"And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory." (Exodus 33:18)
I love this passage of scripture! (Of course I love ALL scripture!). In this passage, Moses is asking the Lord for His reassurance. He is undertaking the task of leading the Israelites (estimated somewhere between two and four million!) away from the land of their slavery into a land God has promised them. Between the two lay miles and miles of pure, unadulterated desert. They are leaving a land of plenty with slavery for a land of abundance with freedom. I've never really thought of it in that manner before, but that's what it comes down to. In Egypt they were slaves to the Pharaoh - hard work, mistreatment, death at the hands of their taskmasters, and no identity. In Canaan (the Promised Land) they would have more than enough, the blessing of God, freedom, and would be known around the world as the people of God.
Knowing the magnitude and scope of the mission he was facing, Moses needed to know that God would go with him. No kidding! Imagine feeding that many people, providing water for them and their animals, protecting them, mapping out their course of travel, and trying to stay in communication with them! No grocery stores, no gas stations, no rest stops, no cell phones, no maps, no GPS, no electronic communication devices. This was a group equivalent to somewhere between Chicago and Los Angeles in population. I guess I would seek the Presence of the Lord!!!
I love and crave the open communication Moses shared with God. A few verses earlier we read that God spoke openly with Moses as a man speaks with his friend. Moses reminded God that He had said His Presence would go with him on this mission, that God knew him by name, that they were intimate like that. Still, the burden of this mission (I keep calling it that, for it truly was a semi-military operation) weighed heavily upon Moses' heart and mind. I have only had God "speak" to me a few times in my life. Clearly. Succinctly. Directly. And very poignantly. But oh, how I wish I could share that communion with God Moses, Abraham, Adam, and others seemed to have had!
Moses' request was very simple: show me Your glory. Moses was simply asking God to reveal to him His honor, His reputation, His riches, His dignity, His power. Sometimes we look at things around us or things we are facing and they look SO BIG when we consider the still small Voice inside, and try to measure the comparative power behind each one. For example, it is very easy to think cancer has the upper hand and God is in heaven wringing His hands - trying to figure out a solution. When the bill collectors just keep calling and bugging you, it's hard to imagine God being bigger than they are. If we could only get an understanding of I AM, I think we would live our lives so much differently.
God's answer was swift in coming. "And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation." (Exodus 34:6, 7). And it was enough.
May we meditate upon these words and get the revelation Moses received. Keep this word close to your heart today and learn of God.
Be blessed.
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