The Glory of God
“Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest
I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” ––Exodus 33:3
I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” ––Exodus 33:3
It had been an impossible yet real group escape―hundreds of thousands of slaves passing through deep waters on dry land. The exit from Egypt had been amazing, but time after time, things had gone terribly wrong. Shortages, cranky people, wicked, undisciplined, unfaithful people who were constantly bending toward living out their not-so-righteous passions.
Called by God to lead this infant nation, Moses had been extracted by God from a sheep tending career and pressed into leading this strange adventure. People who knew nothing but slavery journeyed into the wonders of freedom in a land that would be their very own.
Moses was in a fix. Halfway between bondage and the fullness of freedom, the same God who had called Moses and drawn near to save his people says, “You carry on. Get along, but I won’t be going along.”
He had made his glorious presence constantly visible in the pillar of cloud and of fire that led them, his glorious acts constantly evident as he miraculously provided water and food and protection from their enemies. This God says, “Carry on. Get along, but I won’t be going along. These people are so impossible that if I go along, I’ll end up destroying them on the spot. Go on without me.”
Have you ever worried that this might be the case with you? That at long last the God who gave you a new life has had enough of you? “Carry on, get along, but I won’t be going along.” A person can’t receive worse news.
When the people of Israel heard this disastrous word, they mourned (Exod 33:4), and Moses echoed their dismay, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here” (Exod 33:15).
Moses says, “Without you God, I don’t want to go on.” But he doesn’t stop there. He puts in an appeal, reminding the Lord of his own words, words of assurance God himself had given, “I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight” (Exod 33:12).
Despite Israel’s checkered record, the Savior will not violate his character. He will not renege on his promise and purpose for his creation. He grants Moses’ request, confirming it with repeated assurance, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name” (Exod 33:17).
You’ve got it! God says, “I will go with you.” The matter is settled. What more can anyone ask? Yet, whatever his reason, Moses asks to see God, up close and personal. “Please show me your glory” (Exod 33:18).
So, what does glory look like? Certainly, in Scripture the majesty and power of God is associated with clouds, fire, and acts of overwhelming power. Moses had seen all these and more. Yet as the Savior of his people walks by, this glory Moses is eager to see is not displayed in miracles, but in the Lord himself declaring his personal saving name and the depth of his character: “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth” (Exod 34:6, NASB1995).
Like Moses, the Apostle John was deputized for God’s mission of setting captives free. He too saw the glory of God in works of magnificent power. Hungry hordes were fed and the oppressed released from Satan’s bondage. On the mountain John saw the transfigured Christ as he shone in divine splendor. “We have seen his glory,” he writes in the first chapter of his Gospel, glory as of the only Son from the Father. Then he describes Jesus using the very language used when God revealed his glory to Moses. This is the God who is “full of grace and truth.”
When God displayed his glory to Moses, one thing was withheld: “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exod 33:20). But now in Christ this saving God has drawn near and shown his face. His face was shown to the multitudes who ate bread and fish. His face was seen by the paralyzed man who heard from the lips of Jesus, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Matt 9:2). This God’s face was seen by his mother at his birth, and by adoring shepherds and the peasants of his hometown. For this glorious God of grace and truth, no nearness to sinners is too great. The glorious fullness of Jesus’ grace and truth is seen most clearly in what was accomplished in the greatest of all losses. Facing the cross, Jesus prayed to his Father, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (John 17:1). Marred and blood streaked, his face was seen by those who despised and mocked him as he cried in triumph over your sin and death, “It is finished!” The price for your entry into abundant and eternal life has been secured by his death and glorious resurrection.
Will a God who has displayed his glory in this manner ever say, “I’ve had enough of you?” Will the God who came near, displaying his glory in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6), and who called you and put his name on you ever say, “Carry on, get along, but I won’t be going along”? Hardly. He who promised, “I am with you always,” will bring you safely into his new creation, where you will behold his glorious face, full of grace and truth.
Called by God to lead this infant nation, Moses had been extracted by God from a sheep tending career and pressed into leading this strange adventure. People who knew nothing but slavery journeyed into the wonders of freedom in a land that would be their very own.
Moses was in a fix. Halfway between bondage and the fullness of freedom, the same God who had called Moses and drawn near to save his people says, “You carry on. Get along, but I won’t be going along.”
He had made his glorious presence constantly visible in the pillar of cloud and of fire that led them, his glorious acts constantly evident as he miraculously provided water and food and protection from their enemies. This God says, “Carry on. Get along, but I won’t be going along. These people are so impossible that if I go along, I’ll end up destroying them on the spot. Go on without me.”
Have you ever worried that this might be the case with you? That at long last the God who gave you a new life has had enough of you? “Carry on, get along, but I won’t be going along.” A person can’t receive worse news.
When the people of Israel heard this disastrous word, they mourned (Exod 33:4), and Moses echoed their dismay, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here” (Exod 33:15).
Moses says, “Without you God, I don’t want to go on.” But he doesn’t stop there. He puts in an appeal, reminding the Lord of his own words, words of assurance God himself had given, “I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight” (Exod 33:12).
Despite Israel’s checkered record, the Savior will not violate his character. He will not renege on his promise and purpose for his creation. He grants Moses’ request, confirming it with repeated assurance, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name” (Exod 33:17).
You’ve got it! God says, “I will go with you.” The matter is settled. What more can anyone ask? Yet, whatever his reason, Moses asks to see God, up close and personal. “Please show me your glory” (Exod 33:18).
So, what does glory look like? Certainly, in Scripture the majesty and power of God is associated with clouds, fire, and acts of overwhelming power. Moses had seen all these and more. Yet as the Savior of his people walks by, this glory Moses is eager to see is not displayed in miracles, but in the Lord himself declaring his personal saving name and the depth of his character: “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth” (Exod 34:6, NASB1995).
Like Moses, the Apostle John was deputized for God’s mission of setting captives free. He too saw the glory of God in works of magnificent power. Hungry hordes were fed and the oppressed released from Satan’s bondage. On the mountain John saw the transfigured Christ as he shone in divine splendor. “We have seen his glory,” he writes in the first chapter of his Gospel, glory as of the only Son from the Father. Then he describes Jesus using the very language used when God revealed his glory to Moses. This is the God who is “full of grace and truth.”
When God displayed his glory to Moses, one thing was withheld: “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exod 33:20). But now in Christ this saving God has drawn near and shown his face. His face was shown to the multitudes who ate bread and fish. His face was seen by the paralyzed man who heard from the lips of Jesus, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Matt 9:2). This God’s face was seen by his mother at his birth, and by adoring shepherds and the peasants of his hometown. For this glorious God of grace and truth, no nearness to sinners is too great. The glorious fullness of Jesus’ grace and truth is seen most clearly in what was accomplished in the greatest of all losses. Facing the cross, Jesus prayed to his Father, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (John 17:1). Marred and blood streaked, his face was seen by those who despised and mocked him as he cried in triumph over your sin and death, “It is finished!” The price for your entry into abundant and eternal life has been secured by his death and glorious resurrection.
Will a God who has displayed his glory in this manner ever say, “I’ve had enough of you?” Will the God who came near, displaying his glory in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6), and who called you and put his name on you ever say, “Carry on, get along, but I won’t be going along”? Hardly. He who promised, “I am with you always,” will bring you safely into his new creation, where you will behold his glorious face, full of grace and truth.
Rev. Roger Olson is the Associate for Ministry Support for the Church of the Lutheran Brethren.
All Scripture quotations in this article, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.
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