Tag: unapproachable light

45.a. “Wilderness” – 9.g. “Please show me your glory.”

 

Exodus 33:18  Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

Job 11:7    “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

 Job 26:14     Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

 John 1:18     No one has ever seen God; the only God

 1 Corinthians 13:12    For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

 1 Timothy 6:16    who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

All that he had yet seen of God was insufficient—only raised his desire, only sharpened his appetite to see more. (Ellicott)

Moses speaks as one who dreaded the thought of going forward without the Lord’s presence. God’s gracious promises, and mercy towards us, should not only encourage our faith, but also excite our fervency in prayer.  (Henry)

 So long as we are clothed with this body, which was destined, indeed, from the very first to be transformed into the glorified state of the immortality of the spirit, but has become through the fall a prey to the corruption of death, we can only walk in faith, and only see God with the eye of faith, so far as He has revealed His glory to us in His works and His word. (Keil)

Moses asks for something very personable – “Show me Your glory”. Moses was closer to God than any man since Adam, and he asked for more intimate closeness. He wanted to be closer still. He was in the presence of God. He was near God. He spoke with God and God with him. He saw the hand of God do miracles and wonders. He pleaded with god for the restoration of Israel. And Moses still wanted to be more intimate with his understanding and knowledge of God by actually seeing His glory. 

Do we seek to be more intimate with God? Do we want to be in His presence and experience His glory? Do we want to be known by God in a personal way so that we are not only fully devoted servants but a friend of God too?  I wonder if we want to be blessed by God and given the comforts of His blessings without wanting to be close to Him. When we see His creation and have been given glimpses of His awesome power, protection, peace, presence, joy, grace, mercy, and love, do we want to be closer still, or just be a benefactor? That is the question, isn’t it? 

Just wanting to be close enough to receive goodness is not worthy of His holiness, grace, and mercy. That is like wanting to be friends with a very generous person for what they give to you, but never ever wanted to truly be their friend in an indebted way. How shallow is a friendship that only desires to be given something by that friend? Isn’t it shameful? 

Every single person has been given the beginning knowledge of God and who He is.  God wrote it on their heart and minds. He stands at the door to our souls and seeks to come into our lives, invited in. He had His Word written down so that we might know Him and of His grace, mercy, power, wisdom, holiness, goodness, and one million more adjectives that only begin to explain how awesome All-Knowing, All-Powerful, Ever-Present He is. He sent His one and only Son to die and redeem us from eternal torment, Hell. He promised eternal life. He sent His Holy Spirit to fill us with His continual presence. He promised to never leave us or forsake us. He promised to be our rock and refuge. 

What has He asked of us, His creation? – To believe, rely upon, and trust in His Son and to honor and glorify Him in all we think, say, and do. 

Examine your life, your wants, where you spend time, what you think about, who you listen to, what you say, what you do, and where you place importance. Can you say that you truly are seeking and desiring to know and understand more and more of God and be closer to Him?  

43.g. “Wilderness” – 7.n. Sinai – “Now when all the people saw”

Exodus 20:18  Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

 Psalms 139:7-8    Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

 Isaiah 41:10   fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

 Deuteronomy 13:3   For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

 Deuteronomy 8:2   And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

 Job 28:28     And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

 Proverbs 1:7    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;

 Proverbs 3:7   Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

 Joshua 24:14  “Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.

 Deuteronomy 5:5    while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire

 Psalms 97:2    Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

 1 Timothy 6:16   who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. 

Deuteronomy 5:23 explains why the mountain smoked; it says the mountain was burning with fire. The awe of all the phenomenon did nothing to draw the people closer to God; it only made them stand afar off. One might think that Israel loved the dramatic experience at Mount Sinai, and especially the honor of hearing God’s voice like a loudspeaker from heaven. Instead, because of the great awe and dread they felt, they wanted God to stop speaking to them directly. This is a typical reaction of those who came into the presence of God, such as Isaiah who felt undone before God (Isaiah 6:1-5) and John who fell as a dead man before the Lord (Revelation 1:17). The people promised to hear and (by implication) obey the word of God that came to them by Moses. In following generations, Israel interpreted the law downward, so it could be more easily obeyed, removing the heart and intent of the law. Jesus exposed this shallow understanding of the law in His Sermon on the Mount.

The people of Israel wanted to separate themselves from the manifest presence of God, but God meant it for good to test them. The test revealed to them what kind of God they served: a God above nature, personal, good, and holy. The test revealed to them their own weakness and need for God’s grace, help, and rescue. The test revealed to them what God’s expectations were, that God is a moral God who expects moral behavior from His people. That His fear may be before you speaks of the attitude of honor and reverence that leads to respect and obedience. Though it is better to obey God out of fear than to disobey Him, God’s ultimate motivation for obedience is love. This is clear from 1 John 4:18-19: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. Moses had a relationship with God the common man in Israel did not have. Through the circumstances of his life and the direct revelation of God, Moses was aware of both God’s holy power and also of God’s glorious grace. (Guzik)

This law, which is so extensive that we cannot measure it, so spiritual that we cannot evade it, and so reasonable that we cannot find fault with it, will be the rule of the future judgment of God, as it is for the present conduct of man. If tried by this rule, we shall find our lives have been passed in transgressions. And with this holy law and an awful judgment before us, who can despise the gospel of Christ? And the knowledge of the law shows our need of repentance. In every believer’s heart sin is dethroned and crucified, the law of God is written, and the image of God renewed. The Holy Spirit enables him to hate sin and flee from it, to love and keep this law in sincerity and truth; nor will he cease to repent. (Henry)

The Israelites drew near to the mountain. They were intrigued by what they saw and heard when the 10 commandments were given. Now in closeness to God and the power and might of presence, they heard and saw and felt the holy awesomeness of God and feared for their lives. 

What would our lives be like if we would have a reverent, trusting, and reliant fear of God? Would it be different than it is now? Would we fear, hate, anger, and be anxious less? Would we rejoice, praise, and worship more? Would we be content? Would greed, pride, and unkindness be not found in our lives? Would we run to the mountain of God or would we retreat to what we believe is a safe distance? Would we desire to be in the continual presence of God? Would we want to hear His voice with a desire to obey it for His honor and glory? Would things of this earth become less distracting and things of God become more encompassing? Would we know joy and peace that passes all understanding? Would we be more generous? Would we discern the quiet whispers of the Holy Spirit leading us? Would the Word of God be precious to us? Would our thoughts, words, and actions be in line with honor and glory to Jesus Christ? Would we hunger and thirst for His Word and leading so that this honor and glory would be pure?  Would we??????

5.d. To the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

Job 9:5   he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger, who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; who does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number. Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

1 Timothy 6:16   who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Daniel 4:35    all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Ephesians 1:11    In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

Romans 9:18-20     So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.  You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”  But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?

Putting our thoughts to God and His awesome mighty power, strength, and wisdom will always fall short of Him.  We are limited in this knowledge and understanding.  We catch limited glimpses of His, love, grace, mercy, power, and holiness.  We tend to question the course of things in our life rather than focus on things of God.  Paul said it like this “I have learned to be content in both plenty and want.”  When we keep our eyes focused on Jesus Christ rather than the course of things in our life we will continue to grow in both our understanding of Him and that our faith and hope in Him is not in vain.  We will grow in our trust of Him to work all things for the good of those who are called according to His purpose.  We will grow because our seeking and desire are rewarded with confirming assurance in and through the Holy Spirit.  We will grow in our dependence and love for Him.  We will grow in our want to honor and glorify Him.  We will grow in our want to follow and obey Him.

Certainly, things are going to happen in our lives that give us initial worry, fear, and concern.  We can take these thoughts captive and run into the presence of Jesus Christ and never ever worry, fear, or concern ourselves with His perfect love, plan, and purpose.