Exodus 33:18-23 - To see God more clearly and love Him more dearly

God had already responded positively to Moses’ two requests to stay with him and be with him and the people. According to Exodus 33:17, God had already consented to do as he had requested. He should have been satisfied but he was not. So, in verse 18, Moses begged God, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” It reveals the yearning of his heart. Moses would not have anything less. He was yearning to see the magnificence and brilliance of God. What he was requesting was for a personal encounter with God. He wanted to see a full revelation of God in all His stupendous glory, a perceptible demonstration of Himself.

God’s response to Moses was “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man, can see Me and live!” God was willing to let Moses see the display of splendour but not a direct view of His being. Moses could not take a direct and complete manifestation of God’s brilliance, not in all of God’s absolute perfection. It would overwhelm and decimate him instantly. He was still a sinful creature and to see such a glorious God would cost him his life. In His mercy, God made a special provision for Moses. God said to him, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” God would allow Moses to see the aftermath of His glory. God was making a provision for Moses to see Him without being destroyed. We must not take this as if God had some deficiency. We must accept the truth that God is absolutely perfect and His glory is more than what any man could bear.

Today we can see God through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the manifestation of God. According to Paul in his letter to the Colossians, in Christ Jesus, our Lord, the fullness of Deity dwells bodily and we are complete in Him. In John 1:14, we are told that Jesus Christ is the eternal Word that “…became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” To know Christ is to know God. So, Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me.” This cannot be made any clearer. He is saying that He is the same as God. The more we know Christ, the more we will know God. Experiencing Christ is experiencing God. Let us seek to know Him more intimately, see Him more clearly, follow Him more nearly so that we can love Him more dearly. All glory to God! Hallelujah!