Exodus 33:18–20: “And [Moses] said, ‘Please, show me Your glory.’ Then [God] said, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’ But He said, ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.'”

December 7th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

God told Moses that he could not see His face because, “no man shall see Me and live.” He said this in spite of what verse 11 tells us, that the Lord would speak to Moses face to face. The Lord modified those encounters, so that His glory was somehow turned down from full intensity. It was something less than what the Apostle Paul described in 1 Timothy 6:16 as “unapproachable light.” Now, for Moses to see more of God than he was already experiencing, precautionary measures were needed. God was gracious to Moses and although he could not see 100% of God’s face, whatever he did see of God’s nature must have been spectacular.

God’s goodness passed in front of Moses and he heard God proclaim His name: “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” It is interesting that God declared to Moses that His name (His character) is that He gives mercy and compassion. Over and over we find these truths repeated throughout the Old Testament: “He is slow to anger, abounding in mercy . . . loving-kindness . . . gracious.” This idea is repeated again several different ways in the New Testament. As John wrote, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). So again we see that God’s desire is to have a free, open relationship with us (face to face) through His Son Jesus Christ.

“LORD, we would love to meet with You face to face this day; but if that isn’t possible, then we do chose to walk in the light as You are in the light and have fellowship with You.”