Scripture Daily

Context No. 2517 of 4322 · Exodus

Context · Reflection

Exodus 33:17-23: in context

17The LORD said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the LORD’s name before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” 20He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.” 21The LORD also said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”

Emboldened by God's favor, Moses makes a bold request: please show me your glory. God's answer is both a granting and a limit. I will make all my goodness pass before you, he says, and proclaim my name, but you cannot see my face and live. So he sets Moses in a cleft of the rock, covers him with his hand while his glory passes, and lets him see only his back.

God does not refuse Moses; he meets him with what he can bear. He will not show his face, which would undo a mortal, but he will show his goodness and speak his name, his very character. And he shelters Moses to do it, tucking him into the rock and covering him with his own hand until the glory has passed. There is tenderness in the limit. We often want a fuller sight of God than we could survive, more proof, more overwhelming display; God graciously gives instead what we can hold, his goodness passing by, his name proclaimed, while he shields us in the rock.

Do I demand a fuller sight of God than I could bear, when he graciously shows me his goodness and shelters me in the rock to do it?

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