Face to Face…Or Not

Exodus 33:1-23

What a fascinating account we find in our reading from Exodus for today. “Moses said, ‘Show me your glory, I pray.’ And [the Lord] said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, 'The LORD'…But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.’ And the LORD continued, ‘See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; 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; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen’” (Exodus 33:18-23).

Add this encounter to the list that includes Abraham’s meeting with God by the Oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18), Isaiah’s experience in the temple (Isaiah 6:1-8), Ezekiel on the bank of the River Chebar (Ezekiel 1), and the stories from Eden when God walked in the garden in the cool of the evening and sought out Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:8f). Only in this case God’s glory is too great for Moses to bear, so God will place the divine hand over Moses’s face until God has passed at which point Moses may see God’s back. God’s hand…God’s back…God’s face! Let that sink in for a second.

What great comfort is to be found in the thought of God’s presence in the midst of humanity calling, leading, teaching, correcting, judging, nurturing and so forth. Time after time God is willing to be encountered and comprehended by men and women. In the fullness of time, of course, God took the form of Jesus Christ and became fully immersed in human life. In Jesus we continue to see God at work calling, leading, teaching, correcting, judging, nurturing and so forth. Only in this case we need not divert our eyes, even from the light of Easter morning.

May each of us have the opportunity to know the presence of God today. May each of us be guided by God’s will as though by the divine hand. May each of us follow in God’s footsteps and know God’s love as a present reality. Does God really have a hand, a back, a face? That’s not really the point. The point is that God is real, and close, and able to be known. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord, may we see you today as you would be seen. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Up Close

1 Samuel 8:1-22

Samuel was right in the middle of a controversy. On the one hand his sons were not up to the task of judging the people of Israel and the people were insisting that Samuel appoint a king for them. On the other hand the request for a king meant a rejection of God’s sovereignty over the people, God’s Kingship. That said, I find this verse very interesting: “When Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord” (1 Samuel 8:21). Did God really not know what the people had said? Did God really need it repeated by Samuel?

This reminds me of an incident early in the book of Genesis. Adam and Eve have eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and are hiding from God. “But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?…Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’” (Genesis 3:9, 11). Was God really having to ask? Did God not know what had been going on in the garden?

Passages like those from 1 Samuel and Genesis (and others that present the same image) indicate what the people believe about God and that is that there is an intimacy between God and humanity. God is very much a part of the conversation. Whether or not God knows everything there is to know is far less important than the fact that God is there to listen, to find out, to ask questions and receive answers. God is available like a true friend would be. Samuel did not have to deal with the people alone or with some theory about how God wanted things. Samuel knew what God was doing because God was willing to tell Samuel and was in conversation with him about it, talking, listening, being involved. Samuel repeated everything the people had said to a concerned and active God.

Prayer: Lord, be near to us in our living, guiding us according to your will, and never turning away from us. Amen.