Exodus 34:29 “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.”
There is an awesome truth revealed to us in the passage above from Exodus 34. It’s from the incident of Moses’ time on Mount Sinai. He had been there for 40 days spending time in the presence of God. As he descended from the mountain, we are told that his face actually shone with the glory of God. But here’s the key: he didn’t know it. We are told that when his brother Aaron and all the people saw him, they were VERY aware of it, so much so that they were afraid to come near him. Yet HE wasn’t aware of it.
As I think about this, it occurs to me that that’s what time alone with God does to us. As we spend time with Him, talking to Him in prayer and meditating on His holy Word, we are told that “we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). This passage is actually pointing back to that incident in Moses’ life and the veil that he put over his face because of the fear of the Israelites. And just like in Moses’ life, when Moses didn’t realize that his face shone, I think that one of the truest marks of time we spend in the presence of God is that we won’t realize when God’s glory is most clearly seen by others in US. You see, time with God will humble us. It won’t exalt us. And when a person is truly humbled, his or her eyes aren’t on themselves. They aren’t thinking about themselves. They aren’t focused on themselves. And this is something that is very evident to others who see us and interact with us.
This is such a contrast with those who are like the Pharisees. Jesus condemned their false form of religion, which was all about them rather than God. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke about them in the following terms: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him . . . And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:5-18).
You see, it is when a person is focused least on themselves that they reveal most that they have been with Christ. It’s all a revelation of those things that are done in secret, rather than that which is done to be seen by men. Yet, it is in this very attitude that we are most useful to others. It’s when we are just being what we are, not as an act, but in the day to day living that should characterize the children of God, that others can most be blessed through us. And truth be told, often we won’t even be aware of it. That’s what a life focused on the glory of God will do to us. Again, it’s a life that is all about Him and not about us.
Perhaps one of the clearest elucidations of this is in Matthew 25:31-40 where Jesus teaches about what it will be at the final judgment. Listen to His words: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
How, like Moses, will be the lack of self-awareness and self-centeredness among the most faithful believers as they stand before Christ on that day. How wonderful that the glory of these lives lived in the presence of God and proceeding from a relationship to Him will be revealed for all to see on that day. May God help us to genuinely love one another with a desire to always glorify our Lord rather than ourselves. May a holy lack of self-unawareness mark our lives, a self-unawareness that marks those who “do justice, and . . . love kindness, . . . and . . . walk humbly with (their) God” (Micah 6:8).
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