Today’s Reading: Exodus 32-34; Philippians 3
Exodus 34:1- 10
The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. …4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands,[a] forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9 And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
The presence of God. This is one of the most profound encounters of God in the Old Testament. One of the first encounters of God is when God connects with Abraham and Jacob. But this one is where God actually makes an appointment with Moses and gives him an assignment.
Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.
The next thing that happens is God comes down from Heaven and walks in front of Moses. Moses is in the official presence of God. He is one of the first persons to see and interact with God at this level. Moses had previously been in the presence of God at the burning bush, but now he is actually standing with God. Let this sink in for a minute. He is physically in the presence of God. As we read more in the chapter, he spends 40 days with God and the time that he has spent with God is evident on his face. His face showed such a glow that he had to actually wear a veil to dampen the glow of the Holiness that he encountered.
This is just one of those passages that makes you feel in awe of the relationship between Moses and God. But then I remember that Christ has come and given us the same opportunity to have this relationship with God. We may not be able to be in the physical presence as Moses, but we are in the spiritual presence of God continually. When you are in this relationship, you are able to show the presence of God in all of your work and your life.
Let us pray that our life can be a reflection of God that others may see it on your face as with Moses.
Be Blessed