“and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:22–23 NAS95)
Moses knew He needed God. After all, he’d only made it this far because God had performed many supernatural acts delivering Israel from Pharaoh — including splitting the Red Sea. Even though he’d just received the Ten Commandments and God sustained him on the mountain for 40 days of conversation concerning worship and the Tabernacle, the event of the golden calf shook Moses to the core. Maybe the experience of God’s jealousy for His glory took its toll on Moses. Leading two million people frightened and intimidated him, and now he had questions about God’s faithfulness and compassion. He wanted to know if he could count on God’s protection for His people.
God responded to Moses’ request, and He let His glory pass by. In the process, Moses probably saw the paradigm he’d experienced with God performing the plagues to deliver Israel. I could imagine that each time Moses saw a miracle God did during the deliverance, he stood amazed. He knew what God planned to do for each plague, but seeing it done blew his mind. His compassion for His people to remove them out from under the weight of bondage marked each step of the exodus. Moses recognized the full compassion of God after the fact, after each plague passed by as if seeing His back. Here, in the cleft of the mountain, God’s glory passed by, and Moses recognized as familiar the amazing compassion, grace and love that characterized God. Moses felt the emblazoning of God’s faithfulness and compassion burned deep into his soul as he contemplated the glory that had just passed. And to think God showed Moses this just because he asked. That in itself reflects the compassion of the God revealed in the Word.
For Reflection:
“O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells.” (Psalms 26:8 NAS95)
- Reminisce. How have you seen God express His compassion and faithfulness in your life?
- What do you think about asking God to show you His glory in a manner that you could receive?
