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Face to Face, April 3
Exodus 33:1-17
And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his
friend.
Exodus 33:11
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After the transgression of Israel in making the golden calf, Moses again goes
to plead with God in behalf of his people.... He has learned from experience that
in order to have an influence with the people he must first have power with God.
The Lord reads the sincerity and unselfish purpose of the heart of His servant
and condescends to commune with this feeble mortal, face to face, as a man
speaks with a friend. Moses casts himself and all his burdens fully upon God
and freely pours out his soul before Him. The Lord does not reprove His servant,
but stoops to listen to his supplications....
The answer comes: “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee
rest.” But Moses does not feel that he can stop here. He has gained much, but he
longs to come still nearer to God, to obtain a stronger assurance of His abiding
presence. He has carried the burden of Israel; he has borne an overwhelming
weight of responsibility; when the people sinned, he suffered keen remorse, as
though he himself were guilty; and now there presses upon his soul a sense of the
terrible results should God leave Israel to hardness and impenitence of heart....
Moses presses his petition with such earnestness and fervency that the answer
comes: I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace
in my sight, and I know thee by name.”
Now, indeed, we would expect the prophet to cease pleading; but no, em-
boldened by his success, he ventures to come still nearer to God, with a holy
familiarity which is almost beyond our comprehension. He now makes a request
which no human being ever made before: “I beseech thee, show me thy glory.”
What a petition to come from finite, mortal man! But is he repulsed? Does God
reprove him for presumption? No; we hear the gracious words: “I will make all
my goodness pass before thee.”...
In the history of Moses we may see what intimate communion with God it is
man’s privilege to enjoy
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Testimonies for the Church 4:531-533
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