You are the Shining Face of the World-Exodus 34:29-35

• FB recording, Aug 7, 2022. What do people see when they see you? Irritation? Compassion (Exo 34:6; Mt 9:36)?
• Is your countenance radiant? Is your disposition visibly glorious?
• Does your face shine with God’s glory (1 Jn 1:5)? Shine brightly with the light of Christ (Jn 8:12)? In a dark, dismal, discouraging, disheartening world, is God making your face shine (2 Cor 3:18)?
• Who are those whose “face” shine brightly (Exo 33:11; 34:29)?
• Where is your focus and attention? On others? On how well or poorly you are doing?

“You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:14). “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Mt 5:16). “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets in his [Moses’] hands, he [Moses] was not aware that his face was radiant [the skin of his face sent forth beams {horns}] because he had spoken with the Lord” (Exo 34:29).

Rejection to restoration. Exo 34:29-35 is written in an elevated style perfectly suited to the grandeur of the subject. It brings a stunning close to the whole of Exo 32-34, moving from the rejection and scorn of Moses (Exo 32:1) to the restoration and near-apotheosis [divination] of the man of God, whose radient face reflects the glory of Yahweh (Exo 34:29). It is the effect and result of his intimate encounter with God (Exo 33:11, 34:28).

The challenge of leadership is that it is needed and yet… Moses, who speaks God’s word to the people, needed to be elevated and respected in their eyes, so that they will listen to him and trust him (Exo 14:31; 19:9). Yet when he first went up the mountain for 40 days, they demanded a replacement (Exo 32:1) and committed the sin of the golden calf. So his status needed to be reestablished. With his radiant shining face reflecting divinity, he acquired a godlike status. Is there then a great danger that the people mistake Moses for God and worship him like a “better Pharaoh”?

God uses Moses’ restored elevated status to build the Tabernacle–their first communal project–to redirect the people’s awe and reverence to the Lord, and to satisfy their longings for a relationship to God. Thus, hereafter there’d be no need for Moses’ mediation. Soon after Expdis. Aaron, the people’s guide to the golden calf, will be established as the High Priest, with no descendants of Moses involved. The people will then come to God completely bypassing Moses, their godlike mediator. The chance of worshipping Moses like God becomes vanishingly small.  Currently, Moses’ leadership, backed by divine authority, remains indispensable. But eventually, Moses will exit the scene, leaving the Law in charge.

• “Moses came down from Mount Sinai.” He had gone up and down at least 4 other times (Exo 19:3, 7, 20, 25; 20:21; 24:9, 13; 32:15; 34:4).
• “…the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands…” Traditionally, a distinction was made between laws to love God [1-4] and laws to love our neighbor [5-10]–the “1st table” and “2nd table” of the law. But Moses brought down 2 complete copies of the Ten Commandments. The way covenants were written was one copy for each party. In this case, both copies would be kept in the ark of the covenant.

Triple repetition of Moses’ name (Exo 34:29) is stylistically odd, serving to spotlight Moses, who after 40 days with God (Exo 34:28), is set off visibly from the rest of humankind.

Talking with God “face to face” (Exo 33:11, 20, 23; 34:29-30; 33, 35). Moses was incandescent, luminous, splendorous, radiant, shining with a supernatural light, evoking a freshness, vividness, vigor, vitality and intensity. He had a halo of glory–a reflected glory. Dazzling beams of  were shining out from his face. It was the afterglow of the reflection of God’s glory in the face of a mortal man.

• The face is the face of Moses, but the light it radiates comes from the Lord.
• Moses functions as a divine messenger.
• God’s “I will be with you” (Exo 3:12) is now stamped on Moses’ face. The “I AM” Who sent him (Exo 3:14) is now radiantly evident.
• The word Moses spoke to the people (Exo 34:31-33) was spoken with light and brightness, not darkness and dullness, with warmth and passion, not coldness and apathy. Through Moses, the word of God was munificently [generously] presented as living and active.
• A bright appearance (and body language) makes a difference to words, commanding greater attention and respect.

What does this tell us about the glory of God? God is awesomely and supremely glorious. God is infinitely holy, righteous and just. He is the all-knowing, all-seeing and all-powerful God. Even just the reflection of his glory and supernatural radiance strikes fear into the hearts of sinners (Exo 34:30).

• The people‘s fear and terror [seeing not even a millionth part of God’s true glory] precisely parallels their fear of drawing near the fiery presence of God on the mountaintop (Exo 20:18). Why? The glory that shone upon Moses’ face searched their hearts and consciences, and expressed the holiness of God. They were afraid because they knew in their inmost souls that they couldn’t stand before God from whom Moses had come.

What about the glory of Moses the mediator? Moses’ face shone when he spoke God‘s word to the people (Exo 34:33, 35). While the glory of Moses was only a reflection, the glory of Jesus was inherent, for “He is the radiance of the glory of God” (Heb 1:3). On the Mount of Transfiguration, “his face shone like the sun, and his clothes because white as light” (Mt 17:2). Jesus’ glory was even more fully revealed in his resurrection (Rom 1:4). In Jesus’ high priestly prayer, he prayed, “glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (Jn 17:5). In and through Christ, God has “shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:6).

What about the glory of God‘s people? God is able to glorify sinners, as God glorified Moses. As the moon shines with the light of the sun, the glory of God shines from us when we draw near to Him. David says, “Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed” (Ps 34:5). The glory comes from looking at God. Moses wasn’t aware of his own radiance–he wasn’t looking at himself at all. He was so absorbed by God’s beauty that nothing could distract him. Moses became glorious by taking his eyes off himself and looking to the Triune God. Then he became an entirely different person—without realizing it. But others could see the difference in his face.

• Always looking at ourselves to see how we are doing spiritually is an outward performance–based approach to the Christian life. [“I have 10 sec to justify my existence.” Chariots of Fire.] Are people coming or leaving my church? Are our numbers growing or declining? Looking to others and to how we’re doing only reflects ourselves–our sinful selves that desires an outward sense of success and security. If we don’t meet with God regularly in our “tent of meeting” the glory fades and goes dim like a flashlight low on batteries.

The glory of gospel of God (2 Cor 3:7-11), cf. the law of Moses. The law has glory. But the Law can’t bring full and final salvation. The Law has true glory but it’s temporary, while the gospel is a ministry of the Spirit (2 Cor 3:8), Who changes our hearts and minds from the inside out, and Who also bring righteousness (2 Cor 3:9), which is permanent (2 Cor 3:11). Augustine said that the Law is only “a step to glory,” while the gospel is “the summit of glory.” It’s like the difference between the sun and the stars. The stars have a degree of brightness, but when the sun comes out, its radiance fills the sky.

Being with [“Seeing”] Jesus makes a difference in our countenance; we are transformed to become more like Him (2 Cor 3:17-18). This is entirely the work of God, for only God through Christ can remove the veil (2 Cor 3:14, 16). The reason those who don’t “get it” [don’t understand the Bible] is because veil of sin blocks them from seeing the truth of God. The more we gaze upon his grace, the more his love, joy and peace (Gal 5:22) shines through us, REGARDLESS of our CIRCUMSTANCES.

The ancient Aaronic blessing: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Num 6:24-26).

“Our Lord’s love shines out just as much through a little soul who yields completely to His Grace as it does through the greatest . . . Just as the sun shines equally on the cedar and the little flower, so the Divine Sun shines equally on everyone, great and small. Everything is ordered for their good, just as in nature the seasons are so ordered that the smallest daisy comes to bloom at its appointed time.”—St. Therese of Lisieux.

Reference:

1. Douglas K. Stuart. Exodus. The New American Commentary: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture. 2006.
2. Eugene Carpenter. Exodus 19-40. Evangelical Exegetical Commentary. 2016.
3. Philip Graham Ryken. Exodus. Saved for God’s Glory. Preaching the Word. 2015.
4. Leon R. Kass. Founding God’s Nation. Reading Exodus. 2021.
5. James K. Bruckner. Exodus. New International Bible Commentary. 2008.
6. John Goldingay. Exodus & Leviticus for Everyone. 2010.
7. Robert Alter. The Hebrew Bible. A translation with commentary. The Five Books of Moses. 2019.
8. Dennis Prager. Exodus. God, Slavery, and Freedom. The Rational Bible. 2018.

Moses‘ face reflecting God‘s glory (34:29-35). What’s the point of all the attention to Moses’ face shining? Why does this conclude such an important narrative as Exo 32-34?

1. It confirmed/established his leadership and intermediary role with God on behalf of the people.
2. It confirmed Yahweh’s presence, the very thing Moses sought so assiduously.
3. It confirmed Yahweh’s greatness.
4. Being so close to the only true living God that one doesn’t notice the extent of the effect (Exo 34:29).
5. “Glory that lasts” from the New Covenant was greater than the Old Covenant glory on Moses’ face that faded over time (2 Cor 3:7-18).
6. The word of God spoken [by Moses] has to do with light and brightness, not darkness and dullness, warmth and passion, not coldness and apathy, thus evoking ardor, zeal, vigor and vitality, imagined as a shining, a radiance, a brilliance, an incandescence, a fieriness. [God’s face shining on the people in the Aaronic benediction (Num 6:25; Ps 80).]
7. Moses’ shining face anticipates the filling of the tabernacle with the divine glory (Exo 40:34-38), foreshadowing that glory in both its radiance and its veiledness.