September 1

And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. - Exodus 3:6.

HERE we see, first, that Divine manifestations always produce self diffidence and abasement. “Moses hid his face.” Those are always pleased with little things, who have not been abroad to see great ones; but those who have travelled much, and have had their attention directed to great and noble objects, have had their minds proportionately enlarged. Such will no longer think their own little hills and rivulets ahead of the Nile and the Alps. So if a man who thinks more highly of himself than he ought to think, is placed in the company of men of real intellectual greatness, how soon his little swelling self-importance will subside; how soon is he reduced to his proper level; so is it with the man who has become acquainted with the glorious God. He will say with Job, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes;” or with Isaiah, “Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts;” or with Peter, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord,” on his perceiving his power in the miraculous draught of fishes.

We see here also how little we can physically bear. “Moses was afraid to look upon God;” “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” The splendour would be too much for the eye; the sound would be too much for the ear; the poor frame would break down under that “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” We can only bear a certain degree of sensation. How soon is nature overpowered! When Jacob heard of the prosperity of Joseph, “there was no more Spirit in him.” And when John saw his Redeemer, though he knew him well, and had often reclined on his bosom, and we should imagine that he would not be afraid to meet him again, yet, “When I saw him,” he says, “I fell at his feet as dead.”

God proportions his dispensations to our present condition. It was commonly said in those days, “No man can see God’s face and live.” Moses believed this. But then, do we not often forget our principles? Some time after this, Moses even prayed for this manifestation; in mercy God did not grant him his request. Moses prayed, “I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And the Lord said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 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 thee, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee into a clift 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 parts, but my face shall not be seen.”