SCRIPTURE: Exodus 19
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
(Read my reflection from 2009)
The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said. (Exodus 19:9).
What a dramatic moment, God allows a select group of people to see His glory from a distance.
Afiery cloud, thunder, earth shaking, the people knew they were in the presence of God.
And Moses is in the middle of it, backed by this divine glory and power… “we better listen to him!”
Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus… While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:3-5)
A similar scene, a select group of people are allowed to see God’s glory revealed on the mountain, and Jesus Himself shining with the glory and power of God.
The message is the same, and yet different… “we better listen to him!”
The difference is that Moses (and later Elijah) are human servants surrounded and supported by the glory and power of God, but Jesus is the Son of God, who is the glory and power of God, in the flesh.
For Moses and Elijah, the glory is added from the outside; for Jesus it comes from within.
Peter does not get it; he thinks Jesus is like Moses and Elijah, that each one should get a shrine devoted to them.
But Moses and Elijah kneel before Jesus, for He is God’s Son in a way that they were not.
These passages show us how God mediates or restrains His amazing glorious nature for us.
If we actually stood in God’s full glory, we would perish, for He exists in unapproachable light.
Because we cannot approach Him, He approaches us, reminding us of His power (brought to our knees) and of His grace (lifted up from our knees).
Jesus is the glory of God restrained for our benefit, so that we can approach God without perishing.
The twin themes of majesty and mercy are revealed here.
This calls for both reverence and relationship; God wants us to respect His glorious nature, but He also wants us to love and fellowship with Him.
This is what Jesus perfectly represents.
I’ve quoted this song by Frederick Faber before, I will quote it again because it says it so well:
My God, how wonderful You are, Your majesty, how bright;
How beautiful Your mercy seat, In depths of burning light!
How wonderful, how beautiful, The sight of You must be;
Your endless wisdom, boundless power, And glorious purity!
O how I fear you, living God, With deep and tender fear;
And worship you with trembling hope, And penitential tears!
Yet, I may love you, too, O Lord, Almighty as You are;
For You have stooped to ask of me The love of my poor heart!
PRAYER: Lord, I am reminded of Your glory and grace, Your majesty and Your mercy. May I love and fear You as You deserve.