The heart of God was greatly pleased when Moses said to him, “Please, show me Your glory” (Exodus 33:18). Every earthly parent knows the constant pleading of children’s voices asking for things, but nothing warms the parent’s heart like hearing a child say, “I love you!”
When Moses voiced his desire, God readily granted his request, as far as he could allow it. “He said, ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (33:20). God’s unapproachable light is too fierce for humans to experience fully; his holiness is all consuming, but he did want Moses to experience his glory in part. The Lord told him, in effect, “I can’t show you my face but I can show you the effects of my presence and the trail of goodness I leave behind” (see 33:21-23).
In order to protect Moses, God said, “So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock … while I pass by” (33:22). This verse tells us everything about God’s amazing grace in the Old Testament. Even before the cross — before Christ shed his blood for our salvation — God hid Moses in his grace “in the cleft of the rock.” As Paul explains, “That Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4).
Scripture says Moses’ face was transformed by God’s glory — a change so powerful he had to “put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome” (2 Corinthians 3:13). Today we don’t have to hide in a crevice as Moses did; God’s glory has been revealed fully in Jesus and anyone who encounters him experiences the same transformation — a change so profound the whole world sees it and is awed.
What does your heart long for? You may be blessed with many earthly blessings, but there is much more to know of our great God. I urge you to ask God to show you his glory, which is readily available to you.