God could not simply come, as He is, to live with us.  We can begin to understand why He chose to enter this world as a baby.  There is nothing harmful or threatening about a baby.  As a baby, God could be approached and touched.  He could be related to in a way that we could understand.  Who doesn't enjoy holding a baby, hearing its laugh and enjoying its presence while it sleeps securely in your arms?

By contrast, here on the mountain, we are caused to consider the fullness of God's glory.  It is immense and overwhelming.  It is so overpowering that when Moses came away from being near it, his face shone from the afterglow.  It is so intense, that to look at his face would mean instant death, even for the most righteous of us.  Yet, somehow, all of this glory and grandeur was hidden in the body of an approachable infant and brought forth in the darkness of a stable.  I'm frustrated at finding the right words to convey the wonder of the miracle that took place.  I've thought about stuffing a down sleeping bag into one of those tiny sacks, but even that doesn't do this miracle justice.

Maybe, by comparing the glory here with the baby in the manger, we begin to understand, just a little, how much God left behind to redeem us.  Perhaps, we can begin to understand the depth of His sacrifice for us.  How truly amazing is God's love!  And one more thing.  Most scholars believe that the “stable” in which Jesus was born was actually a small cave, either natural or carved out of a rock face.  This would mean that in being born as a human, God switched things around.  He put himself in the cleft of the rock, and invited humble shepherds to draw near and “pass by.”

Isaac Watts puts it this way: "Veiled in flesh, the God Head see.  Hail the incarnate Deity.  Pleased as man, with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel."  He may have been a baby to us, but to God the Father, He was still all that glory.  He may have become a man to us, but He still contained all that glory.  He may have been hung on a cross, but it was still all that glory that Moses couldn't look upon hanging on that cross for us as well.  What we see with our eyes isn't all that there is to see.  Jesus’ flesh shielded and protected us from God's glory just as God protected Moses on the mountain.  What a wonderful Savior He is.  Amen.

Show me Your Glory
Hymn: "A Wonderful Savior Is Jesus My Lord" 

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