At last, God blesses Israel’s tabernacle with the glory of His presence. Exodus begins with Moses witnessing God’s glory in the burning bush (3:1-5) and ends with God’s glory descending in the camp and filling the tabernacle. Warren Wiersbe (Be Delivered) writes: “The presence of the glory of God in the camp of Israel was not a luxury; it was a necessity. It identified Israel as the people of God and set them apart from the other nations, for the tabernacle was consecrated by the glory of God (29:43-44). Other nations had sacred buildings, but they were empty.”

God’s Glory Reflected (34:29-35; 2 Cor. 3)

Did Moses realize his face glowed? He apparently “absorbed” some of God’s glory when he soaked in God’s presence the past 80 days while fasting and praying. He had also caught a glimpse of God’s glory. According to this passage, however, Moses was clueless about his radiant face. But it didn’t take long for him to figure out why the people were afraid of him when he came down the mountain. Moses soon persuaded them to come and converse as before. He eventually covered his face with a veil as the glory faded (2 Cor. 3:13). Why? Weren’t the people afraid this strange phenomenon? Wiersbe observes: “The Jews saw this glory as something wonderful and exciting, but what would they say if they knew it was fading away? Who wants to follow a leader who is losing his glory?”

So Moses continued the pattern: Talk to God inside the tent of meeting; God’s glory illuminates his face; Moses covers face with a veil as the glory fades. The Apostle Paul—when answering legalists who taught that God’s way to salvation involves not only faith in Christ, but also obedience to the law (Acts 15:1)—made the following applications about this amazing event (2 Corinthians 3):

1. The glory of the Mosaic legal system was fading away, but the glory of God’s grace in the gospel is more glorious (vv. 7-11).
2. The lost Jews during Paul’s day had a veil covering their hearts due to unbelief, blocking their view of God’s glory (2 Cor. 3:14-16). The only remedy for the removal of the veil was to trust Jesus and believe the Word.
3. Paul also related Moses’ experience to Christians, who through faith experience a spiritual transformation by seeing Christ’s glory in the Word (vv. 17-18). Wiersbe writes: “This is why Christians read the Bible and meditate on it, because when the child of God looks into the Word of God and sees the Son of God, he or she is transformed by the Spirit of God into the image of God for the glory of God.”
   

   (Credit: elleandcompanydesign.com)

REFLECT (Or should I say “RADIATE”?) 🙂

I’ll close with two more Wiersbe quotes (because they’re really interesting!): “The Greek word for ‘transformed’ in 2 Corinthians 3:18 is “transfigured,” as in Matthew 17:2. It describes the glory on the inside being revealed on the outside. Moses only reflected the glory of God; the dedicated believer radiates the glory of God. Unlike Moses, we don’t wear a veil when we come to God’s Word because we have nothing to hide.”

“Truly spiritual people don’t recognize their own godliness but usually feel as though they’re failures and far from what they ought to be. At Pentecost (Acts 2), each believer could see the tongues of fire above the other believers’ heads, but not over their own heads.”

Next week will be my last post on Exodus. Have a great week!