Understanding Who God Is

THE STORY chapter #5

(My home church is participating in the study of THE STORY – The Bible As One Continuing Story Of God And His People. Foreword by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee. Each week, my Friday post will focus on our current study chapter.)

Three months after Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, they came to Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai is the place where Moses received the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, inscribed by the finger of God. Exodus 31:18.

God shared with Moses many instructions while the Israelites were in camp. These instructions included how to worship God and how to live among each other. At the mountain, the LORD and Moses had a very close relationship, speaking face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Exodus 33:11.

Because Moses put all trust and faith in God, Moses told God not to send them any further, unless God Himself continues on the journey with them.

And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” Exodus 33:17-18

That request was very bold of Moses, yet God agreed. However – Moses was not allowed to see God’s face.

We do not know all that Moses actually saw the next morning, the time God designated for Moses to witness His glory. The Bible states the LORD came down in a cloud, stood with Moses and proclaimed His name, the LORD. Then He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming who He is. We can only imagine the rest.

Imagine the total essence of compassion and grace pass before you. I would fall to my knees in the presence of this truth, because alone, I am not worthy of the gifts. Imagine the intrinsic nature of slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness, its magnificent wholeness drifting past you. My heart would ache, reaching out for that kind of love I am not capable of producing. Maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. My mind would be in a whirl, unable to understand the complexity of all God’s love, encompassing and absolving all that sin.

After reading those beautiful words, the very next verse states –

..Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation. Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshipped. Exodus 34:7-8.

Parental sin does punish children.Think alcoholism, abuse and neglect. That is a hard fact of God for us to understand. But Moses saw and understood God’s glory, inspiring Moses to bow and worship Him.

We were not created to understand all that God does. And we will probably not see God, until our time in heaven. But understanding who God is over why God does, helps us grow in a relationship with Him, just as Moses did.