Moses – Light from the Word

As in a Mirror

When we look in the mirror, what we see is the reflection of ourselves. What the mirror shows truthfully and undeniably is the reality of what we look like. Many of us spend hours in front of a mirror dressing our face with makeup, eye shadows, eye brows straightening. At the end of this ordeal, we take a last look in the mirror to perfect our art work. It is amazing what a little makeup here and there can do to a face. Thanks to a mirror that can be done. But all of these are external and superficial beauty we desire, so to be accepted by the world, wanting to feel good about ourselves. There is however, an internal beauty provided by our Lord YAHSHUA when He died to cleanse us from our sins and iniquities; It reflects from the soul to the world in ways that world will notice the difference. It is a beauty that shines love, unconditional love to all. Moses reflected the glory of God in his face when he came down the mountain, where he spent forty days and nights with God. The brilliance of God’s glory was so strong, he had to cover his face with a veil until he went up the mountain to talk to God. Imagine that! Paul said that Moses veiled his face so that the Israelites might not gaze upon the finish of the vanishing [splendor which had been upon it] (II Cor. 3:13). Moses carried with him the splendor of the glory of God every time he saw Him.

Like Moses, we God’s people have access to His presence and experience His glory, because YAHSHUA tore the veil that separated the holy from the unholy from top to bottom. He opened our eyes of understanding to perceive as in a mirror His glory being reflected in us. So, becoming more like Him, we experience the ever-increasing glory, as we are transformed into His image. This is done by the Holy Spirit, Who works sanctification through molding us into being like YAHSHUA. This is a beautiful gift, but at the same time very painful too, because our soul being carnal does not submit to God easily. Its desires are evil, and contrary to God’s holy desires and so are the thoughts of the mind; our emotion acts circumstantially depending on what is happening. As a result, the shinning of the glory of God fades away, His joy from where we receive our strength is diminished. We want to be like YAHSHUA; indeed, but going through the breaking of the power of our will, thoughts and emotions, is not easy to accept. Going through his spiritual battle, Paul expressed himself the feeling that we also struggle: “But I discern in my bodily members a different law at war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs. O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliverer me from this body of death? O thank God! [He will] through YAHSHUA Messiah our Lord! …” (Rom. 7:23-25a). Yes, God, in his love through the Holy Spirit, continues refining us and perfecting us until the day He calls us home. As silver and gold must be refined for the purpose of shinning the inner beauty as jewelry on the neck of one, or on the finger of another, we must submit to the work of the Holy Spirit of refining and transforming us from glory to another degree of glory according to His will. The veiled faces of those who continuously reject the truth is made impossible to perceive, to hear and listen, for darkness has covered their understanding. Not until they turn to the Lord in repentance will they be unveiled.

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When You Walk through the Waters and Fire

When Israel was freed from slavery in Egypt by God, she experienced wonders and miracles. Not yet a nation, the sons and daughters of Jacob moved to Egypt seventy people in all. They prospered while Joseph was alive; but after his death in time another king aroused who did not know the background history of Joseph and his family. While made to work hard, Israel did not faint and continued progressing and multiplying to the point that Egyptians feared their growth and tried to kill their babes. But God saved their babes, including a specific one called Moses, found in the river and adopted by an Egyptian princess. Moses, grew up in the palace, and was considered a prince. But his heart was never leaned toward the life style of an Egyptian prince. He much preferred to be suffering with his own people. At forty years old, he killed an Egyptian who was mistreating an Israelite and had to flee for his life from Pharao. He found refuge in the land of Midian, where he met his future wife and lived there for another forty years, when God appeared to him in a burning bush and called him for a specific task, that of Israel’s liberator from bondage from Egypt. As he was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, he came to Horeb, or Sinai, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush… God called Moses out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, do not come near; put your shoes off your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground…also he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, and moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters and oppressors; for I know their sorrows and sufferings and trials. And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand and power of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a land good and large, a land flowing with milk and honey… Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people, the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 1). Moses then asked Him, Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? (Exodus 3:11).

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Psalm Ninety

Psalm ninety is a prayer that Moses uttered, registered in the pages of psalms. It is a review of his experiences in the desert, as the leader of the nation of Israel on their route to the Promised Land. In this psalm, he acknowledges God as the eternal God, the Creator, the sovereign and powerful God; man’s brevity of life and his fallen nature. Moses, a man of God, whom He considered humble and worth of respect, a man to whom God spoke face to face and defended against those who rebelled against him as in the case of Moses’ brother Aaron and sister, Miriam. In Numbers 12: 5-9 reads: When the Lord came down to deal with them, He said, Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make Myself known to him in a vision and speak to him in a dream. But not so with My servant Moses; he is entrusted and faithful in all My house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly and not in dark speeches; and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and He departed. There has never been a man on the face of this earth who has had such deep relationship with God. Even, in his death, it was God who buried him. Perhaps angels witnessed Moses’ funeral.

Moses expresses this beautiful prayer from his heart with honest desire to acquire a heart of wisdom. He addresses the Psalm to the Lord, saying, Lord, You have been our dwelling place and our refuge in all generations (verse 1). When Moses shines the light on the fact of whom God is, man, in his natural estate, is nothing but dust, lasting as long as a weed of the field. He can never be compared to God in his sinful condition, although created in the image of God. Moses dealt with Israel for forty years. He came to see his people for what they were: rebellious and of hardened heart. He suffered much under their scrutiny of criticism. As an intercessor, he prayed for them in times when God was angry and ready to give up on those people. In this psalm, he writes, Who knows the power of Your anger? And Your wrath, who connects it with the reverent and worshipful fear that is due You? (verse11). We see His power displayed in the early years of Israel’s pilgrimage, when God descended to Mount Sinai to covenant with them; Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, for He descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like that of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. (Exodus 19:18). The writer to the letter to the Hebrews describes how Moses felt at that time when God descended to Mount Sinai saying, In fact, so awful and terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I am terrified (Heb. 12:21).

Psalm 90, more than any other psalm, (in my opinion), truly testifies the reality of God as a result of Moses have physically experienced Him. When I read this psalm, I sense the deep relationship between God and Moses. Defending Moses, God told Aaron and his sister, Miriam, “I speak to Moses mouth to mouth and he beholds the form of the Lord.” Twice, He spent forty days and forty nights on the mountain in the presence of God. His death happened in the presence of the Lord and He buried him there. He heard the voice of the Lord audibly and not in a dream or vision. So, when Moses wrote this psalm, he was reliving those days in the desert with its challenges and victories. He was well acquainted with God’s wrath and anger in His judgment toward Israel. So, his prayer was one of intercession for them when he said, Who knows the power of Your anger and Your wrath? So teach us to number our days that we may get us a heart of wisdom; Turn, O Lord [from Your fierce anger]! How long-? Revoke Your sentence and be compassionate and at ease toward Your servants. O satisfy us with Your mercy and loving-kindness in the morning, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days; make us glad in proportion to the days in which You have afflicted us and to the years in which we have suffered evil; let Your work be revealed to Your servants and Your majesty to their children; and let the beauty and delightfulness and favor of the Lord our God be upon us; confirm and establish the work of our hands- Yes, the work of our hands, confirm and establish it (Ps. 90:11-17).

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The Glory of the Gospel in YAHSHUA’S Face Overwhelmed the Glory of the Law in Moses’ Face

(Exodus34:28-33; II Corinthians 3:10-18)

“Shekinah Glory is a visible manifestation of God on earth, whose presence is portrayed through a natural occurrence. The word shekinah is a Hebrew name meaning “dwelling” or “one who dwells”. Shekinah Glory means “He caused to dwell,” referring to the divine presence of God. It is the majestic presence or manifestation of God in which He descends to dwell among men. Whenever the invisible God becomes visible, and whenever the omnipresence of God is localized, this is the Shekinah Glory.”

Ref: Christianity.com, What is the meaning of shekinah glory Biblestudytools.com, The abiding presence of God.

When our Lord and Savior came to earth as a baby, a bright star shone in that dark night announcing His birth. That was a very special star. The Magi of those days well understood the meaning of that star and took years traveling to meet the King that star was pointing to. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, (the shepherds) and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them and they were terribly frightened; but the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the town of David a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord! (Luke 2:11). The Shekinah Glory of the Gospel is YAHSHUA incarnated, bringing forgiveness to all who will receive Him as Lord and Savior- as the Son of God. John testified about Him and cried out, This was He of Whom I said He Who comes after me has priority over me, for He was before me. For out of His fullness, we have all received one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift, for while the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through YAHSHUA Messiah. (John 1:15-17).

When God came to mount Sinai, in His holiness, He came to establish the law with all its demands and consequences to covenant with Israel. The Bible says, Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord Descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like that of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. (Exodus 19). God showed Israel His holiness, as never they had seen before. He said to Moses, Write these words, for after the purpose and character of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel; Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face shone and sent forth beams by reasons of his speaking with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone and they feared to come near him…Afterword, all Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all the Lord had said to him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. The Israelites saw the face of Moses, how the skin of it shone; and Moses put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with God (Exodus34).

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When the Holiness of God Touched Mount Sinai

The Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai on the third month after they had left Egypt. God came down to that mount to covenant with them at that time. That was a covenant that separated them for Himself as a nation of priests unto Him. A covenant that differentiated them from the other nations. But Israel did not get attune with God’s plan and continued aloof from it in spite of all the supernatural signs and wonders they witnessed. To start with, when they were between the Red Sea and the Egyptian’s army, who had come against them, He caused a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land; and the waters were divided. When the Egyptians recognized that the Lord God was fighting in favor of Israel, they tried to flee, when the waters closed on them (Exodus 14). Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry land, while the Egyptians were taken in and drowned. The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. Arriving at Mount Sinai, Israel did not have a clue of what was going to happen. While they encamped before the mountain, Moses went up to God, and the Lord called him out of the mountain and spoke to him giving him a message to give to the people. It was a covenant He was establishing with them. He said, You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among the above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. These are the words you shall speak to the Israelites (Exodus 19:1-6). The Lord told Moses to sanctify the people for two days and then wash their clothes and on the third day the nation was to meet Him.

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The Shekinah Glory

The Shekinah glory was visible in the Old Testament in the forms of light, fire, and cloud, or in a combination of all three. It is the manifestation of the presence of God. In the Garden, Adam and Eve experienced the Shekinah Glory at the time they heard God’s voice, as He walked in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8a). The Shekinah Glory was visible to Moses in a flame of fire while he was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law. (Exodus 3:1-5). In his journey through the desert to the Promised Land, Moses spent eighty days and nights in the presence of God. The Shekinah Glory led Israel through the desert to the Promised Land by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22).

The greatest manifestation of the Shekinah Glory was visible in Mount Sinai, when the Lord came down upon it on the third day: The third morning there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. When Moses brought the people from the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain, Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like that of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. As the trumpet blast grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with a voice. The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up (Exodus 19: 16-20). That was the time of the giving of the Ten Commandments.

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Confidence That Demands Assurance

(I John 5:14-17)

Confidence is the anchor that leads one to success. The winds of life will not overcome it, because it is based not on the tangible, but on the assurance of one’s belief. Confidence is a result of faith, believing in the unseen, when many cannot see. Confidence demands assurance to sustain it; they walk hand in hand; One cannot be confident without being sure. Paul assured the Philippians His confidence on God’s ability to finish the work He started in them, saying: I am confident of this very thing- that He Who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Messiah YAHSHUA (Phil. 1:6). When God saves the sinner, He starts the work of sanctification, a process before glorification. Confident on God’s work, we Christians are sure in the midst of our trials, that He is performing the work of sanctification, for the Bible tells us that He has given us the Spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind (II Tim. 1:7b). Paul, in his assurance of faith, suffered much persecution, confidently of God’s plan for his life. Writing to Timothy, he said, for this [Gospel] I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher of the gentile. And this is why I am suffering as I do. Still, I am not ashamed, for I know Him Whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard and keep that which has been entrusted to me and which I have committed [to Him] until that day (II Tim. 1:11-12). For the believer to have spiritual confidence in the promises of God, and assurance of His love, he must know Him through a relationship with Him.

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Moses and Elijah on Mount Sinai and Mount Herman

(Exodus 19; 33; I Kings 19:8-14; Luke 9: 28-33)

Moses, as Israel’s leader to the Promised Land, was a remarkable man. No one that has ever lived, has ever experienced God the way he did. He was not only a leader for the nation Israel, but a prophet, who spoke with God face to face, although he did not see His face. From the signs and wonders seen in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, water coming from the rocks, mana coming from heaven as food for the people while in their journey of forty years through the wilderness, and much more, Moses’ life shines over all others.

As a baby, Moses was taken from the water when his mother tried to hide him in the time of the king’s command to kill all the Jews’ babies to control their population. He was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter, who later adopted him. She named him Moses because she said, “I drew him out of the water.” For forty years he lived in the royal palace, however, he preferred to suffer with his brothers, as Hebrews 11:24-25 confirms: By faith Moses, when he had grown to maturity and become great, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter because he preferred to share the oppression and bear the shame of the people of God rather than to have the fleeting enjoyment of a sinful life.

One day, while checking out the slavery condition of his people, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his brothers. He then killed the Egyptian and buried him (Ex. 2). His zeal for the wellbeing of his people was a sign of what he was to become in the future. From that time on, he become a refugee in the land of Median, where he married and worked as a shepherd for his father- in-law. Moses had his first encounter with God at Mount Horeb, or Sinai, the mount of God, forty years after his ordeal that caused him to flee for his life. The Lord God appeared to him in a fire out of the midst of a bush. Curious about what was happening, he turned aside to see why the bush would not burn, when he heard the Lord’s voice saying, do not come near; put your shoes off your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground (Ex. 3:2-5). In that encounter, God revealed Himself to Moses as the God of his fathers- Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses then hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God (Ex. 3:6). God spoke to him from the fire saying, come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people…out of Egypt. Moses’ conscious burned with guilt and fear of his past in the presence of that fire that symbolized the unapproachable holiness of God. Mount Sinai, the pivot point of Moses’ life, stood before him with a divine call to redeem his people from bondage.

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I Sought a Man Who Should Build the Wall and Stand in the Gap

From the time that God created man, He has not ceased to seek that special person who will build walls and stand in the gap on behalf of a country or people so that He would not destroy them; a man who will stand in the gap for righteousness and justice. The Word of the Lord that came to the prophet Ezekiel while he and the nation of Israel were captives in Babylon were words of judgment against the sins of that nation. Israel laid bare before her Lord and her sins were exposed before Him. God’s love and patience over Israel and all other nations are evident in the length of time He waits before He sends judgment. Meanwhile He seeks intercessors who will stand in the gap in His presence for the land and for its people. He told Ezekiel that He had sought a man among Israel who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Him for the land, that he should not destroy it, but He found none. Therefore, He said, Have I poured out My indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own way have I repaid upon their own heads, says the Lord God(Ezekiel 22: 30-31).

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The Lampstand For the Lord

You are the light of the world; a city situated on a hill cannot be hidden; no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house; Let your light so shine, says the Lord, so that men may see your good works and glorify the heavenly Father; (Matt. 5:14-16).

YAHSHUA told the disciples, You are the light of the world. That means, live truthfully, speak truthfully, and act truthfully. In other words, live in such way that your light will point to God and men’s eyes will be opened to see God in you, and the glory will be given to Him, as a result. In our actions and words, the light in us must reflect the source, not our doings. The fact of the matter is in whatever we say and do there must be the reflection of the LIGHT of His Holy Spirit in us.

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