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Dear BAGBR Churches,
Exodus 33: 21 “…there is a place by Me,
and you shall stand there on the rock.”
Moses requested to see God’s glory, but
what would that mean? Glory was the
weightiness or the fullness of God, and
Moses or any other human being could not
experience that and live. The sheer
holiness of God would strike Moses with such
conviction that he would be
overwhelmed. And yet, He did tell Moses
there is a place to stand “by ME” on the
rock. God provides a place for us to stand
in order to know Him intimately, personally,
and to still live.
Paul desired to know Him intimately
(Philippians 3: 10). Being able to know God,
to see His glory, as Moses or Paul did was
not for the purpose of having some
spectacular vision or emotionally charged
experience. Moses’ desire was more related
to a “knowing” that would enable him to lead
Israel to the promised land. He had just
experienced the golden calf debacle, and it
was obvious he was attempting to lead an
obstinate people (v. 3). His desire for
God’s glory was intensified by the
realization that his ability and strength
were inadequate, and apart from God, he
could do nothing and would failure
miserably.
Even today, we sing songs about
desiring for God to show us His glory, but
what are asking for? Most of the time I
think we are only repeating words from this
text with NO idea of what we are really
asking for. Moses’ request was rooted in
the realization of his own weakness and
spiritual inadequacy and needing God’s
power, wisdom, and courage to obey and to
lead His people. These words were spoken in
brokenness and humility, not in a spirit of
boastfulness and curiosity. God desires to
show us His glory but only on His terms, not
ours. And when He does, it is a time of
great humility for us. God is not reluctant
to reveal to us His glory. The truth be
known, most do not really want to see His
glory—because we are more interested in
having our own glory. To see and know the
glory of God is not found on the stage but
in one’s closet in brokenness and surrender
to Him.
In
Christ,
Tommy Middleton
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