34 Exodus - The Transfiguration of Moses

34 Exodus Encountering God

Last week we talked about the grace of God extended to the people of Israel that had made a Golden Calf to worship and how God forgave them. We also talked about Moses seeing God “face to face.”

Exodus 33:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.

The Bible also says, “And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” Exodus 3:20.

How do we reconcile these two verses?

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Understanding that GOD is a Spirit comes with certain understandable truths such as, God doesn't really have arms, hands, or feet - HE is a Spirit. To speak with God "face to face" might be best understood as a euphemism, meaning in person.

It is used 7 times in the OT and 4 more in the NT and each time (if I am not mistaken) it is referring to speaking to someone in person.

God can take on any form He desires. For us, He takes on the physical characteristics of man that we might better understand Him even as HE took on the flesh of man in the man Jesus that He might die for us. The Bible refers to God’s arm, hands, eyes and so on that we might better understand HIM.

This is what came to me first thing this morning before I even had time to enter into prayer. It's good to know God is listening to our conversation all the time and seeks to instruct us as to what His Word means. Hope this helps and have a blessed day.

Now we will look at how Moses did actually see GOD.

V.1 – Before Moses sees the Lord in the fashion he desires to see HIM, God speaks to Moses – I’ll do it again.

V.2 – “Be ready in the morning”

· Come up

· Present yourself to Me (God) (How would you like to have to do that?)

V.3 – Further instructions

V.4 – Moses gets to work

V.5 – The LORD descended

V.6-7 – the Attributes of God – God’s attributes are spoke of all throughout His Word, in the Law, in the Writings, and in the Prophets.

· Merciful and gracious

o Psalm 86:15

o Psalm 103:8

o Psalm 111:4

· Longsuffering

o Numbers 14:18a

· Abundant in goodness and truth

· Forgiving sin

· Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children – on those who don’t repent

o Exodus 20:5

o Numbers 4:18b

o Deuteronomy 5:9-11

o Jeremiah 32:18

V.8 – Moses bowed down

· When Moses saw the Shechinah passing [in front of him] and he heard the voice calling, he immediately prostrated himself.

V.9 – Lord is Adonai in both cases (Master, another name for GOD)

· Grace – receiving that which we do not deserve: forgiveness, favor, salvation

· Adonai means Lord, it’s His name

· A plea for even more grace, understanding that they are a stiffnecked people

· Take us, take us again, keep us – as your people, your nation, your inheritance; God’s own portion of the Nations of the world.

V.10 – A covenant

· I suppose if we were to try and identify all the marvel God has done for Israel we would be here all day.

o The exodus from Egypt alone has numerous.

V.11 – Observe, watch, behold the hand of your God

V.12-16 – “Take heed” is a warning – one that Joshua would fail to recall and to heed.

· V.13 – Tear don’t, don’t join in.

· V.14 – What would become known at the 2ndCommandment.

· V.15 – The Gibeonites would trick Joshua into making a peaceful covenant with them.

V.17 – c What would become known at the 3rdCommandment

Feast Time: Where we celebrate self and each other, they celebrated God.

V.18-19 – Springtime – it’s a time of new births thus God addresses what is to be His. Exodus 23:15

V.20 – First born male belongs to God – Exodus 22:30

· “None shall appear before me empty” seems to be a standalone statement and a repeat of Exodus 23:15 according to Rashi and other commentators I read. It would seem to me to mean that all who come before God to redeem a first born son must come with a substitute sacrifice.

· Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

V.21 – What would become known as the 4thCommandment – Keep the Sabbath, even during Harvest.

V.22 – Feast of Weeks (Festival of Weeks) – Exodus 23:16-17

· the first of the wheat harvest: [This is the festival] on which you bring the two breads made from the wheat [as in Lev. 23:17].

o the first: For it is the first meal offering brought to Temple from the new wheat crop, because the meal offering of the omer on Passover is brought from the barley.

· and the festival of the ingathering:, [which occurs] at the time you gather your grain from the field into the house. This gathering is a term denoting bringing into the house, like “you shall take it into your house” (Deut. 22:2).

· at the turn of the year: which is at the return of the year, at the beginning of the coming year. [I.e., it is in the month of Tishri, which is the first month of the year, counting from Creation.]

V.23 – The Feast of ingathering

V.24 – God’s hand of protection – Without God, they fail

V.25/26 – Identical to Exodus 23:18-19

V.27 – Notice again, Moses is now doing the work or the writing as it is and not GOD.

V.28 – We have to conclude that God sustained him.

The Transfiguration of Moses

V.29/30 – He bore evidence of the Shekinah glory of God upon his face.

· Can you imagine having such a presence of God about you that people recognized it and maybe even feared to come near you?

V.31/33 – conclusion

· Moses had such an intimate relationship with God that it could not be understood by other thus he had to veil it. There have been many truly godly men and women in the world that had such a relationship with God that others envied and even misunderstood

· V.30 – c

V.34/35 – When Moses went before GOD, he removed the veil that God might see him; even perhaps that God might see the reflection of Himself in the face of Moses. Now, ask yourself, when you go before the LORD to pray, is there anything about you that is veiled? Are you trying to hide anything or keep anything from GOD?

Ask yourself, the next time you go to pray, is there any veil between me and God that I need to remove before I enter into His presence? Pride, sin, and even your knowledge of His Word are just a few things that might be separating you from GOD. Remove the veil, and stand naked before GOD that HE might reprove, correct, and instruct you in the ways of righteousness.

This message was edited after the preaching of it because GOD took my simple notes and began to preach what was truly a powerful message. One that was not evident in the original notes.