Seeking the Glory

Seeking the Glory
Words of Faith 3-16-2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2023
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Exodus 33
[18] Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."
[19] And the Lord said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. [20] But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."
[21] Then the Lord said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. [22] When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. [23] Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."

What an interesting request. "Show me Your glory." After all, hadn't Moses seen a great deal of the glory of God? No one had ever seen more. The mighty hand of God had delivered the Israelites from slavery. The Lord had provided manna and water in the desert. Moses had visited Mount Sinai and met with God to receive the Law. What more is there?
We may quickly assume that Moses was asking to see the Shekinah of God. We hear that word from time to time. Shekinah literally means the "residence" of God, which is inexpressible-- the visible divine presence of God.
But Moses used a different word here. Moses asked to see the kabowd of God. The word properly means "weight" and was used to describe God's depth rather than God's power or manifestation. The word implies splendor, copiousness, detail, and honor. Moses requested a much more intimate glimpse of God, not a flashier one. Now, his request makes much more sense.
Moses had clearly witnessed the mighty power of God. Now, He seemed to be seeking a deeper relationship with God. One commentator suggests that Moses wanted a more excellent knowledge of God, a closer, warmer fellowship with God, and a more intimate communion with Him. This was a more profound experience of God's glory.
The response of the Lord was rather magnificent. "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence." Wow. ALL of God's goodness? Moses had seen the hand of the Lord and His mighty power, but now the Lord would reveal His heart and goodness. Moses would see God's great mercy, that "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." What a huge revelation.
Of course, Moses would not be permitted to see the face of God, for to do so would mean death. But Moses would be allowed to stand near God in the cleft of the rock.
Curiously, in our experience of God, we often want just the opposite of what Moses requested. We want to see something flashy. We want God to win our battle or get our way for us. We want God to reveal His power. What we really need is the very thing that Moses requested! We need to see His glory. Not His shekinah presence, but His kabowd.
We need to understand, with some intimacy, the weight of His being and the splendor of His goodness. We need to grasp the depth of His mercy. When we find that intimacy with God's nature, we will learn to trust Him with anything and everything.
What are you seeking from God? Are you seeking the flash and power? Or are you seeking the glory of His goodness? The weight of His mercy? The wonder of His love? Let us seek the Glory of God.

Father God, forgive me for seeking after Your power while neglecting the deeper knowledge of You. I want to know You, Lord. If You never do a single thing for me, I simply want to know You, the wonder of Your glory, and the weight of Your mercy. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2023 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.