Aglow With God’s Glory
He put a veil over his face and took it off again only when he was in the presence of the Lord.
Moses and God had met together many times before Moses’ face took on such radiance. But this time something was different.
For example, Moses went up to Mount Sinai to meet with God, and “the LORD called to him from the mountain” (v. 3).
Then God told Moses to go back and consecrate the people, for God would show himself to them in the form of a cloud over the mountain.
When God appeared, he displayed his power with a dense cloud, thunder and lightning, and the blast of a trumpet.
The mountain shook, and the people trembled at the overwhelming force before them.
Then he went up the mountain and spoke with God.
When he came back down, he told the people not to approach Mount Sinai, for they could not see God and live.
God once again appeared in the midst of a cloud, with thunder and lightning and the sound of a trumpet. Moses reentered the darkness of the cloud to meet with God.
Moses had more divine encounters, getting closer to God than anyone else and receiving instructions to take back to the people.
God himself inscribes the tablets of the Ten Commandments (Exod. 31:18).
Then in Exodus 33:18, the relationship changed.
The word glory here refers to something that is heavy, impressive, and honored. Moses must have been asking to see God more fully than he already had.
And God agreed in part. God put Moses in the cleft of a rock, covered Moses with his hand, and passed by.
As God moved away, he allowed Moses to see his back … in all God’s glory.
Moses spent forty days and forty nights up on the mountain in the presence of God. It was at the conclusion of these forty days that Moses descended from the mountain and his face was radiant.
The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what changed between God and Moses that transformed man’s appearance.
But it seems reasonable to assume that the radiance came from Moses’ being in the presence of God’s glory.
And in our own way, we can be transformed by the glory of God, too.
Father, we cannot imagine what it will be like to see you in all your glory, but we thank you that one day we will. We thank you that we will be fully in your presence.