The first part of this chapter starts off dramatically. God basically tells Moses to get the people heading off to the promised land. He will provide an angel to go ahead of them, giving them the land and driving out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. This is right after the golden calf fiasco. God is not pleased, but notice He is staying faithful to his promise. That's very cool.
He then adds that they are headed to the land of milk and honey, but He won't be going with them. The people responded accordingly (they mourned).
Moses used to hang out with God on occasion in the "tent of meeting" and he would talk to God face to face, "as a man speaks with his friend." In a conversation about God not going with the people, Moses poses an interesting question. He basically asks, "What will distinguish me from just anyone if You are not with me?" He was identified by his relationship with God (and the presence of God being about him). Is that cool, or what?
Then Moses has a chance to see the Lord, but only his backside. God sets him in a cleft in the rock and covers Moses' eyes so that he may not see God's face. That's amazing. My imagination has been stretched in the recent past concerning what God the Father looks like. I have come to the conclusion that I really have no idea what He looks like. The one clue that I have been basing a lot on is that we are created in His image, so I try to reflect that back and think, 'He must look something like us, having a face and all...'
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at June 17, 2008 08:57 AM