The Life of Moses (18)

The Lord had answered Moses’ request for His nearness, His favor. It would not be sufficient if the Lord would send an angel—Moses needed His presence. The Lord had answered, “I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in My sight, and I know thee by name” (Exodus 33:17).

Moses’ request

Then Moses asked, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.” That was Moses’ earnest desire. What did Moses mean by “God’s glory”? It was the radiant splendor of God’s highly exalted Being, the brightness of His countenance.

The Lord’s answer is first with a promise. “I will make all My goodness pass before thee.” Goodness is beauty, excellency, “My glory.” The Lord would not show His glory as Moses had asked but by passing it before him, that is, in a sudden and transitory vision. The Lord added, “I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee.” The Lord would be gracious and show His particular favor to Moses. He would also be gracious to the people for whom Moses had been pleading. These were several tokens of His favor, but “thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live.”

It is impossible for mortal, weak man to see God’s face, for if God should display all the beams of His glory to him, it would certainly astonish, overwhelm, and destroy him. Moses’ request shows his earnest desire and love to the Lord, but it is not granted.

A place by the Lord

What a wonderful answer this is. No, the full display of God’s glory could not be borne by a sinful human creature, but there is a place by the Lord. We read in Psalm 91:1&4, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,” and “He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust.” A place with God—how is that possible? We lost our place with Him, left Him as the prodigal son did. By grace we learn that our place now is far away from the Lord, in the wilderness, in a valley of tears, a land of emptiness and hunger and vanity. We now have a place in darkness, in a prison, under God’s wrath, a place among God’s enemies, and our place must be eternal destruction.

There are people who see this by the enlightening of the Spirit. They have lost that place with the Lord; there is a separation. They experience that their place is not with the world, but they also do not belong to God’s people. There is hope, however. We read in Isaiah 56 that the Lord will give a place and a name better than that of sons and of daughters unto eunuchs, the dry trees, in His house and within His walls.

This place was purchased by Christ. He took the place in Bethlehem in a stable, as a fugitive in Egypt, in a despised place, Nazareth, He took the place of humiliation and was ultimately not forsaken only of the people but also the Father, the Judge who required payment. Christ’s place was as a worm and no man in Gethsemane. He was sentenced to death before the earthly judge, was scourged, led away as a dangerous criminal, and nailed on the cross of Calvary. He took the place in darkness: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” He received a place in the sepulcher; He was with the rich in His death, but He arose and ascended into heaven, and there is now a place for wretched sinners with God. He prepares a place for them in the house of His Father, a place with Him. Was that not the promise given to the thief on the cross, “To day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise”?

What a wonder that will be if wretched, miserable sinners, undeserving of the least of the benefits from Him, may see the King in His beauty!

A place received

Moses received a place in the rock, and who else is typified by the rock than Christ Himself? In a cleft of the rock, Moses received a place from the Lord. The Lord would cover him with His hand while He passed by. He would cover Moses, not in a holy displeasure, but in favor; it was the hand of God’s love, grace, and good pleasure. There was no covering for Christ. The Rock was stricken by the rod of God’s holy wrath, but in that way, a place was merited in the cleft of the Rock. The Lord Himself placed Moses there. It was not stolen but graciously given.

Then the Lord descended in a cloud and He passed by him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6&7a). He will by no means clear the guilty, but in Christ—through the place which He as the Substitute took for them of reconciliation— atonement and peace with a Triune God is restored. No wonder that we read in chapter 34:8, “And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.” What a precious moment in the life of Moses.

The Lord had granted Moses’ request as far as it was possible, and thus He had proved to him that He is faithful to His promise. His covenant will stand forever. There will be many impossibilities and many mountains of sin, of rebellion, of unbelief from the side of the people. Often, they complained and argued; they grieved the Lord with their behavior and even acted as if they would rather be back in Egypt, the house of bondage. Nevertheless, the Lord did not cast them away, but with His faithful hand He would safely lead not only Moses but all the true wilderness travelers and bring them to the place of rest that He has merited and prepared for them.

(To be continued)

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