Please, Show Me Your Glory - 250312

SPEAKER 1 Hello, welcome to Let God Speak. I am your host, Uriah St Juste. Biological growth is a permanent increase in size. It can take place steadily over time or can occur in spurts. Growth can be rapid or quite slow. Whatever the type of growth for living things, there is no going back to a smaller size, but a steady march forward. We've been tracking the growth of Moses as he grows in his understanding of God. In our study of the book of Exodus, has Moses finally reached his peak? This week we unpack a polite request Moses made to God as we study the topic. Please show me your glory today on Let God Speak. On our panel today, we have Lena Yoon and Harold Harker. Welcome, Lena, and welcome Harold. SPEAKER 2 Thank you. SPEAKER 1 Please join us as we pray together. Dear Lord, we thank you for this wonderful opportunity to study your Word together. Thank you Lord for bringing people from all over the world to be able to share in the study of your word. Lord, we ask for your presence today in a special way to bless us. May this study bring hope and understanding to someone who is searching for you. Be with our presenters, Lord. Be with the technology and may we be richly blessed. Today we pray in Jesus name. SPEAKER 2 Amen. SPEAKER 1 Did you know that the fastest growing plant is the bamboo? Some species of bamboo can grow up to 91 centimeters or 35 inches in one day. The plant that fascinates me the most, however, in terms of growth is called a corpse flower. This flower can reach to a height of over 2 meters tall and the record is over 3 meters. It can take up to 10 years for this flower to bloom. But when it does bloom, it dies within 24 to 48 hours. In today's world, you can watch live streams of corpse flowers blooming if you have nothing else to do. Now, the wise man Solomon in Ecclesiastes 9:11 says that the race is not for the swift. And as we look at Moses growth, we can see that he makes progress and times he has lapses in his growth and understanding of God. Lena, now we are in Exodus chapter 33 and we see Moses doing something. He erects the tent or the tabernacle outside the camp. Was this the same building as the sanctuary? SPEAKER 3 No, it was a different tent or tabernacle. As you mentioned already, it was just temporary and was built outside of the camp. But whereas the tabernacle of the sanctuary was later constructed in the center of the camp. And we go and read Exodus chapter 33, verse 7 here it says Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp and called it the tabernacle of the meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting, which was outside the camp. So although, you know, it was different, but it functioned still in a similar way as the tabernacle of the sanctuary, where it was a place where people went in repentance and Moses interceded to God on their behalf. SPEAKER 1 Very good. So this was very much a different tent, but it acted similarly and with intercession and God's forgiveness. Now, Harold, this act that Moses did, he didn't do it because God specifically asked him to do it. What does this reveal about Moses to us? SPEAKER 2 I think it reveals a little how he thought of the people. He was the leader, and he had a very deep and a genuine love for his people. He didn't want them destroyed. Let me read verse 11 of Exodus 33. So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend, and he would return to the camp. But his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. You know, Moses is called a friend of God, and he used his influence with God to intercede on behalf of the people. Loved them, and it worked. The people repented, and God returned to their midst. He was with them. SPEAKER 1 Praise the Lord. And that's what the whole gospel is about, reconciling God with his people. Now, Lena, we've been journeying with Moses in this series so far, and we have seen many of his failures in the past. Is he now at a point where he's reached full maturity as a leader of God's people? SPEAKER 3 Well, a good example would be when someone is learning how to read or write. You know, we can't expect a preschooler to read and write at the level of university student. So, likewise, you know, like Moses, he had a lot of failings, but God had to work with him and patiently, and so his growth was steady. So we're going to go and read Exodus chapter 33, verses 12 and 13 here. Then Moses said to the Lord, see, you say to me, bring up these 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 grace in my sight. Now, therefore, I pray, if I found grace in your sight, show me now your way, that I may know you, and that I may find grace in your sight. And consider that this nation is your people. So Moses offered this prayer, and when he was aware of the need to understand God on A newer and a deeper level. And he wanted to know him better. And so by observing all that, we can see how actually Moses grew spiritually step by step. SPEAKER 1 Now, just looking at this conversation that Moses is having with God, Harold, you know, he's asking for reassurance. And this is something way back when God spoke to him at the burning bush and told him to go to Pharaoh. He always wanted to be certain that, you know, God would be with him. Is this request from Moses, is this expressing a lack of faith that he's having here? SPEAKER 2 I think it's showing a very detailed, close, intimate relationship as he's talking between friends. And let me read it in a new version, the new living translation, those verses, this is what it says. On one day, Moses said to the Lord, you've been telling me, take these people up to the promised land, but you haven't told me whom you'll send with me. You've told me I know you by name and I look favorably on you. If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people. It's almost like a husband talking to a wife, or even business partners planning how they're going to move forward. Moses here is asking God to give him information so they can work more closely. He's seeking more. More influence and intimacy with God. SPEAKER 1 That's very good. So it wasn't a lack of faith. He really wanted to be connected with. SPEAKER 2 God, and it's on behalf of the people. SPEAKER 1 Great. Now, Lena, I'm sure our viewers may want to know how God responded to this request. What answer did God give Moses? SPEAKER 3 Yeah. God gives Moses two reassuring promises. We can find this in Exodus, chapter 33, verse 14 here. And he said, my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. So the first thing is God said, you know, his presence will go with him. That was a, you know, a great assurance to Moses. And then secondly, he said, I will give you rest. So rest is not here does not mean the cessation of work, but rather a settling or repose. So, which can be a good, great remedy for Moses anxiety and his, you know. So when we have actually gone into God's presence and we should not need, we do not need to worry, and we can rest in his presence. SPEAKER 1 Wonderful. We can rest knowing that he is with us. Now, Lena, Sadly, Moses is not satisfied with that answer. He makes another request to God, which is the title of our study I want to read it in Exodus, chapter 33, verse 18. And it says. And he said, please show me your glory. Strange request. What does it mean? SPEAKER 3 Yeah. So here Moses again, he longed for even further evidence of God's divine favor. So basically we know that he had already been in God's presence on repair and multiple occasions. But he also, he felt that need even further and closer relationship with God. So when he said, show me thy glory, this request actually means not only the outward appearance of God, like in his splendor and magnificence and stuff like that, but also God's perfect character. So we going to go and read Exodus chapter 33, verse 19A here. So then he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you. I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. And so here and also God actually pronounces his name, Yahweh, meaning the one who is. And also the I am. SPEAKER 1 Yes, that's again the I am the present. Present with you. And I like the fact that, you know, God didn't just show him that external majesty and power, but the true nature of who he is, which is a really deep connection that Moses was seeking. Now Harold, God told Moses that he will make all of his goodness to pass before him. What happens to a person when they encounter God's goodness? SPEAKER 2 Well, let's look how Paul who thinks of Moses and really gives us a little idea there, he weaves threads of that story when he wrote to Romans. Let me read Romans chapter 2 and verse 4. Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance. So God's goodness leads people to repentance. And that's what the people of Israel did. God's goodness always leads to that. If we understand who he is. It's a flashback to God promising to reveal his goodness to Moses. Now Paul wrote a little more over in 2nd Corinthians, chapter 3, and in verse 18 and he said there, but we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. This is another example of Moses encountering God's glory. It goes from glory to glory. You mentioned growth earlier. And so Moses is growing as he sees and understands God more. And this time Paul says, when we, that's us here. When we behold the Lord and his glory, we're transformed. And so we're transformed from Glory to glory. And the Spirit of the Lord does that. The more time I spend with the Lord and know what he's like and his goodness, the better person I become. And we can all become. SPEAKER 1 That's a beautiful promise. We can almost end the study on that note. But there's a lot more that we need to discuss. So we're saying here that, you know, when someone encounters God, when someone has experiences of God, you're never the same. Transformed. SPEAKER 2 Yes, for sure. SPEAKER 1 But Moses request Harold wanting to see God's glory. There's a problem with that request. And what is that problem? And how did God fix it? SPEAKER 2 Well, let me read verse 20, Exodus 33, 20. This is God speaking. But he said, you cannot see my face, for no man shall see me and live. Well, that's a big problem. You can't see his face. You know, in the beginning, Adam and Eve talked with God face to face until sin came. And with the presence of sin, we can't look upon God. Moses couldn't look upon God in the fullness that he has. But he gives him an example. And in verse 22 he says, so will be while my glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and will cover you with my hand while I pass by. Then I will take away my hand and you will see my back, but my face you shall not see. So God grants Moses request, but shields him. If he saw his face, he would have died. SPEAKER 1 Certainly he would have been destroyed. SPEAKER 2 He would have. SPEAKER 1 So God finds some way of making it work while saving Moses. Now, Lena, some people who struggle to believe in God may ask the question, why doesn't God just reveal Himself? Why doesn't he just appear in the sky? And then we will believe. How do we know that that may not necessarily be true? Even if God does reveal Himself, that people might still struggle to believe in Him. SPEAKER 3 Yes, already Harold gave us the first answer. And also God. We know that he had revealed Himself. In other words, he came to this earth in flesh. And although people saw him in person and saw his works, but you know, he wasn't accepted by them. So we're going to go and read Hebrews, chapter 1, verses from 1, 2, 3a. Here God, who at various times, in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person. So again we can see we have a reference here to Moses seeing God's glory. And, you know, Jesus in his flesh was here on this earth and he did, you know, amazing miracles and, you know, works, but people still rejected him. SPEAKER 1 And that is very sad. You know, the perfect expression of God, the perfect revelation of God. SPEAKER 3 That's right. SPEAKER 1 And accompanied with miracles. Like Moses performed miracles in front of Pharaoh and people still rejected him back in the day of Jesus. Now, there's another way, a very important way in which God reveals himself today that involves you and I, Harold. What is that? That way that God has chosen to reveal himself. SPEAKER 2 Well, Paul puts it this way in 1st Corinthians 4 and verse 9. For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles last, as men condemned to death. For we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. It's got nothing to do with a pair of glasses being a spectacle to the world. The world is watching on. You know, in Paul's day, when there were prisoners of war taken, they were put on show. They were made to fight each other or fight wild beasts. And it would be a spectacle, it would be a show. And that's what it says. You are on view to the world. And today we as Christians, we have a wonderful opportunity to reflect God's glory in the acts that we do. Kindness, good works, helping others, loving relationships. This is the best way to present Christ to the world. They want to see that. And that's showing God's glory, what it's done for us. SPEAKER 1 And do you know what I find also very interesting and fascinating about what the Romans did in the amphitheaters? They would throw Christians correct to the lions to make a mockery out of Christianity. But do you know what that did? The fact that Christians were willing to die for their faith, that actually was a witness to many. And many believed in Jesus through that act. So when we think about it, that, you know, what we do here on earth now, we are also revealing, we are a testimony of what God can do. That's also very powerful. So through our acts as Christians, we are actually reflecting God's glory we do to the world. Now, Lena, God tells Moses when he's coming up to meet him on Mount Sinai, that he should bring two tablets of stone. Now, these are not iPads. What were those tablets of stone to be used for? SPEAKER 3 Yes, so Moses broke the first set of tablets that contained the Ten Commandments when he saw the people worship the golden calf. And obviously Moses had to intercede for them again on their behalf to God. And we're going to go and read Exodus chapter 34 and verse 1. Here it says, and the Lord said to Moses, cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. So God actually told Moses, asked Moses to cut the stones just like the first ones and bring them up on the mountain so that he can rewrite the Ten Commandments. And so here we can also see that repentance and revival comes and you know, calling back to the obedience of God's law. SPEAKER 1 So the Ten Commandments, Harold, are they still binding upon Christians today or have they been done away with? SPEAKER 2 Well, we could spend a lot of time on that. But let me read you what David said in Psalm 111 and verse 7 and 8. The works of his hands, that's God. The works of his hands are verity, that's truth and justice. All his precepts, that's his commandments. Assure they stand fast forever and ever. SPEAKER 1 Amen. SPEAKER 2 And they're done in truth and uprighteousness. I don't think there would be one serious Christian anywhere in the world who would say you can lie, you can worship idols, you can steal, you can act immorally because they're all in the Ten Commandments and they stand fast forever saying, love doesn't stop that, because if I love God, that I will keep his commandments. SPEAKER 1 Absolutely wonderful. Now Lena, when Moses finally gets a chance to see God's glory, God makes a very powerful and revealing statement to Moses about himself. What does this statement reveal about the God of the Old Testament? Is he, as many people think, very vengeful and angry and bloodthirsty. God? SPEAKER 3 Well, you know, sadly many people think of God and I have the wrong image of God being, as you mentioned, fearful, scary, angry, vengeful and etc. But even some people even don't like him. But what God says about himself, we can go and have a read. Is completely the opposite. So Exodus chapter 34, verses 6 and 7 here. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, lord the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abounding in goodness and truth, and keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation. So here what we can see, the dual attributes of God's character, love and justice. They cannot be separated, you know, they should be well balanced and so it's like, you know, God. We know that God is loving, and God is like loving a parent and who cares for a child and loves a child, and also at the same time, disciplines him or her out of love, not by out of hate. SPEAKER 1 Now, the end of verse seven here, Harold, that God will punish the children and the children's children for the sins of the fathers. That doesn't sit right with many people. How do we explain this? SPEAKER 2 Well, Ezekiel says In Ezekiel, chapter 18 and verse 20, it says, the soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. So, you know, that's telling us God doesn't impute what the father has done to the child. They each stand individually in God's sight. Now, there may be consequences of sin that will carry on if someone spends all their money, the family's in poverty, but God looks of each of us individually. SPEAKER 1 Wonderful. So God does not just randomly, just punish. Now, Lena, when Moses descends from Mount Sinai, there was a glow on his face that made the people afraid. So he puts a veil over his face. What is this pointing to? SPEAKER 3 Right, so we already have read that no one shall see the face of God and live. Then Jesus, who is God, was here on this earth. And then how was it possible that, you know, and he was here? And we're going to go and find the answers from Matthew chapter 17, verses 1 and 2. And now after six days, Jesus took Peter, James and John, his brother, led them on a high mountain by themselves, and he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the. The light. So what is happening here? You know, in transfiguration, Jesus divinity was flashing through his humanity, his flesh. So basically, his face shone like Moses face when he was with God on the mountain. And, you know, Moses and James appeared to him. And obviously Moses is, you know, type of Jesus. SPEAKER 1 Now, Harold, just a quick answer of this one. Moses had been with God before on the mountain, and his face hadn't glowed. Why this time? SPEAKER 2 Because he was growing as he saw God. Now he's reached the end. He's actually been with God as a person. SPEAKER 1 And so we have Moses reaching his peak in understanding of God. And so he's really showing that transformation that has taken place in his. We've had a wonderful study. Thank you, both of you for helping us to understand a little bit more of God's word today. May God bless you both. Carrie Brech could not carry a tune as she was tone deaf, but she loved to write poetry. She would pencil poems in all circumstances while mending a basket, carrying a baby, washing dishes, or even sweeping the house. In her lifetime she wrote more than 2,000 poems. One of these you might know as the hymn Face to Face with Christ, My Saviour. In the second stanza of this hymn, she expresses the melancholy of not being able to see Jesus face to face, but also the hope to do so one day. She writes only faintly, now I see him with the darkening veil between But a blessed day is coming when his glory shall be seen. I'm sure you didn't miss the allusion to seeing God's glory and the veil of separation that Moses wore on his face in this hymn. This hymn reminds us that we can look forward with hope to see God's glory in full one day soon when Jesus comes We're glad that you've joined us today on Let God Speak. Remember, all past programs plus teacher's notes are available on our website 3abnaustralia.org.au that's the number three and the letters abnaustralia.org.au or you can email us on [email protected] join us again next time. God bless. SPEAKER B You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from you.