Face To Face

The LORD said to Moses, “Go, leave this place, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, or I would consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each of them, at the entrance of their tents and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise and bow down, all of them, at the entrance of their tent. Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then he would return to the camp; but his young assistant, Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the tent.

Exodus 33:1-11

Is God hidden from us? Is God silent to us? Is God unfair to us? These questions did not trouble the Hebrews in the Sinai wilderness. They saw evidence of God everyday, heard Him speak, and lived under a contract signed in His own hand. Out of this relationship emerged a great gift from the Jews to the world – monotheism – the belief in one sovereign, holy God.

Today many treat God like a cosmic good buddy. We could use a refresher course from the Old Testament on God’s majesty. Our mostly costly sins come when we, for however briefly, suspend our reverence for God. We can quietly and insanely conclude that God does not care and most likely will not intervene were we to risk the violation of one of His commandments.

Our own love for God will move away from a sentimental model, to something like a father/son model. We can relearn how to be reverent, obey, and thank God. We can relearn how to express appropriate sorrow for sin. We can pursue a quietness in which we might hear God whisper.

As God’s children we can come boldly to His throne of grace. However, we should always be mindful of our Father’s inestimable majesty. To worship is to recognize the supreme worth of God.

Our Daily Bread – February 3, 2009