Exodus 33.12-34.8
So, who is God and what is He like? Personally, I think that that is a rather important question. But not everyone agrees with me. There are some who respond by saying that it may be an interesting question, but life is just to full right now to answer it. They'll ponder it when they get more time. Interesting but not all that important. Then there are others. These folk agree that it's a fine question but then ask, 'Isn't it the kind of question that theologians need to answer? Aren't they the ones who are supposed to deal with those deep and heavy issues?' And so, they don't answer it either. I'm sure that there are other ways that people avoid my question. And I think that it is unfortunate they do. Let me tell you why. This question is important because it is so very practical. How a person answers it sets the tone of his life. Let me explain. Take someone who is too busy consider a thoughtful answer to my question. There are consequences to that choice, and one of them will be loneliness. How can it not be? Such a person may not label what he feels as loneliness, but there will be a disquiet within him. He was made to know God and to come to understand, by experience, who He is and what He is like. A refusal to take the time to get to know the God who has created him has to result in this huge hole in his soul. Something will be missing. And life, instead of being the exploration of all these vivid colors, will simply be a trudge through the gray. There are those, however, who do take the time to answer the question. But they pursue an answer by taking refuge in abstract theological study. And so, their answer to my question, 'Who is God and what is He like?' goes something like this: 'God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.' But what will this result in but a cold and formal acquaintance with Deity? How else can you relate to someone whose character is understood as infinite, eternal and unchangeable? These folk have misapplied a good answer to a different question. So, I hope you see where I'm coming from. 'Who is God and what is He like?', is an important question. How we answer it, or refuse to answer it, will affect us in ways that go far beneath the surface.
In our text Moses wants an answer to our question. That's not to say that he's never asked the question before. He already knows what God is like, at least to some extent. But he's not satisfied with his current experience of God. He wants to know his God better. So, he pushes for a deeper answer to that question. And what is so exciting and encouraging for us is that he gets an answer. And it's this answer, God's answer to our question, that we are going to be looking at this morning. Listen to how He described Himself. 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.'
There are two things that I want to point out to you right away. First, this description is a collection of what have become church words, words that we have gotten so used to that we use them without thinking much about them. So, I'll have to translate them. I point this out to remind you that you need to stop when you encounter a church word. You need to make sure that you understand what it means. Second, I want you to notice that God describes Himself in terms of relationship, His relationship with us. This is not some abstract description. Our God is no cold, distant Deity. Part of what makes Him who He is, is His affection for us, His people, and His involvement in our lives. And that will become clear, I hope, as I attempt to translate these church words.
So, how's this for a translation? 'I am Jehovah, the almighty God, and I have decided to focus My might on pursuing the wellbeing of My people. I am determined to see them flourish. I pursue this course knowing that these, My people, are stubborn and willful. They are slow to get the point and slow to trust Me. In light of this, I will need to be patient with them, repeating often the things that I have told them, forgiving their insulting rejection of Me and My ways and reminding them time and time and time again that I love them. There will be those who will adamantly and repeatedly refuse to listen to Me. I will respond to them appropriately. But they will not turn Me away from doing good to the rest. I know that there will be obstacles in My way, but I intend to keep at it until I succeed.'
You might think that I have taken some liberties in my translation, and I have. But I think that it gets at the sense of what our God said to Moses. Listen to the original once more. 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.'
Now, where do we go from here? I have a choice as to what I say next, and how I say it is rather important. I could say, 'And this is the God that you need to get to know better.' I suppose that in some sense that's accurate. But once again, the idea of tone comes into play. To my ears, that sentence sounds like a command from an overly strict God. So, getting to know Him is an obligation placed on us, an obligation that quickly feels like a burden. 'And this is the God that you need to get to know better.' And we're back to understanding God's character as 'infinite, eternal and unchangeable' and other distant qualities. You may hear this differently, but in this context, at least, that's the tone I feel. So, I'm not going to put my next thought in those terms. Instead, I'm going to say this. 'And this is the God that you can get to know better.' I like that better, and I'll tell you why. Jesus didn't come to pile more obligations and burdens on us. Quite the opposite. He came to free us from such things. And He did that so that we would be able to enjoy the real God, the God who is determined to see us flourish, the God who loves us. Jesus has come so that we can find the satisfaction that our souls were built to enjoy, a satisfaction that becomes increasingly ours as we get to know our God. So, our question is answered. God has described Himself in our text, and in so doing He invites us to enjoy Him.
Now, we're ready for the next step. What do we do to get to know our God better? I want to clarify something here. There are things that we are to do to get to know our God better, but our doing those things does not cause us to know our God better. He does not pay you off because you've jumped through the right hoops. That just ends up as more burdens: finding the right hoops, jumping though them from the right side, doing that well enough to get at least a passing grade, doing it all over again when you don't do it well enough and never being quite sure of how you're doing. Who needs that? If you get to know Him better it will be because of the things that He does and not because of the things that you do. It's like this. If you want to enjoy seeing the sunrise you're going to want to get up early and then look east. If you sleep in or even if you're up early enough but look west – well, it just isn't going to work. But getting up early and facing east will not cause the sun to rise. God does that. What you need to do is put yourself in the right place at the right time so that God can bless you then and there with His beauty. There are things for you to do, but just remember that a growing enjoyment of your God is something that He does in you. And that is so freeing. To put all of that into church words, we are saved by grace and not by works.
Back to Moses. He wanted more of God. So, what did he do? What can we learn from his example? Well, it may sound obvious but too often it isn't. Moses asked for more. That is, he prayed. 'Please show me Your glory.' Now, we might have encountered another church word here, prayer. So, let me say it this way. Moses had a conversation with God and told Him exactly what he was thinking. He told God that he wanted to know Him better and that He wanted God to make that happen. He prayed for more.
Now, if someone is going to do what Moses did, there are going to be a couple of other things also going on. Moses had his conversation with God because he was convinced that God would listen. The empty religious ritual that some people call prayer boils down to saying some words in your head, and maybe someone is listen or maybe not. Real prayer knows that God is listening. Real prayer is actually talking to Someone. Moses prayed. Now, that's good and it's important, but it's not quite enough. Moses also knew something else. He knew that God cared about he had to say. And this gets us back to God's description of Himself. Real prayer is based on this foundation: my God really is determined to see me flourish. So, discussing that with Him makes sense. Real prayer. Before a word is out of the mouth, there are important things going on in the soul. It is because of those things in the soul – things that are known – that such a person can pray. That such a person can discuss with his God how he can flourish.
There's one more thing to notice about Moses' prayer. He wasn't timid. In fact, you might almost say that he was a little pushy. Listen to what he said. 'See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this 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 favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.' Do you see what Moses is saying? 'Lord, You have given me a job to do. But there are problems doing the job. If it's true, as You've said, that You have decided to love me, then bless me. Bless me with more so that I can fulfill what you have called me to do.' We are sometimes just too timid. Our prayers are small and predictable. Just as He did with Moses, the Father leaves problems in our way to see what we'll do. Moses faced the problems and got a little pushy. [I'd say 'bold' but that's become another church word.] We need to get a little pushy like Moses. But that will only happen when we are convinced of a couple of things: what God has called us to be and to do is so very important and beyond our current abilities, and He really does want us to flourish. Ironically, we will only become convinced of these things if we ask God to grant that conviction.
There's one more thing I want to point out from our text. Getting to know anyone is a rather subjective thing. How do you know if you're making progress? How can you be sure that you really are getting to know God better? Consider Moses again. Did you notice his response at the end? 'And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.' The evidence of a growing knowledge of your God is worship. Something happened to Moses. There was a sense of awe and wonder, a sense of being small, though definitely not insignificant, in the presence of God. And that sense can express itself in any number of ways from singing a song of praise, to responding with some appropriate Scripture, to just being quiet in God's presence. The evidence of getting to know God better is a soul that finds itself worshiping. And that makes perfect sense. Worshiping God is just another way of talking about flourishing as a person. And that's God's goal for our lives, knowing Him, that is worshiping Him, in a way that also satisfies us. We flourish better as worship becomes more real.
Everything that I have told you is just another way of describing the Gospel. Jesus has come so that we can enjoy God – Father, Son, and Spirit. That's what that church word 'salvation' is about. Jesus has come to rescue us from our petty, self-centered ways so that we might flourish in our enjoyment of God. This is the Gospel. All you need to do is believe it.
So, who is God and what is He like? Personally, I think that that is a rather important question. But not everyone agrees with me. There are some who respond by saying that it may be an interesting question, but life is just to full right now to answer it. They'll ponder it when they get more time. Interesting but not all that important. Then there are others. These folk agree that it's a fine question but then ask, 'Isn't it the kind of question that theologians need to answer? Aren't they the ones who are supposed to deal with those deep and heavy issues?' And so, they don't answer it either. I'm sure that there are other ways that people avoid my question. And I think that it is unfortunate they do. Let me tell you why. This question is important because it is so very practical. How a person answers it sets the tone of his life. Let me explain. Take someone who is too busy consider a thoughtful answer to my question. There are consequences to that choice, and one of them will be loneliness. How can it not be? Such a person may not label what he feels as loneliness, but there will be a disquiet within him. He was made to know God and to come to understand, by experience, who He is and what He is like. A refusal to take the time to get to know the God who has created him has to result in this huge hole in his soul. Something will be missing. And life, instead of being the exploration of all these vivid colors, will simply be a trudge through the gray. There are those, however, who do take the time to answer the question. But they pursue an answer by taking refuge in abstract theological study. And so, their answer to my question, 'Who is God and what is He like?' goes something like this: 'God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.' But what will this result in but a cold and formal acquaintance with Deity? How else can you relate to someone whose character is understood as infinite, eternal and unchangeable? These folk have misapplied a good answer to a different question. So, I hope you see where I'm coming from. 'Who is God and what is He like?', is an important question. How we answer it, or refuse to answer it, will affect us in ways that go far beneath the surface.
In our text Moses wants an answer to our question. That's not to say that he's never asked the question before. He already knows what God is like, at least to some extent. But he's not satisfied with his current experience of God. He wants to know his God better. So, he pushes for a deeper answer to that question. And what is so exciting and encouraging for us is that he gets an answer. And it's this answer, God's answer to our question, that we are going to be looking at this morning. Listen to how He described Himself. 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.'
There are two things that I want to point out to you right away. First, this description is a collection of what have become church words, words that we have gotten so used to that we use them without thinking much about them. So, I'll have to translate them. I point this out to remind you that you need to stop when you encounter a church word. You need to make sure that you understand what it means. Second, I want you to notice that God describes Himself in terms of relationship, His relationship with us. This is not some abstract description. Our God is no cold, distant Deity. Part of what makes Him who He is, is His affection for us, His people, and His involvement in our lives. And that will become clear, I hope, as I attempt to translate these church words.
So, how's this for a translation? 'I am Jehovah, the almighty God, and I have decided to focus My might on pursuing the wellbeing of My people. I am determined to see them flourish. I pursue this course knowing that these, My people, are stubborn and willful. They are slow to get the point and slow to trust Me. In light of this, I will need to be patient with them, repeating often the things that I have told them, forgiving their insulting rejection of Me and My ways and reminding them time and time and time again that I love them. There will be those who will adamantly and repeatedly refuse to listen to Me. I will respond to them appropriately. But they will not turn Me away from doing good to the rest. I know that there will be obstacles in My way, but I intend to keep at it until I succeed.'
You might think that I have taken some liberties in my translation, and I have. But I think that it gets at the sense of what our God said to Moses. Listen to the original once more. 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.'
Now, where do we go from here? I have a choice as to what I say next, and how I say it is rather important. I could say, 'And this is the God that you need to get to know better.' I suppose that in some sense that's accurate. But once again, the idea of tone comes into play. To my ears, that sentence sounds like a command from an overly strict God. So, getting to know Him is an obligation placed on us, an obligation that quickly feels like a burden. 'And this is the God that you need to get to know better.' And we're back to understanding God's character as 'infinite, eternal and unchangeable' and other distant qualities. You may hear this differently, but in this context, at least, that's the tone I feel. So, I'm not going to put my next thought in those terms. Instead, I'm going to say this. 'And this is the God that you can get to know better.' I like that better, and I'll tell you why. Jesus didn't come to pile more obligations and burdens on us. Quite the opposite. He came to free us from such things. And He did that so that we would be able to enjoy the real God, the God who is determined to see us flourish, the God who loves us. Jesus has come so that we can find the satisfaction that our souls were built to enjoy, a satisfaction that becomes increasingly ours as we get to know our God. So, our question is answered. God has described Himself in our text, and in so doing He invites us to enjoy Him.
Now, we're ready for the next step. What do we do to get to know our God better? I want to clarify something here. There are things that we are to do to get to know our God better, but our doing those things does not cause us to know our God better. He does not pay you off because you've jumped through the right hoops. That just ends up as more burdens: finding the right hoops, jumping though them from the right side, doing that well enough to get at least a passing grade, doing it all over again when you don't do it well enough and never being quite sure of how you're doing. Who needs that? If you get to know Him better it will be because of the things that He does and not because of the things that you do. It's like this. If you want to enjoy seeing the sunrise you're going to want to get up early and then look east. If you sleep in or even if you're up early enough but look west – well, it just isn't going to work. But getting up early and facing east will not cause the sun to rise. God does that. What you need to do is put yourself in the right place at the right time so that God can bless you then and there with His beauty. There are things for you to do, but just remember that a growing enjoyment of your God is something that He does in you. And that is so freeing. To put all of that into church words, we are saved by grace and not by works.
Back to Moses. He wanted more of God. So, what did he do? What can we learn from his example? Well, it may sound obvious but too often it isn't. Moses asked for more. That is, he prayed. 'Please show me Your glory.' Now, we might have encountered another church word here, prayer. So, let me say it this way. Moses had a conversation with God and told Him exactly what he was thinking. He told God that he wanted to know Him better and that He wanted God to make that happen. He prayed for more.
Now, if someone is going to do what Moses did, there are going to be a couple of other things also going on. Moses had his conversation with God because he was convinced that God would listen. The empty religious ritual that some people call prayer boils down to saying some words in your head, and maybe someone is listen or maybe not. Real prayer knows that God is listening. Real prayer is actually talking to Someone. Moses prayed. Now, that's good and it's important, but it's not quite enough. Moses also knew something else. He knew that God cared about he had to say. And this gets us back to God's description of Himself. Real prayer is based on this foundation: my God really is determined to see me flourish. So, discussing that with Him makes sense. Real prayer. Before a word is out of the mouth, there are important things going on in the soul. It is because of those things in the soul – things that are known – that such a person can pray. That such a person can discuss with his God how he can flourish.
There's one more thing to notice about Moses' prayer. He wasn't timid. In fact, you might almost say that he was a little pushy. Listen to what he said. 'See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this 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 favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.' Do you see what Moses is saying? 'Lord, You have given me a job to do. But there are problems doing the job. If it's true, as You've said, that You have decided to love me, then bless me. Bless me with more so that I can fulfill what you have called me to do.' We are sometimes just too timid. Our prayers are small and predictable. Just as He did with Moses, the Father leaves problems in our way to see what we'll do. Moses faced the problems and got a little pushy. [I'd say 'bold' but that's become another church word.] We need to get a little pushy like Moses. But that will only happen when we are convinced of a couple of things: what God has called us to be and to do is so very important and beyond our current abilities, and He really does want us to flourish. Ironically, we will only become convinced of these things if we ask God to grant that conviction.
There's one more thing I want to point out from our text. Getting to know anyone is a rather subjective thing. How do you know if you're making progress? How can you be sure that you really are getting to know God better? Consider Moses again. Did you notice his response at the end? 'And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.' The evidence of a growing knowledge of your God is worship. Something happened to Moses. There was a sense of awe and wonder, a sense of being small, though definitely not insignificant, in the presence of God. And that sense can express itself in any number of ways from singing a song of praise, to responding with some appropriate Scripture, to just being quiet in God's presence. The evidence of getting to know God better is a soul that finds itself worshiping. And that makes perfect sense. Worshiping God is just another way of talking about flourishing as a person. And that's God's goal for our lives, knowing Him, that is worshiping Him, in a way that also satisfies us. We flourish better as worship becomes more real.
Everything that I have told you is just another way of describing the Gospel. Jesus has come so that we can enjoy God – Father, Son, and Spirit. That's what that church word 'salvation' is about. Jesus has come to rescue us from our petty, self-centered ways so that we might flourish in our enjoyment of God. This is the Gospel. All you need to do is believe it.
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