Drawing Close To God

 Moses had a much closer relationship with the Lord than the other Israelites.  Unlike most of them, who didn’t want to get close to God, he sought an even closer relationship, in Exodus 33:12-36.    “And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.  Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

 

God promised to go with them and protect them, but Moses told him he didn’t want to go unless God went along, because they were separating from other peoples to follow God, in Exodus 33:14-15.  “And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.  And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.  For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. “

 

Moses asked for a personal relationship.  God said the relationship would be limited by the fact that God is divine and Moses was only human.  Even between two humans there are things that interfere from time to time.  God agreed to go as far as he could, in Exodus 33:17-23.  “And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

 

And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory.

 

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.  And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.  And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”

 

God fulfilled his promise, to reveal himself to Moses in Exodus 34:5-8.  “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.  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.  And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.” 

 

As a result of his closeness to God, Moses had a much greater appreciation for who God was as the last sentence above points out.  What he didn’t realize was the effect it had on him personally, according to Exodus 34:29.  “And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.”

 

Like Moses, getting to know the Lord personally changes us, as II Corinthians 3:18 tells us.  “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”    We become like the people we hang around with, and when it is the Lord we hang out with, we become more like him.  II Corinthians 5:17-18 describes some of the changes.  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;”

 

Like Moses, we usually don’t recognize all the differences that relationship with the Lord makes, but the changes in our attitude are clearly visible to those we come in contact with, as Exodus 34:30-35 describes.  “And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.  And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai.

 

And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.  But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.  And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.” 

 

The Jewish rulers observed similar changes in attitude with the disciples in Acts 4:13.  “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”  They were no longer afraid to speak. 

 

The people had been afraid to get too close to God.  Now they were afraid to get too close to Moses.  They wanted him to wear a face mask to keep them from seeing what God had done in him.  Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t want to get close enough to really see what God wants to do for them.    Like most of the Israelites, they never learn to fully trust God.