Exodus 33:12-23/v.18-23 – “Lessons from the Mysterious”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁸And he said, “Cause me to see (na) Your glory.”

¹⁹And He said, “I will cause to pass the all of My goodness upon your faces and I will call in the name of YHVH to your faces and I am gracious to whom I will be gracious and I am compassionate to whom I will be compassionate.” ²⁰And He said, “You are not able to see My faces because the man cannot see Me and live.” ²¹And YHVH said, “Behold, a place near Me and you will be stood upon the rock; ²²And My glory is passing over and I am setting you in the cleft of the rock and I am covering My hand upon you during My passing; ²³And I will cause to take away My hand and you will see My backside and My faces cannot be seen.”

This is an interesting passage of Scripture. You can simply read it and be blessed by a variety of encouraging messages, such as the imagery of God hiding us “in the cleft of the rock” and the picture of Christ. Or you can pause and ponder over each word and phrase and find this one of those infinitely deep and mysterious wells of knowledge. What exactly did Moses have in mind when he asked the Lord, “Show me Your glory”? By the Lord’s response, it would seem that Moses was very specifically asking to see His face. Yet even that – what would he have been asking for? Moses knew that God is an infinite Spirit, that He doesn’t have a “face” in the same sense we do. So what was he really asking for? And when God says, “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” what does that mean? How does “goodness” pass before someone? Goodness is a moral quality, not a physical entity that one can look at. Then when Moses was allowed to see His “backside,” what even does that mean? Once again, the Lord is an infinite Spirit, and doesn’t have a “front” or “back.” So what does this mean?

I don’t know if anyone else sees what I’m saying, but if I pause and ponder on the actual meaning of these various phrases and statements, I find I’m not sure I understand much at all. I would conclude the problem is that I simply don’t have the maturity to really understand what exactly exchanged here between Moses and the Lord. In this passage, we are being allowed to observe a personal event in the life of a man who is far more mature than I’ll certainly ever be. He knew God far more intimately than I do. Hence, when I’m allowed to hear the discussion that goes on between them, especially in these emotionally intense circumstances, there are simply things said and things that happen that are beyond me.

I suspect that, if any one of us lived long enough on this earth, and if we allowed the Lord to teach us and draw ever closer to Him, there would come a day when we could read this passage and honestly say, “Oh! I know exactly what he’s asking for!” But, and I guess this is my point, for myself, the fact is I am not there yet and therefore have to content myself simply not to truly understand much of what happens here.

On the other hand, since God’s world is logically fractal, though I may not understand the truth on its actual grand scale, I still “get the picture” on my lesser and more limited scale ... which is where I started, when I said one can read this passage and draw many very encouraging thoughts. That is the beauty of the Bible and its fractal logic. Even a new believer and the most immature may read the Bible and “get the picture” with plenty of truth to live on and grow by. But as one grows, in a sense the “picture” grows with us. It’s the same picture, we just comprehend more and more of the seeming mysteries and details that comprise it.

That being said, may I offer a few of my perhaps infantile observations? First of all, like many writers before me, I think it a wonder that Moses asks to see God’s glory and the Lord replies, “I’ll show you My goodness.” Then He goes on to say He’ll declare to him His grace and compassion. Goodness, grace, and compassion. What the Lord is saying is that, for Moses, His glory is His goodness, grace, and compassion. Wow. What a bombshell! I suspect you could ask almost any one, if they could see God’s glory, what would they see, and they would respond with all sorts of answers, all one way or another expressing His majesty. But see what happens here. Moses asks to see His glory and the Lord shows him goodness, grace, and compassion.

I think it shows how little we really know our God. It has been a progressively growing realization for me to comprehend just how important is God’s love. I remember years ago reading John’s simple statement, “God is love,” and immediately feeling like I needed to somehow throw up guards and cautions all around it, lest anyone run away with it and think they can just live like the devil and somehow God will still love them. I am realizing now that such a response would simply prove the person doesn’t understand grace. I find more and more that, to really understand the goodness and grace and compassion of the Lord doesn’t make me want to “live like the devil.” Rather I find it slays my heart. I find myself “drawn by cords of love.”

Certainly a part of God’s glory is His justice and His hatred for sin. That “face” of God is seen by those who reject Him. But Moses, and us I hope, are not like that. We do embrace Him. We are hidden in the cleft of the rock, our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus, and so, to us, when God wants us to see His glory, He shows us goodness, grace, and compassion. And I believe we find that a far greater compulsion to ourselves be good and gracious and compassionate. That is the wonder of grace. Irresistible love. It is the way of grace, far, far better than the way of law.

The other perhaps infantile observation I’d like to note is another grace thing we see. In this passage we learn that God’s grace extends not only to what He gives but also to what He withholds. Moses asked to see His glory (whatever that meant) and the Lord very graciously allows him to experience something perhaps no one else ever did this side of glory (save perhaps Paul and his being lifted to the “third heaven”). But, on the other hand, the Lord only gives him as much as he can bear.

In the passage before us, we are told exactly why the Lord only gave him “so much.” In real life, we pray for things and hope for things and can be very disappointed, even confused or embittered, when the Lord’s answers seem to fall short of our expectation. We are not told, “I cannot grant this. It would kill you.” We simply have to believe by faith that the Lord is totally committed to our best interests, continue to pray, continue to ask, and continue to love Him. Job said, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” I suppose we could also say, “The Lord gives and sometimes He doesn’t. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” It is part of maturity to be growing in accepting both what He gives and what He withholds … what the old folks called His providence.

There is much more to see and learn from this encouraging and mysterious passage. Hopefully I’ve learned a few nuggets to draw me that much closer to Him, to myself be that much closer to someone of whom it could be said, “The Lord spoke to him face to face, as to a friend.” I hope so. But now it is time to return to Galatians 6 and finish my study of that book. Farewell to Exodus 33. I’m so glad I finally got to study you!