Moses has an incredible life-story. He has seen a burning bush, plagues, miracles, signs, wonders, the incredible Passover night and the Red Sea part. This was all before he stood before God and says, “Show me your glory”. He had already seen more than many of us have seen and still asked, “Show me your glory.” What caused him to ask this question? It’s one of the most audacious questions in the Bible! What was going on inside him?
It actually doesn’t matter what we’ve already seen, there’s still more for us! It was the third trip up the mountain that caused Moses’ face to shine. That was after God had told him what His goodness looked like! What happened up on the mountain? What was said? What did Moses see? Moses had his heart touched when he was with God for those forty days. He recognised God’s beauty and His glory.
Exodus 28:2 tells us about garments for the Priesthood which were to be made ‘..for beauty and for glory..’. God had Moses prepared for this moment. Moses had a reference point from the unique palace perspective he learnt growing up as a son of Pharaoh. Moses had a place in his heart that he could connect with God on. He hears God describe beauty that Moses has seen parts of as he grew up. So, Moses came down the mountain knowing there was more! He was trusted with what the Lord had told him – Moses caught a glimpse of something. God shared with him and he returned hungry. Moses encountered God on the mountain and gets introduced to a beauty which made him inquire.
This tells us a lot about beauty. Beauty is an attraction to the soul that invites someone into intimacy. Think about it – beauty demands a question be asked. For example, “will you marry me?” It is a question asked in response to fully seeing another’s beauty. Beauty stirs a hunger up within us. Psalm 27:4 says ‘One thing that I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.’ We can make the words of this Psalm a religious thing and miss the point. They aren’t talking about ritual or ceremony but are demanding a response of us. We must ask what the words mean. How do I do it? What does it look like to dwell here? Put this together with the Apostle Paul’s teaching to the Corinthians and it becomes clear that we need to live in a place where we are consciously aware that we are in fact the dwelling place of God. Paul says, ‘We are the temple of the Holy Spirit’. God wants us to dwell, behold him and inquire of Him. There is always more. He turns us into something beautiful.
This is taken from the message ‘Beauty and Glory’ which can be purchased here: https://shop.ibethel.org/products/beauty-and-glory?ref=12