“Show Me Your Glory” (Exodus 33:17–23)

“Show Me Your Glory” (Exodus 33:17–23)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, March 24, 2019

Exodus 33:17–23 (NIV)
       17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
       18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
       19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
       21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

1. The request of Moses reveals an instinctive desire that we as God's children share to know and see our Creator (v. 18).

8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." 9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? (John 14:8–9 NIV)

2. Our Creator God is too infinitely glorious to be seen by finite, mortal human beings (vv. 20, 23b).

3. But God does graciously reveal what can be received and known by sinful, finite, mortal human beings (vv. 19, 21–23a).

a. He reveals his goodness (v. 19).
b. He reveals his Name (v. 19).
c. He reveals his sovereign gracious character (v. 19).
d. He reveals a limited view of his glory, which is what we are capable of and what is sufficient for us (vv. 21–23a).