Read Exodus 34:27-35
This is a small and somewhat obscure Old Testament passage with profound meaning. At this particular time in the book of Exodus, Moses has already led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. God designated Moses as the leader of the Israelites and gave him the task of interceding for the people. The Israelites couldn't speak to God directly. Instead, Moses would go up to Mount Sinai and meet with God and then deliver God's message to the people. At this point in Exodus, Moses had met with God after receiving the ten commandments for the second time (read Exodus 32 to find out what happened to the first tablets), and was coming down Mount Sinai to read them to the Israelites. As he came down, the people noticed that his face was shining! Why? Verse 29 tells us, "it shone because of his speaking with Him." Pretty phenomenal, right? This is just a glimpse of the awesome majesty of our Lord and the marvelous extent of His glory. God is so glorious and radiant that Moses' face began shining just from being in His presence.
What was the people's reaction to this? We see in verse 30 that, "they were afraid to come near him." It freaked them out! This encounter with the supernatural was too much for them to bear. Earlier in Exodus 20:19, the Israelites' fear is shown again when they say to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen but let not God speak to us, or we will die." The glory of the Lord was so great, and His power and majesty so real, that they were literally afraid for their lives. In the midst of God's glory they were humbled and reminded of their own frailty and of the fact that their tiny little lives were in His powerful hands.
I don't know about you, but I don't see this type of fear of God much today. If we really feared God, it would radically impact the way we lived. Oftentimes we show irreverence when we speak to the Lord. T-shirts such as "Jesus is my homeboy," make me cringe, because they directly contradict this powerful image of God in Exodus. We too often think of our God too casually and fail to give Him the reverence and awe He deserves.
I can't end this devotional without mentioning that this passage overwhelmingly points to the cross, which would come about many years later. Like Moses interceded for the Israelites, Jesus became our intercessor. Formerly, we were unable to commune with our perfect and holy God because of our wretched sinfulness. However, because Jesus became the perfect sacrifice on the cross for our sins and made us holy, we are now able to speak to God directly. We have been reconciled to God through the cross. It is so neat to study the Old Testament and see how it all points to the cross! Unlike the Israelites, we are able to speak to God directly because of Jesus' sacrifice. What a privilege!
Thank God today for giving us access to Him through Jesus Christ. Ask Him to forgive you for your lack of reverence in entering His throne room. We are to enter boldly with confidence, but also humbly and with a contrite heart!
