Moses In The Cleft In The Rock

What Is God Doing in Your Life? 0:21

You know, there's a question I ask when counseling believers, and I'll ask it almost every single time. The question is this. What is God doing in your life? What's God doing in your life?

Now, most people don't have an answer, at least not off the tip of their tongue. And the reason they don't have an answer is because they're not used to thinking things through that way. What's God doing in your life? If I ask you that right now, what's the answer?

What is God doing in our lives? Again, most of the time we don't have an answer. And the reason is because we don't think of our relationship with God that way. You see, most of us know God's there.

I can look out at that tree and know that God's there. I can look at this hand and see the bones and sinew and know that God made it. I can look at the babies in our midst and know that they were formed by someone greater than their mothers and greater than themselves.

I know that there is a God. However, the tendency that I have and you have and everyone has, the tendency is to see that God is somewhere out there in the ether, somewhere in orbit of us. We recognize, even theologically, we recognize God's attributes. We say, all right, what's God's attributes?

Can someone give me one right now? What's one? Jordan, what's an attribute of God? Holiness.

All right. I want one more. One more attribute of God. Gardner, what's another attribute?

What was that? Faithful. That's right. These old ears here.

Faithful. He's faithful. He's holy. He's good.

He's patient. He's kind. He's loving. Now, most of us know those things to the point where we can quote them.

We know that God has these attributes. The problem is we don't know how those attributes apply to us. You see, I can know that the king of Siam exists. I can know that he reigns.

I can know of his authority. I can know the king of Siam's power. However, here's the thing. I have no relationship with the king of Siam, and so even though I know he may have these things, I don't care because they don't affect me.

So that's what we do. We recognize God's there like we recognize the King of Siam is there. We recognize there is one above us that transcends us and he's holy and all these different wonderful sounding things. But honestly, we just don't know how that affects me.

You're in Gulfport, Mississippi. How does that affect me? What is God doing in your life? Most people disassociate God from their life to the degree that they just don't know.

And so when I ask it, it seems like it just comes out of the blue. It's just not something they're used to processing. What's God doing in your life? I can assure you this.

He is doing something. And they're probably somewhat obvious if you take the time to look. In fact, you're in this building this morning. There's probably some sign of God through His providential decree doing something in your life.

And the fact you're here looks like something good. Now, if you are used to keeping God at arm's length, you won't have an easy time coming to an answer. If you prefer God to be in orbit of you, if you prefer God at arm's length, then you're going to have both an inability to answer this question and maybe an unwillingness to as well.

Israel Wanted God at a Distance 3:24

The people of Israel, that's what it was. You see, the people of Israel, they liked God at a distance. They liked having God at a distance. They liked the fact he was there.

And they liked the fact that He could come along and stomp on Pharaoh. They liked the fact He could free them from bondage. They liked the fact that He could feed them with the manna that came from heaven. They liked all that sort of stuff about God.

And yet they wanted to keep Him at a distance. And we know they wanted to keep Him at a distance because of the things they said. Do you remember the time God spoke to them in Exodus 20? Just audibly, to the whole lot of them.

They're all gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai. The voice of God booms forth. He delivers them the Ten Commandments. And what's their reaction?

What do they tell Moses? They tell Moses, dear God, don't let that happen again. You go talk to Him. You, Moses, you.

You go deal with Him. If He talks to us, we won't survive the encounter. That's something, though, they just did habitually. They liked a God who was the miracle guy who could come along from a long distance away, throw a lightning bolt or a hailstone or locust at the enemies and feed the manna from heaven.

But when He actually got into their face, got into their midst, man, they had some troubles. And so when Moses was gone a little too long — he goes up the mountain, you know — they start looking around and go, all right then, all right, what to do, what to do?

The Golden Calf: Idols That Make No Demands 4:44

And they ask Aaron, they say, Aaron, help us out here. Whip us up some gods. And if you remember, they used the plural, whip us up some gods. We want some gods.

And so Aaron, as we talked about last week, he was conflicted in what he did and why he did it. And he was trying to kind of yoke Jehovah to all this, but he gets all the gold and he throws in the fire and fashions and forms this thing and has this golden calf is the result.

And the people, what did they do? Well, they undressed, they partied, they drank, they danced, they made merriment before this gold calf. Now, why did they feel that level of comfort with the gold calf, but they didn't even want to hear God's voice? Why?

Because they knew in their hearts the gold calf wasn't going to mess with them. They knew in their hearts the gold calf didn't give them any rules to follow. They knew in their hearts the gold calf would not exercise one ounce of authority over how they chose to live their lives. And guess what God they wanted?

The gold calf. And that's what idols are. It's man whittling up on his own accord something that he then worships and bows down to five minutes later. Now that sounds kind of stupid, so why do people do it?

They do it because it allows them to worship something. They're inherently religious. They worship something, but it's something that they've made which will never call their actions and their choices into question. People wanted God to be there for them on their terms.

With that said, the relationship that they had was to keep God at a distance, but Moses was different.

God Speaks to Moses Face to Face as a Friend 6:13

“So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

— Exodus 33:11 (NKJV)

Moses was different. What we see in today's text as we get into it is we're going to see that God's relationship with Moses was one where God spoke to Moses as a friend, face-to-face in the context that they were together. Now, why was Moses worthy of this? Well, no one's worthy of this, but why did God choose to do this with Moses?

Well, because Moses habitually, continually sought out God. Scripture tells something that applied to them and applies to us, because it's also in the book of James. It says this: if you draw near to God, God will draw near to you. Moses drew near to God.

Moses wasn't one of those people that wanted God at arm's length, that wanted Him in orbit, wanted God in His box, wanted God on the shelf. And every now and then, like a genie — an emergency, break glass — and he comes out and saves you. Moses didn't want that. Moses wanted to know God.

He even wanted to see God's face. He wanted to know God, and God rewards that. God rewards it when you seek Him. What a shame we seldom do.

But God rewards us when we seek Him out. And in today's text, we're going to see this bifurcation, this difference. We're going to see a people that wants to keep God at arm's length. And we're going to see Moses that is continually running to God.

He says, I want to know you more.

Good News and Bad News: God Will Not Go in Their Midst 7:35

“For I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

— Exodus 33:3 (NKJV)

All right, let's look at verses 1 through 6, and then we'll move on through our text. Verse 1. So then the Lord said to Moses, Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, To your descendants I will give it.

And I will send my angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, the Jebusite. All the ites are going to be driven out. Verse 3. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, for I will not go up in your midst.

Uh-oh. Uh-oh. For I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people. Now when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.

For the Lord had said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, you are a stiff-necked people. I could come into your midst in a moment and consume you. Therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you. So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb, which is synonymous with Sinai.

All right, let's stop there. You ever heard the phrase? Someone comes to you and says, hey, hey, I've got good news and I've got bad news for you. Well, you know what's coming is going to be bittersweet.

Usually the bad news seems to be worse than the good news is good. So oftentimes people say, I've got good news and I've got bad news. Well, that's what we see here in verse 2. God says that even though the people literally had sinned so terribly one chapter earlier — God had given them the laws.

He'd given them the commandments. The first commandment said what? Thou shalt have no other gods besides me. What did they do?

Gold calf. So they'd sinned egregiously, and he would have been entitled and righteous and even just, to just dismiss them in a moment with one breath of His nostrils. Even though that's what they had done, here's the good news. In verse 2, God says, even though you've done this, I made a promise.

I made a promise to your ancestors that you would inherit a land flowing with milk and honey. Now, that land is occupied at the moment. However, it's not going to be occupied for long. I will send My angel ahead of you, and out of this land, which I have promised to you, we will drive all of these nations, which, by the way, are all stronger than you are.

So that's good news. That's a good development here. God's going to clear the path. All right, promised land, here we come.

So what's the bad news? Well, the bad news is what we see in verse three. God says, although I'm going to do all this, although the days of milk and honey are on the horizon, here's the thing: you're on your own as you head in there. I'll send the angel ahead of you, and I'll make sure everything happens, but I'm not going to be in their midst.

A People Who Kept Rejecting the God Who Rules Them 10:19

Now, why wouldn't he be in their midst? Why wouldn't God be with him? Why did He say this at this time? Well, here's the thing.

Isn't that what they kept telling him that they wanted? You see, through their actions and choices, not only this generation, but almost every other page in the Old Testament, you see God's people routinely kind of telling God that they really don't want Him. Why do you think they kept all the high places in Israel?

Why do you think all the idols continually filled the landscape? Why did that happen? Well, it's because the people continually fell into this mantra of saying, you know, we don't really want a God who has true oversight and accountability over us. Gold calf, gold this, fish God, bull God, ox God, whatever.

God knew their hearts. And this would be a source of unending frustration, although God is unendingly patient, but tremendous frustration. And here He tells them, He says, you know, you want to keep Me at arm's length. Well, guess what?

You got it. You guys will go ahead. I'll even clear the road, but I'm not going with you. They wanted a gold calf more than Him, and that resonated with Him.

And so He responded. He responded. He wasn't going to be used and abused by these people en route. Now, when the people heard this, what we saw in these first six verses is the people recognized, uh-oh, uh-oh.

So they mourned and they took off their ornaments. All right, let's see what verses 7 through 11 say happened next. Verse 7. So Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp.

This is not the tabernacle he's pitching. This is just a tent of his. He took a tent, he pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it a tabernacle of meeting because he was going to meet with God here. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to this tabernacle meeting, which was outside the camp.

And so it was that whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, to this tent, that all the people rose and each man stood at his tent door and they watched Moses. They watched as he went until he'd gone to the tabernacle. Verse 9, and it came to pass when Moses entered the tabernacle that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.

And all the people saw this pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and they worshiped, each man in his tent door. So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.

All right. Has anyone ever been on a safari in Africa? I have not, so I'm going to speculate here. But let's say you go on a safari, and you're in one of those caravan things.

You go out to see the wild beasts sweeping majestically across the landscape. Now, let's say that your safari guide says, hey, you know, I've never done this before, but I got this idea. You and you, you guys — you get a closer view — why don't you hop out of the caravan, go wander out there in the middle of those fields, and you're going to get the best view of them all.

Why don't you go and do that? If you were to leave the caravan, how safe do you think you would be? If you were to leave the protection of the people entrusted with your welfare, and you went wandering into the field of the wild beast, how safe would you be? Let me use a more local example.

Let's say you're on a swamp tour. You're on a swamp tour, you're in a pirogue with someone, a guide, and he says, I got this great idea. I'm with you now, but if you want a closer view of the wildlife that you paid money to come see, why don't you swim a lap?

Why don't you just swim out to that sandbar over there, and how would that be? Well, again, you're going to have some anxiety about this. Why? Because you know where you are, and you know the dangers that exist there.

Now, the Israelites knew that if they were to try to go into Canaan, where the Jebusites, Hittites, Perizzites, Amorites, all these ites are, if they were to go there, they knew it would be like wandering into the lion's den. And when the One who has protected them from Egypt says, I'm going to stay behind, they rightfully knew, well, this isn't going to work.

I mean, I don't want God to tell me how to live my life, but I sure want Him to feed me and protect me. And so they knew this wasn't a great plan. Now, here's the thing. Even Moses is like, what?

What's the plan here? How's this going to work? And so in verse 7, he knows he needs to go and talk to God about this matter. And so he takes his tent and he goes and he sets it up far from the camp.

God, don't lock me in with these guys over here. He goes and sets it up far from the camp. And as the people watched from a distance, God comes and meets with Moses here. Verse 9 says this pillar cloud descends, at which point God met with Moses face to face.

And again, God gave Moses this great privilege, this great privilege, because Moses habitually, consistently throughout his walk sought out God. It was second nature for Moses to live his life abiding the word, will, and presence of his creator. And so God meets with him here in these verses.

The Intercession of Moses, a Type of Christ 15:23

All right, let's see, let's see what Moses asked God then. Moses is now meeting with God. Let's see, what does he tell God after God has now said, I'm not going to be with the people as they go? Let's look at verses 12 through 17.

Then Moses said to the Lord, you say to me, bring up this people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you've said, I know you by name and you found grace in my sight. Now, therefore, I pray if I have found grace in your sight, show me now your way that I may know you and that I may find grace in your sight.

And consider that this nation is your people. Moses intercedes for them. Again, Moses is a type of Christ who is the great intercessor for all sinners. Well, God regularly put Moses' intercession to the test and put him in a position where he had to intercede, and that's what's going on here.

And Moses comes through. These people have disliked God, but they've hated Moses even worse. They've tried to kill him on numerous occasions. Read scripture and you'll see that the people regularly just loathed Moses.

Right now, they honor him in present-day Jewish orthodoxy. His own contemporaries did not honor him. But even Moses, though they talked badly about him, though they criticized him, though they accused him of leading them out in the wilderness to die of hunger or what have you, though they were always on his back, with that said, he says, hey, these are still your people, God.

He intercedes for them there in verse 13. And then verse 14, God responds. God said, my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Then he said to him, if your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here, for then how will it be known that your people and I have found grace in your sight, except you go with us?

So we shall be separate, your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth. And so the Lord said to Moses, I will do the thing that you have spoken, for you have found grace in my sight and I know you by name. All right, what's going on here?

Well, let me stop and submit this to you. What's going on here is a microcosm of what you've done with God numerous times over the course of your walk. You've brought God your questions, and you've brought God your doubts and your anxieties and your fears, and you've laid them before him, and God hears.

And if you look back at your past, you see God responds. Well, in this case, verses 12 through 17, even Moses didn't know all of what God was doing. Even Moses didn't know the whole playbook. And so he goes to God, as is good and wise, and says, God, I'm confused here how this is supposed to work out.

The Presence of God Sets His People Apart 17:57

“My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

— Exodus 33:14 (NKJV)

God, what are you doing in this matter? God, if you're not with us, how can we hope to succeed? God, if you're not with us — and this was the big point he had here — he said, God, if you're not with us, then what is going to make us any different from any other nation on earth?

God, if you are not with us, then what truly will separate us from the Canaanites? What made the people holy was that they were set apart, called out by God, but the stamp of that holiness was His own presence in their midst. And Moses said, the very thing we need most is what you just told us you're not going to do.

And I don't get it. I don't get it. Remember your people. God, remember your people.

And remember that the witness to this whole world around us is the fact you're with us. If you're not with us, we can't do it. And I don't want to take another step. It's kind of bold what Moses is saying here.

But it warmed the heart of God because Moses had two things right. He had the glory of God in view and the welfare of the people. Do you see that? Moses had the glory of God in view.

He says, God, if you're not with us, if you're not with us, how is the nations going to even know of your power? If you're not protecting us and preserving us — if you go with us, then the whole world will know, as we go in, as Jericho falls, as all this happens, the world will know there's a God in heaven.

They'll know of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If you don't do that, your glory will be negatively impacted, is what he's saying. Your glory will not be testified in a way that it otherwise would if you're with us. So on the one hand, Moses has God's glory in view.

Secondly, Moses has God's people in view. He says, remember these people. You're irritated with them, I'm irritated with them. But here's the thing: they're your people.

You made a promise. Let me ask you, is it okay to remind God of His promises? Yes. The psalmist and others did this all the time, and God is perfectly okay with that.

In fact, He wants you to do it because it proves that you've been reading this. God absolutely loves when we intercede for others. Pastorally, that's like half the ministry. God loves it when we intercede for others, when we seek out his glory and the welfare of the people.

Moses was dynamite. He did exactly what he ought to do. And what was God's response? God says, you got it, Moses.

God says, you have found favor in my sight because you live sacrificially, Moses. You're willing to run yourself down for the benefit of others, and you consistently seek out my face and you consistently seek out my glory. Moses, you asked it, you got it.

Bring Your Cares to God, Even When You Do Not Understand 20:38

God this week invites you to bring to Him your questions and your anxieties about what's going on in your life and your fears about tomorrow. And there will be times, like Moses, where you won't get what's going on. It'll seem counterintuitive to what you think is the right thing for God to do.

Well, here's the thing. God's okay with you coming to Him in tears, falling down and laying down your baggage, laying down your hurt and asking him to help you sort it out. David, who was a manly man, did this all the time. Just read the Psalms.

If ever there was a guy who could have felt some ability to just gird himself up and solve all his problems, it was King David. But one of the reasons David was a man after God's own heart is that David didn't rely on himself to do that. He consistently brought this stuff to God.

And David, have you read the books of Samuels and Kings? Have you read what he went through? He rarely knew or rarely liked what went on. He lost his own son in his arms.

Another got caught up and hung in a tree by his hair. He had all sorts of things go on that he did not like. And so he brought this stuff to God regularly, and God met with him there. The Bible's filled with times when the prophets and apostles brought their questions, fears, doubts, and anxieties to God.

Now, are there times when God's answer is above their pay grade? Yes. God says, my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your thoughts. As far as the heavens are above the earth are my ways above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.

So here's the thing. You have to have some humility and recognize that what we would prescribe that God should do is done from this many data points, this much knowledge. God has an all-encompassing knowledge, and what He does comes out of the wellspring of what He knows to be good and right. And so when He does what He does, it's all right to be affected by that.

It's all right to be emotional about it. But we also have to yield to the fact that some things are above my pay grade, and I am happy that a good and all-powerful and sovereign and loving God who loves me is in charge of me even when he does the things that I don't like.

Are there times when we don't like the answers that God gives us? Yes. But don't mistake, don't mistake his actions being different from your desires as Him being aloof or stiff-arming you as He goes down the field. 1 Peter 5, the invitation is to cast our cares before Him, whatever they are, and however small they feel.

Why? Because 1 Peter 5 says this: because He cares for you. Now, some will say, I've tried that, and it didn't work. I cast my cares before God, and it didn't change anything.

If that's you this morning, let me ask you gently, kindly, and as pastoral as I can. Let me ask you a couple of diagnostic questions. First of all, when you've come to God with this request, let me ask you this. Do you come to Him with this request, but having lived your life, really as the Israelites were doing in Exodus 32, as those who approach God as if He's behind the sign that says, in case of emergency, break glass?

But most of the rest of your days, you have no need for Him or desire for Him. If you've come to God asking Him to resolve something, but the reality is that you have no place and no room and no desire for Him 99% of the rest of the time, I would submit to you, as we've seen in today's passage, that that's not the relationship that God calls us to.

That's not the way that we're supposed to approach him. Now, others think that God is not listening.

Prayer as Prescription: When God Answers Differently 24:34

He must not have heard me. He must not care because He didn't do what I wanted Him to do. He didn't resolve my issue. You see, we pray to God with a prescription.

If you analyze your own prayers, much of it, if not the majority of it, is a prescription. We say, God, I love you, I love you, I love you. And by the way, here's my list. Here's the things that are going on, which is good.

Again, do that. But sometimes what we do is we give Him the list of the things going on, but after we give Him the list of things going on, we tell Him what He should do about it. God, here is this hurt in my life, and here's how you can fix it. Here's this problem with my boss, and here's how you can fix it.

Here's this problem with my child, and here's how you can fix it. Here's my health, and here's how you can fix it. Many, much, most of our prayers involve some aspect of us prescribing to him what he should do, but here's the problem. When an all-knowing, all-powerful God chooses, out of His knowledge and omniscience and all these things, to do something different than what we prescribe, sometimes we take that as a personal affront and say, well, you just don't love me.

If you loved me, you would have done what I needed. I told you what I needed you to do. I told you the hurt that was on my heart, and you didn't heal it. I told you the problem with this relationship — it's still broken.

You see? We say, God, here's how you should fix things, and when He doesn't fix things the way we expected or wanted, or He doesn't do what we thought He should do in this circumstance, our reaction can be to say, you just don't care. If you cared, you would have done it. There have been a lot of times in my life, even as a pastor, where I prescribe to God what He should do.

And I can report to you from the pulpit, God usually does not do things the way I think that He ought to or should. But you know what? I have found through the benefit of retrospect that what He has done instead has been better, even if I didn't understand it in the season that He was doing it.

Growing older has this benefit. You can look back and see things that you did not realize in the moment. And you can see that wisdom is proven by her children. The things God does that is wise are proven by fruits that you might not see right now when you're hurting.

But God has a canvas that is larger than what you have. You and I are myopic. We can see two inches in front of our nose. He can see much more.

And the fact He doesn't do things what I want — praise God He doesn't. If God did everything that I had wanted, I can tell you my life would be much different and much worse. Guaranteed, take it to the bank. Praise God He doesn't do everything that I think that He should.

God has not always filled my prescription, but I can tell you this much — and I mean this sincerely — I have never for a moment doubted His presence. Do you understand the distinction? God has not filled my prescription, and there's times I've been hurting. There's times when I'm anxious, I'm at my wits' end.

Believe it or not, it happens to pastors. There's times when I don't get what's going on. There's times when God doesn't do what I think He ought to do. And while I have anxiety about those issues, not for a moment, not for a nanosecond, have I doubted God's presence.

The Promise Is His Presence, Not Changed Circumstances 27:49

And that has been a comfort to me, even as things have gone haywire at various times. In today's reading in Exodus 33, Moses didn't understand what God was doing, but he knew God was with him. He knew what was going to happen when he'd go and put up his tent. He knew God would be with him.

If you're going through a dark valley right now, if you're going through a dark valley, the spiritual topography might not change for you tomorrow. The things you're facing today that you just hate today might still be with you tomorrow. They might get worse from a human perspective. And there's no promise that they won't in a fallen world.

We all end up in the grave. All of our stories end sad somehow. There's no promise that the geography, the topography itself will change. The promise in Scripture, in Psalm 23, the Shepherd's Psalm, is not that your circumstances will conform to the ideal in your mind's eye.

The promise instead is this, that yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, thou art what? Thou art with me. I may face death and hardship and despair and difficulties tomorrow, maybe on into the future. Look at some of the martyrs.

Look at some of the saints. It happens. I may face difficulties the rest of my walk, but I know this much. I will not face them alone.

And that gives me comfort even as I'm hurting, even as I'm confused, even as I'm scared. I know I'm not facing this diagnosis. I'm not facing this hardship. I'm not facing poverty.

I'm not facing tomorrow by myself. Now you start to see why Moses was so anxious that if God were ever to depart His people, that was the main thing they had going for them was that He was with them. And Moses knew, I can't leave this tent without knowing that you'll be with us.

I won't take a step apart from you.

Show Me Your Glory: Hidden in the Cleft of the Rock 29:41

“You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”

— Exodus 33:20 (NKJV)

And there's good counsel in that. All right, let's look at our last verses, verses 18 through 23. And he said — this is Moses speaking to God — please show me your glory. And God said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.

I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But, God said, you cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live. And the Lord said, here's a place by me. You shall stand on the rock, and so it shall be, when My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and I will cover you with My hand while I pass by.

And then I'll take away My hand and you will see My back, but My face shall not be seen. You know, this chapter could have ended back in verse 17 when Moses asked God to stay with his people. Moses says, dear God, please stay with us as we do it. And God says, all right, Moses, I'm in.

It could have ended right there. However, Moses, Moses, he's not done. He has another request, and it's — you can just see it bubbling out of his heart. He says, God, God, I love you, I love you, I love you.

Show me, show me your glory. You know, sometimes we pray to God, and what we're really concerned about is just his response, that he does what, you know, we want him to do. And then we go our way, he goes his way. It's like the ten lepers that met Jesus on the hillside.

Jesus, Jesus, heal us. Then He does. And then nine depart, never to be heard from again. And only one comes back to praise God.

Sometimes our prayers are focused on what we want, not necessarily our adoration of the God who fulfills them or who honors them. Well, here Moses, he's not done. He has other requests. He says, God, show me your glory.

Give me a close encounter with yourself. You know, sometimes we want God's breadcrumbs to fall all in our lives, but we really don't want to seek out the divine baker. You get it? Sometimes we want all his breadcrumbs, but we aren't necessarily interested in He who provides them.

But Moses says, show me your glory. Now, what was he expecting to have happen? He had already encountered God in the burning bush. He had encountered God in this context in the tent.

Evidently, he wanted some revelation that exceeded that which he'd been given, in which he had seen a manifestation of God, but he desires — he sought something more. Now, that was both a good impulse and a bad impulse. Now, why was that? Well, on the plus side, all of us should be seeking out greater revelations of God.

That's just a good approach. If you don't want a greater revelation of God this morning, and you just want Him to do things in your life, then you're just a breadcrumb chaser, a breadcrumb gobbler. And that's all you're going to do is you're going to scurry around picking up your breadcrumbs, never looking up to him.

Well, again, this isn't the call. This isn't what Moses did, and it's not what we should do. So he asks for something more. He says, God, I'm not content just with what you've done.

I want you. I want to know you. I want you to reveal yourself. I want to see your face.

He asks it in the most basic way that he can ask the question. But here's the thing. Here's why it was a bad impulse. Moses didn't know — he didn't understand — what he was asking for would cost him his life if God were to give it to him.

If we go out, which we will shortly, but if we go out and we stare at the sun, how long can we do that for? Well, I didn't know the answer, but I googled it. The reality is somewhere under like a dozen, 15 seconds before you get such utter discomfort that you simply can't bear it anymore.

And if you were to try with your eyes literally propped open, staring right at the sun, within less than two minutes, the impact would be so great, you'd have permanent blindness. It's called solar retinopathy, for the doctors in the house, and there's no treatment for it. It costs you your eyes to look at the sun.

Well, which is brighter, the sun or the one who made the sun? Well, of course, it's God Himself. God's glory is infinitely brighter than the sun itself. So you or Moses or I — if you and I can't bear to go look at the sun that God made for more than a few seconds without it just causing us irreparable damage, then just imagine God revealing His full nature and glory to you, the One who made that sun, and a million other suns like it.

Again, Moses didn't fully understand what he was asking, and so God says, hey, I'm going to honor your request, but not in the way that you've asked it. See this cleft in the rock? I'm going to tuck you here and keep you safe, and I will pass by, I will honor your request, but in a way that you can survive.

In a way that you can survive. And here's the thing. Even though that request was a passing moment of the backside of God, even though it was like that, do you know the impact it had on Moses? Would you remember what happened when he came back down the mountain?

His face was shining with a radiance just from that moment. The glory of God is not a trivial thing.

In Heaven We Shall See His Face 34:47

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

— Matthew 5:8 (NKJV)

Now let me ask you this final question as we close here tonight. What's — what about in heaven? When you and I get to heaven, are you gonna be able to look at God? What do you think — you can be able to look at God?

Is he gonna have to, in heaven, hide you in the cleft of the rock while He runs on past and you get a fleeting look? Is that the way it's going to be in heaven? Well, no, of course not. So here's the verses of the close.

Matthew 5:8 says this: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Revelation 22:3, which talks about that side of glory. In heaven there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul. For now, right now, here now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. This morning, you and I are sinners impacted by sin. Every part of us is tainted by Adam's fall.

You and I are sinners, and because of that, we can only see through the glass darkly. But it won't always be that way. It won't always be that way. In God's time, the promise of this passage, and others like it, is this.

In God's time, the Rock of Ages, in whom we are now safely hidden and saved, will welcome us into His eternal presence. And you know what? At that point, you're not just going to be able to look at his face, but you're going to be able to hold Him in your arms — and He, you — and He will wipe away the tears that we're crying now.

That day awaits. It's a good day. It's just on the horizon. Come, Lord Jesus.

Let's pray.