Shown and Not Hidden
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Even in the Deepest Darkness
and
in the Thickest Fog,
Like This Moon on a Wintry Morning,
God Does Not Hide From Us.
Ezekiel 39:29
… and I will never again hide my face from them, when I pour out my spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God.
Romans 8:16
… it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ….
Words of Grace For Today
When God shows God’s face …
Ancient times knew that when one saw God’s face, that was the last thing one would see. One died, and quickly.
God visits Moses, calling him to lead God’s people from slavery to freedom. God hides in a burning bush that is not consumed. Moses is convinced it is God.
Moses climbs Mount Sinai and God shows God’s face to Moses giving him the ten commandments, twice since the people have put up a golden calf to worship. Moses has disappeared up the holy mountain. That’s where God is, and surely Moses has seen God and … of course died. So the people move on, insisting Aaron make a godlet for them from their most precious gold. Moses sees this and throws the stone tables of the ten commandments down, breaking them on the rocks. After the people’s sins are dealt with, Moses climbs the mountain again, and chisels a new set of the same ten commandments.
Moses sees God, twice. And Moses’ face shows it: he has turned ashen white from the exposure.
So when God promises to never hide God’s face from the Israelites again, after God returns to them, is that a promise or a threat?
Will the people turn ashed white from the exposure, or die?
Or …
is something else afoot?
Will God show God’s face and bless the people?
When God’s Spirit gives witness, to our spirits (the German translation interprets the genitive ‘our spirits’ as ‘to our spirits’, instead of the English which interprets it ‘with our spirits’, the ‘to’ makes better sense), then we can know that we are God’s children and …
children need not fear seeing their parent, not if the parent is a good parent as God is.
So …
We can give God thanks and praise that God is with us, and does not hide God’s face from us, children of God that we are.