FACE TO FACE

"They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads" (Revelation 22:4).

Show me Your glory! What a bold statement to ask of God!  "When Moses pleaded with God, saying, "I beseech thee, show me Thy glory," God 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 cleft 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 but My face shall not be seen." Exodus 33:18-23, KJV.

Why did Moses make such a demanding request from God? Was it merely from idle curiosity or something more? He seemed to have been driven by a heavy burden. Israel had turned from the Lord by bowing and dancing before the golden calf at Mt. Sinai. God had punished the transgressors. 3000 men fell that day. So horrid was their iniquity that God announced His presence would no longer be with them. Neither the pillar of cloud nor the pillar of fire would lead them to the Promised Land. The people were filled with great sorrow. How could they go on unless the Lord led the way?

Moses felt this like nobody else. Every step he took was by the direction of God; he walked where Christ led. He took every problem to Him and the Lord "spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend" (Exodus 33:11). Moses was right with God, but no other favor  did he covet more than God's presence. 

So Moses prayed, "If I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You" (Exodus 33:13). Moses already knew God; he walked in the sunlight of His presence. But even now, he prays that he may know Him. Obviously, this prayer is not merely for himself. It is for God's people. For he goes on to say, "Show me now Your way, that I may know You...and consider that this nation is Your people." 

God was pleased with this prayer and promised His friend that "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (Exodus 33:14). Moses still wasn't sure if these words were meant only for him or for all of Israel. So he pressed for more. Once again, he pled for God's presence to go with His people and the promise was repeated. But still he wasn't satisfied. This is when he asked for the greatest sign of all. Because he needed God's assurance that He'd always be with them, he asked to see God's face. Before  he could go on in his work, he needed to know God would go with him. 

I'm discovering that intimacy is dwelling in the glory of God, living in God's presence. Do we crave it as much as Moses did? Do we feel we can't go on, at the start of our day, without communion with our Savior? How can we reveal Christ to our family, at our workplace, or in our neighborhoods if Jesus does not lead the way? How can we do the work Jesus has placed in our hands? Without God's presence, touching all that we do, we won't have success nor can we lead our loved ones into the Promised Land!

"We cannot now see the glory of God, but it's only by receiving Him here that we shall be able by and by to see Him face to face. God would have us keep our eyes fixed on Him, that we may lose sight of the things of this world. We  have but a little time in which to work...there is no time for any of us to delay that preparation which will enable us to see the face of God. We must become Christlike here, and know him as a present and personal Savior" (Youth's Instructor, 8/20/76).

Before I begin this new day, I am going up to the mountaintop to seek the presence of the Lord. I may not see His visible face, but in my Quiet Time, I will sense that He is here. His presence is what I need most in following His Living Way. And to truly know Him, as Moses once did, "as a man speaks to a friend."

My Prayer
Dear Lord, show me Your glory today. Help me to see You as I soak in Your Word that I may be filled with Your presence and Your Spirit. I can't go on unless You're with me today--to keep You always before me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.