A
Broken Heart Part 2
A
Broken Heart, a Shinning Face
Guilt,
Grace, and Glory
May
9th, 2010
2. Grace: God’s Servant Intercedes (Ex.
33:12-34:28)
During the second period of forty days and nights with
God on Mt.
Sinai, Moses pled for the
people and asked the Lord to restore His promised blessings to
them.
God’s
presence with the nation (Ex. 33:12-17)
Here Moses reminded the Lord of His promise to accompany
the people on their journey. In fact,
when the nation sang God’s praises at the Red Sea, they rejoiced in the promise
of God’s victorious presence (15:13-18).
Was God now going to go back on His Word?
Moses based his appeal on the grace (unmerited favor) of
God, for he knew that the Lord was merciful and gracious and that the people
were guilty. If God gave them what they
deserved, they would have been dead by now.
The Jews were God’s people and Moses was God’s man, God’s servant. They didn’t want an angel to accompany them,
for there was nothing special about that.
The thing that distinguished Israel from the other nations was
that their God was present with them, and that’s what Moses requested. His heart must have leaped for joy when he
heard God promise to accompany the people and lead them
to the place of rest that He had promised.
Now, let’s get personal. Do God’s children have the right to
“Negotiate” with God as Moses did? The
key is our relationship with God. Moses
knew the ways of God (Ps. 103:7) and was the intimate friend of God and
therefore he was able to present his case with faith and skill. The godly Scottish minister Samuel
Rutherford, who knew what it was to suffer for Christ, wrote, “It is faith’s
work to claim and challenge loving-kindness out of all the roughest strokes of
God”. That’s what Moses was doing for
the people.
God’s
glory revealed (Ex. 33:18-23)
The true servant of God is concerned more about the
glory (that God look good) of God than about anything else. What is our major concern? Up till now God had made Himself look
good. His glory had been seen by them
all in the pillar of cloud and the fire, as well as in the “storm” on Mt. Sinai, but Moses wanted more. Moses wanted to see the intimate glory of God
revealed to him personally. God did give
Moses a guarded glimpse of His glory and he was satisfied. When God’s servants are discouraged and
disappointed because of the sins of their people, the best remedy for a broken
heart is a new vision of the glory of God.
God’s
forgiveness granted (Ex. 34:1-28)
God said “OK” on the promise to accompany the people on
their journey but would He
forgive their sins? And something else:
would He accompany them like a policeman watching a criminal or like a Father
caring for His beloved children? There
is a big difference here. The answer
came when the Lord ordered Moses to prepare two new stone tablets, for this
meant He was going to replace the tablets that Moses had broken. God would renew the covenant. Early the next morning, Moses kept the
appointment, the tablets in his hands.
But before God did anything with the tablets, God
proclaimed the greatness of His attributes (vv. 5-7). (Read from KJ and NLT, then explain) This
declaration is basic to all Jewish and Christian theology. Moses repeated these words to God at Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 14:17-19), the Jews used them in
Nehemiah’s Day (Neh. 9:17-18) and Jonah quoted them
when he sat pouting outside Nineveh (Jonah 4:1-2).
Note: God does
NOT punish anyone for sin that they don’t commit. However, the consequences of a parent’s sin
will affect the children.
Note: in verses 12-17 that God repeated the laws about
idolatry.
By the Grace of God, Moses achieved his purpose: God
promised to go with the people, God showed Moses a glimpse of His glory, and God
forgave the sins of the nation. Moses
could return to the camp with the second tables of the Law and tell the people
God had forgiven their sins.
3. Glory: God’s Presence Dwells with the
People (Ex. 34:29-35; 39:32-40:38)
The Book of Exodus opens with Moses seeing God’s glory
in the burning bush and it closes with the glory of God descending into the camp
and filling the tabernacle. The presence
of the glory of God in the camp of Israel was not a luxury; it was a
necessity. It identified
Israel as the people of God and set
them apart from the other nations, for the tabernacle was consecrated by the
glory of God (29:43-44). Other nations
had sacred buildings, but they were empty.
The tabernacle of Israel was blessed with the presence
of the glory of God.
God’s
Glory Reflected (Ex. 34:29-35; 2 Cor. 3)
Moses had been fasting and praying in the presence of
God for 80 days, and he had seen a glimpse of God’s glory. Is it any wonder that he had a shining
face? He didn’t realize that he had
“absorbed” some of the glory and was reflecting it from his countenance. Because of this glory, the people were afraid
to come near him, but he summoned them to come and they talked as before. However, after he was finished speaking to
the people, Moses put on a veil to cover the glory.
Why did Moses wear a veil? According to
2 Cor.
3:13, it was because the glory was fading away. The Jews saw this glory as something
wonderful and exciting, but what would they say if they knew it was fading? Who wants to follow a leader who is losing
his glory? So Moses would go into the
tent tf meeting to talk with God, and the glory would
return, but then he would wear the veil so the people wouldn’t see the glory
disappear. Again, in 2 Cor. 3, Paul made
several applications of this remarkable even.
First, he pointed out that the glory of the Mosaic legal system was
fading away, but that the glory of the Gospel of God’s grace was getting more
glorious (3:7-11). This was his answer
to the legalists who taught that obedience to the Law plus faith in Christ was
God’s way of salvation (Acts 15:1). Why
believe in something when its glory is vanishing?
He also applied the event to the lost Jews of his day
whose hearts were covered by a veil of unbelief so they could not see the glory
of Christ 3:14-16). The only way to
remove that veil was to believe the Word and trust in Jesus.
Finally, he applied Moses’ experience to Christians who
by faith see the glory of Jesus in the Word and experience a spiritual
transformation (3:17-18). This is why
Christians read the Bible and meditate on it, because when the child of God
looks into the Word of God and sees the Son of God, he or she is transformed by
the Spirit of God into the image of God for the glory of God.
God’s
Glory Resident (Ex. 39:32 – 40:38)
The people of
Israel had no idea what Moses had
experienced on the mountain or how close they had come to being rejected by God
and destroyed. Never underestimate the
spiritual power of a dedicated man or woman who knows how to intercede with
God. One of our greatest needs today is
for intercessors who can lay hold of God’s promises and trust God to work in
might power (Isa. 59:16; 62:1; 64:1-7).
Did you notice the word “commanded” in chapters 39 and
40? It is used 18 times in those two
chapters, “As God commanded”. Moses was
faithful to follow God and the people followed Moses. Now the tabernacle is completed, as God
commanded.
Too many people have tried to do God’s work their own
way and then have asked God to bless it.
That is not the way it works.
First we find out what God wants us to do, and we do it to glorify
Him. If we obey His will and seek to
honor His name, then He will come and bless the work with His powerful
presence.
When all was completed and dedicated to the Lord, then
the glory of God filled the tabernacle and abode there. The Hebrew word translated “abode” in
Exodus 39:35 (settled, NIV) is
transliterated shekinah in
English, “the abiding presence of God”.
So powerful was the presence of God’s glory that Moses wasn’t able to
enter the tabernacle!
The greatest example of the glory of God was in the
person of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. And
what did the world do with this glory?
They nailed it to a cross.
Where is God’s glory today? The body of every true believer is the
temple of
God (1 Cor. 6:19-20), but so is the local church (1 Cor. 3:10-23) and the church universal (Eph. 2:20-22). God doesn’t live in buildings today. Buildings are dedicated to God to be used as
tools for His work and His workers. But
God does dwell in His people and it is our duty to show the world the glory of
God through us both individually and collectively.