More on Salvation

From Exodus 33:

Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!"
And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion."
But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!"
Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock;
and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
"Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."


This text always confused the crap out of me. I heard it a lot in Sunday School growing up and read it over and over again. I thought it was weird to think that someone saw God's backside. Here's how the Message puts it:

Moses said, "Please. Let me see your Glory."
GOD said, "I will make my Goodness pass right in front of you; I'll call out the name, GOD, right before you. I'll treat well whomever I want to treat well and I'll be kind to whomever I want to be kind."
GOD continued, "But you may not see my face. No one can see me and live."
GOD said, "Look, here is a place right beside me. Put yourself on this rock. When my Glory passes by, I'll put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I've passed by. Then I'll take my hand away and you'll see my back. But you won't see my face."


What a way to answer a guy's request! Moses says, "Let me see your glory!" and God launches into this thing about I'll have compassion on whom I'll have compassion.

In a lot of ways, I love Eugene Peterson's translation. Sometimes I don't so much, though. I think this might be one of those times. Knowing what little I know about formal "King's English," I'm pretty sure that to "proclaim someone's name" (especially in the sense of proclaiming one's OWN name) means more than just to say what your name is. It probably is more like telling someone what you're about. So what's God about? Well, when Moses says he wants to see him, God replies that he'll allow his GOODNESS to pass before him. Is God holding out on Moses? Or is God just all good?

How do we see God? If we were to look at God, would he be the big dazzling light that would short circuit our brains, causing us to die looked dead on at him? Would it be like staring into the sun? Or is "seeing God" something else?

I just find it odd that when Moses asks to see him, God immediately begins talking about compassion, goodness, and grace.

Notice, though, that what he DIDN'T say is "here are four spiritual laws that you must accept" or "here are four scriptures you must memorize." He didn't even say, "This is what you must think about me."

Salvation comes when we realize our own insufficiency, then begin to seek significance in God. But where is God to be found? In a belief system? Will acceptance of a pastor's teachings suffice? Is it enough to proclaim that Jesus died on the cross for my sins?

So our surgery-style salvation is ineffectual, because it's law. "You must first say you believe these things (and BE SINCERE about it!), then you must act this way. THEN you are a Christian." What deception.

Grace, goodness, and compassion are very appealing, especially to those who are in the most need of them. Where do people see these things? Because, I believe, those are the traits in which God can be seen. Those characteristics proclaim what God is about. Not a list of rules... not law. These traits give life. They set free. They make sure that people who are enslaved to their own weaknesses, insecurities, and hate can overcome them. And when people see them, they are willing to sacrifice a lot in order to get more of them. THEN change happens... Because now they desire God! They know what he's about, and they accept it on those terms. Not out of fear of hell or social control or emotional manipulation, but with a fully conscious knowledge and acceptance of the values of the kingdom. "These things are what God's about, and I want that."

more later...
posted by Stephen at 10:39 PM | |