Year of the Bible: Part Three of Twelve Àpẹrẹ

Moses Begs to See God in His Glory.

We see Moses meeting with God in today's reading. God had said He would not go with Israel to the promised land because they had rejected Him again. God had reached a breaking point. He told the people that He would not go up with them because they were stubborn people, and He might destroy them on the way.

By contrast, Moses could not get enough of God! He had experienced God by hearing His voice; he had participated in God's miracles and had watched God love the His chosen people. He still wanted more! Moses asked God whom He would send with him to lead the people since God had said He wouldn't go. He pleaded with God to reconsider His declaration against the people and teach Moses His ways. Moses said, "no one will know that we are your people if you aren't with us, so please don't send us there if you don't come with us!" God's trusted friend interceded for the people and helped bring them back into good standing with God. Moses told God, "this nation is your people." God relented and said He would go with Moses because he had found favor with God and knew Him. What a compliment! God was telling Moses, "you are my friend. You are one I trust."

Moses was not satisfied with that compliment and pushed further and saying, "Please, let me see your glory." I bet God smiled a bit at the childlikeness of Mses' request. He explained that Moses couldn't see His glory and live but assured Moses that He would show him as much as possible! He covers him and passes by so that Moses can see His back. Tony Evans tells us in his commentary that God's "Back" is probably the amount of glory that Moses was able to handle. Moses wanted all of God that He was willing to reveal.

Question: Tony Evans tells us that the problem with many Christians is that they are not spiritually hungry or hungry for the wrong things, like emotional highs and purely academic knowledge of the Scripture. Do you fall into either of these trends? Are you scared of God's glory and back away from Him, or do you want more as Moses did?

Prayer Focus: Pray that God would give you true spiritual hunger because God will satisfy those who hunger for Him.