Untitled Sermon (3)

Sermon Text: Exodus 33:18-34:9

Exodus 33:18 ESV

18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”

RECAP

This morning, we pick up in the middle of Moses’ intercession for the people of Israel.

For those who have not been with us the last couple of weeks:

Moses has been on top of a mountain in an ongoing conversation with God about Israel, His people while His people have been at the base of the mountain awaiting Moses return

While waiting on Moses as He received the law and instructions from God on how to worship Him, Israel decided to create their own gods to worship because Moses and God were taking too long. So Israel put pressure on Aaron, Moses brother, to make some gods and Aaron did.

Aaron took gold from the people, melted it, and reforged it into the image of sacred cows, more than likely one of the great idols of Egypt. So as Moses is receiving instruction from the living God on how they should worship Him. Aaron and Israel are making up their own worship book of order for their cow idol.

As Moses is returning from his time with God with the tablets in two, he notices Israel is completely and totally caught up in worship of this new god and he absolutely blows a gasket.

He throws the tablets down - tablets that had God’s own writing on them, he takes the cow and sets it own fire, and grinds it up into a powder, he sprinkles the gold powder into the water, then he orders the people to drink the powdery remains of their idol.

And the Scripture says, when Moses had saw that “people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies)” meaning that the people were so out of control and so caught up in their partying and crazy debauchery, Moses determined that something had to be done before God destroyed everyone.

First, he asks WHO IS OWN THE LORD’S SIDE? In other words, who wants to make this right? The house of Levi comes forward and says we are. So Moses instructs them in judgment to go and destroy every one else who is not on the Lord’s side. 3000 people die.

Second, Moses goes back to God and petitions Him for mercy for those who have repented because He understands that they have created a UNBELIEVABLY HORRIBLE SIN. In fact, it is SO BAD that even after God sends a plague their way, God tells Moses this in verse 1 of chapter 33:

““Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ 2 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. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.””

In other words, God promises to give the people everything that he promised them except for himself. Some people if they heard God was going to give them security, comfort, and provision, would probably have been completely satisfied with the arrangement but Scripture says that Israel received the news AS DISASTROUS because of this one particular part, GOD was not going with them.

7. So, all the people take on a posture of repentance and Moses goes back to God and begins to make intercession on their behalf. In his conversation with God in which He is interceding for Israel, Moses makes three requests, we find the first one in chapter 33 verse 13:

a. “Please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” God responds back and tells Moses. ”I’ll go with YOU and I’ll give YOU rest.”

b. This leads us to Moses 2nd request in verse 15: And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” Basically, Moses responds back to God and says in so many words…Lord I don’t just need you to go with me, but I need you to go with US! WE NEED YOUR PRESENCE. Moses and Israel now realize what we too are so quick to forget…that we can have everything but if we do not have God with us, we still ultimately have nothing. Having heard Moses petition again for the people, God responds and says: “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

This leads us to Moses’ third request, on which we will spend the rest of our time:

Glory Requested

English Standard Version Chapter 33

18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”

Moses asks the Lord to SHOW ME YOUR GLORY!

What a request! Especially when we consider everything that is going on around it:

Moses has already received answers to his first two requests and God HAS AGREED to honor those two requests:

Meaning God will not only go with Moses but He is going to GO WITH ISRAEL instead of departing He will go with them!

That in an of itself would certainly seem like enough.

2. Moses also has already had several experiences with God before his latest request for God to show His glory.

Moses was first called out by God as He spoke from a burning bush that was burning but was not destroyed.

Moses was present as God used Him to warn Pharoah and then delivered 10 plagues in a demonstration of His superior power over Pharoah and all of the Egypt’s gods.

Moses was present at the parting of the Red Sea

Moses was present each day as the Lord led them a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night

Moses was present as the Lord spoke from Mount Sinai giving him his commandments and ordinances

Moses was present as the Lord descended down in the form of a cloud into the tent of meeting.

And yet here we see now Moses requesting for the the Lord to SHOW HIM HIS GLORY!

Amazing...Despite all that He has seen and heard, Moses continues to want more of God!

CHALLENGE: How many of you are content with routine church? How many of you are content with going through the motions Christianity? Can I be honest with you? One of the significant reasons why us church folks can sometimes get in a rut in our faith is because we are simply content with knowing a little about God versus actually knowing God. We are content with gathering facts about God minus a bonafide fellowship with God.

J.I. Packer, the GREAT Anglican preacher who passed in July of last year, had many GREAT thoughts about KNOWING GOD! In fact, he wrote a book called KNOWING GOD that has sold nearly 2 MILLION copies. This is what Packer once said about the difference between KNOWING ABOUT GOD versus KNOWING GOD!

“A little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about Him...One can know a great deal about God without much knowledge of Him. I am sure that many of us have never really grasped this. We find in ourselves a deep interest in theology (which is, of course, a most fascinating and intriguing subject--in the seventeenth century it was every gentleman’s hobby). We read books of theological exposition and apologetics. We dip into Christian history, and study the Christian creed. We learn to find our way around in the Scriptures. Others appreciate our interest in these things, and we find ourselves asked to give our opinion in public on this or that Christian question, to lead study groups, to give papers, to write articles, and generally to accept responsibility, informal if not formal, for acting as teachers and arbiters of orthodoxy in our own Christian circle. Our friends tell us how much they value our contribution, and this spurs us to further explorations of God’s truth, so that we may be equal to the demands made upon us. All very fine--yet interest in theology, and knowledge about God, and the capacity to think clearly and talk well on Christian themes, is not at all the same thing as knowing Him. We may know as much about God as Calvin knew-- indeed, if we study his works diligently, sooner or later we shall--and yet all the time (unlike Calvin, may I say) we may hardly know God at all.”

ILLUSTRATION: As I woke up this morning and thought about my Father on this Father’s Day, I was overwhelmed with gratitude that He taught me the importance of this. My father would have never been confused for some big name theologian. He was certainly well read but he wasn’t necessarily what some would call a Bible scholar. He was a shepherd not a professor, but while E.J. Crawford would not have been considered by Bible Scholars around the world to be the one who knew the most about God. I would put stand him up against any man as someone who KNEW GOD.

I remember many a nights as a kid waking up, getting out of my bed to use the restroom, as kids do and hearing my father in the front room praying for His family, praying for His church, and praying for God to SHOW HIM HIS GLORY! He spoke to God as one who speaks with a friend.

He was not content with knowing facts about God. He wanted to actually KNOW GOD! And simply was not content with anything less through his life and up til His death...

You know it’s often said that “we have not because we ask not” and that can sometimes be true of our relationship with God...

We sometimes lack deeper fellowship with God because we simply are not seeking after it. We’re too busy. We’re too occupied. We’re too engrossed in everything the world is throwing at us. We’re spending all of our time wrapped in social media, wrapped in streaming movies, wrapped in games, wrapped in sports, wrapped in activities, that we have practically no time to sit still and asks God to make himself know in our lives.

David Mathis, executive editor for desiringGod.org and pastor at Cities Church in Minneapolis has this to say regarding God’s glory:

“God loves to answer the prayer “Show me your glory.” When your soul hungers, when your tank feels empty, when you’re running on fumes, when you open your Bible in the morning and ask for God’s help, a great go-to request is this simple, honest, humble plea: “Father, show me your glory.””

How often are you praying this prayer for your life, but not only a prayer for yourself but for others around you! Let me quote Mathis again:

“The apostle Paul prayed for Christians that “the eyes of your hearts [would be] enlightened” so they might know “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and . . . the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:18–19). Instead of starting with your wife’s convenience, what if you prayed, “Show her your glory”? Along with your neighbor’s health, “God, show him your glory.” Even before your children’s safety, “Father, show them your glory.””

This is a prayer that should become common for us as Christians. Lord continue to reveal yourself to me and to those around me! Continue to make yourself known!

Not simply because it is a good idea, but because is it NECESSARY!

WE NEED GOD to reveal His glory to us.

Glory is one of the keys to our ongoing transformation, sanctification, and growth in God!

IN ORDER TO BE MORE LIKE CHRIST, we NEED to behold HIS GLORY!

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

BEHOLDING THE GLORY OF THE LORD ARE BEING TRANSFORMED INTO THE IMAGE OF THE LORD moving from one degree of glory to another...

I suspect the reasons so many of us can be regular attendees of worship services, bible studies, and other Christian gatherings while remaining cold towards those in need and hateful towards one another is because we are BEHOLDING SO LITTLE OF THE GLORY OF GOD!

When we see more of God, when we know God more and not just simply know more about God, we ARE TRANSFORMED!

Packer observed 4 ways in which KNOWING GOD transformed us:

Those who know God have great energy for God

Those who know God have great thoughts of God - When we come to know God, we see him more clearly as the sustainer of all things, the one who holds all power in his hands, the one who shapes our destiny with his words, the one who is without rival or equal, the one who is preparing a place of eternal peace for us

Those who know God show great boldness for God - We testify about God with less and less regard about what others may think of us or do to us because as we come to know God we come to realize that there is no one worth fearing if truly be for us.

Those who know God have great contentment in God - We are satisfied in God even if we don’t have much outside of God because as we come to know God when come to realize that He is all we ever need

Moses was not simply content in knowing something of God, he wasn’t even content with being blessed by God, MOSES WANTED TO KNOW GOD!

And so God makes himself known! Let’s read about it…picking up at VERSE 19 of CHAPTER 33

Glory Revealed

Here is where the Lord REVEALS HIS GLORY to MOSES.

First of all, let’s start by answering this question…WHAT EXACTLY IS HIS GLORY?

Theologian Herman Bavinck describes the Glory of God as the “infinite indescribable perfection and beauty of all the other attributes.”

In other words, what Moses was seeking was to see the full manifestation of God’s attributes.

Not just his beauty but the infinite indescribable manifestation of his beauty...

Not just his power but the infinite indescribable manifestation of his power...

Not just his wisdom but the infinite indescribable manifestation of his power...

GLORY literally means weightiness. Moses is asking God to show Him His weightiness...

Again, this is an AMAZING REQUEST for a number of reasons, but reason in particular is because of the nature of the one who Moses is asking. We already seen God show up in ways that has literally terrified those who are standing by and watching and listening!

Thunder and Lightning that leaves all the people around Moses saying...”Moses if He has a message for us, please deliver it for Him because we don’t want to have to hear it directly from Him.

And here we find Moses now saying basically SHOW ME MORE!!!! Unreal, right???!!!!

How does SO HOW DOES GOD respond? Let’s read it.

Exodus 33:19–23 ESV

19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

The first thing that stands out for me is that who God fully is is simply too much for any person to handle...

Exodus 33:20 ESV

20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

God tells Moses that you will die if you see me in my fullness. God is OTHER. Looking at God is like staring into the Sun, feet away from the Sun. We’ll be incinerated and consumed. Except one significant difference, HE IS THE ONE WHO CREATED THE SUN!!!!

So to protect Moses, He says I’ll going to put you into the cleft of the mountain…a crack in the mountain that will shield him...

He also says I’ll show you my back. His point here is not that he is going to show Moses a literal human back, but he is going to show Moses the magnitude of Glory that he can actually contain without being destroyed.

Chapter 34 verse 3 also describes

Exodus 34:1–4 ESV

1 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. 3 No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that 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.

The second thing that stands out for me is HOW GOD REVEALS HIMSELF...

When God passes by Moses notices what happens…

Exodus 34:5–8 ESV

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, 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.

His glory is most defined by what HE SAYS versus HOW LOOKS…

Here’s how one theologian describes it...

“What is strange is that the Bible says almost nothing about God’s appearance. Moses wanted to see God, but rather than telling us what he saw, the Bible tells us what he heard...Even Moses had to live by faith and not by sight. He had asked to see the glory, and God showed it to him, or at least a glimpse of it. But what God mainly did was preach a sermon on his divine attributes. Brevard Childs comments, “The revelation of God is in terms of his attributes rather than his appearance.”...

“God proclaimed his name to Moses. Then he explained the meaning of his name by listing some of his perfections. He told Moses about his compassion and grace, his patience and love, his faithfulness and forgiveness. This is what God wanted Moses to see: the goodness of his divine nature. And in a way, this was also his glory. For what is the glory of God? It is the weightiness of his being, the totality of his perfections.”

God’s Glory is captured in His goodness towards us…His unbelievable holiness that would consume us if we saw it all but his relentless compassion that protects and then reveals himself to us through his words.

His mercy, His grace, His slowness to anger when we fail him over and over and over again...

His faithfulness to us despite our faithfulness so often towards him...

His steadfast love towards us...

His unwavering uncompromising righteousness that must be satisfied...

THIS IS WHAT HE SHOWS MOSES and this is what HE IS SHOWING US BUT IN A DIFFERENT WAY...

Which leads to my final point...

Glory Embodied

As I close I want to turn your attention to another person who asked to see God’s glory…one of Jesus’ disciples. Thomas.

John 14:6–8 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

You know what this sounds like? Show me your glory! This sounds like Moses!

This sounds so noble. So admirable and yet it is dead wrong for this reason…he is asking to see God and he is looking right at Him!

He doesn’t understand this at the moment…Later on after Jesus resurrection…after the other disciples come to report Jesus’ resurrection and Thomas says I’ll believe it when I see the nail scars and put my hand on the scars in his hands and the side...

Jesus shows up and Thomas touches the nail scarred hands…and touches his side and then He proclaims “My Lord and My God???? You see it is in this moment that he realizes that he has seen the glory of God. It is the glory that is displayed in the Son!

John 1:14 ESV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Colossians 2:9 ESV

9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

In Christ we see EVERYTHING that Moses saw we He called for God’s Glory to be revealed...

We see mercy and grace

We see love

We see unceasing faithfulness

We see unwavering uncompromising righteousness

But we also see the satisfying of that righteousness not through our death but through his very own death...

CHALLENGE: Some of you are in search of meaning, in search of purpose, in search of hope, in search of satisfaction and in many ways you are seeking the same thing Moses was seeking that day…a glimpse of something that is beyond you!

WE’LL IT IS FOUND HERE IN CHRIST!

TURN TO HIM in FAITH IN REPENTANCE

SEEK HIM IN PRAYER AND IN THE READING OF HIS WORD...