Gazing into the face of God





This is a portion of our Old Testament lesson for Transfiguration Sunday: “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.” Exodus 34:29-30

There's a famous work of art by Michelangelo in which Moses is pictured with horns on his head. Why is that? It's because the Hebrew word for "shine" is the same as the word for "horn," and apparently the Bible which Michelangelo used had translated it as "horn."

“Horn” denotes “power, majesty, authority.” And that’s interesting and all, but why would Moses’ face be shining with power, majesty, authority?

Moses’ face is shining because he is reflecting the glory of the Lord. Moses had been up on Mount Sinai with his Lord receiving the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. Moses had been given the grace of God to look into the face of God and live.

We look into the face of God every day. We see His glory in the sun shining off the icicles in the trees after a snowfall and quick freeze. We see His grace in the little baby born prematurely but still healthy and growing. We see His mercy in the cancer that finally removed our grandfather from this veil of tears to the mansions of heaven.

Do not be afraid to look out in the world and see God’s face in everything you see.

We most clearly gaze into God's face in God’s Means of Grace – His Word and Sacraments. That splash of water that changes a lost soul into a child of God. That morsel of bread and sip of wine that is in reality also the very body and blood of Christ. The absolution spoken by the pastor that are the words of eternal life for they are the words of forgiveness. The written, spoken, and sung Words of Scripture that allow us to meet our God face to face.

Someday we will be like Moses on a different mountain – Mount Zion – and we will be able to gaze into the face of God for all eternity. I’m pretty positive we won’t have horns. But will our faces shine, too? We’ll find out.

Gaze into the face of God now so you will recognize His face when you get to heaven.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Max Lucado - False Doctrine

I love the way author Max Lucado writes. He is a great storyteller and a fantastic wordsmith. I have a number of Lucado's books on my shelves and receive his daily paragraph devotions. However, as popular as he is, as many books as he has sold, as many lives as he has touched with the Gospel, he still proclaims false doctrine. I still remember being told at the Seminary that you can generally tell a pastor's theology based on the kind of books he has on his shelves. Though our WELS pastors may have a few books by Lucado, Covey or even some fiction by Peretti, they had better have the majority of their books be sound, Lutheran, biblical doctrine. Martin Luther, The People's Bible commentaries, The Book of Concord, People's Bible Teachings, C.F.W. Walther, Francis Pieper, Werner Franzmann, etc. I mention this because of the devotion I received via email from Max Lucado on Friday, June 12 entitled "Saved by Faith." In the devotion he calls communion and bapti...
Read more

Jesus has prepared a place for you - A funeral sermon for Jim Hermann

Image
John 14:1-4 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  2  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  4  You know the way to the place where I am going.” “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Did you catch the difference between what I read just now and what I read in the Gospel lesson? The Gospel lesson was from the NIV. The second verse I read was from the King James Version. If you’re older than 50, that’s the version of the Bible that you heard in church and learned in catechism class. But, even if you’re older younger than 50, you know about the mansions. “The mansions of heaven” is a term Christians use pretty...
Read more

Water into blood and water into wine

Image
Here are some thoughts that didn’t make it into Sunday’s sermon. The Old Testament lesson for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany is the account of Moses turning the water of the Nile River into blood. The first of the ten plagues God used to get the Israelites out of Egypt. Exodus 7:14-24 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 Then say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened. 17 This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not ...
Read more