Rabbi’s Reflections – Saturday, May 20, 2023
Shabbat Shalom,
Day 36: Evening
A Full Revelation of What God Valued About Himself!
by David Harwood
Moses prayed for an epiphany. He wanted to see God’s glory. God promised revelation and began to answer His friend’s desire. Let’s begin to read about when the Lord started to reveal Himself.
And Yahweh passed over before him, and he proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, God, who is compassionate and gracious.” (Exodus 34:6a LEB)
Please note that the Lord was speaking toward the Lord in front of Moses. This is so holy. Words can’t express its sanctity. Moses was being brought into a full revelation of what God valued about Himself. A human was brought into intimate fellowship with his Creator.
Yahweh addressed Yahweh and spoke of what God loves about Himself. He began to list an array of virtues that express His goodness. These aspects of His goodness were being manifested within a specific relational framework: God, actively being in the midst of Israel. He imparted what He was like in the wilderness and the promise of what He would be like when Israel was in the Land. He opened with this:
God, who is compassionate and gracious… (Exodus 34:6b LEB)
The petition “Show me Your glory!” started to be answered when Yahweh compassionately and graciously descended and began to relate to Yahweh. Now this language is troublesome, but I don’t know how else to express it because it is what the Bible unexpectedly, unapologetically reveals. The Scriptures speak of the eternal relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit. The goodness of that relationship was uniquely demonstrated directly in front of God’s friend, Moses.
This is the God whose unity Moses proclaimed. This is the God we were commanded to love.
Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 TLV)
I find this to be an amazing pattern of what I hope we all want. We want God to help us love Him more. We want to be empowered to relationally fulfill the Greatest Command. I am writing of the development of a revelatory relationship. What we think about God is very important, but our concepts about God are intended to lead us into fellowship with Him.
This episode reveals God interrelating with God at the same time as He was in fellowship with man. As He did, He was revealing God to that human. He gave highlighted reasons for Moses to love God with the same type of love with which God loved Himself. What Moses experienced was God’s insight into Himself. His Self-awareness.
In this case, I can see Moses as being a symbol of humanity. The Lord desires to reveal Himself to us in the way He understands Himself. These truths were entrusted to Moses within the context of God’s relationship to His redeemed people. Let’s pay attention to this: there was nothing on earth more dear to Moses than His people’s welfare. At one point he offered to die in their place. Yahweh revealed that, like Moses, He loves His people and He loves the way Yahweh acts toward His people. It is not too much to think that God wants to reveal Himself to us, as He did with Moses, in a relevant way within the context of our most important relational priorities.
Is that confusing? I hope not.
The Lord was in fellowship with Moses, who hungered to know God as He really is. Yahweh descended to strengthen and support Moses. The Lord moved from standing with Moses to allowing Moses to witness this remarkable interaction of God toward God. Then He interacted with Moses and proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh!” He started to describe Himself, within Himself, toward Himself, and Moses was let in on this relationship.
The proclamation began. This needs to be emphasized: Yahweh viewed the beginning of the glory-goodness of Yahweh as His compassion and favor. Every other attribute followed.
Remember, Moses is known for knowing God’s ways (Psalm 103:7). He loved God’s activity (just read Exodus 15) and shortly beforehand he was promised God’s ongoing activity. Yet, this did not satisfy his soul. Moses desired something more than the experience, and promise, of God’s activity. He wanted to know Yahweh as He sees Himself. Yahweh sees Himself as a God Who is compassionate and gracious.
Please pray:
King Yeshua, our Teacher, please reveal to me something You love about Father. I want to love our Father in fellowship with You. Please show me how good our Father really is.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarsson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Day 42 of the Omer
Sat 20 May-2023 29th of Iyar, 5783 Parashat Bamidbar
Nu 4:1-20 Hos 1:10-2:20(2:1-22) 1 Co 12:12-27