Can you imagine standing on a mountain top and seeing God in all His glory? Can you comprehend such a moment? A moment where you actually hear God's voice? Witness a transfiguration?!
I've had some glorious moments in the Lord. Truly glorious. I've been a part of revivals in two little country churches where over a dozen people were saved and the tongues of men and women were loosed in public confession of sin and repentance and reconciliation for hours. Glorious! Only the Spirit of the Living God could have produced such all-encompassing joy. I want to see that again.
"Then Moses said, 'I pray You, show me Your glory." Exodus 32:27.
And God did. Moses couldn't look on God's face or he would have died.
"Then the Lord said, 'Behold there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen." Exodus 32:21-23 [Emphasis mine]
Can you imagine? God puts Moses in the cleft of the rock and covers him with His hand. Physically. Held in place by God. Shielded from His perfect glory. And Moses got to look at God's back. What a marvelous, amazing thing to experience. Yet, God's glory is so beyond anything we could possibly understand or experience in our human form, that God cannot let us see all of it. He must protect us from His glory. If we were to see it, we'd surely die.
I have never seen God, but I've seen His manifested glory in His creation. I've felt His love when my son died and knew His presence in a way I cannot begin to explain. I know I was in the cleft of His Rock and covered with His hand. And I will never, ever forget the peace God gave me in that moment. My soul looks forward to the day I will see Christ face to face. Can you imagine? Show us Your glory, Lord, as we can each absorb it, as we can comprehend it. Show us Your glory. selahV
[copyrighted, SelahV Today, June 2008, reprinted 2009]
