063. Moses--Witness of God's Glory

Moses--Witness of God’s Glory Exo 33:18. And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. The greater progress any one has made in science, the deeper must be his conviction of his own ignorance and imperfection; and the higher our attainments in religion, the stronger is the impression of our infinite distance from God. A little knowledge puffeth up; but modesty and humility are the constant attendants on profound wisdom.--Thoughtless men make light of the name, the house, the day of God; but angels “cover their faces with their wings,” when they approach his awful presence. Human friendship admits of freedom and familiarity; but while the great Jehovah condescends to “dwell with man upon earth, even with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit;” he permits us not to forget, that he is “the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy.” Are we elevated, as on eagle’s wings, up to the eternal throne? It is only that we may feel the hand which supports our flight, and discern our own darkness by that “light which is inaccessible and full of glory.” Abraham, the friend of God, in the highest intimacy of that honorable character, loses not for a moment the sense of his distance and dependence; “Behold now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes.”[*]Gen 18:27 “O let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but this once.” A voice from heaven reaches his ears, saying, “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”[*]Gen 15:1 And that instant we behold him prostrate, with his face to the ground. Moses, the friend of God, to whom Jehovah revealed more of himself than to any other man, is still but in the outer court of the habitation where God dwells. What he knows has only created a thirst for knowledge; what the has seen has but inspired in earnest desire of seeing more and more; and after communications so ample, and communion so sweet, this is still his desire, this his request, “Lord, show me thy glory.” From the reiterated rebellions and provocations of Israel, this good has resulted--New, endearing, encouraging discoveries have been made of the divine nature, perfections, and will. Mankind; to the latest generations, have been instructed to revere that justice which “will by no means clear the guilty,” and to triumph in that mercy which “forgiveth iniquity, transgression, and sin.” The revolt of the people cemented and improved the union between God and their leader.

Joshua, the son of Nun, who was destined to make so distinguished a figure, and to act a part so conspicuous and important in the history of Israel, is represented as trained up from his youth in the service of Moses, and in communion with God. We find him in the mount with his master when he went to receive the written law, while the multitude below were polluting themselves with idols. We find him entering with his master into tie tabernacle, when it was removed out of the camp, and the glory of the Lord over-shadowed it; and there he remained, while Moses returned to confer with the people. Early habits of acquaintance with God, and employment in his service, are youth’s best security and preservative against sin, and the surest foundation of honor and usefulness, of distinction and comfort in advanced age. A man must be formed to command by obeying. “Joshua, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.”[*]Exo 33:11 What a severe reproof of that spirit of profligacy and dissipation, that criminal love of pleasure and coldness to intellectual attainments, that irreligion and profanity which characterize youth in general?

It is pleasing to look forward to this good man’s latter end, and to observe a career of glory supported and adorned by piety; a youth of seriousness, fidelity, and usefulness, ripening into an advanced life of reputation and usefulness; declining into an old age of tranquillity, vigor, and joy: and closing in the well-grounded hope of immortality.--Joshua was trained for the camp, in the tabernacle and on the mount, and was prepared to be the great general and statesman, by learning first to be the humble saint and faithful minister. The characters of Moses and of Joshua delightfully illustrate and embellish each other. Moses knew from the beginning that this young man was to be his successor in office; was to finish the work which he had begun; was to have the glory of conquering Canaan, of establishing Israel, there, according to the promises. An ordinary mind would have marked the progress of this growing rival with jealousy; would have attempted to obstruct his advancement; would have repined at the preference given him, the neglect of his own family. But every selfish, every domestic consideration gives way to the rising merits of Joshua, and to the choice and appointment of Heaven. It was equally natural, on the other hand, for a young man like Joshua, who knew that he was destined to rule, to surpass his master, to reach the highest summit of human grandeur; it was natural for such an one to become impatient of authority, to be weary of restraint, to be eager to bring himself forward, and make himself conspicuous: but the son of Nun discovers true magnanimity in cheerfully yielding the subjection becoming an inferior; in observing Moses and learning of him; in patiently waiting for the time and manner which Providence should choose of exalting him to honor. Moses treats him, and speaks of him, as of a favorite son, rising into eminence and distinction; he behaves to Moses as to a beloved parent, crowned with years and honor, which he hopes to see him long enjoy. These are lessons not taught in the school of the world, where natural affection, decency, and discretion, are daily sacrificed on the altar of pride, selfishness, avarice, and ambition.

Moses has, by importunity, prevailed that the usual symbol of the divine presence should continue to lead and protect Israel, by the way in which they went to the promised land. In answer to the prayer of faith it is thus promised, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.”[*]Exo 33:14 His Spirit is now therefore tranquillized with respect to the people of his charge. God is yet again “for them, and who can be against them?” But his personal acquaintance with God seems only beginning. As if he had seen nothing of the divine glory in the bush at Horeb, which burned, but was not consumed; as if the awful glories of Sinai had been nothing: as if God had not spoken to him in the tabernacle of the congregation, face to face, “as a man to his friend;” he continues to entreat, “Lord, show me thy glory!” My friends, if you can rest satisfied with what you know of God, it is a melancholy proof that you know him not. Eternity is too short, the capacity of an angel too limited, “to find out the Almighty unto perfection.”

What a field of discovery does the vast frame of nature present! Supposing, O man, thy duration sufficiently extended, thy understanding sufficiently enlarged, and opportunity afforded thee, equal to thy utmost wish, when couldest thou have made a complete survey of the little globe wherein we dwell; when couldest thou have explored the innumerable secret wonders of the hoary deep; when examined the precious contents of the everlasting hills; when discovered the nature and properties of air and fire? Supposing the mighty task performed; supposing the untried regions of the air, the untrodden paths of the sea, the deep and the high places of the earth rendered accessible to thy approach, laid fully open to thy view--and lo, the race of knowledge is but beginning. Behold another orb at hand, presenting a new world of wonders: an orb possessing an inconceivably greater extent than our earth, containing an infinitely greater variety of objects, answering a much nobler end in the scale of being; and after that, another; and another still, in endless succession. Suppose the whole planetary system, in order, to have passed under review, the mind rests not there: the wonders of divine power and wisdom end not then: the soul wings its way to other systems, lighted by other suns, and finds itself but entering on the glorious career. Were the whole expanse of nature explored, the moral government of God over all these spheres and all that they contain, expands the same vast field afresh to the astonished eye, and invites to a second excursion. When that is performed, redeeming love, almighty grace display the ample theatre a third time, and lead us by the hand through the “nations of them that are saved,” and point out the successive triumphs of sovereign goodness. As if it were possible to see an end of all this glorious perfection, Scripture announces the dissolution of all these things, as a space too small for the soul to expatiate in, as an object too mean for its contemplation; and promises a new and more glorious system of things, suited to its endless duration and exalted powers, “new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.” And what is it, even then, that men behold? The works of God, not God himself; the writing, not the hand that writes; the palace that is inhabited, not the divine inhabitant; the emanation, not the essence of his glory. Every gracious spirit, then, will with Moses be “following on to know the Lord;” still and ever inquiring, still and ever imploring, “Lord, show me thy glory.” The answer of God to this request is not less remarkable than the request itself. Moses prayed, saying, “Lord, show me thy glory.” Alas, like the disciple on the mount of transfiguration, “he knew not what he said.” To have been answered according to the letter of his desire, had been fatal to him; for what created eye can behold the glory of God and live? But a gracious God returns an answer suitable to the condition of his servant, “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.”[*]Exo 33:19 This is the glory of God to man, the riches of his grace, the glory of his goodness, the wonders of his love. In a display of the most striking imagery, God points out to Moses what was weak, ignorant, and presumptuous in his petition, and commends what is pious, dutiful, and affectionate. “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 cleft of the rock; and I will cover thee with my hand, while I pass by. And I will take away mine hand, and then shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”[*]Exo 33:20-23 Expressions plainly importing, that by creatures such as we are, the great Jehovah can be seen and known only from those tokens of his presence which he leaves behind him. He comes upon us, as it were, imperceptibly, unveils his glory for a moment, in his word, in his ordinances, but his hand is upon our eyes. As he departs, he permits us to look up, and to know by infallible marks, that he has been with us. Thus, Jacob’s vision at Bethel was over, before he was aware into what glorious company he had been introduced. “And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.”[*]Gen 28:16 Thus at Peniel he wrestled apparently with a man; but in departing, his divine antagonist, by a touch, convinced him who he was; and he discovers, that he had seen “the visions of the Almighty,” after he had withdrawn. And thus, the glorified Redeemer talked with the two disciples by the way as they went to Emmaus, and opened unto them the Scriptures, while their heart burned within them, but their eyes were held that they did not know him. At length, while he brake bread and blessed it, “their eyes were opened, and they knew him.” Is God in this place? We see him not; we cannot see him and live; but by this we shall know it hereafter--Has his word been made quick and powerful to any soul? Has the dignity and importance of communion with him been felt? Is a man departing with a deeper and more humbling sense of his own unworthiness and guilt; and penetrated with a more lively apprehension of the mercy of God through a Savior? Is sin rendered more odious, and holiness more amiable in the eyes of any one? Is the heart glowing with desire to know more of God, to love him more, and serve him better? Is the spirit of a man pressing “toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus?”[*]Php 3:14 Then of a truth God is in this place; and a day spent thus in his courts, is better than a thousand. But how is the language of this concluding passage of the chapter to be reconciled with that in Exo 33:11? “The Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” The expression, “to see the face,” is evidently taken in two different senses. In Exo 33:11, it signifies to be regarded with favor or approbation, as it is in Psa 4:6. “Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us;” that is, show thyself gracious unto us, for we prize thy loving kindness far above every earthly blessing: but in Exo 33:20 and Exo 33:23, “to see the face of God,” imports the knowledge of his nature or essence, which to a creature is impossible. Here even a Moses is in darkness, through an excess of light: into this angels desire to look, but instantly shrink back, and shut their trembling eyes. But “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him;”[*]John 1:18 and “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.”[*]John 1:14 Such was the care employed by Him who knows what is in man, to prevent the possibility of idolatry, and to expose the folly of it. Even Moses shall not be trusted with any thing like a representation of Deity; and what so absurd as to frame a similitude of what never was, never can be seen?

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much,” says the apostle James; and what a notable instance have we of the truth of this in the passage before us! Moses rises in his demands, as he succeeds by supplicating, and he still prevails. First, he pleads that the presence of God, the light and glory of Israel, might not be withdrawn, as was threatened, but might accompany and lead them to their destined habitation. And lo! God grants his request, with an assurance of peculiar regard and affection to himself, “Thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.”[*]Exo 33:17 Upon this he presumes to ask some new, some special manifestation of the divine glory, for his own satisfaction and comfort. This too he obtains, in a promise that the goodness of God, all his goodness should be made to pass before him. Emboldened by this success, he cannot rest till he has obtained for the people a remission of their offence. And he said, “If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go amongst us, (for it is a stiff-necked people) and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.”[*]Exo 34:9 And behold he carries this point also, and the covenant is renewed between God and Israel. Let us see that our requests be proper to be granted, and we have them already, before we make them. Let us be solicitous to obtain spiritual blessings in the first place, and the temporal good things which we prized not, asked not, may perhaps come unexpected, unsought. “Give thy servant,” said Solomon, “an understanding heart, that I may discern between good and bad.” “And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said until him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment: behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee, all thy days.”[*]1Ki 3:10-13 To enjoy this heavenly vision of all God’s goodness, as it passed by, Moses must again ascend the mount, and draw nigh unto God. He was going up as to meet a friend; but that almighty friend must protect him from himself, as from his most formidable enemy. “While my glory passeth by, I will put thee in a cleft of the rock; and will cover thee with my hand, while I pass by.”[*]Exo 33:22 An inspired apostle tells us that “this rock was Christ.”[*]1Co 10:4 And it sheds a pleasing light on the subject. What afforded safety to Moses in the tremendous hour, when the glory of God appeared? A cleft of that rock from whence the living stream issued forth for the refreshment of God’s heritage when it was weary, and which was the type of that wonderful “Man,” who is “a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in dry places; as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”[*]Isa 32:2 Did Moses flee thither for shelter, did he foresee his danger, and provide a covering for his defenseless head? No, the refuge was of God’s providing. “I will put thee in a cleft of the rock.” Not human sagacity, but divine mercy discovers, and prepares a retreat for the miserable. Observe the solid foundation on which that man is established who rests on the word of God: “thou shalt stand upon a rock.” Remove the promise of him who is faithful, of him who is true, and we immediately sink into a horrible pit, and stick fast in the miry clay; but “Behold,” says God, “I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste.”[*]Isa 28:16

Moses is now directed to make all needful preparation for this important visit. In his haste he had thrown the two tables which contained the law, on the ground, and had broken them in pieces under the mount: but no act of man can disannul the law of God. The loss, though great, was not irreparable. But God will not entirely repair it, that Moses may have somewhat to regret in the effects of his impatience. The former two tables were wholly of God--the substance, the form, the writing, the subject; but the last must partake of human ignorance and imperfection. The choice of the stone, and the hewing it into form, are of Moses: the writing and the words are still of God. And these were the tables which were laid up in the ark of the testimony for preservation, and were transmitted to posterity. And it is thus that the precious things of God are still conveyed to men. The casket is human, the jewel which it contains is divine. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”[*]2Co 4:7 And thus, though a merciful God express not displeasure at our rashness and folly, they become in the end their own punishment.

Moses is commanded to be ready in the morning. The operations of human state loiter and linger, and seek to acquire importance from expectation and delay; but the movements of Deity prevent the dawning, and derive all their importance from themselves. Unless prayer be followed out by vigor and exertion, men pray in vain. One hour lost in slumber rendered ten thousand petitions fruitless and ineffectual; but Moses, like a man in earnest, like a man who knew the value of what he had so ardently desired, is ready betimes; he is at the appointed place at the appointed hour; with the tablets prepared to receive the impress of God. He carried them with him, a dead, vacant, useless lump of stone; he brings them back turned into spirit and life, clothed with meaning, speaking to the eye, to the heart, to the conscience; for if God breathe on dry bones, they instantly live, and stand up a great army.

If we can conceive a situation more awfully solemn than another, it was that of Moses on this occasion. Consider the stillness of the morning, the elevation of the mountain, the pleasing gloom of solitude, the expected display of a glory which he could not behold but as it departed. Every circumstance is great and affecting, but altogether suitable to the glory that followed: for “the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.”[*]Exo 34:5 At the inauguration of kings, it is customary to proclaim their names and titles, and to bid defiance to every challenger or usurper of their rights. This is the mere pride of state, the mere insolence of possession. But the names of God are his nature, peculiar to himself, inapplicable, incommunicable to any other. And mark how the tide of mercy flows and swells till it has overcome every barrier; from “the soles of the feet to the ankles, from the ankles to the knees, till it becomes a river, wherein a man may swim;” and from an overflowing river converted into a boundless ocean, without bottom, without shore. “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin.”[*]Exo 34:6-7 While justice is confined in one steady, deep, awful stream, threatening destruction only to the impenitent and unbelieving; expressed in these awful words, “and that will by no means clear the guilty.” This was the commencement of an interview “which lasted forty days and forty nights,” and which contained a repetition of the instructions formerly given respecting the tabernacle and its service. But this merits a separate and distinct consideration: as likewise does the alteration of the external appearance of Moses, on coming down from the mount; of which we mean to discourse next Lord’s day. “Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone, while he talked with him. 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.”[*]Exo 34:29-30