Glory Concealed and Revealed – July 13, 2023

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” 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 33:18-20

Glory Concealed and Revealed

The prophet Moses had seen many glorious things: the burning bush, the ten plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea, to name a few—but there was one thing that Moses had not seen—so he said to God, “Now show me your glory.” As if all those other things weren’t glorious enough! But Moses had something specific in mind with his request; he wanted to see God’s glorious presence in a special way.

Can you blame him? We are born with a God-shaped hole inside us and want a special connection with God. Even Christians might want to say, “Now show me your glory.”

But don’t miss God’s answer: “No one may see me and live.” Sinful people and God’s glory do not mix.

Yet God wants to show us his glory, so he reveals it by concealing it. The Lord may not have been able to show Moses his glorious face, but he did explain his glory to him. He called himself merciful and compassionate, and God is at his most glorious when his mercy and compassion prompt him to forgive us.

In the person of Jesus Christ, God became a man to do just that. He hid his glory in human flesh that was pierced and crucified for our sins.

Why? Because he doesn’t want you to melt in his glory, he wants you to see it! And that, by the way, is what heaven is: seeing God’s glory. In heaven, “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Prayer:
Merciful and compassionate Lord, forgive my sins and bring me one day to your glorious presence in heaven. Amen.