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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, August 12, 2021
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Moses’ Intercession Bible Verse:Exodus 33:7-23 (ESV) "Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. Moses by Tissot Moses (by Tissot) Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” . . . And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, 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.” " Message:
With the tabernacle yet to be built, Moses pitches a temporary tent outside the camp, and God makes His presence known to the fickle Israelites by manifesting Himself as the familiar column of cloud. Here Moses can speak with God in person, without having to ascend the mountain again. God's favor with Moses is enormous; as with Abraham, God will talk to him as a friend, allow Moses to argue with Him, and respond to questions.
Moses Sees the Promised Land from Afar (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)
The term “face-to-face” in the third paragraph, used in the original Hebrew, confuses the subsequent discussion of Moses seeing God's face. But “face-to-face” in ancient Hebrew was idiomatic, as it is today, and obviously cannot be taken literally. Human language, whether Hebrew or English, finds it difficult to express the ways in which God might manifest His presence. Moses sees something inside the tent (and atop Mount Sinai), but what he sees, he does not describe. There is something else he calls God's “glory” that he wants to see and has not; and yet another, higher level, which he calls God's “face”.
We simply have no idea what any of this would look like, although we get later descriptions of God's manifestations, such as the fantastic visions in Ezekiel and Revelation. The one thing we know, for certain, is that a human being cannot see God's “face”, i.e., see Him as He actually exists. God tells Moses in this passage that “man shall not see me and live.” Today, we look at this the other way around; we do not expect that we will see God until after our death.
This matter is part of the wonder of Jesus Christ, of course; God became fully human and the people of the time could look into an actual face, the face of God made man. But when Moses speaks of the “face” of God, it is simply a term used to describe something for which there is no word, for no living human has seen it.
This lone mystery serves to highlight the lack of mysticism, generally, in this part of Exodus. There are no secret rituals, no unseen occurrences, no hidden writings: God tells the Hebrews, “do exactly this on this day or when this occurs and you will be righteous before me, and I will protect you.” Even the rituals that will be performed by the high priests in private are spelled out; and although the Ark and its contents are to be hidden from view, the Hebrews will have seen them and know what they are.
Meditation : Prayer : Holy God, I pray to be filled with your Holy Spirit for the rest of this day. Let me go forth, walking with your Spirit in my heart, that I may be filled with the joy and energy and praise for your entire creation, thankful in the many gifts you have given me, and showing forth your light in my every word and deed. This I pray in Christ’s name,....Amen |
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